Page 61 of Captivated

“You have to tell me if this happens again—understood?” Lucian asked.

Liliana nodded. “Yeah, I got it.”

Now, though, she had more questions than answers.

On her back staring up at the ceiling of her studio apartment, Liliana heard nothing but the lyrics of her favorite artist in her ears coming through the earbuds. A warm soak in Epsom salt kept her feet from aching too much, and the music let her relax enough not to care about the slight stinging in her toes.

Nobody said being a ballerina was easy.

Nobody said they didn’t sacrifice for it.

Closing her eyes, Liliana mellowed out in the sounds of the artist belting out the final chords of a song about a woman missing out on a man she never even got to know. How strangely appropriate that felt for her.

In more ways than one …

Once the song was over, she tugged the earbuds out, and released a hard sigh. She moved her arm from where it had been resting over her eyes, and damn near screamed at the sight of the man standing right beside her.

The shout died in her throat.

But only because it was Joe.

Still, her fucking heart pounded.

“Jesus Christ, you can’t make some noise?” Liliana demanded.

Amusement danced in Joe’s gaze as he looked her over. “I came to see you earlier than I said I would, and you want to fault me for it?”

He looked so fucking smug.

She glared.

A little.

“How did you even get in here, Joe?”

“I knocked several times.”

“That’s not what I asked,” she pointed out, “and I was listening to music.”

“You have a stereo system. Put it through the speakers.”

Liliana shrugged as well as she could on the floor. “Sometimes, I need music delivered right to the brain, or as close as I can get to it.”

Joe tipped his head to the side. “What are you doing down there, anyway?”

“Nice deflection on not telling me how you got inside my apartment.”

“I picked the lock because I got worried. Now, what are you doing?”

“Relaxing.”

“That doesn’t look very relaxing.”

“Something flat and hard against my stiff back, and a good soak for my feet?” Liliana sighed happily. “It’s perfect.”

“I will take your word for it.”

Liliana side-eyed Joe, and took in the suit and tie he wore. Usually, he was in a leather jacket, and jeans. This was new.