Page 75 of Captivated

“He’s the son of a senator, and she’s the daughter of a high ranking made man. They both come from elite New York families, Joe.”

Cory offered all this like whatever he wasn’t saying should be obvious. It probably was, but Joe was just too tired and hungover to put it together.

“Stop fucking with me today,” Joe warned.

“The rags, Joe. Socialite rags, and shit. Had they been together for any real length of time, or shown up to enough public events together, their faces would have been splashed all over that shit. You know how they are here in Chicago. It’s even worse in New York.”

“Ah, yeah.”

“So, how long?”

“I wouldn’t say more than a couple of months, but maybe a little more.”

“Is this all you’ve found?”

“I wish,” Cory muttered under his breath. “From the people I know and talked to, they said they heard some bad shit went down between Liliana and Rich one night when they were heading to a private party.”

Joe blinked at the clock on the wall. “What kind of bad shit?”

“No one said for sure—nobody saw Liliana directly after, either. Cops were called, though, so a police report had to have been filed. Thing is, there’s nothing.”

Joe thought about the Chief of Police he was supposed to kill, and wondered if that was the reason why the man needed to be killed—had he done away with evidence?

“Are there rumors about what happened?” Joe dared to ask.

“A guy knows a guy in the Marcello organization. Low fuck, mind you, but still.”

“Cory, spit it out.”

His brother sighed again. “Said the guy beat the shit out of her in the back of a limo, Joe. He suggested more, but didn’t know for sure, and wasn’t willing to say considering who she is and all. From other people—kind of sounds like Rich was fucking obsessed with her. Saw her dance at a show or something, and that’s how he met her. Anyway, this is what I’ve got.”

“So, why do they want me to kill the father and the Chief of Police, and not the stupid fuck who hurt her?”

“Maybe they’re a means to an end,” Cory suggested.

Huh.

Joe hadn’t considered that.

“And I mean, if that were Mon,” Cory added, referring to their little sister, “and there were guys who helped to cover up what he did to her, you know we’d put every single one of them in the ground.”

“Yeah.”

To say the least.

“Thanks, man,” Joe said.

“You got it.”

After he had hung up with his brother, Joe made one more phone call. On the third ring, Lucian picked up.

“Lucian here.”

“I’ll put the first hit through tonight—the father, he’s gone.”

He didn’t explain why, or anything about his choice. He didn’t bother to question Lucian on the things he knew, either.

Joe didn’t want to ask Lucian.