Page 97 of Captivated

She thought to ask, but …

Joe’s words remained in the back of her mind. Not to question too much. There was a reason for everything, and probably that, too.

Liliana asked nothing.

“Okay, Daddy. After we eat.”

Lucian smiled widely, and waved a bite of pancake. “He’s a damn good cook, too. Thank his mother for that. I’ve met the woman—this is all her, trust me.”

Thank her, he’d said. Not if you get the chance. Or, maybe someday. No, just thank. Like there was no doubt in his mind that Liliana would be doing exactly that.

Huh.

“Well, he’s definitely good at something, yeah.”

Her father gave her a side-eye.

Liliana only grinned.

Liliana stepped off the escalator at Chicago’s O’Hare, and her gaze was immediately drawn to a man she had seen once or twice with her uncle, Giovanni, over the years. She wasn’t entirely sure of his name—he’d never really been properly introduced, and didn’t stay long enough for someone to ask when he did come around.

She figured he was probably the one waiting for her, but it was only compounded by the sign he held in his hands.

It simply read, L. Marcello.

The man was handsome—in an aging well kind of way—but she guessed he had to be around the same age as her father, or somewhere in there. His light brown hair had been dragged back as though he had been pulling his fingers through the strands, and his brown gaze drifted over the crowd, but not looking for anything in particular.

In his three-piece suit and shined shoes, he looked entirely out of place with the rest of the waiting people who were dressed rather casually, for the most part. Not that it seemed to bother him, really.

“Still trying to figure out who I am?” the man asked.

Liliana smiled.

He hadn’t even looked at her.

“A little,” she said.

“Theo DeLuca,” he offered.

Liliana nodded, still not entirely sure why he had been the man picked to grab her from the airport once she landed. Never mind the fact she didn’t know what kind of business he did here in Chicago, but she figured it didn’t matter.

“Liliana Marcello,” she replied.

Theo did turn to look at her, then, and with a sly smile. “Oh, everyone knows who the Marcello principessas are, sweetheart. No worries there. Do you have a bag to grab from the arrivals carousel?”

“Just one.”

“Follow me—we’ll grab it, and then head out.”

“To where?”

Theo only gave her another smile, and extended his arm for her to take. She did, and then he was directing them through the crowd with a confident stride that said he knew the airport and its layout quite well.

“Your father wants you to call him once you get settled in tonight,” Theo said.

Liliana nodded. “Okay, but I don’t have a phone.”

Theo cleared his throat. “No, I imagine they took that from you to keep you from being traced, didn’t they?”