Page 98 of Captivated

She realized then that this man knew quite a bit about whatever was going on. Clearly, more than she did, and all her knowledge was based on guesses and assumptions.

“Yeah, that’s what I was told,” Liliana finally replied.

“No worries,” Theo said, waving a hand as if to dismiss her concerns. “I will pick you up a burner, but there is also a landline at the house you can use.”

Liliana gave him a look. “A house?”

“That’s where you’ll be staying, yes. A house in Melrose, to be exact.”

“Your house?”

Not that Theo DeLuca didn’t seem like a nice man—and she was sure he was—but Liliana didn’t quite know how she felt about being made to stay with someone she didn’t know personally. She would much prefer to lock herself away in a hotel, or something.

Theo chuckled. “As much as my nephew likes me, he made it very clear where you’re to be staying, actually.”

“What?”

“Oh, here we are. Look for your bag—they can go pretty fast. I’ll grab it when you point it out, Liliana. You don’t need to be carrying it.”

For the moment, Liliana’s attention was distracted by the bags swiftly moving on the baggage carousel. Her blue leather, rolling luggage ended up being somewhere in the middle of all the mess.

Theo easily plucked it out while a couple of others missed their chance to move between the people to grab their own. He said nothing as he flicked out the handle, and the wheels hit the ceramic tiles of the airport floor with a click-click.

“Ready?” he asked.

Liliana shrugged. “I don’t really have much of a choice, do I?”

Theo laughed. “Oh, if I had to guess, I think you’ll enjoy your stay in Chicago. Sure, it’s a little different than New York, and you don’t know very many people, but that’s not really the point of you being here. Is it?”

“No, I guess not.”

“And besides,” Theo said, moving forward and gesturing for Liliana to follow along, “I think you’ll meet a few people who have been … well, curious about you.”

“Why would people here be curious about me?”

Theo smiled. “You’ll see.”

It only took maybe twenty to thirty minutes before Theo had pulled his black Rolls-Royce in the small driveway of a moderately-sized Melrose home. The white, two-level home with an attached three-door garage seemed dark and maybe empty given there didn’t seem to be any life inside, and yet … Liliana still felt strangely welcomed.

Theo was right, too.

Chicago didn’t seem to be all that different from New York in a lot of ways. Sure, his accent was a little different, and she didn’t recognize the streets. The wind picked up more when she stepped out of the car onto the black-tarred driveway, but she didn’t feel at all cold.

“I’ll walk you in,” Theo said, “but I need to get back to my wife before she thinks I forgot about her show tonight.”

Liliana turned to him. “Her show?”

“She owns a gallery. I like to be there.”

“Oh. Sorry to take you from her.”

Theo chuckled. “No worries. This is part of the job sometimes. Eve knows that better than anyone.”

The two climbed the front steps, and Theo handed over a key to Liliana.

“For you to use while you’re here,” he said.

“It’s not my house.”