“WAKE UP,” Liliana heard murmured in the background of her dream. “Wake up, Tesoro.”
It was his kisses dotting up her naked arm that did finally wake her up, but Liliana was still pretty determined to keep her eyes firmly shut. Why risk opening her eyes, and Joe dragging her from the bed when instead, she could get him back into it?
This just seemed like a far better plan.
“You can’t stay in bed all day.”
“On the contrary, I can do exactly that, Joe.”
“Shouldn’t, then.”
“Who says? A break from life might be exactly what I need,” Liliana mumbled into the pillow. “You could even join me on this break. Doesn’t that sound fun?”
“It sounds like something. Get up.”
“Nope.”
Liliana refused to open her eyes, and even grabbed the black comforter, and pulled it up high over her head. Then, she could ignore the fact it was morning … or pretty damn close to it, anyway.
“Liliana.”
His voice was muffled, now.
She pretended she didn’t hear.
“Liliana.” A beat of silence passed, and then, “You asked for it, donna.”
Liliana didn’t know what exactly she asked for, but she hoped it was something good. Knowing Joe, it probably would be.
Nope.
No, it wasn’t.
It was him ripping the fucking blankets away.
Even the sheet!
That left Liliana naked on her bed, chilled from the cool air hitting her exposed skin, and glowering at Joe from her back on the bed. At the footboard, Joe just grinned in that smug way of his as he held her blankets in one hand.
“You ass,” she said.
Joe shrugged one broad shoulder, naked but for the boxer-briefs he wore. “Time to get up, I said.”
It was only then that Liliana noticed that it was the light in her bedroom that had been turned on, and not the usual sunlight filtering in from the window. In fact, by the looks of the darkness shadowing the slightly open curtains, the sun hadn’t even rose in the sky yet.
Jesus.
Liliana rolled to her stomach, and reached for the alarm clock. Sure enough, the time showcasing how early it was made her want to scream. “It’s five in the morning, Joe!”
“Yep—time to get up.”
“Are you crazy?”
She snatched a magazine off the bedside stand, and tossed it at him. Joe gave her a lopsided smirk as he easily caught the magazine with his hand, and then with a flick of his wrist, threw it to the foot of her bed like it had never been a problem to him in the first place.
“I have to go,” Joe said.
Liliana sunk into the bed. “What?”
“I have to head out, and I didn’t think you would appreciate it very much if I didn’t at least wake you up to let you know.”
Damn.
She probably wouldn’t have reacted well; she couldn’t help the way even the idea of a slight from this man made her want to run for the hills. She understood that wasn’t his intention, but her only way of protecting herself now was to just … well, run.
“Figured you might want to say goodbye—it’ll be a bit before we’ll see each other. Business, you know.”
Liliana’s brow furrowed. “What business?”
Joe only smiled. “Some things to finish up, that’s all.”
“Oh.”
“So, are you getting up, or what? Because I didn’t make breakfast for it to fucking go cold, donna.”
She laughed, and pushed up from the bed. “When you put it like that …”
Joe’s hand smacked hard against her ass as she passed him by. She didn’t jump from the surprise, but she did give him a little wink over her shoulder as she headed for the bathroom. He only grinned right back.
This man …
What was he doing to her?
Whatever it was, Liliana liked it.
A lot.
“And put on some clothes, you’re going to have a guest shortly,” Joe called just as she slipped into the bathroom.
“What, who?”
“Not important.”
“Joe—”
“Food is getting cold, Liliana.”
Fine.
Once she had made use of the bathroom, cleaned up a bit, and put on something moderately appropriate considering the time of day—and the fact someone was coming over—Liliana found Joe getting three plates ready in the kitchen.
“Pancakes are my favorite,” she told him.
“Good—you’ll have to find whatever you want to put on them.”
“Jam for me.”
He grinned. “I would have thought whip cream, or something.”
Liliana nodded. “Sometimes.”
He’d gotten dressed while she was using the bathroom, too, it seemed. Although she’d pulled on simple sweats and a beater, he was dressed back in his entire outfit from the night before. Leather jacket included.
That was Liliana’s first sign he wasn’t going to be there for very much longer. Her second was when he rolled up a pancake, and took a bite off the end. He probably wasn’t going to be there long enough to even eat with her, apparently.
Joe, seemingly noticing how quiet Liliana had turned, finished off the pancake, and then reached for her. She let him drag her into his embrace, and then he pressed a sweet kiss to the very top of her head.
“You trust me, right?” he asked.
She didn’t even have to think about it.
Liliana leaned back, and stared up at him. “Yeah, I do, Joe.”
“Good. Promise me you won’t ask too many questions today. Just do what you’re told—it’s all done because it’s for the best, love. It’s what’s safe. Once everything is settled, one of us will explain everything because it won’t matter then. Okay?”
The entire time he spoke, Liliana was quiet. A knot had formed in her lower back, though. A ball of tension that said more shit was going on around her than she realized. She was not, however, a stupid woman.
“This is all about Rich, isn’t it?”
“Questions, questions,” Joe said, cocking a brow. “And maybe that’s not one I can answer right now.”
She sighed.
“Fine,” Liliana returned, “after it’s done, will it be about him, then?”
Joe barked out a laugh. “No, everyone will be so over him by then, Liliana. Take that however you want, love.”
She didn’t need to.
He gave her the answer.
It was a knock on the apartment door that sent the two moving apart. However, that lasted just long enough for Joe to grab another pancake, and then press a quick kiss to Liliana’s lips.
“I have to head out now—you eat that food, and enjoy it, too,” Joe murmured against her mouth.
She couldn’t help but smile. “I will.”
“And no questions.”
Liliana tipped her hand back and forth as if to silently say, We’ll see.
He chuckled, and kissed her again. “I’ll be seeing you soon, Tesoro.”
But how soon?
Liliana didn’t ask.
She was a little scared of the answer.
Joe left her side when another knock on the apartment door echoed. She didn’t think to be bothered by whoever was at her place this early, but only because Joe said someone would be coming over. She didn’t turn away from her plate of pancakes on the counter until she heard Joe greet the person waiting.
“Morning, Lucian.”
“Joe. Give me a call when you can.”
“You got it.”
Liliana turned around in just enough time to see Joe’s eyes connect with hers before he disappeared out of her apartment door. And only then did she glance at her father who was closing the door behind him.
“Daddy.”
Lucian smiled. “Morning, sweetheart. A little early for us, isn’t it?”
“That’s what I told him.”
Her father only chuckled.
She couldn’t help but notice how Lucian didn’t question why Joe was at her place, or anything like that. Then again, he never had been the type to do that with his daughters. He let them live their lives, and only stepped in when things were unsafe.
“Joe made you a plate,” she said, waving at the pancakes beside hers.
Lucian crossed the floor, and picked up the plate with an appreciative nod. His gaze darted back toward the door where Joe had left only moments before. “I like him—a little. That’s more than I can say for a lot of other people.”
Liliana grinned, but hid it by taking a bite of her pancake covered in jam. “What are you doing here, anyway? I think I remember hearing you tell Ma once when someone called for you early in the morning that you don’t roll out of bed before eight for less than a hundred grand.”
It was one of her fondest memories, and she had no idea why.
Lucian chewed on a bite, and shot her a sly grin. “That did happen, too. You were probably … maybe, six. And you remember that?”
She shrugged. “I keep hold of the good things, Daddy.”
Because there had been bad things, too.
Scary things.
And those times were blank spaces—memories painted with a black brush, and she couldn’t see through it to remember what happened. A lot of it was because of her brother, and the spirals he had gone through, but she didn’t blame him for that. She just … needed her space now.
“Yes, well,” Lucian said, sighing, “I don’t get out of bed before eight for anything less than a hundred grand, but today is for something priceless. Precious, even, vita mia.”
Liliana glanced up at her father, and knew he was talking about her. “Oh?”
“Mmhmm.” Lucian ticked a finger at her. “Someone told me I was playing a dangerous game, and they were right. I’m going to make it a little safer, now.”
“This is about Rich, isn’t it?”
Her father’s smile was cold, and calculating. Joe hadn’t really answered her question, but gave her something else to fill in the blanks. She wondered if Lucian would answer her, instead.
“From the moment he put his hands on you,” Lucian said, “it was only a matter of time, and it has always been about that bastard. You’ll need to pack a bag. Say, enough for a few days at the very least.”
Liliana glanced up. “What, why?”
“You’re leaving the city today. I need you somewhere safe for a while.”
To where?
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?”
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.”
Theo’s expression didn’t change. “You have free run of the place while you’re here. He wanted you to be comfortable.”
“My father?”
“Not even close. Open the door.”
What was with these strange men sometimes?
Liliana shook her head, and then proceeded to unlock the door. Once it was open, and the two were inside, Theo set both of her bags to the corner.
She took the moment to look around the hallway, and some of the pictures hanging on the earthy-toned walls. The cherry hardwood floors gleamed, and the small decorative table still held a bowl full of knickknacks, gum, and even a set of keys.
Like the person who lived here had expected to come back shortly after they left, or something.
“You good?” Theo asked.
Liliana looked back at him, but a photo hanging above a tall plant sitting on a small rug caught her eye. It was the man in the picture, and the other man clinging to his back like a fucking monkey that made her smile. The two couldn’t deny that they were somehow related—brothers, likely. Both wore three-piece suits, wide smiles and in the background, white chairs had been set up.
Maybe a wedding?
Anyway, she finally figured out who lived here. And, of course, why this house had felt comforting to her at just the sight alone despite the fact she didn’t know anything about it, and had never even seen it before.
“This place is Joe’s,” she said.
Theo nodded. “Welcome to Chicago, Liliana.”
“Knock, knock! Anybody home?”
Liliana jumped away from the books she was perusing on the shelf, and sloshed her morning coffee on her hand at the same time. “Shit.”
Thankfully, it wasn’t hot enough to burn.
“Jesus, Cory, stop acting foolish,” came a man’s voice.
“I don’t know why you bother,” followed a woman.
“Someone has to tell him.”
“It’s too late for Cory.”
“Hey, there she is.”
Liliana spun around to find a man—younger than her, definitely—standing in the doorway of Joe’s living room. She only needed one look at his face to know exactly who he was. Cory Rossi—the same man in several pictures inside the home, and Joe’s younger brother.
“You busy, girl?” he asked.
She blinked. “What?”
“You … busy … now.”
An older gentleman, with similar features and kind eyes, slid in beside the young man, and at the same time, smacked the back of Cory’s head without ever taking his eyes off Liliana. The same man who she had first seen at the Marcello mansion when she met Joe, but he hadn’t stayed long enough to have dinner with the rest of them.
“Quite enough of that, Cory.”
“Ouch, Dad. Fuck.”
Dad.
Joe’s father?
So that must have meant the woman pushing between the two men with a wide smile and food in her hands was Joe’s …
“Lily Rossi,” the woman greeted, “and you must be Liliana.”
Liliana smiled. “I am.”
“I have been waiting quite a while to meet you.”
A part of Liliana wanted to feel awkward, but how could she when this sweet woman with her blonde hair and brown eyes was smiling like they were the oldest of friends?
“Why?” Liliana asked.
She wiped her hand off on the side of her pants to get rid of the coffee she had spilled while Lily talked.
Shooting her youngest son a look, Lily said, “Someone doesn’t know how to keep his mouth shut, that’s all.”
“Not entirely all,” Cory grumbled.
Lily shrugged, and grinned. “And maybe I pestered Joe a lot when he called yesterday to explain some things.”
“And you came over here?”
“Who wants to eat breakfast alone in a big house?” the older man asked.
“Like Damian said,” Lily added, “we just wanted to say hello, maybe have some food, and make you feel welcome.”
But why?
“Is that her? Move.”
A small girl—maybe ten or eleven—with her mother’s eyes, and her father’s hair, who looked a hell of a lot like the feminine version of Joe and Cory, pushed through the people. She wore an oversized sparkly, pink sweater and black leggings. Her Nike sneakers were also pink and black, and her dark hair curled in perfect ringlets.
The girl peered up at Liliana with curious eyes.
“It is her, right?” she asked Lily.
“Yeah, Monica,” Cory said.
Oh.
Joe’s little sister.
Monica smiled widely at Liliana. “My brother says we have to be nice to you, Liliana. So, Ma made you food, Dad will take you out to get you anything you want, and Cory’s not going to be a shit. Mostly.”
“Mon!” Lily cried, “Language.”
Well, this made a hell of a lot more sense, now. Liliana thought it was terribly sweet that Joe had thought to ask his family to make Liliana feel welcome during her stay, so she wouldn’t be so alone. And honestly, it gave her a chance to get to know the people who he came from.
It made her heart swell, really.
Beat fast and hard.
Only Joe did that for her. Only he could do that without even being there. The realization that came down on Liliana in that moment was kind of terrifying, but at the same time, it wasn’t scary at all.
She would just have to wait a little longer to tell Joe what she knew now. Hopefully, not too long, though.
Liliana couldn’t suppress her grin if she tried. Bending down so she could be at least close to eye-level with Monica, she asked, “Is that what Joe said?”
“Yep.”
“And why would he say that?”
Monica did a little bounce in her shoes. “I guess ‘cause you’re his person, you know? He said we’ll love you.”
Liliana stilled. “Is that so?”
The girl smiled widely. “Guess so.”
The room went quiet.
Or maybe that was just her.
His person.
His. Person.
Huh.