Captivated

by Bethany-Kris

  “Are you ready for tomorrow?” Cella asked.

  Liliana set her napkin down on the empty plate, and nodded. “For the most part, yeah.”

  “Nervous?” Catherine asked from two seats down.

  “Not really.” Liliana shrugged. “My foot is good—everything is healed. The doctor gave his okay a month ago, and I haven’t really had any pain but for the usual blisters and bruising from just dancing.”

  “Reason number fifty-two why Cella never stayed in ballet,” her sister muttered.

  Liliana laughed. “Hazard of the job?”

  “Listen, nothing about feet is very fucking pretty to begin with, Liliana. But I am not going to go about helping it along with something like ballet.”

  “Truth,” Catherine agreed.

  “Did you see Cara when she was here today?” Liliana asked her cousin.

  Catherine glanced over. “I did, yeah.”

  She hadn’t known that the same therapist helping her was also helping her cousin for an entirely different set of reasons. It wasn’t something they talked about because frankly, they didn’t want or need to. Everybody deserved their privacy, too. She knew now that Cara worked with her cousin, though.

  “Shouldn’t swear at the table,” Lucia said with all the attitude she could muster.

  The girls grinned, giggled, and went back to their plates. It probably wasn’t the swearing that bothered her little sister as much as it was the fact nobody was talking to her. Lucia was pretty obvious in that way even if she wouldn’t admit it.

  The clang of metal hitting crystal quieted the family filling the long Marcello dining table. All of her family was there—apparently, they needed to gather and celebrate her show tomorrow as a unit.

  She loved them all for it, really.

  All her uncles and aunts, cousins, grandparents, and her own mother, father, and siblings. Cella sat on one side of Liliana, and little Lucia—although, being a teenager, she wasn’t so little anymore—sat on the other side of her. Her brother, mother, and father sat across from her at the table while everyone else was spread out the rest of the way.

  Still, they felt close.

  It was kind of strange how that worked sometimes. They were always there when she needed them, and never too far away. Yet, they didn’t smother her or drive her crazy. They never voiced opinions on her choices after what happened, and they let her live.

  If that wasn’t love, what was?

  She had been so busy for the last month desperately trying to get up to par for her role in the show—not the lead, but the second, which was good enough for her—that she had kind of let her family fall to the wayside.

  Not intentionally, of course.

  They hadn’t said a thing about her doing it, either, but she knew they had to be wondering. Was she doing okay? Was she overworking herself? Was she lonely when she came home to her studio apartment night after night with no one to greet her but her thoughts?

  She wished they wouldn’t worry at all, but trying to tell them not to was pointless. It was just what family did.

  Liliana hadn’t realized she needed this—a moment to get away from everything else in her life, and just spend time with her family. They were her happy place, if she ever had one.

  Well, them … and Joe.

  At the head of the table, her uncle stood with a smile as his gaze landed on her. “Liliana, we are all so very proud of you for what you’ve been able to do, and what you are yet to do. And we certainly can’t wait to see where you go from here.”

  Her father raised his own glass, and the rest of the table followed suit.

  “To a Marcello principessa,” her father murmured. “To one of mine.”

  “Principessa,” the word echoed from several voices.

  To her, being a mafia princess had never really felt like the weight around her throat that some liked to claim it to be. No, to her, being in this family was all she had ever known, and she was grateful for them.

  Sure, they could be a little overbearing, and a touch too loud. Oh, they didn’t know how to mind their own business, and they could bicker like nobody’s business, too. But that was also family.

  And all they ever gave to her was unconditional love, and a constant flow of adoration and support. Who could say they had all of that?

  Because she could.

  And she loved them for it.

  She always would.

  This was the moment Liliana had once loved the most about ballet. When the curtains closed, and the applause roared. When she bowed with the rest of the dancers, and she could hear thousands of feet rising from their seats. When the lights became brighter, and she could truly appreciate just how out of breath she actually was.

  These were those moments.

  Instead of feeling what she used to feel, all Liliana could bring forth was a sense of … completion.

  Not even resignation, or sadness.

  That heaviness was gone, too.

  There was no weight around her neck, and no wishing to find something she used to have when she put on her pointe shoes, and moved like air. There was no rush of adrenaline in every fast beat of her heart, and gone was the longing to get it back.

  It just felt done.

  Liliana didn’t have time to think on it for long because the curtain was pulling open again, and the dancers were stepping forward. Her arms were linked with the two women on either side of her, both dressed in similar pearl-white costumes with their hair slicked back into tight buns, and their faces painted identically.

  Yet, she knew her family would be able to pick her out easily.

  She found them in the front row easily enough. Her mother sitting beside her father, and the trail of her siblings next to them. Just behind their row sat her uncles, aunts, and the rest who had been able to come.

  But it wasn’t all of them her gaze was drawn to. It wasn’t them who made a tangible, visceral clenching sensation start to grab at her chest, and her stomach.

  It wasn’t their gazes who met hers, and pinned her in place even as the dancers moved to bow again.

  It wasn’t them.

  Because it was him.

  Joe.

  Then, her heart jumped.

  And stopped.

  Joe grinned in that way of his—something she found he liked to save just for her. A simple tilt of the edge of his lips that spoke of sin, love, and darkness. It made her hands tremble, and her knees weak.

  He raised his hand a bit to wave two fingers at her, and winked, too.

  The cheeky bastard.

  Now, his missing calls had made a hell of a lot more sense. He didn’t like to lie to her, or even omit things in their conversations. She bet he had been ignoring her calls to avoid having to do just that.

  It wasn’t Joe’s style.

  “Time to move,” she heard someone call behind the curtain.

  Shit.

  No, what she wanted to do was stand right there, and keep staring at the love of her life. She hadn’t gotten to look at him for so long, and now he was there.

  The rest of the night could wait.

  Surely.

  Apparently not.

  Liliana let the ballerina next to her drag her off the stage. God knew if she didn’t let her do it, Liliana was never going to go willingly. As usual, the dancers were flooded by the crew and people from the studio the moment they stepped behind the curtains. Flowers were handed out, and compliments given.

  Another successful show.

  And Liliana felt like it was her last, too.

  She wasn’t really thinking too hard on that if only because her mind was somewhere else entirely. Overwhelmed, spinning, and fucking reeling. Thinking about a man she hadn’t seen face-to-face in months who was only just a few feet away separated by nothing more than a—

  “Tesoro.”

  Oh, his voice.

  Liliana spun around to find Joe standing right behind her still wearing that grin of his. And a fucking tailored three-piece suit that
made him look like every woman’s walking wet dream. Like sin in the flesh, but covered by five-thousand dollar Armani. His blue gaze drifted over her features like he was waiting for her to say something.

  To say anything.

  She didn’t know what to say, or where to begin.

  Behind him, her parents waited patiently.

  But they let him go first.

  They let her see him first.

  Liliana didn’t even think about it before she launched herself at him. Joe’s arms were already open and ready to catch her. With a laugh, she grabbed his jaw, and pulled him in for a fast, burning kiss that had her heart rate picking up speed all over again.

  And tight …

  God, he held her so tight.

  Dragged her so close.

  The world drifted away when he was kissing her. The now-familiar dance of their lips melding together while he coaxed her mouth open for him was as comforting as the way she dragged in a heavy, ragged breath.

  The ache in her chest …

  The happiness in her heart …

  All for him.

  Joe pulled back just enough to gaze at her again as his thumbs stroked her cheekbones. “You look beautiful, and you were amazing.”

  Liliana smiled. “I missed you.”

  “I know, my girl. Me, too.”

  “Aren’t you forgetting something?”

  His last promise.

  He only had one more to keep.

  She didn’t need him to, but she wondered if he would remember what he told her that he would do when they met up again.

  “I don’t think I need an introduction, but for you … It’s Joe Rossi,” he murmured, dotting kisses to the seam of her smiling lips all over again. “It’s far more than just nice to meet you again, Liliana.”

  TWENTY-ONE

  “THAT FELT LIKE a goodbye,” he heard Liliana murmur against his neck.

  Joe held her a little tighter. “Not my kiss, I fucking hope.”

  He swore his heart had jolted for a second. This goddamn woman was going to be the death of him, he was sure of it.

  Liliana laughed a little, and then pulled back just enough to stare him in the eyes. “No, not you. Never you.”

  “Then what?”

  “The show, I guess. Dancing. Ballet.”

  She shrugged, saying nothing else.

  Joe didn’t really need her to. “It doesn’t feel the same, then.”

  “I did it, though,” she said quietly, “and that’s what I wanted to do the most.”

  He stroked her cheeks with the pads of his thumbs, and then dipped his head down low enough to catch her lips with a sweet kiss. “Then, that’s all that matters.”

  “I don’t know what to do with my life now.”

  Joe chuckled. “You’ve got all the time in the world to figure that out. That’s the best part about being young, Tesoro.”

  And if she wanted him there—as long as she wanted him there with her—he would be right beside her to help her figure it out. Whatever she needed, Joe would be there to give it to her every step of the way.

  A throat cleared behind them.

  Ah, yeah.

  Shit.

  He’d almost forgotten about everyone else.

  As much as Joe didn’t want to let Liliana go—not even for a single second—he stepped aside because he knew others were waiting to congratulate her. This whole night had been huge, even if she wasn’t going to say so out loud. Her first time back on a stage since everything had happened, and of course, she was amazing.

  “You looked wonderful,” Lucian told Liliana.

  She took the hug from her father with a wide smile, and the same from her mother, too. A kiss from both, as well. Joe hung back a little but only because he didn’t want to intrude on their moment together.

  “We’re so proud of you,” Jordyn added.

  “Thanks, Ma.”

  Liliana seemed determined to bring Joe into their conversation one way or another when she glanced over her shoulder at him. “I see you were all keeping secrets from me.”

  Lucian chuckled when his gaze met Joe’s. “We have to keep some tricks hidden up our sleeves, don’t we?”

  Sure, Joe had known about Liliana’s upcoming show. She had told him about it over the phone, although she never went in to any great detail about it. He’d never been able to quite tell if she was excited, or not.

  She just talked.

  But when Lucian called Joe with the suggestion that he come to attend the show, he practically stumbled over every word he said to agree. It had already been four long months since he’d been out of New York and away from Liliana. It wasn’t like he wanted to spend one more damn minute away from her.

  He figured shit was still hot and heavy in the city because of the whole Earl thing, but he did his best to keep his head down, and his attention away from any news about New York. A watched pot never boiled, as the saying went.

  “Joe,” Jordyn said, drawing his attention to Liliana’s mother.

  “Yes?”

  “I hope you’re going to join us later.”

  “I didn’t know something was happening, actually.”

  Lucian chuckled. “Ah, I forgot. Just consider it your surprise, then.”

  “Oh, the party,” Liliana said, turning with a smile to face Joe. “They’re throwing me a party at the mansion.”

  Lots of people.

  A family he wasn’t a part of.

  Attention.

  The spotlight being with her.

  None of that would have been Joe’s thing had someone asked him months and months ago. Yet, he was quick to nod and agree.

  “Sounds fun,” he said.

  And he meant it.

  “You know,” Liliana said, finishing her second glass of champagne, “your brother has texted or called me at least once a week since you left.”

  Joe’s gaze drifted from the gathered Marcello family back to Liliana tucked into his side. “Is that so?”

  Cory hadn’t mentioned a thing.

  Joe wasn’t exactly surprised.

  “Yep, he did.”

  “And did he annoy the hell out of you like he does to me on a daily basis?” Joe asked.

  Liliana snorted, and then smacked Joe with the back of her hand lightly to his chest. “You know your brother loves you. Be nice.”

  Joe rubbed the spot she’d hit, although it didn’t actually hurt. “Hey, this is me being nice. Trust me, Cory wouldn’t expect anything different.”

  “Yes, I remember. You two show your affection through kicking the shit out of each other.”

  He tipped his head to the side a bit, saying, “That, and apparently by Cory calling my girl to check in with her, and make sure she knows the rest of my family hasn’t forgotten about her in the meantime.”

  Liliana stilled beside him. “Yeah, I guess that’s exactly what he was doing.”

  Joe reminded himself to thank his brother. And maybe sign off on buying another business with him—one he’d been holding off on for a while because it meant more time spent away from the happiness and privacy of his own company.

  Cory would like that.

  Always pushing Joe out of his comfort zone.

  It seemed in a very short span of time, his family had managed to get quite attached to his little ballerina. They were fully willing and ready to welcome her into the folds of their family whenever Joe got back around to bringing her home with him.

  He just didn’t know when that was going to happen.

  “And your mom, too,” she added.

  “Probably not my dad, though.”

  Liliana grinned. “Damian Rossi is kind of quiet.”

  “That he is.”

  “He did say hello whenever your mom called, though.”

  Joe smiled faintly to himself. “Seems like his style.”

  “I miss them.”

  His arm tightened around her waist, saying, “They miss you, too.”

  “Yeah?”

&
nbsp; “Why wouldn’t they?”

  Liliana shrugged a bit. “It’s not like we know each other very well, or—”

  “They don’t have to know everything about you. They only need to know one thing that matters to them above the rest.”

  “And what’s that, Joe?”

  Their gazes met.

  He leaned in and kissed her—soft, slow, and sweet.

  “How much I love you, Liliana. That’s all they care about.”

  She smiled against his kiss. “I love you, too, Joe.”

  “Sorry I was gone for so long.”

  “Yeah.”

  “It won’t happen again.”

  Liliana’s gaze darted up to meet his—green fire in a blink.

  God, he loved this girl.

  “Promise?” she asked sweetly.

  “You know it.”

  Liliana’s grin turned a little sly as she peered around the room at her family. Some were fully engaged in conversations, while others were looking at something on a tablet, and laughing. They had finally given Joe and Liliana a little room to breathe, and be alone. He appreciated it, but he also didn’t mind being there with her and her people, either.

  This was good.

  “Everybody is … busy,” Liliana said.

  Joe nodded. “Seems so.”

  “I don’t think they would notice if we skipped out for a few.”

  “Liliana.”

  She pressed her lips tight together at his dark warning.

  “What?”

  Far too innocent.

  She wasn’t at all innocent.

  “You’re supposed to be celebrating with your family.”

  “And I am!” Liliana smiled brightly. “And we’ll come back in a bit. What, you don’t want to get me into a coat room somewhere and see what’s under this dress, Joe?”

  He eyed the tight, bodycon dress she had on—royal purple, with silver rockstud heels to match. She’d let her hair down in loose waves, too. His favorite because he could wrap his hands in the strands, and pull while he fucked her.

  “Jesus,” he muttered under his breath. “I’m trying to be good here.”

  “Yeah, but you’re not. So, let’s go.”

  He didn’t even try to refuse.

  He all but let her sneak him out of the room.