Chapter 6 – The Enemy Returns
Silence fell like a blade.
The photograph trembled slightly in Marco’s hand.
Lily stared at it, every drop of warmth draining from her body.
It was her.
Sleeping in the hospital bed.
Bandaged.
Vulnerable.
Unaware.
The angle was wrong for security footage.
Too intimate.
Too close.
Someone had physically stood near her.
Someone had watched her breathe.
Watched her sleep.
Watched Vincent guard her.
A cold wave of nausea rose in Lily’s throat.
“No…”
The word barely escaped.
Vincent took the photo.
His jaw hardened as his eyes scanned every detail.
Then something shifted.
A tiny mark in the bottom corner.
A symbol.
Black serpent.
Salvatore DeLuca
No signature necessary.
Vincent’s voice became dangerously quiet.
“Everyone out.”
Marco froze.
“Boss—”
“Now.”
The order cracked like gunfire.
Within seconds, every guard disappeared.
Only Lily and Vincent remained.
Moonlight poured across polished marble.
The photograph sat between them like a death sentence.
Lily hugged herself.
Her body shook.
Not from pain.
From memory.
Vincent noticed.
“Look at me.”
She didn’t.
“Lily.”
Nothing.
His voice lowered.
“Look at me.”
Slowly—
She raised her eyes.
Tears burned in green irises.
Fear.
Ancient fear.
Not the fear of bullets.
Older.
Deeper.
Vincent recognized it instantly.
Trauma.
This was not about present danger.
This was history.
He asked quietly.
“Who is Salvatore to you?”
Lily’s lips parted.
No sound came.
Vincent waited.
Silence stretched.
Then—
She whispered.
“He killed my mother.”
The words shattered the room.
Vincent stopped breathing.
For one second—
Even the Iron Wolf felt shock.
“What?”
Tears slipped down Lily’s face.
“I saw him.”
Her voice trembled violently.
“Not clearly.”
Her hands clenched.
“But enough.”
Flashback flooded her.
Rain.
Screaming.
Broken glass.
Her mother bleeding.
A man standing in shadow.
Cold eyes.
A serpent ring.
She pressed shaking fingers to her temple.
“I was ten.”
Vincent didn’t interrupt.
“My mother was packing.”
Lily swallowed hard.
“She kept telling Dad we had to leave.”
Her breathing hitched.
“She said he found us.”
Vincent’s voice remained low.
“Salvatore.”
Lily nodded.
Terror flashed across her face.
“That night… they came.”
Her pupils widened.
She wasn’t in the mansion anymore.
She was back there.
A child.
Frozen.
Helpless.
“Men broke into the house.”
She squeezed her eyes shut.
“My father shoved me into a closet.”
Her voice cracked.
“He told me not to make a sound.”
Silence.
Then—
“I heard everything.”
The words broke.
“I heard her screaming.”
Vincent’s hands slowly curled into fists.
Lily whispered.
“I heard him talking.”
Her breath came sharp and uneven.
“He kept asking one question.”
Vincent leaned closer.
“What question?”
Lily opened her eyes.
Raw terror.
“Where is it?”
The exact words Emma had heard.
Everything clicked.
Vincent’s mind sharpened instantly.
The kidnappers.
Emma.
Warehouse.
Same question.
Same obsession.
Twenty years later.
Same hunt.
He spoke carefully.
“What did your mother have?”
Lily shook her head violently.
“I don’t know.”
“Think.”
“I DON’T KNOW!”
The scream burst out of her.
Pain followed instantly.
Her shoulder seized.
She gasped.
Vincent moved at once.
“Easy.”
His hands gripped her shoulders gently.
Steady.
Grounding.
“Breathe.”
Lily trembled violently.
Tears fell faster.
“I don’t remember everything.”
Vincent’s voice softened.
“Then tell me what you do remember.”
Silence.
Her breathing slowly steadied.
She stared somewhere beyond him.
“My mother wore a necklace.”
Vincent narrowed his eyes.
“What kind?”
“Silver.”
She frowned.
“No…”
Memory sharpened.
“Not silver.”
She inhaled sharply.
“Steel.”
A pause.
“It opened.”
Vincent stilled.
Opened?
A locket?
A hidden compartment?
Lily’s eyes widened.
“She never took it off.”
Another memory hit.
Her hand flew to her mouth.
“Oh God…”
Vincent’s voice sharpened.
“What?”
Lily looked at him in horror.
“The night she died…”
Her voice shook.
“It was gone.”
Silence.
The necklace disappeared.
The object Salvatore wanted.
Not random.
Not sentimental.
Critical.
Vincent’s mind raced.
Whatever was inside that necklace—
Salvatore had been killing for it for two decades.
And somehow Lily remained connected.
Then another thought struck him.
A darker one.
Too precise.
Too coordinated.
Too close.
Vincent slowly released her.
His face changed.
Lily noticed immediately.
“What?”
He didn’t answer.
Instead—
He walked toward the window.
Thinking.
Calculating.
Pieces aligning.
Hospital breach.
Security jammers.
Perimeter infiltration.
Photo inside protected zones.
No outsider could get this close repeatedly.
Unless—
His voice turned cold.
“There’s a traitor.”
Lily froze.
“What?”
Vincent turned.
Eyes glacial.
“Inside my organization.”
The realization spread like poison.
Someone inside the Moretti empire had been feeding Salvatore information.
Schedules.
Security rotations.
Locations.
Everything.
Lily’s blood ran cold.
“Who?”
Vincent’s jaw tightened.
“I don’t know.”
That answer frightened even him.
Because Vincent trusted very few men.
And if one had betrayed him—
The enemy was closer than expected.
A knock interrupted them.
Marco entered.
“Boss.”
Vincent looked up.
“What?”
Marco’s expression was wrong.
Too tense.
“Phone call.”
“From who?”
Marco hesitated.
Then—
“He says you’ll want speaker.”
The room chilled.
Vincent walked to the desk.
Marco pressed a button.
Static.
Silence.
Then—
A voice.
Smooth.
Cultured.
Calm.
Terrifying.
“Vincent.”
Lily stopped breathing.
No.
That voice.
Even after years—
She knew it.
Every nerve screamed.
Salvatore.
Vincent’s voice became stone.
“DeLuca.”
A soft chuckle came through the speaker.
“I see the maid remembers me.”
Lily went pale.
Her knees nearly failed.
Vincent’s hand shot out, steadying her.
The voice continued.
“She has her mother’s eyes.”
Lily’s heart stopped.
Mother.
He remembered her mother.
After all these years.
Salvatore’s voice turned almost nostalgic.
“Beautiful woman.”
A pause.
“Terrible liar.”
Vincent’s rage sharpened.
“Get to the point.”
Salvatore laughed softly.
Still controlled.
Still elegant.
That made him worse.
“No threats tonight.”
A pause.
“I’m offering terms.”
Vincent said nothing.
Salvatore continued.
“Give me the girl.”
Lily’s fingers dug into Vincent’s sleeve.
“No…”
Salvatore kept speaking.
“And your son lives.”
The room exploded into silence.
Matteo.
He threatened Matteo directly.
Vincent’s expression emptied.
That was always the most dangerous state.
When emotion vanished.
Pure predator remained.
His voice became deadly calm.
“You just signed your death warrant.”
Salvatore sighed.
“Still emotional.”
A pause.
“Such a weakness.”
Then—
He spoke the sentence that froze Lily’s blood.
“Tell her the truth, Vincent.”
Silence.
Vincent stilled.
Lily noticed.
Instantly.
Her eyes moved to him.
Why had he reacted?
Salvatore smiled through the line.
“Oh?”
He enjoyed this.
“She doesn’t know.”
Lily whispered.
“Know what?”
No one answered.
Salvatore delivered the final blow.
“Ask your wolf why he recognized your mother’s necklace.”
Silence.
Total.
Absolute.
Lily slowly turned toward Vincent.
Her face drained of color.
No.
Impossible.
Her voice trembled.
“Vincent…”
Gray eyes met green.
For the first time since she met him—
She saw something shocking.
Guilt.
Real guilt.
Her heartbeat thundered.
“You knew my mother?”
Vincent said nothing.
That silence became answer enough.
Tears filled Lily’s eyes.
“No…”
Salvatore’s laughter echoed through the speaker.
Satisfied.
Cruel.
Perfectly timed.
Then the line went dead.
Static returned.
No one moved.
Lily stared at Vincent as if seeing him for the first time.
Her voice shattered.
“You knew.”
Vincent inhaled once.
Heavy.
Controlled.
Ancient pain surfaced in his eyes.
When he finally spoke—
His voice carried a truth he had buried for years.
“Yes.”
Lily stopped breathing.
Vincent’s next words changed everything.
“I knew your mother.”
A pause.
May you like
Then—
“And she died because of me.”
