Chapter 8 - What Vincent Had Been Protecting
They found Lily twenty-seven minutes later.
She was in a warehouse near the river.
Alive.
Terrified.
And wearing the bracelet Harper had given her.
Vincent entered first.
Lily was sitting in a chair.
A man stood behind her.
Dario Vescari.
“You came.”
Vincent raised his weapon.
“Let her go.”
Dario smiled.
“You finally have something worth bargaining for.”
Harper stepped out from behind Vincent.
Lily saw her.
“Harper!”
“Lily!”
Dario held up a hand.
“Everybody stays still.”
Harper's tears fell.
Vincent whispered, “Don't move.”
Dario laughed.
“You still think you can control everything.”
Vincent said nothing.
“Do you know what your father told me before he died?”
Vincent's eyes darkened.
“He told me you were weak.”
Dario stepped closer.
“You pretended to be ruthless for years. But all you ever wanted was to protect one person.”
Vincent looked at Lily.
Then Harper.
“No.”
Dario smiled.
“Yes.”
A truck roared outside.
Security.
Dario's men became distracted.
Vincent moved.
The entire warehouse erupted.
Harper ran toward Lily.
Vincent fought through the chaos.
A gunshot echoed.
Harper screamed.
Vincent fell.
“VIN!”
She froze.
He pushed himself back up.
The bullet had grazed his shoulder.
“I'm fine.”
“That is not fine!”
“Get Lily out.”
Harper pulled Lily toward the exit.
Dario escaped.
By sunrise, the police had arrived.
But Vincent refused the hospital.
Back at the estate, Harper cleaned his wound.
“You're impossible.”
“So I've been told.”
She wrapped the bandage tighter.
He flinched.
“Good.”
“You enjoy this.”
“A little.”
Silence settled over the room.
Lily slept upstairs.
Harper looked at him.
“Your father.”
Vincent stared out the window.
“Richard was lying.”
“You don't know that.”
“I know my father died twelve years ago.”
“But your mother said something different.”
Vincent turned.
“My mother?”
Harper showed him the letter.
Vincent read it twice.
Then he sat down.
“My mother knew.”
“Knew what?”
“That my father was not the monster everyone believed.”
Harper frowned.
“What do you mean?”
Vincent explained.
His father had been a criminal.
There was no denying it.
But years before his death, he had secretly begun cooperating with federal investigators.
He had wanted to dismantle Black Harbor.
He created records.
Names.
Payments.
Evidence.
Then he was murdered.
Vincent had spent the next decade trying to uncover who ordered it.
His sister died in the middle of that war.
His mother disappeared shortly after.
Vincent believed she had fled.
Now he suspected she had hidden.
Harper whispered, “Where?”
Vincent looked at the letter.
“Somewhere Richard couldn't find her.”
“Is she alive?”
He did not know.
Then his phone rang.
Unknown number.
Vincent answered.
A woman's voice whispered.
“Vincent.”
He went completely still.
Harper recognized the sound of his breathing changing.
“Mom?”
Silence.
Then:
“You need to stop searching.”
Vincent stood.
“Where are you?”
“I am safe.”
“Who are you with?”
“Someone who has protected me for years.”
Vincent looked at Harper.
His face was full of disbelief.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because you were never ready.”
The call ended.
Vincent stared at the phone.
Harper stepped closer.
“Your mother is alive.”
“Yes.”
“And she knows about Black Harbor.”
“Yes.”
“And she probably knows what happened to your father.”
“Yes.”
Harper took his hand.
“Then you're not fighting alone anymore.”
Vincent looked down at their intertwined fingers.
For a moment, he said nothing.
Then he turned his hand and held hers.
“I don't want you involved.”
“I am already involved.”
“I can protect you.”
“I don't need a bodyguard.”
“You need someone who will stand between you and a bullet.”
Harper looked at him.
“I need a husband who tells me the truth.”
He went silent.
Harper took off the wedding ring.
She placed it in his palm.
“I signed the contract because I needed Lily.”
Vincent closed his fingers around the ring.
“And now?”
“Now I want to know whether there's anything real underneath it.”
Vincent's eyes met hers.
“I don't know how to do real.”
“Learn.”
He looked almost afraid.
Then he asked softly:
“Can I?”
Harper smiled through her tears.
“Yes.”
He kissed her.
It was not part of the contract.
No cameras.
No lawyers.
May you like
No courtroom.
Just two damaged people standing in a quiet room, both realizing the fake marriage had become the one thing in their lives neither of them wanted to fake anymore.
