CHAPTER 3 — THE NAME THEY TRIED TO ERASE
Two days later, Lily Sinclair opened her eyes.
The first thing she saw was white.
The second was him.
Vincent Moretti sitting beside her bed like he had never left.
And the third—
Matteo, asleep with his head resting on her blanket.
Her breath caught instantly.
“Don’t move,” Vincent said.
It wasn’t an order.
It was relief disguised as control.
Lily tried to speak but winced in pain.
“You’re in Mount Sinai,” he continued. “You survived surgery. Barely.”
Her fingers twitched.
“The men…” she whispered.
“Dead,” Vincent said simply.
A long silence.
Then her voice, weaker:
“The boy—”
“Safe,” Vincent said again. “Because you made it that way.”
Something flickered in her eyes.
Not fear.
Not pain.
Confusion.
“Why am I still alive?” she asked.
Vincent leaned forward slightly.
“Because you refused to die when you should have,” he said.
A pause.
“And because my son refuses to accept a world where you don’t exist anymore.”
Matteo stirred at her voice.
His eyes opened instantly.
“Miss Lily!” he gasped, jumping up. “You came back!”
Before she could react, he wrapped his arms around her carefully—too careful, like he was afraid she might break again.
Lily froze.
Then slowly, painfully, she lifted one hand and touched his hair.
“I’m here,” she whispered.
May you like
And for the first time since the shooting—
her voice did not sound like someone dying.
