Chapter 64 — The Warning

*~ Sophie’s POV ~*

The silence after his disappearance was worse than his voice.

Lucian stood in the doorway, muscles coiled, scanning the street with predatory precision. The night air was still—too still. No car engine. No footsteps. No whisper of movement. Just the echo of his final words playing in my head like a curse:

“This is just the beginning.”

My heart thudded painfully against my ribs, the terror threading through me like ice.

Lucian finally shut the door and locked every bolt with cold, controlled movements. His jaw was clenched so hard the muscles trembled. My father sank into the nearest chair as though the weight of the entire universe had collapsed onto his shoulders.

The girls had buried their faces into my sides, trembling quietly. I held them tighter, letting their warmth anchor me against the rising panic.

“I’m sorry,” my father whispered, voice cracking in a way I had never heard before. “I’m so sorry, Sophie. This is because of me. He wants to hurt me. And he’ll use you to do it.”

His words sliced through me.

I wanted to speak. To comfort him. To scream. But my voice wouldn’t come. It was trapped somewhere deep in my throat, caged by fear and memories I still couldn’t fully access.

Lucian crossed the room and knelt beside me, his hand sliding gently to my lower back, grounding me. “I won’t let anything happen to you,” he murmured—low, controlled, but laced with barely contained rage. “Or to the girls. Or to your father. He won’t touch this family.”

Something in his voice made the air crackle. A promise. A warning. A brewing storm.

But my father shook his head violently. “You don’t understand. He always finds a way. Always. You don’t know what he’s capable of.”

Lucian turned to him, eyes cold and sharp. “Then help me understand. Tell me everything. Now.”

My father swallowed hard. His hands shook so badly he had to grip the edge of the table to steady himself.

“He wasn’t just trying to silence witnesses,” my father said hoarsely. “He wanted leverage. He wanted power. The judge’s daughter… she was a symbol. A message. And Sophie—”

He looked at me, tears gathering at the corners of his eyes.

“You saw too much. Even if you don’t remember it, he does. And he… he latched onto you. Obsessed, even. And when I ran, it wasn’t just to protect myself. It was to protect you.”

I felt the floor tilt beneath me.

Me? A child?

“What… what did I see?” I whispered.

My father squeezed his eyes shut. “You saw the moment he realized he’d been caught. You screamed. You stopped him. If it weren’t for you, the judge’s daughter would be dead. That scream saved her life… but it destroyed his plan.”

A tremor shook me.

Lucian’s hand tightened around mine.

“So he blamed you,” my father finished. “And he blamed me for not… handling it. For not disappearing. For not obeying him.”

The room fell into a suffocating silence.

Only the ticking of the clock dared to move.

The Weight of Truth

My legs gave out, and Lucian caught me before I hit the floor. He pulled me onto the couch, his arm securely around me, shielding me from everything—even the truth.

The girls crawled into my lap, seeking safety. Their tiny bodies trembled, and I wrapped my arms around them, breathing in their soft hair, grounding myself in the one thing I still had control over—protecting them.

Lucian stood again, a shadow stretching tall and menacing across the room.

“You said this is the beginning,” he murmured to my father. “Tell me what the hell is coming.”

My father wiped his face with a shaking hand.

“He likes games,” he whispered. “He plays with fear. Builds tension. Tests boundaries. He always warns before he strikes. Always. Tonight was a warning. A declaration.”

Lucian’s eyes hardened. “He’s testing me.”

“No,” my father said quietly. “He’s testing her.”

My stomach lurched.

Lucian didn’t hesitate. “Then he chose the wrong family.”

But my father pressed his palms to the table, leaning forward.

“You can’t fight him the way you fight other men, Lucian. He has connections. Judges. Police. Officials. People who owe him favors. People who fear him. People who disappear for crossing him.”

“We’ll disappear him,” Lucian said without blinking.

My father’s eyes widened at the cold conviction in Lucian’s voice.

I swallowed, my throat burning. “He said he wouldn’t hurt me tonight… if he wanted to, he already would have.”

“That’s what terrifies me,” my father whispered. “He’s planning something. He always plans.”

Lockdown

The next hour felt like living inside a war zone.

Lucian checked every window. Every lock. Every possible entry point. He turned on the alarm system, then called his brothers with clipped, lethal commands.

“Cassian—get here. Adrian—surveillance, full perimeter. No one gets within fifty feet of this house without me knowing.”

I could hear Cassian’s worry through the phone. Adrian’s calm calculation.

Within minutes, they arrived—silent, alert, ready.

The house transformed.

From a home…

to a fortress.

Cassian moved to my side, kneeling in front of me. “Hey,” he said softly, brushing the hair from my face. “You’re safe. We’re here. Nothing gets past us.”

Adrian disappeared without a word, but I saw the focus in his eyes. He would watch every shadow.

Fear, Memory, and the Breaking Point

When the girls were finally asleep upstairs—exhausted from fear and tears—I found myself curled on the couch, knees to my chest. My father sat beside me, his face pale and hollow.

Lucian entered the living room and sat across from us, leaning forward with elbows on his knees.

“We’re not waiting for him to make the next move,” he said. “We strike first.”

My father stared at him as though he were insane. “You can’t.”

“I can.”

“You don’t know who—”

“I don’t care,” Lucian snapped. “He came to my home. He threatened my wife. He frightened my children. He crossed the only line I don’t forgive.”

My heart clenched. “Lucian…”

He turned to me, his expression melting for only a split second.

“I’m not losing you,” he whispered. “I’m not losing any of you.”

My father shook his head. “If you go after him alone, you’ll die. He’s untouchable.”

“No one is untouchable,” Lucian said calmly. “Not to me.”

A chill went through me.

He meant it.

Flashback Fragments

That night, as everyone guarded the house, I lay awake, staring at the ceiling. The darkness felt heavier than usual, thick with threat.

And then…

something shifted.

Images I hadn’t seen in years flickered to life behind my eyes:

A dark hallway.

A girl crying.

A door slamming.

A hand grabbing my wrist.

A man whispering, “Stay quiet.”

The feeling of running.

The feeling of hiding.

The moment his eyes met mine.

And then—

a scream.

My scream.

I gasped awake, shaking.

Lucian was instantly at my side. “Sophie?”

“I… I remembered,” I whispered. “I saw him. I saw the moment I screamed. And he… he looked right at me.”

Lucian’s face darkened with rage. “Then he remembers you too.”

My soul froze.

Because that meant one thing:

He wasn’t just coming for revenge.

He was coming for completion.

The Family Meeting

At 3 a.m., Lucian gathered all of us in the living room—me, my father, Cassian, Adrian.

The house hummed with the silence before battle.

Lucian stood, arms crossed. “We’re going to end this. But we need a plan.”

Cassian nodded, eyes steady. “We’ll trap him.”

Adrian added, “We’ll use bait.”

My father’s breath caught.

“You mean… me.”

Lucian shook his head. “Not yet.”

But I knew.

I saw it in Adrian’s eyes.

In Cassian’s quiet resolve.

In Lucian’s fire.

This wasn’t just about protecting us anymore.

This was war.

A Quiet, Brutal Truth

When the others dispersed to set up surveillance for the rest of the night, my father approached me cautiously.

“Sophie,” he whispered, voice strained. “I know you’re angry. I know you’re scared. And I know this is all because of my past—my choices. If something happens to you—”

I grabbed his hand. “Dad. Stop.”

He froze.

“You came back,” I said softly. “You stayed. And that matters more than what happened before.”

His lips trembled.

“But he’s coming,” he whispered.

“Yes,” I said, swallowing hard. “But when he does… we won’t be alone.”

Lucian came to stand behind me, placing a protective hand on my shoulder.

“When he comes,” Lucian said in a low, lethal voice, “we’ll be ready.”

My father nodded, though fear still haunted his eyes.

I looked between them, feeling the heaviness of the night press into my bones.

And I knew—

just as they did—

that the villain wasn’t finished.

His warning was only chapter one.

Whatever came next…

would be darker.

Deadlier.

Personal.

And for the first time,

I truly understood:

We weren’t dealing with a threat.

We were dealing with a hunt.

And I was the target.