CHAPTER NINETEEN : Last Fire, Last Fight13Please respect copyright.PENANAbeokIHxQGv
(Matteo’s POV)
The motel smelled like cheap soap and peace.
Until—13Please respect copyright.PENANA6PaqPlIW7E
someone knocked.
Not once.13Please respect copyright.PENANA73RxIRloh2
Not twice.13Please respect copyright.PENANAggdT4TB2NZ
But three times.
Hard.13Please respect copyright.PENANAi93TMPohoP
Precise.13Please respect copyright.PENANA3ze9BX4kAG
Like a warning.
Matteo looked up from where he was folding baby clothes.13Please respect copyright.PENANAqaUaCvascc
She was still brushing her hair by the mirror.13Please respect copyright.PENANAhCwXYchHkm
Their quiet little world shattered with that one sound.
He motioned for her to be still.13Please respect copyright.PENANAGVnUR60ev9
Picked up the knife hidden under the mattress.13Please respect copyright.PENANAVpD2igesJK
Walked barefoot to the door.
Peered through the peephole.
No one.
But he knew better.
There was only one person who knocked like that.
Santiago.13Please respect copyright.PENANAJk7PdTLQgH
The man who once gave Matteo a second life.13Please respect copyright.PENANAc8lvVWQ7Sd
And now?13Please respect copyright.PENANAl3jojwwMx8
He was here to collect.
He opened the door slowly.13Please respect copyright.PENANAp7h0wBUzP9
No sound.13Please respect copyright.PENANAfwFnPerQyr
No words.
Just a folded piece of paper on the floor.
He picked it up.
Unfolded it.
Read the words scrawled in blood-red ink:
“You left something behind. If you want it back—come alone.”
She found him sitting on the edge of the bed, eyes blank.
“Who was it?”
He didn’t answer.
“Matteo…”
“Someone from before,” he said. “From when I didn’t believe in happy endings.”
“What does he want?”
“Control. Leverage. Me.”
She sat beside him, pressed her hand on his thigh.
“You're not going.”
“I have to.”
“No, you don't—”
“If I don't… he’ll find a way to hurt you. Or her.”
He placed a hand on her belly.
“I made promises. I intend to keep them.”
She stood.13Please respect copyright.PENANAwhXRJcS884
Angry.13Please respect copyright.PENANA1U72uPxkdx
Shaking.
“What if you don’t come back?”
“Then burn what’s left of me,” he said, eyes hard. “But keep the baby safe.”
Midnight.13Please respect copyright.PENANALMrYkWOB4b
He drove alone.
Back to the place where he almost became a monster again.
Santiago was waiting at the old warehouse.
Same smirk.13Please respect copyright.PENANAWVJENHaaFA
Same loaded gun.13Please respect copyright.PENANA1zMTh5iN1Q
Same offer disguised as a threat.
“Come back, Matteo. Lead again. Be who you were.”
“That man died the day I heard my child’s heartbeat.”
“Then die with him.”
Gunfire.13Please respect copyright.PENANAoyKTt8yCNl
Chaos.13Please respect copyright.PENANAKXyNC4NGtQ
A scream.
Matteo didn’t walk away clean.13Please respect copyright.PENANAqcUSBcqM8L
But he walked away alive.
Bullet grazed his side.13Please respect copyright.PENANAXLLlUioO5E
Fists bloodied.13Please respect copyright.PENANADZXgCUu3J3
But he was still breathing.
And Santiago?
Left in the ashes.13Please respect copyright.PENANAIRIWXo6TZl
Like the clinic.13Please respect copyright.PENANAWlRbOvR052
Like the sins.
Gone.
He returned at dawn.13Please respect copyright.PENANAK3RZQBvzK3
She was by the door, waiting.
No words.
She just ran to him.13Please respect copyright.PENANA0U8DKUNw2C
Touched his face.13Please respect copyright.PENANAszZ7lEDHpN
Held him like she’d never let him go again.
“It’s over?” she whispered.
“It’s over.”
“You’re hurt.”
“He’s worse.”
“You scared me, Matteo.”
“I scare myself when it comes to you.”
They kissed.13Please respect copyright.PENANAa1oX10EQER
Soft.13Please respect copyright.PENANAORws7e9GKW
Salty with tears.13Please respect copyright.PENANA6oIz7vSVdK
But real.
And this time—
There was nothing left chasing them.
Only the future.
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