CHAPTER NINE : Scars That Don’t Fade in Water44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNteI9VQISW
(Matteo’s POV – The Shower Scene)
He stepped into the shower without turning on the lights.
He didn’t need to see his reflection.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZjNtlK5Ui8
Not tonight.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKGZ1OqBW0k
Not after her warning.
The water hit him hard.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoMLh1wadDv
Too hot.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCJOXENTk3t
Too loud.
But it still didn’t drown out Evangeline’s words.
"You want to play house, Matteo? Then be ready to bury it when they come."
He braced both hands against the tile wall.
Water dripping down his spine.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB9nDf0t7tQ
Steam clouding the mirror behind him.
He squeezed his eyes shut.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjNLNnF7Aiv
But he still saw her.
The woman who kissed his scars like they weren’t warnings.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLkmrWWLoXh
The woman who moaned his name like it was home.
He had no right.
He had no right to make her feel safe in his arms,44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8aSoqiRhjl
when his past was the very thing that could destroy her.
“Don’t touch her,” he had said. “Don’t say her name.”
But Evangeline would.
They all would.
Because Matteo had chosen to love out loud…44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA0tcKsViua
And men like him?44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh5BWTzUpuA
Weren’t supposed to love out loud.
The water kept pouring.
As if it could wash away guilt.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuKSukhuiXk
Fear.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMTfK7dZqKJ
Love.
But Matteo knew better.
There were scars that didn’t fade in water.
There were sins that didn’t cleanse.
And there was a woman in his bed44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLaaHXreXkI
who didn’t know44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ20PomMzJ71
he was about to ruin her life.
He let the water run until the heat numbed his skin.
Then, in the silence, he whispered the one thing he couldn’t say to her face:
ns216.73.216.238da2“Please don’t leave when you find out who I really am.”
