CHAPTER NINETEEN : Last Fire, Last Fight42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNHrG95apog
(Matteo’s POV)
The motel smelled like cheap soap and peace.
Until—42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0oqwqkoIuG
someone knocked.
Not once.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDW4ap5KLNL
Not twice.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDHkruCdgnu
But three times.
Hard.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3LFzTxqajd
Precise.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE1tvBsH1u1
Like a warning.
Matteo looked up from where he was folding baby clothes.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfCSzIXmwo8
She was still brushing her hair by the mirror.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkpLb6OQ3aj
Their quiet little world shattered with that one sound.
He motioned for her to be still.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZrNPdXVjBr
Picked up the knife hidden under the mattress.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqXeM9BaQqd
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJRWbq20sW8
The man who once gave Matteo a second life.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO6OSBTo2di
And now?42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxzL6JmGReN
He was here to collect.
He opened the door slowly.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Uz70hgukg
No sound.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3xK0vWiOLX
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0VIV5PTYQl
Angry.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdYuySFMDpH
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMxcQJTOXcm
He drove alone.
Back to the place where he almost became a monster again.
Santiago was waiting at the old warehouse.
Same smirk.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsD3SEYo8pZ
Same loaded gun.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVItWo5YVPT
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhiN5cHXlAW
Chaos.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWEqp83EIKN
A scream.
Matteo didn’t walk away clean.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEmITCXYl6L
But he walked away alive.
Bullet grazed his side.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2GiX0y5mjy
Fists bloodied.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYa57ZSaxBk
But he was still breathing.
And Santiago?
Left in the ashes.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjpSvRvsAV5
Like the clinic.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdn0W8M7oPn
Like the sins.
Gone.
He returned at dawn.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzJN6fRZ9Lq
She was by the door, waiting.
No words.
She just ran to him.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCk6DDLJQS8
Touched his face.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJgGvrVJXxz
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLcrM1sl311
Soft.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkwgB3TYgnu
Salty with tears.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmawauLIdTD
But real.
And this time—
There was nothing left chasing them.
Only the future.
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