CHAPTER NINE : Scars That Don’t Fade in Water22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGk5nyFFfup
(Matteo’s POV – The Shower Scene)
He stepped into the shower without turning on the lights.
He didn’t need to see his reflection.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3LQPvvHA3p
Not tonight.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt6G2Gwzbvl
Not after her warning.
The water hit him hard.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyRiu66bCaZ
Too hot.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVyAaTNWsVb
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.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiFRnLNe2On
Steam clouding the mirror behind him.
He squeezed his eyes shut.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzbpiRDD5il
But he still saw her.
The woman who kissed his scars like they weren’t warnings.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1bXyHgEge5
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,22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQynp9nVL4I
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…22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLjpRql1yu8
And men like him?22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEjvU2BiP3O
Weren’t supposed to love out loud.
The water kept pouring.
As if it could wash away guilt.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCNeMKJtSxM
Fear.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4uveihPYfV
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 bed22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqnb7XTXJyx
who didn’t know22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEeHYSDvgFv
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:
ns216.73.216.169da2“Please don’t leave when you find out who I really am.”
