CHAPTER FOURTEEN : The Threat Breaks In25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgmW5798vvJ
(Her POV)
She hadn't answered his last message.
Not because she didn’t want to.
But because she didn’t know how.
How do you love someone whose truth scares you?25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqMbPdudPFF
How do you stop missing the hands that lied to you—25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡov4aDuYHaq
but never hurt you?
She slept restlessly that night.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIYIA102yHL
Kept the lights on.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEf14k3Rxe6
Kept her keys under her pillow.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzLH3IT1vFV
Kept the journal under her bed.
Matteo's voice echoed in her head.
"That if you knew everything... you'd never kiss me again."
She would’ve kissed him anyway.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf2VqdEo0ae
Hard.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5RHbTdPSyU
Long.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYg0lnC7KUa
Until he believed he was worth loving.
But she needed time.
Just a little more time.
She was brushing her teeth when it happened.
A sound.
A sharp, metallic snap.
The door.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVaBOHXgn2l
Unlocked.
But she hadn’t moved.
She froze.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRc4gOJ8ukl
Toothbrush still in hand.
Then footsteps.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtHOGEK9LhD
Slow. Confident. Male.
“Matteo?” she called, heart hammering.
No answer.
Then a voice—feminine, smooth, cold:
“He won’t come for you this time.”
She dropped the toothbrush.
Ran to the drawer—25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk75hsMwLEA
Too late.
A man grabbed her from behind.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrfc7Rw1TTV
Pressed something cold against her temple.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4NoTKR1GJL
Another tore her phone from her hand.
A woman stood in the corner.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRfQO6XnmLE
Long hair. All black. Red lipstick like blood.
Evangeline.
“You should’ve left him when you had the chance,” she said.
Her knees buckled.
But they didn’t give her the chance to fall.
They didn’t tie her up.
They didn’t need to.
Fear was enough.
They made her sit.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAupt240WHf
Turned off the lights.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQCCoXjTw5o
Just the hallway bulb flickering above.
Evangeline circled her like a slow-moving curse.
“He burned everything,” she said. “His past. Our files. Our work.”
“But he forgot the one thing he should’ve burned...”
You.
She bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from screaming.
Because she knew if she screamed, she wouldn’t stop.
“I don’t want him,” Evangeline said simply.
“But I won’t let him be happy either.”
She heard a sound then—25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFIDA5DP9Gx
Distant. Familiar. Matteo’s voice.
Yelling.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsWo9dgHS10
Desperate.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvvDXM1SJYp
Coming closer.
“LET HER GO!”
A gun cocked beside her head.
Evangeline didn’t even flinch.
But her captor did—looked toward the window.
Too late.
Glass shattered.
Matteo burst through.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEF0C2KiN9K
Blood on his knuckles.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkJFauWT3NU
A look in his eyes she’d never seen before.
A man no longer asking to be saved.
A man choosing to save.
He took down the first guy without a word.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnyE8qgBpZY
Just fists. Just fury.
The second tried to run.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5qjJO4WR9q
Didn’t make it past the stairs.
Evangeline?
She stayed.
Smiling.
Clapping slow.
“Bravo, Matteo.”
He pointed the gun—her gun—right at her.
“You’re done.”
She only tilted her head.
“So are you.”
Police sirens in the distance.
She looked at him—25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSWza8Kjq95
Shaking. Bleeding. Alive.
“Matteo...”
He didn’t move.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaXH0QVqDuc
Didn’t speak.
Until her hand touched his.
Only then did he breathe again.
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