CHAPTER NINETEEN : Last Fire, Last Fight27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRc2PL2cAsm
(Matteo’s POV)
The motel smelled like cheap soap and peace.
Until—27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ984rdk19F4
someone knocked.
Not once.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb5pDHVBiKB
Not twice.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNe86M94Y9l
But three times.
Hard.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcu3vx9HL0R
Precise.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDrfJewHZRW
Like a warning.
Matteo looked up from where he was folding baby clothes.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkY8zjR2BoJ
She was still brushing her hair by the mirror.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxDm1lGcN1J
Their quiet little world shattered with that one sound.
He motioned for her to be still.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJxKOFVcFDT
Picked up the knife hidden under the mattress.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfD6RJuJ2Om
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.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs2daJ7vya4
The man who once gave Matteo a second life.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYU9ssxxnvM
And now?27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡywyBXrooqF
He was here to collect.
He opened the door slowly.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBaqpx9YfE1
No sound.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2iTvkC8W70
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.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvDDxPu3bLy
Angry.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxa1n6ixesw
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.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOULuo1CcIJ
He drove alone.
Back to the place where he almost became a monster again.
Santiago was waiting at the old warehouse.
Same smirk.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk5Cq5H2oby
Same loaded gun.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvVBotWrxSg
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.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm1YXEOSepo
Chaos.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9sEEmmHAFs
A scream.
Matteo didn’t walk away clean.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM5ihgm9oek
But he walked away alive.
Bullet grazed his side.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0CEdbeidgw
Fists bloodied.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl1DxaKlnBT
But he was still breathing.
And Santiago?
Left in the ashes.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3pTcPiVnr7
Like the clinic.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡONmJ2nAxy7
Like the sins.
Gone.
He returned at dawn.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjRsSTMOg78
She was by the door, waiting.
No words.
She just ran to him.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUqHqZZ64yS
Touched his face.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo5NpmlAdrD
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.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR8lUOL2INa
Soft.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvd8CHWzf2M
Salty with tears.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrzllqpMebh
But real.
And this time—
There was nothing left chasing them.
Only the future.
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