CHAPTER NINETEEN : Last Fire, Last Fight19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEeaSp9ecvq
(Matteo’s POV)
The motel smelled like cheap soap and peace.
Until—19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZfwlwAxLLG
someone knocked.
Not once.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsZ0NvE5rFK
Not twice.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtCekyaTjlX
But three times.
Hard.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLvuiKEwDqJ
Precise.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi9DWLx1BsJ
Like a warning.
Matteo looked up from where he was folding baby clothes.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJV3MSloohJ
She was still brushing her hair by the mirror.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRzmimlZgRV
Their quiet little world shattered with that one sound.
He motioned for her to be still.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ1l7wpFADz
Picked up the knife hidden under the mattress.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmmbM3Y3H4B
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.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbtko7yIe9g
The man who once gave Matteo a second life.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjJV0GyiCZ8
And now?19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr3V4rZgpnf
He was here to collect.
He opened the door slowly.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnJ6vXDI6A3
No sound.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB9X2kzVX2z
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.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvGqRaNapUO
Angry.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx2wTvKmsbK
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.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiUnEJRr6x7
He drove alone.
Back to the place where he almost became a monster again.
Santiago was waiting at the old warehouse.
Same smirk.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkJt34kLEHH
Same loaded gun.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTN3BPaX8RO
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.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB2vbZvvtOT
Chaos.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFqtbldRmcn
A scream.
Matteo didn’t walk away clean.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbd4JIdU0xJ
But he walked away alive.
Bullet grazed his side.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAXMa8kORPZ
Fists bloodied.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4h693puRWi
But he was still breathing.
And Santiago?
Left in the ashes.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyhhHdSCHc4
Like the clinic.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5F0XGWgDl1
Like the sins.
Gone.
He returned at dawn.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwd18I0o88B
She was by the door, waiting.
No words.
She just ran to him.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMgsxF830ED
Touched his face.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzn3zClH8oV
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.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvG7mQvbfeY
Soft.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡndDF62RCFM
Salty with tears.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1WNPsiZbQa
But real.
And this time—
There was nothing left chasing them.
Only the future.
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