CHAPTER NINE : Scars That Don’t Fade in Water17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDjh0SYlrq8
(Matteo’s POV – The Shower Scene)
He stepped into the shower without turning on the lights.
He didn’t need to see his reflection.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUimq0SPryZ
Not tonight.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHf2veIegDV
Not after her warning.
The water hit him hard.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3IlGP8DGat
Too hot.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTHDjaX1RqD
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.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOHzJn4nvMi
Steam clouding the mirror behind him.
He squeezed his eyes shut.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMoNbAgjALZ
But he still saw her.
The woman who kissed his scars like they weren’t warnings.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6oj2BusJi9
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,17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO1iDuuv9ig
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…17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsTHZCzwMKN
And men like him?17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx9b2bhDTl0
Weren’t supposed to love out loud.
The water kept pouring.
As if it could wash away guilt.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtJQNQSezbg
Fear.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN5JCZJ0urk
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 bed17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtTlpD3jWwW
who didn’t know17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKuoHtrTGYA
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:
ns216.73.216.239da2“Please don’t leave when you find out who I really am.”
