CHAPTER NINETEEN : Last Fire, Last Fight20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZyPLohOtL9
(Matteo’s POV)
The motel smelled like cheap soap and peace.
Until—20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTqcwGip6WY
someone knocked.
Not once.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmk16VAxVWf
Not twice.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp71mQwfwIe
But three times.
Hard.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4kvEHWFjAB
Precise.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVKp2t38L2a
Like a warning.
Matteo looked up from where he was folding baby clothes.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡez0dSbIYEQ
She was still brushing her hair by the mirror.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGfW6AXvZGA
Their quiet little world shattered with that one sound.
He motioned for her to be still.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzrTtgXzHcq
Picked up the knife hidden under the mattress.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0gE33EROcu
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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxR52BjzGtk
The man who once gave Matteo a second life.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzUb91gA0VM
And now?20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxMmH6gd3wF
He was here to collect.
He opened the door slowly.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi0sqlfQThq
No sound.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVx8Orx03iT
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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡthgBQst1Go
Angry.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7josKMJCUe
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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsuektUOKzw
He drove alone.
Back to the place where he almost became a monster again.
Santiago was waiting at the old warehouse.
Same smirk.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfX5BlgNPUm
Same loaded gun.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj9QdGrsoYB
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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAFBP8EwL2q
Chaos.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIVw2R8crnR
A scream.
Matteo didn’t walk away clean.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUC2F7l50ZK
But he walked away alive.
Bullet grazed his side.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiTNGlALJGm
Fists bloodied.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEgvyYoyOUk
But he was still breathing.
And Santiago?
Left in the ashes.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJZb03Za65V
Like the clinic.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3lOXGXqVAL
Like the sins.
Gone.
He returned at dawn.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRjvkIDZMRY
She was by the door, waiting.
No words.
She just ran to him.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcr1lBFYuPF
Touched his face.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYA2KVRCu9S
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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgfI3T4m7fR
Soft.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6DNz4uS96i
Salty with tears.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpMMtJ7T8bU
But real.
And this time—
There was nothing left chasing them.
Only the future.
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