CHAPTER NINE : Scars That Don’t Fade in Water18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDIU7tkBE1d
(Matteo’s POV – The Shower Scene)
He stepped into the shower without turning on the lights.
He didn’t need to see his reflection.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO4IEBmxWWa
Not tonight.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLIO3eEizwZ
Not after her warning.
The water hit him hard.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq9y6zprNnT
Too hot.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUPGTUNkfYO
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.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd6wP3wU2uh
Steam clouding the mirror behind him.
He squeezed his eyes shut.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡazg0CcpYAI
But he still saw her.
The woman who kissed his scars like they weren’t warnings.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXd6uqzXtqS
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,18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnzOIlmwLC7
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…18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqDp7rtAyl7
And men like him?18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgbmdQBkf1D
Weren’t supposed to love out loud.
The water kept pouring.
As if it could wash away guilt.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsTt1Qng3fL
Fear.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0XFDxcsW4Y
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 bed18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLuRSupcs6A
who didn’t know18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVXUD3lFHn6
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.”
