CHAPTER FOURTEEN : The Threat Breaks In16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLE5S7y79QY
(Her POV)
She hadn't answered his last message.
Not because she didn’t want to.
But because she didn’t know how.
How do you love someone whose truth scares you?16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHVik69cl4V
How do you stop missing the hands that lied to you—16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNbwVV66Kr4
but never hurt you?
She slept restlessly that night.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmhHYdw1KHY
Kept the lights on.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeHqHObxrDB
Kept her keys under her pillow.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0NcKqO7td8
Kept the journal under her bed.
Matteo's voice echoed in her head.
"That if you knew everything... you'd never kiss me again."
She would’ve kissed him anyway.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0zdWRuosH2
Hard.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIcwV62dK7w
Long.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDRTtnmerEi
Until he believed he was worth loving.
But she needed time.
Just a little more time.
She was brushing her teeth when it happened.
A sound.
A sharp, metallic snap.
The door.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYudMwXkUxh
Unlocked.
But she hadn’t moved.
She froze.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxCaVZgdoS5
Toothbrush still in hand.
Then footsteps.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaqPKuWxZtf
Slow. Confident. Male.
“Matteo?” she called, heart hammering.
No answer.
Then a voice—feminine, smooth, cold:
“He won’t come for you this time.”
She dropped the toothbrush.
Ran to the drawer—16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtLdTtUznhf
Too late.
A man grabbed her from behind.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPkgV271T7n
Pressed something cold against her temple.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvyRKtCfu0L
Another tore her phone from her hand.
A woman stood in the corner.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbnZ05QlYpC
Long hair. All black. Red lipstick like blood.
Evangeline.
“You should’ve left him when you had the chance,” she said.
Her knees buckled.
But they didn’t give her the chance to fall.
They didn’t tie her up.
They didn’t need to.
Fear was enough.
They made her sit.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFV7nRJfu6x
Turned off the lights.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKE3CnYRxhQ
Just the hallway bulb flickering above.
Evangeline circled her like a slow-moving curse.
“He burned everything,” she said. “His past. Our files. Our work.”
“But he forgot the one thing he should’ve burned...”
You.
She bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from screaming.
Because she knew if she screamed, she wouldn’t stop.
“I don’t want him,” Evangeline said simply.
“But I won’t let him be happy either.”
She heard a sound then—16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡer9FZoBpYu
Distant. Familiar. Matteo’s voice.
Yelling.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgazEoOuC2J
Desperate.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAAyLnBkSbe
Coming closer.
“LET HER GO!”
A gun cocked beside her head.
Evangeline didn’t even flinch.
But her captor did—looked toward the window.
Too late.
Glass shattered.
Matteo burst through.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbNKeM8OxlX
Blood on his knuckles.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdaIEhafnDu
A look in his eyes she’d never seen before.
A man no longer asking to be saved.
A man choosing to save.
He took down the first guy without a word.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtmfBFwiBQP
Just fists. Just fury.
The second tried to run.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrsVREyRHQA
Didn’t make it past the stairs.
Evangeline?
She stayed.
Smiling.
Clapping slow.
“Bravo, Matteo.”
He pointed the gun—her gun—right at her.
“You’re done.”
She only tilted her head.
“So are you.”
Police sirens in the distance.
She looked at him—16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5uKSU2P3VG
Shaking. Bleeding. Alive.
“Matteo...”
He didn’t move.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeMhMfxMqoB
Didn’t speak.
Until her hand touched his.
Only then did he breathe again.
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