CHAPTER NINETEEN : Last Fire, Last Fight21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAZ4PkWbHjS
(Matteo’s POV)
The motel smelled like cheap soap and peace.
Until—21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy1vqwg2CMa
someone knocked.
Not once.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmYnR4cyUuB
Not twice.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu7DV5gub6X
But three times.
Hard.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKe4mmvCY96
Precise.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq149xLMpdo
Like a warning.
Matteo looked up from where he was folding baby clothes.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFisA0mv97g
She was still brushing her hair by the mirror.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGuNRAplGgA
Their quiet little world shattered with that one sound.
He motioned for her to be still.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡltutBbC7dz
Picked up the knife hidden under the mattress.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj3EkXOISEf
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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡibtNBLE8O6
The man who once gave Matteo a second life.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCUXLbtT76G
And now?21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpj0NuDBPN2
He was here to collect.
He opened the door slowly.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsJqmxoqBnw
No sound.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWztRQzxttT
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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSH1oFH8vtn
Angry.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFR0Q2a48jo
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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5U06JHI5h5
He drove alone.
Back to the place where he almost became a monster again.
Santiago was waiting at the old warehouse.
Same smirk.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfS14rqhOor
Same loaded gun.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeTr6IkQIp6
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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnsPYGRGR8s
Chaos.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBJBxLhueY6
A scream.
Matteo didn’t walk away clean.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhzR7pL9XML
But he walked away alive.
Bullet grazed his side.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuTaHgY4ev0
Fists bloodied.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnLOi185crQ
But he was still breathing.
And Santiago?
Left in the ashes.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsNqNzLGBRx
Like the clinic.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3xxJHCJ4ck
Like the sins.
Gone.
He returned at dawn.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGwCYLh4UXV
She was by the door, waiting.
No words.
She just ran to him.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgqaMiktSgf
Touched his face.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtKxWjWxH8r
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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGbeWOS2KJB
Soft.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ZzGTNjSzx
Salty with tears.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdJke9KBCof
But real.
And this time—
There was nothing left chasing them.
Only the future.
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