CHAPTER FOURTEEN : The Threat Breaks In13Please respect copyright.PENANAKKKn8f1XxL
(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?13Please respect copyright.PENANAbyg0gRU6zP
How do you stop missing the hands that lied to you—13Please respect copyright.PENANAi7If1e9dwb
but never hurt you?
She slept restlessly that night.13Please respect copyright.PENANALmpIL7TbZf
Kept the lights on.13Please respect copyright.PENANA7WEMW55cnH
Kept her keys under her pillow.13Please respect copyright.PENANAjpsDyR4m9y
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.13Please respect copyright.PENANAhmVYJqttHf
Hard.13Please respect copyright.PENANAnD34hnYRdd
Long.13Please respect copyright.PENANA5NM5OWRqGv
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.13Please respect copyright.PENANAPb2c9X58iP
Unlocked.
But she hadn’t moved.
She froze.13Please respect copyright.PENANArWCBXPIZG0
Toothbrush still in hand.
Then footsteps.13Please respect copyright.PENANAi8mQhkGqtS
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—13Please respect copyright.PENANAP7xQ9frPXu
Too late.
A man grabbed her from behind.13Please respect copyright.PENANAAaHElCQsHV
Pressed something cold against her temple.13Please respect copyright.PENANAFf0JzLPC2v
Another tore her phone from her hand.
A woman stood in the corner.13Please respect copyright.PENANAkQkbbebtXC
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.13Please respect copyright.PENANAfoYqe3QLQ0
Turned off the lights.13Please respect copyright.PENANAdReg4IejOx
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—13Please respect copyright.PENANA184aX3oqdS
Distant. Familiar. Matteo’s voice.
Yelling.13Please respect copyright.PENANAgzEcx5XQvp
Desperate.13Please respect copyright.PENANAjEQD4UTWxk
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.13Please respect copyright.PENANAua1mre65WX
Blood on his knuckles.13Please respect copyright.PENANAkJZqfAttur
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.13Please respect copyright.PENANAxSNYTkqgQW
Just fists. Just fury.
The second tried to run.13Please respect copyright.PENANApaQIr5OTdI
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—13Please respect copyright.PENANAOQZ0yMAFCG
Shaking. Bleeding. Alive.
“Matteo...”
He didn’t move.13Please respect copyright.PENANAccRahdVWTJ
Didn’t speak.
Until her hand touched his.
Only then did he breathe again.
ns216.73.216.12da2