CHAPTER NINETEEN : Last Fire, Last Fight18Please respect copyright.PENANAJzvtnBaLzx
(Matteo’s POV)
The motel smelled like cheap soap and peace.
Until—18Please respect copyright.PENANAPAipFW0aHw
someone knocked.
Not once.18Please respect copyright.PENANAsZMFrUCFn7
Not twice.18Please respect copyright.PENANAh2dijDusCT
But three times.
Hard.18Please respect copyright.PENANARA3lq8tgih
Precise.18Please respect copyright.PENANASA9i1CfvMH
Like a warning.
Matteo looked up from where he was folding baby clothes.18Please respect copyright.PENANA2uysm0HAkx
She was still brushing her hair by the mirror.18Please respect copyright.PENANAEEkVU9BPnI
Their quiet little world shattered with that one sound.
He motioned for her to be still.18Please respect copyright.PENANAPCb6T7JIaX
Picked up the knife hidden under the mattress.18Please respect copyright.PENANAllof0kySFJ
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.18Please respect copyright.PENANApePl2Rb5mq
The man who once gave Matteo a second life.18Please respect copyright.PENANAugJyC9kvmr
And now?18Please respect copyright.PENANA2NcGikOI1K
He was here to collect.
He opened the door slowly.18Please respect copyright.PENANAECmSm55XiX
No sound.18Please respect copyright.PENANADWpTUPRRom
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.18Please respect copyright.PENANArwrwwk44mt
Angry.18Please respect copyright.PENANAE3lniaJG1z
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.18Please respect copyright.PENANAEG4mUuYh94
He drove alone.
Back to the place where he almost became a monster again.
Santiago was waiting at the old warehouse.
Same smirk.18Please respect copyright.PENANAwwWHXqjii6
Same loaded gun.18Please respect copyright.PENANAUSYVB4wgJs
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.18Please respect copyright.PENANAoqPWLs85fL
Chaos.18Please respect copyright.PENANAudx7n4Hepv
A scream.
Matteo didn’t walk away clean.18Please respect copyright.PENANAYpmD7twxvO
But he walked away alive.
Bullet grazed his side.18Please respect copyright.PENANAsisYH8R0Xx
Fists bloodied.18Please respect copyright.PENANARidZLATXGV
But he was still breathing.
And Santiago?
Left in the ashes.18Please respect copyright.PENANAA9xrHBJDht
Like the clinic.18Please respect copyright.PENANAwWHBU7wWea
Like the sins.
Gone.
He returned at dawn.18Please respect copyright.PENANALxDeeR1A5o
She was by the door, waiting.
No words.
She just ran to him.18Please respect copyright.PENANAXoQSvHPqAT
Touched his face.18Please respect copyright.PENANAlkuzJT5nxd
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.18Please respect copyright.PENANAEaFUkjqi2r
Soft.18Please respect copyright.PENANAvHKvmPql2Q
Salty with tears.18Please respect copyright.PENANAjxZuTY0SWs
But real.
And this time—
There was nothing left chasing them.
Only the future.
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