Bound To My Mafia Stepuncles novel Chapter 221

Chapter 221

Aria’s Pov

POV: Aria

I watched him fall apart before he realized he was doing it.

Matteo didn’t make noise when he hurt. He didn’t scream. He didn’t shout. He broke things in silence. Tore through drawers. Shattered glass with his hands. Let the blood speak instead of his mouth. That was how I knew it was bad.

It shook something in me, seeing him like that.

He wasn’t made of stone. Not really. I’d known that since the night he bled into my palm, whispering orders like they could hold him together. But this tonight he wasn’t just bleeding. He was burning from the inside out.

And I didn’t know if I could stop it.

I’d never seen his hands shake before. Not like that. Not Matteo. Not the man who could stare death in the eye and make it blink. I stood there for too long before I said anything, afraid that if I touched him too soon, he’d turn to ash.

But I touched him anyway.

I held his hand. I wiped the blood from his knuckles. I didn’t tell him it would be okay. I didn’t lie. I just stayed there. Close. Breathing the same air. Feeling the same silence press in around us like the walls themselves were grieving.

Everything about this war had started with me.

And now it was taking everything from him too.

If I hadn’t run. If I hadn’t lied. If I hadn’t dragged my ghosts into his world, maybe Luca would still be alive. Maybe Matteo wouldn’t be breaking things just to feel something.

And still… he didn’t push me away.

Not when I touched his face. Not when I leaned my forehead to his. Not even when my voice cracked.

You’re still breathing, I told him. So fight like someone who’s alive.

I hope he heard me.

Later, Enzo found me in the hallway. He had that look he always wore when he was trying to hide the fact that he was worried. He was bleeding too, just a little at the temple. Bandaged. Tired.

“You should rest,” he said, voice low.

I nodded. I pressed a soft kiss to Matteo’s cheek before I left the office. He didn’t say anything. But his shoulders dipped just a little, like the storm inside him had lost one gust of wind.

I didn’t say goodbye. I just walked upstairs, holding the railing tighter than I wanted to admit.

My body still ached. The wounds were healing, but slowly. I wasn’t as strong as I used to be. Not yet. But I made it to the second floor on my own, one step at a time. I paused in the hall, outside a door that had been half open since the day we got back.

Chiara’s room.

I didn’t knock.

She wasn’t crying again. That was something.

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Chapter 221

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colors. She looked over when she saw the, and something like relief paved arote hey fave.

“You look like a ghost,” she said gently.

“You look like ven’re getting better at hiding your crying.”

She smiled, just a little.

She stood up and walked toward me. Wordless. Light steps on the rug. She slipped her arm around my waist lite she’d done it a hundred times before and helped me toward the bed.

“Come on,” she murmured. “I’ll make room.”

I sank onto the mattress slowly, letting out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. She pulled the blanket over both of us and climbed hark it heside me.

“What movie is this?” I asked softly.

“My Neighbor Totoro,” she said. “It’s kind of weird but nice. Like nothing bad happens. It’s just quiet. Just… soft.”

I looked at the screen. There was a big gray creature holding an umbrella. The wind was blowing but nothing scary was coming, Just trees, clouds, the sound of rain.

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