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Chapter 13---Operation: Step One
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2025-06-12 09:02:25
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Burning empire Chapter 34— The Things We Pretend Not to Feel
Morning came with a knock.Not the usual kind.This one was sharp. Quick. Rhythmic.Matteo jumped up from the floor where he’d been sleeping, his hoodie tangled around him. Leo stirred on the mattress, groaning softly.Another knock.He crossed the small room and opened the door a crack.Two men stood outside. Black suits. Earpieces. No smiles.“Mr. Pendragon is waiting,” the taller one said.Matteo blinked. “Now?”“He doesn’t wait.”---By the time Matteo threw on his cleanest shirt and slid into his sneakers, the guards were already escorting him down the street. No one dared come close. The black SUV parked by the corner gleamed under the weak morning sun, tinted windows hiding what lay inside.The door opened automatically.Dominic sat in the back, dressed in a charcoal coat, black gloves, and sunglasses despite the cloudy sky. One of his personal guards stood outside, scanning the street with cold precision. Another sat in front, beside the driver, watching Matteo through the rea
Burning empire Chapter 33– Things That Burn Quietly
The next morning came without warning.Matteo hadn’t slept. His head rested against the cold wall beside Leo’s bed, and his eyes burned from too much thinking and not enough peace.He kept hearing that voice.“I haven’t decided what kind of liar you are yet.”Dominic’s words didn’t leave him. They clung to him like smoke.---By 8:00 a.m., he was dressed in black jeans and a fresh white shirt Jax had helped him steal two weeks ago. He brushed the wrinkles out with shaking hands and grabbed his hoodie last minute — just in case the day turned cold.He kissed Leo’s forehead before he left.“Be good, okay?” he whispered. “I’ll bring you bread.”Leo mumbled in his sleep, holding onto his blanket like it was his whole world.Matteo closed the door softly behind him.---Dominic was waiting outside in the car.Same black SUV. Same silent driver.Matteo climbed into the passenger seat, trying not to look nervous. But he knew Dominic noticed. Dominic always noticed.“You didn’t sleep,” Domini
Burning empire Chapter 32--Playing with Fire
Two days passed.Quiet ones. At least on the surface.Matteo stayed busy—following Dominic from meeting to meeting, room to room. Carrying messages, watching faces, learning the language of shadows. Every word spoken around Dominic felt like it meant something else. Every silence, louder than any shout.And through it all, Matteo kept his guard up.Because Dominic was watching him too.Not just like a boss watching a worker.But like a hunter watching a thing that might bite back.---The first sign came during a dinner meeting.A luxury restaurant—private booth, two guards outside, three men at the table with Dominic and Matteo.They were from the docks. Shippers. Powerful men with fake laughs and greedy eyes.Matteo stood behind Dominic’s seat like a ghost. Silent. Listening.Until one of the men turned toward him.“New boy?” he asked, nodding at Matteo.Dominic didn’t even look. “He’s not for sale.”The table laughed.“We didn’t say he was,” one of them said, smiling. “He just look
Burning empire Chapter 31-- Something He Can’t Name
Morning came too fast.Matteo didn’t remember falling asleep, but the weak sunlight creeping through the window forced him up. His whole body felt heavy, like he’d been dragging secrets in his bones all night.Leo was still asleep beside him, mouth open slightly, one small arm thrown over Matteo’s chest. It would’ve been peaceful… if Matteo’s mind wasn’t already racing.“You interest me.”“Next time someone sends you to spy on me…”Those words haunted him.Dominic hadn’t said if. He’d said next time. That meant he knew. Or at least, suspected something.And still… he hadn’t hurt him. Not yet. He hadn’t exposed him to the others. He hadn’t even raised his voice.He’d just looked at him with those cold, careful eyes.Matteo didn’t know what scared him more—that Dominic was planning something, or that he wasn’t.---By eight-thirty, Matteo had scrubbed himself clean, worn his best shirt—clean but faded—and shoved his phone into his pocket, silenced.Leo stirred in bed as Matteo was about
Burning empire Chapter 30--The Sound of No Turning Back
The rain came in light taps, gentle against the windowpane, like someone knocking politely on the world. Matteo sat at the edge of the bed, watching droplets slide down the cracked glass. Behind him, Leo snored softly, bundled beneath the only thick blanket they had.Matteo’s burner phone sat silent in his hand.He’d turned it off the night before and left it that way. A choice that tasted like rebellion. Or maybe it was just the beginning of regret.But he didn’t turn it on.Not yet.Not after what Dominic had said.Take care of your brother.Matteo rubbed his chest like the words had carved something there. That voice—always low, always steady—still echoed inside him like a warning and a promise all at once.Dominic knew about Leo. And he hadn't used that knowledge against him.Not yet.But would he?Would he eventually?Matteo didn’t know.And that was exactly why his stomach kept twisting.---By late morning, a knock came at the door. Three short raps.Jax.Matteo opened it cauti
Burning empire Chapter 29-- soft spot for him
Chapter 29 — The Quiet After the FireThe walls felt thinner tonight.Matteo lay on the small mattress beside Leo, staring at the ceiling, the room dim with only a sliver of moonlight cutting through the torn curtain. His heart still beat like he was back inside that warehouse, ducking behind crates, hearing the echo of gunfire.Dominic had brought him into a war zone. And yet—Matteo wasn’t angry.No.That was the scary part.He wasn’t angry. He was thrilled.---Leo stirred beside him, coughing softly in his sleep. Matteo turned to look at his brother, the one thing that still felt pure in a world full of dirt. Leo's face was pale, and the wheeze in his chest made Matteo’s gut twist."You shouldn’t be here," Matteo whispered into the dark. "I shouldn't be bringing this world anywhere near you."But he had.That black car from days ago. The mission. The lies.They were closing in.---His burner phone buzzed.Matteo tensed.He didn’t move right away.When the buzz stopped, he grabbed
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