Chapter 19: A Storm on The Horizon
205 Words
Luca found Emilia sitting by the Arno, staring at the river as if it held all the answers she was searching for.
Without a word, he sat beside her.
“I saw Matteo today,” she said after a long silence.
Luca’s jaw tightened. “And?”
She sighed, rubbing her arms. “I told him the truth.”
Luca’s heart pounded. “Which is?”
She turned to him then, her expression unreadable. “That I never stopped loving you.”
A breath he hadn’t realized he was holding escaped him. He wanted to reach for her, to tell her that nothing else mattered, that they could fix everything.
But Emilia shook her head before he could speak. “That doesn’t mean I can forget everything, Luca.”
His chest ached. “I don’t expect you to.”
She hesitated, biting her lip. “I just… I don’t know how to trust you again.”
Luca reached for her hand, his fingers lacing through hers. “Then let me prove it to you. No more words. Just actions.”
She didn’t pull away.
But she didn’t lean in either.
And Luca realized that love wasn’t enough.
He had to rebuild what he had broken
- Writer
