Chapter 11: A City of Secrets
209 Words
The morning sun painted the rooftops of Florence in golden hues as Emilia and Luca wandered through the narrow streets. Their unspoken truce from the night before lingered between them, delicate and untested.
Luca led her down an unfamiliar alleyway until they stopped in front of an old, tucked-away bookshop.
“You never brought me here before,” Emilia said, eyeing the worn wooden sign above the door.
“I never told you about it,” Luca admitted with a small smile. “It was my little escape whenever the world felt too loud.”
She hesitated before stepping inside. The scent of aged pages and ink greeted her instantly, wrapping around her like an old memory.
Luca trailed behind, watching as she ran her fingers over the spines of books stacked in uneven piles.
“This place is incredible,” she murmured, flipping through a first edition of a poetry book.
Luca studied her, the way she still lost herself in books the way she once had in their conversations.
“I wanted to share it with you,” he said softly.
Emilia looked up, her heart stumbling slightly.
Maybe, just maybe, this was his way of showing her a piece of himself she had never known before.
- Writer
