Chapter 14 - THE MAN WHO ASKED PERMISSION
Dante and I had grown close.
Slowly.
Carefully.
We shared dinners.
Walked with Luca in the garden.
Talked about Isabella.
About grief.
About the future.
But neither of us rushed.
One evening, Dante invited me to the terrace overlooking his estate.
The sky was filled with stars.
He stood beside me.
"Elina."
I looked up.
"Yes?"
He hesitated.
"I need to tell you something."
My heart accelerated.
"What?"
Dante looked toward the garden.
"When I first met you, I thought I was seeing Isabella."
I swallowed.
"But you're not her."
He turned toward me.
"You're different."
I smiled faintly.
"That's good, I hope."
He nodded.
"Very good."
He took a breath.
"You're stubborn. You challenge me. You refuse to be intimidated."
I laughed.
"Someone has to."
Dante smiled.
"And somewhere along the way, I started looking forward to seeing you."
My chest tightened.
He continued.
"Not because you remind me of her."
His voice softened.
"Because you're you."
For a moment, I couldn't speak.
Then I whispered:
"Dante, I care about you too."
He stepped closer.
"May I kiss you?"
I looked into his eyes.
Then smiled.
"Yes."
He kissed me gently.
May you like
And for the first time, I understood that loving someone new did not mean erasing the people we'd lost.
It meant making room for life to continue.
