15 – I didn’t expect that

“Is the letter from you, boy?” asked Giorgio.

His voice was calm. But there was something in his gaze—a slight raise of the eyebrow, a hint of foreboding.

I was shaking.

Only very slightly, but noticeable.

My heart was racing.

Now. Now was the moment when everything could change.

Should I be honest?

Should I just say “yes”?

But I remembered my plan:

He shouldn't know who wrote the letter. Not now. Not like this.

I forced myself to look at him.

"No," I said. "I just got here. He was already lying there."

A brief moment of silence.

His gaze rested on me – too calmly.

Skepticism. Or play?

I bent down.

Wanted to keep the letter.

I don't know why I did it, but at that moment it felt right.

To bow down to him.

To do something for him.

Even if it was just a piece of paper on the floor.

It was enough.

I handed him the letter.

He took it.

"Thank you," he said. Simple as that.

Then: “Did you sleep well?”

I nodded. "Yes, thank you. And you?"

Although in truth, I barely slept a wink—because of him. Because of everything.

He paused briefly. He looked at me as if he was considering his answer.

Then he just said:

"It's so... I've been having weird dreams."

Strange dreams.

I felt myself getting hot.

Did I appear in it?

Or did he mean the two men from the morning?

He had seen me. And yet he hadn't spoken to me.

Now he was here, with the letter in his hand. And he asked.

He unfolded the paper and looked at it briefly.

Then he looked at me again.

“Can you read?”

I paused.

Oh God.

I hadn't even thought about it...

What if he couldn't read?

“Yes… Should I read it to you?” I asked, braver than I felt.

He nodded.

“Yes, please. Come in.”

His tone was simple. Friendly.

Not distant. Not suspicious.

Simply open.

I entered.

Just a few steps.

The room was warm and smelled of stone, earth and olive wood.

And there I stood.

With the letter in hand.

The letter I had written.

With all my words.

All my desires.

All of my innermost being.

And I should now…

read to him.