Alessandro frowned.
« You never sent them. »
« I couldn’t. »
She handed him the stack.
« They were for the day I believed it was finally safe. »
His hands trembled as he opened the first envelope.
Today Mateo asked why snow melts.
Another.
He lost his first tooth.
Another.
He learned to ride a bicycle.
Then one written only three months earlier.
Today he looked at your picture and asked whether you were brave.
Alessandro closed the letters.
He could no longer see clearly.
A knock interrupted the silence.
Three short knocks.
Then two more.
Elena stiffened immediately.
« Who knows you’re here? » she whispered.
« No one. »
Alessandro’s instincts took over.
He motioned for everyone to stay back.
Quietly, he approached the front window and pulled the curtain aside just enough to look outside.
A black sedan sat across the street.
Its headlights were off.
A man stood beside the driver’s door, smoking a cigarette.
