The kitchen was filled with the smell of freshly baked bread, cookies, and stew boiling on the stove. Elena was at the counter together with Lidia, with an apron around her neck and flour on her fingers. She kneaded the dough with gentle movements, she was becoming really good at kneading. She raised her head smiling as Lidia chattered beside her.
"You saved him," Lidia said suddenly, her voice with so much emotion. "You saved Leo. No one has ever done something like that for him, not even that Isabella girl. I don't know how to thank you."
Elena looked up, surprised to see such raw emotion in the older woman’s eyes. "You don’t need to thank me," she said softly. "I just… it just felt like the right thing to do."
Not far from them, just at the corner of the kitchen, Luca was leaning aga
