Chapter 238 I was the one talking?

Chapter 238: Chapter 238 I was the one talking?

Daisy continued staring at him, clearly offended.

He quickly added, "But we talked for an hour."

That made her expression change again.

She looked at him for several seconds.

Then she gave him a deeply unimpressed glare.

Alessio blinked.

Daisy lifted both hands and began gesturing emphatically.

Of course we talked for an hour!

She pointed at him.

You were the one talking!

Alessio went still.

Daisy continued, her movements becoming more animated as she explained what had happened during the call.

He had called her and she’d answered. At first, she had been relieved to hear from him but instead of having a normal conversation, Alessio had apparently decided that the best use of their time was to talk endlessly while she listened.

He had kept telling her not to fall asleep.

Whenever she became quiet for too long, if she didn’t make any sound with any object, he would ask whether she was still there.

And then, at some point, he had started complaining that she wasn’t talking to him.

Daisy’s eyes narrowed as she mimicked his expression, then pointed at herself with an incredulous look.

You were asking ME why I wasn’t talking?

She shook her head, visibly exasperated.

Then she continued.

He had talked about random things, jumping from one subject to another. Sometimes he made no sense at all. At one point, he had apparently started talking about something completely unrelated, only to circle back to the same question again.

Daisy finished her explanation by folding her arms and giving him a look that could have made a much more sensible man apologize immediately.

Alessio stood there, staring at her.

"You mean..." He pointed at his own chest. "I was the one talking?"

Daisy nodded firmly.

He looked genuinely stunned.

"Wait. I talked that much?"

She nodded again.

His mouth parted slightly. "Really?"

Daisy gave him another glare.

Do you want me to write it down for you?

Alessio pressed his lips together, trying to process this information.

He had no recollection of talking continuously for an entire hour. He remembered fragments of the call, the strange feeling of hearing her voice and the overwhelming sense of comfort that had settled over him.

But if Daisy was telling the truth, then the entire conversation might have been nothing more than him rambling while she patiently listened.

He looked at her again.

"You stayed on the phone with me for an hour while I talked nonsense?"

Daisy nodded.

Alessio stared at her without blinking.

She had been worried about him. She had answered his call, stayed with him through his drunken rambling and apparently endured an entire hour of him demanding her attention and she hadn’t hung up on him.

He didn’t know what to do with that realization.

Unfortunately, before he could say anything, Rafael’s voice interrupted them.

"Would you two stop standing there like you’re conducting an investigation?"

Rafael had returned from the staircase and was watching them with an expression of profound amusement.

He looked at Daisy first. He had overheard some of their conversation.

"Sorry, Daisy. But you should really tell him what happened yesterday. Otherwise, he’ll keep bothering you with his ridiculous questions."

Alessio turned toward him.

"I’m not bothering her."

Rafael gave him a flat look.

"Of course not. You’re just asking a woman who can’t speak whether she spoke to you yesterday."

Alessio’s expression tightened.

Rafael continued before he could respond.

"Why don’t you tell her the truth? You drank so much last night that you practically knocked yourself out. Then you imagined hearing her voice and now you’re interrogating her about it."

Daisy slowly turned toward Alessio.

Her eyes widened.

Then she looked at Rafael.

Then back at Alessio.

The pieces seemed to fall into place.

He was drunk?

Alessio’s ears turned slightly red.

"Rafael."

"What?" Rafael asked innocently. "Am I lying?"

Alessio shot him a warning look.

Rafael ignored it.

"Honestly, Daisy, I don’t know how you put up with him."

Daisy pressed her lips together to control her laugh.

Rafael was about to say something else when Eva called from upstairs.

"Rafael! Are you coming or not?"

Rafael immediately turned toward the staircase.

"Coming!"

He looked back at Daisy and gave her a friendly smile.

"Anyway, don’t let him bother you too much. If he starts talking nonsense again, just hang up."

Daisy nodded solemnly.

Alessio stared at her. "You’re not actually going to do that, are you?"

She gave him an innocent smile.

Rafael burst out laughing. "Good luck, brother."

"Rafael!"

But Rafael was already hurrying upstairs.

"Bye, you two!"

A moment later, his footsteps disappeared, leaving Alessio alone with Daisy.

For several seconds, neither of them moved.

Then Daisy looked at him.

Alessio looked at her.

She raised one eyebrow.

He sighed.

"All right. I deserved that."

Daisy’s expression softened, although the amusement remained in her eyes.

Alessio slipped his hands into his pockets and glanced away.

"I really thought I heard you," he admitted quietly.

Daisy stopped smiling quite so much.

He looked back at her, his green eyes searching her face.

"For a moment, it felt completely real."

He didn’t explain how much that moment had affected him. He didn’t tell her that he had spent the early morning replaying a single word in his mind, wondering whether he’d imagined the softness of her voice or whether there was something about the call he couldn’t remember.

He certainly wasn’t going to tell her how disappointed he had felt when he realized that he might have dreamed the entire thing.

Instead, he gave her a small, sheepish smile.

"I’m sorry for asking you like that."

Daisy watched him for a moment before reaching for her phone.

She typed something and turned the screen toward him.

Next time, drink less.

Alessio read the message.

Then he looked at her.

A reluctant smile appeared on his face. "Yes, ma’am."

Daisy nodded, satisfied with his answer, and turned toward the staircase again.

This time, Alessio let her go.

He watched her climb a few steps before calling after her.

"Daisy?"

She turned around.

He hesitated, then asked, "You really stayed on the phone with me the whole time?"

She stared at him.

Then she gave him one final, long-suffering look before continuing upstairs.

Alessio stood at the foot of the staircase, watching her disappear.

A few seconds later, he lowered his head and laughed softly at himself.