Chapter 3 - The Man Behind the Name
By the third week, Massimo could voluntarily move two toes.
By the fourth, he could contract his quadriceps.
By the fifth, we tried standing.
Two parallel bars had been installed inside the private rehabilitation room.
Massimo gripped them.
I secured the support harness.
“Ready?”
“No.”
“Good.”
He looked at me.
“That makes no sense.”
“Nobody's ready for the hard part.”
I positioned his feet.
“On three.”
“Tessa.”
“One.”
“Wait.”
“Two.”
“Damn it.”
“Three.”
Massimo pushed.
His arms trembled.
His shoulders tightened.
His legs accepted weight for less than a second.
Then collapsed.
The harness caught him.
“Again.”
“No.”
“Again.”
“I said no.”
“And I heard you.”
His voice became dangerous.
“I am finished.”
I stepped closer.
“Then sit in that wheelchair forever.”
Silence.
His eyes turned cold.
“You don't know what I've lost.”
“Then tell me.”
He stared at me.
“My father built everything we have. When he died, I was twenty-nine.”
His voice stayed controlled.
“I inherited enemies before I inherited anything else.”
I listened.
“I couldn't be weak. Couldn't hesitate. Couldn't trust the wrong person.”
“And the accident?”
His expression changed.
“It wasn't an accident.”
My stomach tightened.
That explained the guards.
“Someone tried to kill you.”
“Yes.”
“And they're still out there?”
“Yes.”
I looked toward the windows.
Suddenly the estate felt different.
“You should've told me.”
“You would have quit.”
“Maybe.”
“Would you?”
I considered it.
“No.”
His eyebrow lifted.
“Bad survival instincts.”
“Student debt.”
That made him laugh.
Then I pointed toward the bars.
“Again.”
He stared at me.
“You're relentless.”
“Stand up.”
Massimo gripped the bars.
He pushed.
This time he remained upright for three seconds.
Then five.
Then eight.
His breathing changed.
“Tessa.”
“I know.”
“I'm standing.”
“Don't celebrate yet.”
“I'm standing.”
For the first time, I heard something almost childlike in his voice.
Disbelief.
I smiled.
“Yes.”
He looked at me.
“I'm standing.”
Then his legs buckled.
I caught his torso as the harness lowered him.
For one second, our faces were inches apart.
Neither of us moved.
Massimo's eyes dropped toward my mouth.
I stepped away.
“Session's over.”
His smile was slow.
“Coward.”
“Patient.”
“You were nervous.”
“You almost fell.”
“That isn't why.”
I began collecting equipment.
“You're imagining things.”
“Tessa.”
“Massimo.”
“Dinner.”
I stopped.
“What?”
“Have dinner with me.”
“I eat downstairs.”
“With the staff.”
“They're less argumentative.”
“Tonight. Eight.”
“Is that an order?”
“No.”
That surprised me.
Massimo Pascale rarely asked.
I agreed.
Dinner was quieter than expected.
No guards at the table.
No business associates.
Just us.
He asked about my doctoral program.
I told him about tuition.
“So that's why you came.”
“Fifty thousand reasons.”
He nodded.
“And when the three months end?”
“I go back to my life.”
His expression changed almost invisibly.
“Of course.”
Before I could answer, Luca entered.
His face was tense.
“Massimo.”
One word.
Massimo immediately became someone else.
“What?”
“We found something.”
Luca glanced at me.
Massimo said, “Speak.”
“The brake line wasn't the only thing altered.”
“What does that mean?”
“The security route was leaked from inside this house.”
Massimo went completely still.
“Who knew?”
“Six people.”
His eyes hardened.
“Now five.”
I pushed my chair back.
“I should leave.”
Massimo grabbed my wrist.
“Wait.”
Then we heard an explosion outside.
The windows shook.
Guards rushed through the hallway.
Massimo's hand tightened around mine.
“Get down.”
May you like
And suddenly I understood exactly why fifty thousand dollars had sounded too good to be true.
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