Chapter 4 - Sparks in the Shadows
The autumn air outside had turned crisp, painting the trees of the Pascale estate in shades of deep crimson and gold. Inside, the tension between Massimo and me was growing thicker, heavy with things left unsaid.
It was midnight, four weeks into my contract. I couldn't sleep. The image of the blood on the white marble from the ambush still haunted my thoughts. I walked down the dim corridor to the physical therapy room to organize my medical logs, only to find a faint light spilling out from beneath the door.
I pushed the door open quietly.
Massimo was sitting in his wheelchair in front of a floor-length mirror, stripped to the waist. He held a nerve-stimulation probe in his hand, pressing the electrode against the muscle of his left thigh, his face contorted in absolute, raw agony as he tried to force his body to react.
He hit the stimulation switch again. The current surged. His muscle didn't twitch.
"Damn it!" he growled, slamming his fist against his armrest so hard the leather cracked. "Work!"
"Massimo, stop!" I yelled, rushing into the room and grabbing the probe out of his hand. "You're going to give yourself a thermal skin burn!"
"Give it back, Tessa!" he snarled, his dark eyes wild with rage and desperation. "I've been stuck in this fucking chair for six months! My men are turning into traitors, Rossi is taking my territory, and I can't even stand up like a man!"
"You are a man!" I shouted back, grabbing his face in both of my hands, forcing him to look at me. "You are the strongest, most resilient man I've ever met in my life! Do you think neural regeneration happens overnight? Do you think I spend six hours a day with you because I think you're hopeless?!"
He froze, his breathing ragged, his warm hands coming up to cover mine where they held his cheeks.
"Why do you stay, Tessa?" he whispered, his eyes searching mine in the dim amber light. "The money? Camila told me your tuition is paid up. You could walk out that gate right now and never look at a mobster again."
"I stayed because..." My breath caught in my throat. I couldn't lie to him anymore. I couldn't pretend this was just a job, or that the fifty thousand dollars was the only thing keeping me in this house. "Because I can't leave you, Massimo."
Massimo’s dark eyes flared with an intense, consuming heat.
"Tessa," he breathed.
He pulled my waist forward, dragging me down into his lap. His lips caught mine in a deep, electric, possessive kiss that wiped away every thought in my head. It wasn't gentle; it was hungry, demanding, and filled with a raw passion that had been building between us since the moment I walked into his study and told him he was rude.
My hands slid up his neck, tangling in his dark, thick hair. I melted against his chest, kissing him back with a fierce, reckless intensity that terrified me.
When he finally pulled back, his forehead rested against mine, both of us breathing heavily. His hands were clasped tightly around my lower back, holding me against his broad frame.
"I can't offer you a peaceful life, Tessa," he whispered raspy. "My world is full of blood and shadows."
"I don't want a peaceful life," I whispered back, kissing his jawline. "I want you."
Suddenly, as my hand slipped down his thigh to steady myself, a small, involuntary movement caught my eye.
I stopped breathing.
Underneath my palm, right at the vastus medialis muscle of his left knee, a distinct, rhythmic muscle twitch fluttered.
"Massimo," I gasped, pulling back to stare at his leg. "Look."
He looked down. I placed the stimulation electrical pad back against his skin and turned on a low-frequency impulse.
His big toe twitched upward. Then, his entire foot flexed forward an inch.
Massimo stared at his foot, completely frozen. The dangerous, invincible syndicate boss looked up at me with tears brimming in his dark eyes, his lips trembling slightly.
"Did you see that?" he whispered, his voice cracking.
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"I saw it," I cried, laughing through the tears spilling down my cheeks as I threw my arms around his neck. "Your nerves are firing, Massimo! You're going to walk!"
He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me tight, burying his face into the crook of my neck, kissing my skin over and over again. "Because of you," he murmured against my pulse. "Only because of you."
