Page 52 of His Tesoro

“Who else lives on this floor?” I asked.

“The third unit is for Sienna’s bodyguard. She keeps firing them, though, and it’s driving Matteo crazy.” Romeo looked very amused at the thought of Matteo’s irritation.

Angelo grunted. “He should have known better than to assign Domenico to be her guard.”

“Domenico?” I asked, eyebrows raised. “But he’s an enforcer.”

“Don’t you mean Il Diavolo?” Romeo said with a sour expression. “Fucking ridiculous.”

“Matteo thought Domenico could handle Sienna, but he underestimated his sister,” Angelo said.

I grinned. I could totally picture Sienna running circles around all the Mafia men. “I don’t blame her,” I said. Something about Matteo’s enforcer made me uncomfortable, even though he had been perfectly polite. I couldn’t imagine having to spend my days with him, and was filled with relief that friendly Angelo was my guard. “Why does Matteo like him?”

Romeo rolled his eyes. “Domenico was one of the first to declare loyalty to the Don after his uncle’s betrayal. He helped weed out traitors in the Family and supported Matteo in winning back his empire.”

“Yeah, like a decade ago,” Angelo muttered. “He’s still an asshole.”

I grinned at how grumpy he sounded.

“No argument there,” Romeo said.

Romeo and Angelo kept bantering with each other as we made our way to one end of the hallway, and I felt like I had friends for the first time. They probably didn’t consider me a real friend since it was their job to watch me, but I didn’t mind pretending.

“Alright,” Romeo said, rubbing his hands together. “Let’s see how fast this racecar can go.”

I turned on the device and made some adjustments in the app. “Okay, now I should be able to go full speed.” I took off down the hallway, keeping my right hand light on my wheel to steer. Being in a comfortable chair fitted just for me, and riding in it without straining my arms and shoulders, was pure freedom.

I laughed as I flew down the hall, reluctantly slowing down as I neared the end. I turned around to face the guys, throwing up my arms in victory. “That was so fast!”

Romeo snorted. “What was that, like four miles an hour? I could push a wheelchair faster than that. I think a turtle could outpace you.”

I crossed my arms. “Only a really fast turtle.”

Romeo rubbed his hands together. “I wonder if we could hack the unit so it can go faster.”

Before I could get too excited about the process of racing in my wheelchair, Angelo shut us down. “The Boss will kill you.”

“Worth it,” Romeo said.

I returned to the other end of the hallway. “If you think you could beat me in a race, go get my old chair from upstairs.”

“Oh, you’re on,” he said, laughing as he pressed his thumb against the elevator sensor to open the doors.

Sienna’s apartment door opened and she poked her head out. Her hair was damp like she’d just gotten out of the shower and she was wearing sweatpants and a tank top, but somehow she still looked put together.

“I thought I heard something out here. What are you doing?”

“Romeo and I are going to have a wheelchair race.”

Sienna grinned. “Oh, is that your new chair? So exciting! I definitely have to see this. Also, good timing because I was going to see if you wanted to order food. We could all eat together?”

“Sounds great.”

While we waited for Romeo, Sienna took a turn in my chair, spinning in circles and going up and down the hall. “This is fun,” she said, smiling widely as she returned it to me. Having her respond to my chair with such playfulness and excitement eased the heavy weight of the shame I’d carried around since I started using mobility aids.

Romeo returned with my old chair, and we raced up and down the hall, his shouted curses following me as I pulled ahead.

“What the fuck? This thing is terrible,” he said, scowling. “I think I pulled something in my shoulder.”

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