Accardi (Genevieve and Matteo) by Allison Franklin novel Chapter 101

Chapter One Hundred and One

Gen clung to Matteo’s arm as if he were a buoy in the middle of a turbulent ocean. They walked into the main hall and paused so she could take it all in. The gallery was large enough to fit thousands. There were tables focused around one side, a large open space for dancing, a podium atop a stage, and a bar over on the far wall. She took a deep breath as a man walked up to them.

“Mr. Accardi,” the man greeted formally, marking Matteo’s name off a rather long list. “May I ask who you’ve brought with you?”

“This is Genevieve Sinclair,” Matteo introduced, stepping back and holding her hand up as if presenting her for inspection. He reeled her back into his side.

“I’ve also brought my personal security detail.”

Gen looked back to find Leo and Frankie with serious expressions. Leo’s eyes swept over the room in his usual manner. Frankie, however, looked as though he’d donned a mask. She was reminded of the first time she’d seen him. Though his shaggy hair was slicked back and the tux he wore covered a majority of

his tattoos, some still peaked out from under his shirt sleeves and there was nothing he could do about the scar on his cheek or the one running down his

throat. His black eyes didn’t swivel, they locked, dissected, deconstructed and dismissed. She shivered at the intensity she saw there yet felt safer than she

had in a long time with him at her back. Matteo’s demeanor had also shifted the moment they’d entered the hall. His spine was ramrod straight, his eyes

were dark with no trace of gold. His jaw ticked as he took in the banquet hall.

“Gentlemen, if you’ll step over here and allow our security to take your weapons. Madame, if you’ll come this way.”

Gen gripped Matteo’s arm in a panicked vice that made his eyes jerk around the room and his other arm secure around her to shield her with his body.

“What is it?” he whispered.

“I thought you said we wouldn’t be separated.”

His eyes immediately softened and he kissed her lips. “We all have to get searched before entering, Weakness. No weapons are allowed past this point. We’ll get searched over here and you’ll go behind that curtain to be patted down by a woman,” he explained.

Gen released a long sigh of relief. Matteo kissed her hand as he unlocked it from his arm before turning to join Leo and Frankie. Gen followed the attendant behind a curtain where a burly woman with an annoyed expression told her to hold her hands up and spread her legs. The woman felt her up in an abrasive manner before she bobbed her head for Gen to leave.

“Thank you,” Gen said, unsure of the decorum expected after being searched for weapons. The woman raised a brow but turned her head away just as quickly.

Gen left the curtain and was immediately shadowed by Leo. Her eyes lifted and she noticed Matteo watching her from where he stood on the other side of the atrium. He winked as a man felt along his arms and down his back. She shook her head and smiled as the man removed two handguns and three knives from Matteo’s waistband. The man’s hands continued down and removed another handgun from his right ankle and a fourth knife from his left ankle. Matteo maintained eye contact as the man dismissed him and sent him on his way. He walked straight for her and wrapped his arm around her back.

“Do you really need all of that?” she asked as he guided her toward the stairwell.

“You can never be too careful,” he whispered in her ear. “You should see the one I’ve got loaded between my thighs.”

The joke worked. Her shoulders relaxed as they descended the stairwell. Matteo laced their fingers together and started pulling her toward the bar across the

room.

It was mostly women seated at the stools on the obnoxiously long bar. Matteo helped her to sit and ordered her tequila. She looked at the other women who were flirting heavily with various men circling around them. She raised a brow at Matteo who seemed to not notice. The tequila appeared before her and she took a hesitant sip.

3:41 pm M

Chapter One Hundred and One

“Accardi,” Frankie said, stepping up beside them. Gen raised a brow at his disheveled appearance. His dress shirt was pulled out of his waistband, the buttons on his vest were askew and his belt had missed several loops.

“What happened to you?” Gen asked.

Frankie gave her a prideful smirk. “Strip search, Donna.”

“Frankie tries to sneak something in every year. They tend to handle him a bit roughly because of it,” Matteo explained with a look of disapproval.

“One year I’ll get something by them. You’re needed,” Frankie said with a bob of his head to a group of men looking on a few feet away.

“I have to go,” Matteo whispered in her ear. “Enjoy your drink. Don’t go anywhere.”

“Whatever you say,” she said as he walked off, his eyes darting back and forth around the room. Frankie followed after, looking as though all the permission

he needed was a bad look to go feral.

As Matteo walked past Leo perched atop a stool down the bar, he gave him a look that said he better stay on Gen like his life depended on it. Then he disappeared into the throng of men waiting to speak with him. She felt the absence of his protection immediately. Her skin crawled as she felt dozens of eyes suddenly swivel to her. She glanced nervously around and caught the eyes of several men watching her like lions who’d spotted a single limping gazelle

at the watering hole.

Even the women seemed to develop a sudden interest in the new girl who’d arrived with Matteo. They whispered to each other and a few even pointed in

her direction. A moment before she decided she couldn’t handle the attention, a familiar voice called out to her.

She sighed in relief. “Hi, Mr. O’Brien. Hello, Maisy.”

Maisy gave her a quick hug and sat in the stool beside her.

“I have to be honest, I didn’t expect for Accardi to be brave enough to bring you here,” O’Brien said.

“Why is that?” she asked, hoping to glean some insight into why this event held so much mystery.

“You’re single,” Maisy said as if that explained everything.

“Uh, no, I’m with Accardi,” Gen corrected.

Maisy giggled. “That doesn’t mean you’re taken. Under this roof you need a ring to be off the market,” Maisy said, flashing her empty ring finger in

illustration.

“What exactly are y’all talking about?”

“Accardi didn’t explain this to you?” O’Brien asked, baffled.

Gen sighed. “No, I got into a bit of trouble and he’s keeping me in the dark for punishment.”

“Ohhh, not quite the punishment I’d have in mind for you but alright,” O’Brien said with a wiggle of his eyebrows. “Oh, that’s the other girl Accardi brought. I need to see if we can use her, I’ll be back, Sis,” O’Brien said quickly before rushing off.

Genevieve followed his trajectory and groaned when she saw Mallory on Louis‘ arm. Mallory beamed up at O’Brien as he pushed several admirers out of the way to get to her. While Gen wanted to shirk away from the hundreds of leering gazes, Mallory ate it up.

Chapter One Hundred and One

“You may want to tell your brother he’s wasting his time with that one,” Gen said, turning back to face Maisy and taking a sip of her tequila.

“He’s hoping to snag one of Accardi’s girls to use them for spy work. He’s always been jealous of Accardi’s ability to get good women on his payroll. He got butthurt when Bella left. After what happened with Galante, he’s on a mission,” Maisy explained with a shake of her head.

“Is that what this is all about? Networking and finding new employees who are okay with working in shadier businesses?”

Maisy gave Gen a pitying look. “No, Gen, this isn’t about networking. It’s about diplomacy, orchestrating take overs, and proving to the other men here who has the bigger wallet and fatter dick.”

“How?”

Maisy eyed Gen speculatively. “Through the women.”

“Ah, Accardi said it would be a test to see if I’d make a good Donna. I’m supposed to make deals, schmooze and impress?”

Maisy’s eyes hardened. “No, Gen. You’re meant to make alliances through…” She cleared her throat, clearly uncomfortable. “Through fucking, basically.”

Gen’s blood went cold. “Excuse me?”

“Think of us like the London Ton: higher society folk who go to a party, flaunt their wealth and wager for the best match. Except in this version, it’s mafia men who put their charges up on a stage and auction them off for money, alliances, or to get rid of a woman in the family who’s become a nuisance. It’s all very midevil.”

“So by bringing me here without a ring on my finger…”

“You’re close to Accardi. Everyone wants to know his secrets. Add your beauty on top of that. You’ll go for a pretty penny.”

3:4

Accardi