Accardi (Genevieve and Matteo) by Allison Franklin novel Chapter 106

Chapter One Hundred and Six

Genevieve shuffled her feet as she waited for Matteo to open the door to their apartment.

“Bennett,” Matteo repeated. “Noah Bennett.” He opened the door and Gen shoved past him. “Jesus, Gen.”

She ignored him as he continued giving orders to Marco over the phone. She rushed down the hall and into the sunroom where they’d stored the few boxes she hadn’t been able to unpack yet. She started ripping off the tape and throwing random items to the floor. She cursed and threw the empty box down to

the ground before breaking into the next one.

“Gen…” Matteo called from the door, no longer on his call. “What are you looking for?”

A moment of silence passed as she pulled at her hair and threw the second box aside.

“Genevieve.”

“Aha!” she said, holding the bug detector up triumphantly. She turned around and gave Matteo a determined nod before walking back out of the room.

“Is that…”

“Yup.”

“Why do you need that right now?” he asked as she walked into his office.

Gen started waving the detector around the book cases. She started at the top shelves and started working down. Around eye–level the bug detector did

something it had never done before: it started to alarm. Matteo appeared beside her in less than a second. She stepped back as he pulled a book from the

shelf and revealed a small device with a blinking red light. His fist flexed repeatedly before the same hand reached up and plucked the device from the shelf.

His coiled body slowly pivoted though his dark eyes remained glaring down at the device. His fingers flexed and the small device snapped with an electrical

pop. When his eyes jerked up to hers, she took a step back. The betrayal, the accusation, the utter rage she saw in his glare made goosebumps rush over her

skin. His jaw ticked and he stormed off toward his desk.

He rummaged through the drawers before yanking them out onto the floor. His hands smoothed under the various nooks and crannies of his desk, searching

for something else Becca could have planted. Then he paused. Gen watched as he took his hands from under his desk and touched the side of his laptop. He

plucked something from the USB port and held it up to the light. It was small, smaller than a normal USB drive. Small enough to go undetected by someone

who thought he was safe in his own home. Matteo gently placed the device on the top of his desk. He splayed his hands wide on the wood and glared down

at it as he tried to understand how this could have happened.

“What is that?” Gen asked hesitantly.

“Keystroke logger. It records everything I type and sends it to the receiver,” Matteo explained, his voice dangerously low.

“And the one you already broke?”

“Listening.”

“Why don’t you just break that one like the other?”

“I’ll need to see what the device was able to record. To do that, I’ll need it in one piece.”

“Are you going to call Marco?”

1/4

3:45 pm M

Chapter One Hundred and Six

“No.”

A knock sounded at the front door but Matteo appeared to not hear it.

Gen turned for the hall. “I’ll…”

“Don’t move, Weakness,” Matteo growled.

Matteo shoved off the desk and pulled his handgun from his waist band. He undid the safety and racked the slide with such fluidity it made her skin crawl.

She shook herself off as he walked into the hallway. She held up the bug detector Becca had given her so many months ago. How ironic that the bug detector she’d given her would ultimately lead to the discovery of her betrayal.

In a fit of anger she threw the detector against the wall. The hole in her stomach shrunk as the detector shattered into dozens of plastic pieces. She walked

to the armchair across from Matteo’s desk and sat heavily. She replayed the last few interactions she’d had with Becca while her roommates were visiting.

She seemed nervous, ashamed even. Why didn’t Gen notice it? Because Becca was always shy and nervous. She was in a new environment and had told Gen

about the recent encounter with her brother. None of it seemed out of the ordinary. Gen sighed. What if Frankie hadn’t interrupted what Becca was telling

her that night before dinner? Would she have come clean?

“You should have gotten involved the moment Sergei approached her,” Matteo admonished from down the hall.

“You said you wanted to punish her. I thought that entailed letting a man or two make a pass,” Leo argued.

“Well, I changed my mind. You should have known I wouldn’t be able to take it. It’s your job to protect us both,” Matteo grumbled.

*I am supposed to protect you physically. Not read your emotions like you’re a fucking toddler. I don’t appreciate a twerp who thought he could get away

from me using a row boat when he was fourteen, telling me how to do my job,” Leo said, his voice much closer now. Matteo entered the room without

sparing her a glance. His fists continued to flex at his sides. “Hello, Miss Sinclair,” Leo said as he walked in.

“A row boat?” Gen asked Leo. “Really?”

“Now is not the time…” Matteo growled.

“A swan row boat,” Leo said, cracking a smile.

“How’d you catch him?” she asked with a giggle.

“Walked to the other side of the pond and waited,” Leo said with a disappointed shake of his head toward Matteo whose own head was hung back in

annoyance,

“Are you done?” Matteo asked the ceiling.

“Are you?” Leo countered.

Matteo brought his head forward to glare at his bodyguard. “Have you heard from Frankie?”

“No sign of him,” Leo told him.

“What about Becca Bennett?” Matteo asked with a subtle glance toward Gen to gauge her reaction. Her stomach twisted and she felt bile rise to her throat.

“We had a few of our guys get into the house…”

3:45 pm M

Chapter One Hundred and Six

“Oh God,” Gen whispered, burying her face in her hands.

“None of the girls were home,” Leo assured her. “Including Becca,” he told Matteo. “Based on what Bennett told Miss Sinclair, he was prepared and probably has her held up in a safehouse somewhere.”

“Get a hold of the guys in the department we bought the last time we were up in Boston,” Matteo stated firmly. “Bennett was gone by then so we know their loyalty will be in our favor. I want her found within the day.” He took a deep breath and picked up the keystroke logger device. He started tapping it idly on the top of his desk. “Pull up Frankie’s tracker data and get him back in here. I don’t know what the fuck he’s thinking but I need him.”

“Right,” Leo said, turning to do his boss‘ bidding.

“I’m not done,” Matteo called.

“Do I need to get a pen?” Leo asked with irritation.

“Marco.”

“What about him?”

Matteo held up the keystroke logger. Leo took a few steps and plucked the device from Matteo’s fingers. Gen watched his eyes go from curious to terrifying

anger.

*Take him to the box. Call Stephen and have him meet us here in an hour to help us move our things to the safe house.”

Leo gave a curt nod of understanding. He turned, device in hand and strode from the room, all humor gone.

“We’re going to the safehouse?” Gen asked as Matteo shoved up from his desk.

*Immediately,” he confirmed. “Then when I get confirmation from Leo that Marco is at the box, I’ll have to head over there myself.”

“What?” Gen jumped up from her chair to follow him out of the room.

*Pack the essentials, Genevieve,” Matteo demanded as he pulled a duffel from under their bed.

“Matteo, what is ‘the box‘?” she asked, watching him strut around their bedroom to gather what he deemed essential.

“You don’t want to know,” he warned her.

“Is that where you plan to take Becca when you find her?” she asked, nerves clawing up her throat. She suddenly felt woozy and leaned against the doorframe.

Matteo’s hands stilled inside his dresser drawer. He pressed his palms against the edge of the dresser and leaned hard against it. His head dropped forward and he sighed. “What would you like me to do with her?” he asked, his voice low, deadly… terrifying.

“I don’t want her to die,” Gen whispered nervously. “I don’t think she did this willingly.”

“I don’t want my men to die,” he whispered down at the drawer. “I don’t want my friends to go to jail. I don’t want to destroy a business my family has spent generations…” He cut himself off suddenly and shut his eyes hard to try to rein in his anger. “If she was in distress, she could have spoken with you. We would have helped her.”

“How was she supposed to know…”

Chapter One Hundred and Six

Matteo slammed a palm down on the dresser startling her into silence. “Your friend came in here knowing exactly what and who you were involved with. She knew what this would lead to. She knew they wouldn’t just come for me and my entire operation… She knew they would come for you too.”

Gen tore her eyes away from his angry glare. She stared at the nightstand across the room while she tried to keep the tears from spilling. She closed her eyes and one tear breached the flood gates she’d erected.

Matteo sighed. “We will find her. We will interrogate her and find out what she knows. Then…” Gen looked back to find him staring down at a pair of black socks in his hands. “Then we’ll decide where to go from there.” Matteo’s phone started to ring. He sighed, cast a long look at Gen as she tried to stop the tears from flowing, and answered. “What is it?” She couldn’t hear the voice on the other end but whatever they said made a shock of sinister giddiness flash across Matteo’s eyes. “That was quick, old man. I’ll be there as soon as Stephen arrives.” Matteo hung up and shook his head while a smirk pulled at his lips.

“What is it?”

“Leo found Marco.”

“Already?”

“He knew we were coming. Marco is many things but he’s not a coward. I’ll go to meet them when I get you safe in the…”

“I want to go.”

Matteo snorted and slammed the drawer shut. “Hell no.”

“Matteo. I want to know what he has to say.”

“I’ll tell you what he has to say when I get home.”

Gen grabbed Matteo by the upper arm as he tried to walk past. His eyes went from her tight grip on his arm to her defiant, decisive gaze. “The device you found. It’s his, isn’t it?” Matteo gave one slow nod. Gen took in a deep breath. “He manipulated one of my best friends. I’m going, Matteo.”

Accardi