Accardi (Genevieve and Matteo) by Allison Franklin novel Chapter 107

Chapter One Hundred and Seven

Gen made the mistake of falling asleep in the car on the way to the box. She woke up when Matteo opened the door in front of the house they’d spent their first nights together. He’d managed to take her hand to help her out before she realized. She’d lifted her leg up and kicked him in the chest. He’d grunted and taken several steps back to catch himself. His eyes widened as she’d scooted back across the leather seat to the other side of the car. He’d stood there with his hands on his waist and a determined stare before he’d launched himself in the car to try to drag her out.

When he finally succeeded in getting her out of the car, she’d gone limp, causing him to nearly drop her on the sidewalk. She’d kicked and screamed, making him grunt and hiss as he tried to get her across the sidewalk. She’d heard Stephen warn him about the noise and Matteo wheeze out a “I don’t fucking care!” His response fueled her further.

One lucky kick. That’s all it took. Right in the balls. Matteo let out a rush of air and dropped to one knee. She took the opportunity to scramble back into

the car and lock the door. She’d watched as he took a few beats, still down on one knee, to collect himself. She sat there, her breathing rattling around her ribcage, her heart threatening to leap through her throat while she waited to see what he’d do next. He finally stood up and turned to glare at the window she cowered behind. He tried the door and found it locked.

“I want to go,” she yelled through the window.

“No,” he mouthed back.

She sat back in the seat and crossed her arms. She didn’t care if she looked like a toddler. She was staying firm. Matteo pushed away from the SUV and

started making wild hand gestures as he paced around the sidewalk. She didn’t have to see his lips or hear what was coming out of them to know he was

cursing enough to make a sailor blush. He banged on the window making her jump.

“You can come but you can’t go into the room with me,” he compromised.

Gen smiled and unlocked the door. Matteo wrenched the door open. She scrambled to the other side in case he got any ideas. All he’d done was sit down

angrily in the seat beside her and bark for Stephen to get in and drive.

The drive to the box took about twenty minutes. All that time she’d spent wondering what would happen. She had some ideas of what Matteo did to get

information. She’d been on the receiving end of some torture tactics herself. Could she stomach it? Could she watch the man she loved tear someone apart

for betraying him? She thought of Becca. Gen could never hurt her own friend like that. But if this man had done something to her friend? If he’d been the

one to give Becca the listening device and keystroke logger? She needed to know… and she wanted to watch him suffer for it.

“We’re here,” Matteo announced, opening the door with annoyance.

“What’s going to happen?” Gen asked as they walked up the sidewalk to a dilapidated restaurant with newspapers covering the windows. Dust clung to the

iron gates shuttering the joint and a health code notice taped to the front let her know the place had been closed for decades.

“I’m going to talk to Marco,” Matteo said, pulling the gates up so he could open the door.

“Right but…”

“Weakness, don’t push me. You’ll stay with the guards in the main room while I go in the walk–in.”

The walk–in?

Gen decided to not ask any more questions as they walked through the abandoned restaurant. There were about five men in the lobby area sitting at various tables and eating takeout. They all nodded in their direction as they passed, each casting a lingering look of curiosity at the woman on their Don’s arm. Matteo continued to the back of the restaurant into a large kitchen where another five men waited, including Leo.

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Chapter One Hundred and Seven

Leo stood up sharply from his chair, his eyes swiveled between Matteo and Gen with an expression she’d only ever seen her dad use when she’d been caught

sneaking out of the house.

“What the fuck, Accardi? Why the fuck is she…”

“Don’t get me started.”

“She cannot be here.”

“Actually,” Gen interrupted. “She can. I’m the future Donna of this family and if I want to be present while y’all get information from a man who possibly

hurt my friend, that’s exactly what I’ll do.”

Gen stood firmly in front of Leo, glaring up at him. She’d been able to take down Matteo for the simple fact that he held himself back so as not to hurt her.

Leo on the other hand? She had a feeling he wouldn’t mind leaving a few bruises if it meant she wouldn’t witness them go feral on another man.

“She’s staying in here,” Matteo assured Leo. He walked over to a small box tv in the corner where a few guards were watching a man who was tied to a chair.

He clicked the power button making them all groan. “Stephen, you’ll sit here and make sure your Donna doesn’t fucking move.” Matteo stepped back in front

of her. “Don’t let her watch. Don’t let her put her little ear to the door. Don’t take your eyes off of her for a second.”

Gen crossed her arms and glared up at him. He pointed to a chair in the corner. She narrowed her eyes further and walked to it. She sat down with a huff,

crossed her legs and started bouncing her foot. Matteo touched her chin, forcing her head upward. He placed a delicate kiss on her lips before he stepped

back and gave a nod to Leo. The two walked into the room together. She heard Marco give a mocking ‘hello‘ and then the door sealed shut.

Gen shot up from her chair and raced across the room, startling the men around her. She hit the power button on the tv before Stephen managed to wrangle

her back.

“Let go of me, Stephen,” Gen warned.

“Sorry Donna, the boss said…”

“The boss said what?” Frankie asked from the doorway.

Stephen released Gen so they could both turn to look at him. “Frankie, where the hell have you been?” Gen asked.

Frankie shrugged. “Had to take care of a few things. Why’s Marco tied to the chair?” he asked with a bob of his head to the screen.

Gen looked back just in time to see Leo reaching upward to knock the camera so nothing was visible. She sighed. “Matteo thinks he planted the surveillance stuff in his office and… did some other things, I guess. I don’t know. That’s why I wanted to listen.”

“Interesting,” Frankie said, walking up to stand beside her. He made a shooing motion to Stephen and the other two guards stationed by the tv. Frankie turned up the volume and braced his arms against the table the tv sat on.

“I hope you got to enjoy the benefits of what Guerra had to offer,” Matteo said casually. She could hear the twang of metal on metal as if he were moving things around on a table,

“Immensley,” Marco admitted.

“What did he give you, if you don’t mind me asking. What did he have to offer that was worth betraying your entire family?”

“You aren’t my family. If you were my family I’d be able to call you by your first name, Matt…” Marco’s grunt of pain echoed through the tv screen.

“Even if you didn’t consider us family… Is five million a year not enough? Is the free penthouse apartment, the Audi Q5, the travel, the girls, all that not

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Chapter One Hundred and Seven

enough?”

“Not compared to what he had to offer.”

“You know you’re not leaving this room alive, Marco,” Matteo said with a heavy sigh. “Why don’t you do us one last favor and tell us what all you did and I’ll make it quick, hm? You’ve seen what we get up to in here, hell you’ve done some of the worst damage yourself. You and all those other fuckers are going

to die anyway.”

“Please, Accardi, I saw your woman in there before you closed the door.” His voice got low. “I know you won’t drag this out either way. You wouldn’t want her to think little of you. Then again, I’ve seen the guys she normally goes for. Maybe if you give me a few hits, she’ll get jealous and let you color her skin

a bit.”

She heard a crack and Marco screamed in anger to hide the pain. His breathing became rough and halting.

“I’ll tell you what. I’ll just tell you about the last thing I did for Guerra, hm?” Marco said. “I’ll tell you how I took that cute little shy roommate of hers. Let me tell you something, Accardi, those Boston girls have some fight. Not enough though.” He laughed maniacally. “She stopped fighting after the third time I fucked her raw. She just laid there and took it after that. Of course, you know how boring that can be, right? Even after I took her in the ass, she wouldn’t

give me so much as a tiny scream of pain.”

Genevieve’s insides were coiled tight. Her vision began to swim and she realized she hadn’t taken in a breath in far too long. Her fists clenched against the

table while Frankie watched her with wary eyes.

Marco laughed. “All these people fear you, Accardi, but you’re missing such a high by never having a woman beneath you shaking in fear, pissing all over

your dick because she knows you’re about to use her up and slit her throat.”

A hot tear slid down Gen’s cold cheek. Her skin felt numb yet her heart cracked and shattered within her chest radiating pain through every limb. “Why isn’t he doing anything?” Gen whispered as Marco continued to describe in detail how he’d kidnapped Becca from her home… their home, took her to a warehouse

on the outskirts of Boston, tied her to a pillar and…

“He wants to see if he’ll slip and give him useful information,” Frankie explained, settling his hand gently on her shoulder.

“Useful information?” Gen hissed.

Rage overtook her. One moment she was standing in front of the tv. The next her vision had tunneled and her legs were moving on their own accord. She could hear Frankie calling her. She could feel hands grabbing at her. None of it stopped her. She pulled open the door to the walk–in cooler. Matteo turned and his face paled at what he saw on hers. Leo’s mouth dropped and Marco’s eyes widened as she strode into the room, her focus singular. She didn’t even look to see what she grabbed from the table. One end was heavy enough to throw her off balance. She didn’t care, she raised her instrument of choice with both hands, brought it backward and screamed as she swung it forward with every ounce of strength she possessed.

The monkey wrench hit against the side of Marco’s face with a crack. Teeth flew from his mouth as his head whipped sideways. Blood splattered across the floor onto Leo’s shoes. It wasn’t enough. She brought the wrench back again and this time hit his knee, forcing his leg into an unnatural angle. His cries of anguish ricocheted around the small room, fueling her onward. Her attack didn’t slow as she held the wrench over her shoulder and continued to bring it forward with the force of her anger. After a few strikes of the heavy object, Marco stopped crying out in pain. He stopped flinching or bracing. He just stopped.

The wrench was yanked from her grasp and she turned on the one who took it. Matteo took the brunt of her fists until he managed to secure her wrists and cage her against the wall. He pressed his body into hers as she screamed in anger, in frustration, in pain. It wasn’t enough. The pain that was festering in her chest, burning her heart to ash, swelling her lungs until she couldn’t breathe. She needed to hurt him more. She needed somewhere to put this pain. Tears streaked down her face, blurring her vision. She fought against Matteo’s hold, trying to get back to the broken body lying in the chair to release more of her anger. She fought, until she couldn’t anymore.