Accardi (Genevieve and Matteo) by Allison Franklin novel Chapter 112

Chapter One Hundred and Twelve

“You’re what?!” Jada screeched on the other end of the phone.

Gen pulled her phone away from her ear but continued to smile big. She played with the petals of the bouquet Matteo had left for her on the kitchen island. She figured he must have left them while he got a change of clothes before running his errands.

“I’m…”

“Pregnant?!” Jada repeated. “You’re not supposed to get pregnant until I do!!”

Gen chuckled. “Well, tell Louis to get to work then.”

“Pfft, are you kidding? He says he’s not ready. Jokes on him. I’m grabbing a toothpick and poking holes in his condoms before he gets home.”

“Uhh, I wouldn’t go that far,” Gen warned.

“Whatever. What’s he going to do? Leave me when I’m the best he’ll ever get? Have you told dad?”

Gen’s smile faltered for the first time since she’d told Matteo. “No, I’m not sure he’ll be happy about it.”

“Oh, Gen. Don’t worry about him. He’ll be ecstatic, no matter who the guy is. Trust me,” Jada reassured her.

“Yeah, well, I guess we’ll see. You know how adamant he was about us getting married before we started a family.”

“It’s all talk. He just didn’t want us to get knocked up in high school. You’re a grown ass woman. You’re allowed to fuck hot mafia guys if you so chose.”

“So you think my mafia guy is hot, huh?” Gen teased.

“I can appreciate a fine painting even if I prefer sculptures,” Jada argued.

A light knock came at the door. “I have to let you go. Someone’s at the door,” Gen told her sister.

“Alright, call me later. I want to hear about Accardi’s reaction!” Jada squealed.

“It was really good. I’ll tell you later,” Gen said with a laugh as she walked to the door.

“Ugh! Tease!”

“Love you.”

“Love you too,”

Gen hung up the phone as she looked out the peephole to see Leo and Frankie waiting on the other side. She disengaged the alarm and opened the door. Both men stared at her while trying to fight back smiles.

“Uhhh, hey guys,” Gen said, looking back and forth between them.

Frankie lurched forward and gripped her in a tight hug that lifted her feet off the ground. Gen glanced over his shoulder at Leo for answers but he tightened his lips as if he was fighting back tears.

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Chapter One Hundred and Twelve

“What’s…”

“We’re so happy, Preggers!” Frankie yelled.

“Careful, Frank, we don’t want to hurt her. She’s in a delicate state,” Leo warned.

Gen laughed. “Oh, Accardi told you already?”

Leo nodded.

“Who else knows?” she asked as Frankie finally set her down.

“Just us two,” Frankie said, jabbing his thumb between the two of them.

“And Lucy,” Leo added. He pulled a gift basket from behind his back and handed it to her.

“Aww,” Gen said as she dissected the basket. There was lotion for swollen feet, honey lozenges for nausea, bath salts for aching muscles, a heating pad, herbal tea, some fuzzy socks and two pregnancy books: one for her and one for Matteo.

“It’s just a few things she said helped her through the first few months of her pregnancy,” Leo said, his cheeks coloring slightly.

Gen pitched forward to give him a one–armed hug. “Tell her I said thank you. This is so sweet.”

“It is so sweet,” Frankie said, raising a brow at Leo. “So sweet that it almost made me forget that Accardi said he didn’t want us to tell anyone else.”

Leo rolled his eyes. “Go fuck yourself.”

Frankie gasped and placed his palms on Gen’s completely flat stomach. “Language! The baby can hear you!”

“What are you two doing here other than congratulating me?” Gen asked as she took her gift basket back inside.

“Accardi sent us to get you,” Leo said.

Gen turned, her brows furrowed in confusion. “Really? I thought he had a bunch of meetings tonight.”

“He does,” Frankie said, a playful smile pulling at his lips. “And you’re one of them.”

Leo knocked Frankie in the shoulder. “He just thought, with what you found out today, that you might want to get something to eat.”

Gen looked back and forth between Leo’s completely straight face and Frankie’s twitching mouth. “Okay… I’ll just go get changed and…”

Frankie thrust a box under her nose as she tried to pass. “This is for you.”

“A gift from your lady?” Gen teased.

“You have a lady, Frank?” Leo asked, aghast.

Frankie’s eyes narrowed at Gen. “No. Frankie does not,” Frankie lied while casting Gen a look to not say another word.

Gen opened the box with a shake of her head to reveal an elegant black dress. “Uhhh…”

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Chapter One Hundred and Twelve

“Accardi wants you to wear it,” Leo explained.

“Okay, this is getting odd…”

“It’s a celebration,” Leo added. “He just thought you’d want to look nice.”

“Alright, whatever y’all say,” Gen said as she succeeded in getting past them to get ready.

Gen got dressed in the long flowing black dress that went down past her ankles. She admired the halter top number Matteo had chosen for her that

accentuated her cleavage and bared her back to the world. She felt glamorous as she swept her hair into an updo and slipped into a pair of tall black heels.

When she reemerged from the room she found her two guards perched on the couch watching a basketball game. She earned a few appreciative whistles

from Frankie and a nod of approval from Leo before they shut the game off and ushered her out of the apartment.

They drove her through town and after about five minutes she already knew where they were going. She’d memorized the way to the club weeks ago. She smiled to herself, wondering what Matteo had in mind by making her get glammed up to watch sweaty men beat the ever loving shit out of each other. Maybe he’d arranged a private dinner in his office or wanted to throw her off by giving her a dress when he really planned on putting her in the ring. She shook off that thought almost as soon as it crossed her mind. There was no way her protective alpha–male would let another girl punch her when she was carrying his child. For the hundredth time that day she smiled as she placed her hand over her stomach. She didn’t feel pregnant. Nor had it quite sunk in. She bit her lip and sighed wondering what her mafia man was up to.

Gen’s confusion worsened as the boys pulled up to the front entrance of the club, the one reserved for guests rather than the back one they normally entered through. Frankie opened her door and took her hand to help her out. Gen started walking toward the line of people waiting to get in when Frankie cleared his throat. She glanced back to see that neither he nor Leo were walking in that direction.

Leo pointed toward the entrance of Valentina’s with an amused smirk. “This way, Miss Sinclair.”

Heat coursed through Gen’s cheeks as she realized her mistake. Of course. If they were going to eat dinner, it would only make sense he wanted to take her to his mother’s restaurant, not his father’s fight club. She laughed to herself as she changed course and followed Leo toward the entrance while Frankie walked behind. Leo held the door open for her but stopped her before she could pass the threshold.

Leo surprised her by bending down to kiss her cheek. “Good luck, Genevieve,” he whispered.

“Yeah and congrats in advance,” Frankie said with a wink.

“You already said…”

“Just go,” he said with a dismissive wave and a roll of his eyes.

She furrowed her brow as she looked back and forth between the two men she had grown to think of as friends before she shook her head and walked through the door.

It was the smell she noticed first. The overpowering scent of a large amount of flowers hit her the moment she walked in. Genevieve looked up and gasped louder than she had ever done before in her life. Her hand rose up as if it had a mind of its own to cover her gaping mouth. Flowers. Flowers as far as the eye could see wrapped around the restaurant. They sat atop every table, along the back of the bar, on the ledge of the wall, Cosmos, Bachelor’s Buttons, Black Eyed Susans, Milkweed, Cone flowers, Yarrow, Snap Dragons, Strawflowers, and too many others to count filled the small Italian restaurant and bar. Candles flickered around the flowers, casting the room in a golden glow of romance and a blanket of security.

Gen stumbled forward, her mouth still covered as she sidestepped flower–filled tables and candles littered along the floor. She noticed something on the bar and walked toward it. It was a pack of cigarettes: Matteo’s brand. She picked them up but before she could open the box she heard a soft, familiar voice

behind her shoulder.

“Do you need a light, Weakness?”

2/1

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Chapter One Hundred and Twelve

Comments

R

Rose

I love that Frankie and Leo think so much of Gen, and their reaction is so sweet for such tough men!

7 days ago

4