Accardi (Genevieve and Matteo) by Allison Franklin novel Chapter 123

Chapter One Hundred and Twenty–Three

Genevieve stepped out of the shower to find Matteo waiting for her with a towel. She smiled and shook her head as her husband walked up to her and started massaging her skin with the warm fabric.

“You’re doing a fine job honoring your vows, Husband,” Gen said with a laugh.

“What’s the rule? Seventeen times makes a habit?” he asked as he glided the towel down her stomach and ran it between her legs with a raise of his brow. He wrapped the towel around her torso, cupped her face and kissed her. “Dinner’s here.”

“Oh, thank God,” Gen sighed, pushing past Matteo.

She hadn’t been able to eat for the past few hours due to her nerves. They’d met with the lawyers earlier in the day to finalize their plans. She’d wanted to be present when they spoke with Bennett’s superiors but after much yelling back and forth, Matteo convinced her to sit it out. He suggested it was for her own safety. That he could pretend she wasn’t there with him but in some secret location he would never divulge. She’d relented only after he’d agreed to let

her listen in from the other room.

Genevieve moaned as she smelled the pizza sitting out on the counter. She rushed over to it, flung the box open and shoved the Neapolitan pizza into her

mouth as if it was the first thing she’d eaten in three days. A plate appeared beneath her and she turned to a smiling Matteo.

“No need,” she said between mouthfuls.

“Yes, need,” he said with a chuckle. “Sit down, Weakness.” Matteo directed her to the dining room table while he got his own slice. “I take it Baby likes this

better than the pasta we had last night?”

Genevieve wrinkled her nose in remembrance. Matteo had made them a homemade pasta the night before. It was thoughtful, considerate and took a

painstaking amount of time to make… and she’d thrown up the minute he’d set it in front of her.

“No red meat so I think we’re good,” she said with a nod as she went for her second slice.

“No. Red. Meat,” Matteo repeated. She glanced over her shoulder to find him on his phone.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Hm? Oh, just telling Leo to keep red meat away from you while I’m gone,” he answered before setting his phone down.

Gen’s good mood immediately evaporated. “Oh.”

When Gen sat back down, deflated, Matteo clicked his tongue and dragged her chair closer to his. He touched her chin, forcing her eyes up.

“It’ll only be a week. Two tops.”

“I don’t care. I’m nervous for you.”

*I’ll be fine. So long as you and Baby are safe,” he amended, placing his hand on her stomach for emphasis.

Gen swiped a stray tear from her cheek as her hormones sent her spiraling from one giddy emotion to the next depressive one.

“I have something that may make you feel better,” Matteo said, his voice proud.

“Yeah?”

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Chapter One Hundred and Twenty–Three

“You want to see it?” he asked. She gave a pitiful nod making him chuckle. “Come on, Weakness, it’s in the bedroom.”

Gen let Matteo take her hand and lead her back to the bedroom. “Matteo if your surprise is your dick…”

Matteo barked out a loud laugh. “No, Weakness, it’s not that grand,” he said with a wink.

He pulled out an envelope and emptied its contents on the table. He picked up a white laminated slip of paper the size of his hand and turned to present it to her. She reached out and took the printed image of his family coat of arms. She looked up, question in her eyes.

He rubbed the back of his neck in a nervous gesture she’d never witness him do before. “Because you’re pregnant, we couldn’t do the traditional tattooing. If you end up breastfeeding, it may be another year or two before you can get it. I looked it up and there’s nothing that says you can’t get a temporary tattoo so I had this made. I thought… before I left… we could put it on and I could tell you about it. I won’t do as good a job as our normal guy but…”

Gen placed her hand on the center of his chest to stop his nervous rambling. She moved her hand to his cheek, stood up on her toes and kissed him lightly.

“That is so considerate of you. I love it. Can we do it now?” she asked.

The smile he gave her brought out his dimple and he answered with an eager nod. He turned around and shuffled through the other papers until he found the instructions. She watched from the edge of the bed as he paced back and forth, reading the instructions over and over.

“It’s temporary, Matteo. It’s okay if you mess it up,” she said with a light laugh.

He stopped his pacing to give her a look of disbelief. “We have to do this right, Weakness. It’s important. Lay back,” he instructed.

Gen wiggled backwards on the bed until she could lay flat. Matteo sat on the edge of the bed beside her. In one hand he held the instructions up, reading them one last time. In the other he held a wet rag. He set the instructions down and carefully peeled back the laminated side of the temporary tattoo. His eyes analyzed the skin she’d laid bare for him. He placed the tattoo down a few times, trying to get the angle just right. Then he positioned it face down and

laid the wet rag on top of it.

“Okay, just have to give it a few minutes,” he said with a nod.

“Easy peasy,” she said with a smile. “So tell me, what does it mean, Matteo?” she asked, reaching up with her hand to brush her fingers against his tattoo.

“It’s mostly a bunch of hogwash,” he said, his ears turning an adorable shade of pink.

“I don’t care, I want to hear it. Please?” she asked.

Matteo cleared his throat. He used his free hand to guide her fingers over his tattoo. “As you know, my great great grandfather was a triplet. When Alessio’s

great great grandfather took over the Palladino business, it left the other two without a family to lead.”

“So they went to New York and made their own,” Gen remembered.

“That’s right. Because they’d split apart, they couldn’t use their family name anymore. The one brother chose the new name of Galante, meaning brave, and

courteous.”

Geneveieve snorted in disbelief, making Matteo smile.

“Believe it or not, most Galantes possess those characteristics. Look at Conor. He is the perfect personification of the name. I don’t know what happened to

his father.”

“What about Accardi? What does it mean?”

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Chapter One Hundred and Twenty–Three

He ran her fingernails over the name etched into his skin. “Sharp edge of a blade or guardian. A protector with a sword,” he whispered.

“Hm,” Gen said, pressing her lips together as she watched Matteo’s chest puff with pride. “Very fitting.”

He tried to hide his smile but the right side of his mouth quirked up against his will. “Anyway, he kind of stole the coat of arms from someone who had

been granted one.”

“How very mafia–like of him.”

“Mmm,” Matteo hummed, peeling back the tattoo slightly to see if it was sticking. Thinking it needed more time, he placed the rag back down and focused on het hand over his tattoo. “The colors are red and gold: red symbolizing military strength in times of war and gold to represent nobility and generosity.

These are traits we Accardis must continue to exhibit to our men, Weakness.”

He ran her fingers over the three mountains. “The mountains represent the strength and stability of a family. He chose to keep three mountains as a

reference to the original triplets, the original family. We must try to remain allies, even when one of us has become corrupted. The star…” he continued, as

he grazed her thumb along the star above the mountains. “Loyalty, kindness and respect is what it represents. A holy–like devotion to our family and each

member who follows us. The helmet sitting on top of the shield… It reminds us of the strength of our family when we stand together. It sits on top,

protection against outside forces, helping us to remember what’s most important.”

Matteo slowly pulled the tattoo template away from her skin. He ran his knuckles along the edges and blew cold air along the wet ink to help it dry.

*One day, when you’re ready, we’ll have it done right. The man who does it can describe it better for you. It’s far more impactful when coming from him, I

promise.”

Gen touched Matteo’s cheek, drawing his eyes up to hers. “I don’t think so.”

Matteo leaned down and kissed her.

“How does it look?” she asked, trying to crane her neck to see.

“Hmmm…” his lips pulled up higher on the right side. Then he rolled, dragging her along with him until she was straddling his hips. His hands smoothed up her naked thighs while his eyes inspected the temporary tattoo. He looked up and smiled. “Beautiful.”

Gen lowered herself down so she could kiss him. His hands skimmed up her sides and cradled her shoulders.

“Why did you wait until tonight to do this? We could have done it the night of our wedding as is tradition.”

A dangerous smirk pulled at his cheeks as his teeth raked over his lips. “I didn’t want to have to worry about messing it up.”

“And now that you’ve seen it?” she asked with a raised brow in challenge.

A low rumble shook his chest. “Now that I see my name branded on your skin?” he asked. She nodded. He shook his head. “I don’t seem to care anymore.”

Matteo’s hand gripped her ass hard while the other one clamped around the back of her neck and pulled her down for a devouring kiss.