Accardi (Genevieve and Matteo) by Allison Franklin novel Chapter 137

Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Seven

Genevieve sat at the dining table with Matteo’s hoodie secured around her torso. She lifted her knees up into the warmth of the old Warped Tour garment and pulled the hood over her head. Conor sat beside her, nursing a glass of straight vodka with his head propped up in his hand. She looked across the table toward Leo’s living room where everyone had met to discuss their next steps. Leo and Alessio were arguing over the location of the apology between her and Michele. They’d settled on a date and time: Two days from now at six in the afternoon. That decision had taken them two hours. The focation discussion was entering hour number three.

“We need to have hiding places for our men,” Leo ground out between his teeth.

Alessio rolled his eyes. “You are not allowed to have men waiting in the shadows during an apology. You are allowed one man! One!”

“And I’m assuming you want that to be you?”

Alessio scoffed. “I will be there as the mediator.”

“Well, in that case, I still say we should do it at the docks. The hospital is close by, we can hide our men outside in various buildings, cars, dumpsters…”

Genevieve took the strings attached to the hoodie and slowly pulled them taut, cocooning her head in darkness and warmth.

“Doesn’t help,” Conor whispered beside her.

“What doesn’t?” she asked, her voice muffled in the fabric laced with Matteo’s scent.

“Hiding away.”

“Maybe not for you…”

Conor chuckled, a humorless sound. “Yeah, there I was drowning myself in liquor and whatever other drugs I could get my hands on without leaving the

compound until your husband came along and ripped the sheets off my body.”

“Are you saying you’re going to take my hoodie away?”

“Not me, but Alessio will.”

“I don’t have anything to deal with til tomorrow. Til then, I’m going to stay right here,” Gen explained.

A fragrant aroma found its way through the small hole left open by her hoodie. She loosened the strings just enough to spy the bowl of soup sitting in front of her. She glanced up and noticed Jada watching her with a shy smile. Gen’s eyes went back to the soup and her stomach rumbled.

“Wow, that smells amazing,” Gen said, loosening the hoodie the rest of the way.

“It’s Pho,” Jada told her, sitting in the chair across from her. “I called Dad, told him your stomach was upset and the baby was being picky. He told me your mom had the same issue when she was pregnant with you. Pho was the only thing you’d let her keep down. You need your strength,” Jada explained.

“Yeah, got a mafia boss to kill.” Gen let her feet fall back to the ground and took a hesitant sip. “Mmmm, that’s good,” she whispered before she took a larger scoop.

“How are you doing?” Jada asked.

Gen shrugged. “Dandy.”

1/4

8:56 pm G

Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Seven

“Your face looks like shit.”

“It feels like shit.”

“Was provoking him really necessary?”

“Yes,” Conot answered for her.

“You’re not going to do that tomorrow, are you?” Jada asked, twiddling with her fingers on the table top.

Gen put her spoon down to give her sister her full attention. “It’ll be okay, Jada. Leo’s coming with me.”

“I know, it’s just… The Russos aren’t like this family. They don’t have century-old laws in place to protect each other. They’re violent, manipulative…

They’re…”

Louis appeared behind her then and placed his hands on her shoulders. A stray tear fell down Jada’s cheek. Louis leaned forward and whispered something in her ear that made a shaky smile flicker on her face. She placed her hand on top of his and squeezed.

“I’ll be careful,” Gen assured her.

“We’ll make sure of it,” Louis began. “Cause we’re coming with you.”

Jada gave a firm nod in agreement.

“Uh, no you’re not,” Gen told them, sitting straighter. “That’s not in the plan.”

“Neither was you revealing my intentions to my father,” Conor argued, taking a hefty gulp of his vodka.

“Or getting knocked around,” Jada emphasized with a wave toward Gen’s black and swollen cheek.

Louis took the seat beside his wife. “The shit with the Russos started with us,” Louis said, gesturing between him and Jada. “They want our blood. While I have no intention of letting them get it, I know they won’t agree to any deal with you if they think you’re hiding us away for protection. It’s better to face Charlotte head on.”

Gen resisted the urge to burrow back into Matteo’s hoodie. She glanced over at the men still arguing in the living room. Raphael had stood up and was stationed firmly beside his boss, arguing his case, while Leo refused to back down from his. She heard the scraping of chairs but kept her eyes on the men across the room,

“Gen…” lada whispered, touching her arm,

She glanced over to find her sister in Conor’s seat. Both he and Louis had disappeared.

Jada took her hand. “Talk to me.”

Gen sighed and shook her head. “It won’t do any good.”

“Yeah, it will. If Matteo were here, what would you want to talk to him about?”

“I wouldn’t need to talk to him if he were here,” she answered honestly. Jada squeezed her hand. Gen sighed. “It’s just… a lot, Jade.” Jada nodded in understanding. “I mean, five months ago I was an accountant, just starting her own firm, single, ready to get my life on track. Now…” She let out a breath and looked around. “I’m pregnant. My mob boss husband is in prison to save me from being arrested. I killed a man and am watching a group of guys bicker

2/4

8:56 pm

Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Seven

about how and where I should kill another man. I’ve been in a dozen meetings so far this week with more on the docket for later. I provoked a mafia leader to the point where he hit me. I endangered my baby, Jada… I am still endangering my baby. What am I thinking? How did I get here?”

Jada rubbed her hand and looked over at the men. Louis and Conor had arrived to reinforce Leo who appeared to have grown three inches after they’d come

to his aid.

“By now you know my mom was married to a man like them,” Jada said, gesturing with her chin toward Alessio and Raphael. “My father was a bad man. Of course, these guys are all labeled as ‘bad men,’ but my dad was a really bad man. In every way. He treated me and my mom like he treated a deserter or

snitch.” Jada shook her head. “I never thought I would voluntarily go back to this life.”

“Why did you? Other than the obvious?” Gen amended with a roll of her eyes and a flick of her wrist toward Louis.

Jada purred her approval as she ran her eyes over Louis’ frame. She giggled as Louis caught her stare and sent her a wink. “Some people are just born for

this life,” Jada answered. “No matter what I did, I was always drawn into the shadows, put in situations wherein only I knew what to do.” Jada situated

herself so she was facing Gen more fully. “Do you remember when you first moved to New York?” Gen laughed through her nose and Jada laughed with her. “Of course you do. You got into three fights within the first week. You gravitated toward Paul, the most notorious bad boy in the prim and proper school we went to. Hell, Gen, you even started a poker tournament in our basement. You weren’t any good,” Jada said, full on smiling now. Gen couldn’t help but laugh with her. “But you managed the fuck out of it and made us tons of money.”

“Until Dad caught on.”

“Luckily Mom was so impressed she talked him out of punishing us.”

“They were still in their honeymoon phase. I think we’re old enough now to know what she did to convince him to back down.”

“God, I miss that woman,” Jada said with a shake of her head. She didn’t talk about her mother’s death that often. A woman whose life was filled with so much violence, taken down by a disease few people are able to fight off. “If she were here, she would have much better advice for you. Women don’t stick around in this life for long, leaving a bit of a void in the advice department.”

“That’s… reassuring,” Gen said with a sigh.

“No, not because they die or something,” Jada corrected. “These guys, they’ll protect you. I have no doubt about that. Their Donnas are treasured. I mean their biggest rule is no Don can hit another man’s Donna. Women don’t last long in this life because they aren’t tough. They don’t walk into a room filled with nerves only to find confidence through their fear and stand up to not one but several mafia men. I mean, look around you Gen. Both Galantes, Palladino, Matteo, O’Brien, Bennett, the Russos… all of these people you’ve stood toe to toe with. You’re an impressive woman. I know it, they know it, and that’s why Matteo chased you and wouldn’t let you go. Not because you’re fine as hell, which, you are,” Jada said with a wink and a nudge. “But because you’re a force. I’m proud to be your little sister. My big sister is a fucking bad ass.”

Gen swiped the tears that threatened to spill and hugged her sister tight about the shoulders. “I love you, Jade.”

“I love you too, Genevieve,”

Someone cleared their throat, forcing Gen and Jada to split apart. They looked up at Alessio who was watching them with his hands behind his back. His jaw was set, his body rigid.

“We’ve come to an agreement,” he announced.

Jada looked at the clock above the stove. “Jeez, only took five hours.”

Alessio completely ignored her. “Two days, six o’clock, you’ll meet Michele at the docks,” he said with a roll of his eyes. “You just need to decide on a

weapon.”

3/4

8:56 pm G

Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Seven

“It should be something loud enough to alert the other men,” Leo informed her from the living room.

“Not a gun,” Conor volunteered. “Michele will have her dropped within the first shot.”

Gen could feel the color and heat drain from her face. Jada rubbed her arm in reassurance while sending Conor a look of warning.

“Knives?” Louis supplied.

“I suck with knives,” Gen said with a shake of her head.

“Well, how about a lightning round: wrench, hammer, tire iron, bow and arrow…” Louis rubbed his jaw. “Man, I wish Donati was here. He has a fucking list.”

“What about a bat?” Gen asked, her eyes on Leo.

Leo’s lips pulled into a smile that made her shiver in fear. “Hmm, how about my bat?”

Comments

3

Write Comments

SHARE

4/4

Accardi