Accardi (Genevieve and Matteo) by Allison Franklin novel Chapter 148

**You Were My Favorite Hurt, And My Hardest Goodbye by Ava Knight**
**Chapter 148**

They were all here. Bruised, burned, and still managing to breathe.

For what felt like the first time in years, Gino allowed himself to contemplate the concept of “after.”

Not merely the next hit, nor the subsequent move on the chessboard of their chaotic lives. No, this was about something deeper—after.

His gaze darted over to Enzo, and he couldn’t help but notice how the bastard appeared a decade older, even in his unconscious state. Dark shadows loomed beneath his eyes, his jaw hung slack, and the once-commanding lines on his face seemed to have worn thin. Gino had never witnessed Enzo in such a vulnerable state—stripped down to the bare essence of humanity. It unnerved him more than anything he had ever faced.

Nearby, Nico twitched in his sleep, his fingers flexing as if he were caught in the throes of a fierce dream, perhaps reliving the fight that had shattered their world. The poor bastard had been holding himself together with nothing but duct tape and a stubborn streak of defiance ever since the explosion. Sure, he had mutant instincts, but at the end of the day, he was still flesh and blood. And blood had its limits.

Dom shifted in his seat, letting out a low groan as his head rolled back against the chair. Guilt clung to him like a second skin, a relentless companion he could never shake off. If Lola allowed him, he would dig into his own wounds with nothing but his bare hands for eternity. But she wouldn’t let him. No, she’d give him a sharp slap upside the head, remind him that he smelled like a dumpster, and insist that she had chosen this life just as much as they had.

A faint smirk crept onto Gino’s lips. Yeah, that sounded about right.

He turned his attention to her then, really focusing on Lola for the first time in what felt like ages.

Lola lay nestled among them, the very axis upon which their chaotic world tilted, and Gino struggled to remember what life was like before she had crashed into their lives. She was a whirlwind of chaos and charm, sharp edges that could cut yet somehow comfort. The kind of woman who could ignite a room simply by stepping into it. She was Enzo’s fiancée, yes, but in this moment, she belonged to all of them. Not in the twisted way the tabloids might spin it, but in that marrow-deep manner that family is forged when blood is spilled together.

Gino wasn’t one to get sentimental—not really. But damn if it didn’t strike him square in the chest like a bullet.

He rubbed a hand down his face, exhaling heavily through his nose as he murmured, “We all need a goddamn vacation.”

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