Accardi (Genevieve and Matteo) by Allison Franklin novel Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty–Two

Matteo’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He sighed and dropped his hand. He pulled the phone out and glanced at the name on the screen. He would have to wait to say hello to his new neighbor. Matteo turned and strode toward his door. After he unlocked it and pushed it open, he answered.

“Alessio,” Matteo greeted.

“Buonasera, Cugino,” Alessio responded. “Puol parlare?”

“I just got home,” Matteo informed him.

Matteo walked through his apartment, flipping on different lights before he entered the kitchen.

“How are things?” Alessio asked.

“Fucking fantastic.” Matteo glanced through his fridge and decided a sandwich would have to do for dinner.

“Thought so. Have you found any leads on Tony and Valentina’s murderers?”

“I’ve gotten intel it may be Luca Guerra. He’s some thug in Los Angeles trying to break into the crime game. I’m looking into it.”

“Luca Guerra,” Alessio repeated slowly telling Matteo he was writing it down for later.

Alessio had a habit of writing everything down in a leather bound book he always kept on his person. Whenever Matteo questioned the security of such a thing, Alessio would chuckle and respond, If someone has gotten close enough to take my book, they’ve already taken my

life.

“What else do you know about him?” Alessio asked.

Matteo put the phone on speaker and set it on the island so he could start assembling a cold deli sandwich. He shrugged though Alessio couldn’t see him. “He’s started making moves on a few families in LA. Small stuff mostly: running drugs, pushing weapons, opening a few clubs. No one knows where he’s from. My men did some digging and they couldn’t find anything about him before five years ago.”

“Italiano?”

“Supposedly.”

“Do you think he’s from a family here?”

“If he is, he’s doing a sloppy job but it wouldn’t surprise me. Maybe he’s trying to impress someone back home? Maybe he’s trying to

distance himself and make his own way.”

Matteo slid his cutting board of vegetables to his right as he continued making his dinner. A moment later he froze when he realized what

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Chapter Twenty–One

stood in front of debating on whether to knock or pretend he didn’t know she had just moved in, belonged to Geneveive Sinclair. He lifted his fict to the door and paused.

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14:18 Mon, Nov 3 M

Accardi

54

Chapter Twenty–Two

Matteo’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He sighed and dropped his hand. He pulled the phone out and glanced at the name on the screen. He would have to wait to say hello to his new neighbor. Matteo turned and strode toward his door. After he unlocked it and pushed it

open, he answered.

“Alessio,” Matteo greeted.

“Buonasera, Cugino,” Alessio responded. “Puoi parlare?”

“I just got home,” Matteo informed him.

Matteo walked through his apartment, flipping on different lights before he entered the kitchen.

“How are things?” Alessio asked.

“Fucking fantastic.” Matteo glanced through his fridge and decided a sandwich would have to do for dinner.

“Thought so. Have you found any leads on Tony and Valentina’s murderers?”

“I’ve gotten intel it may be Luca Guerra. He’s some thug in Los Angeles trying to break into the crime game. I’m looking into it.”

“Luca Guerra,” Alessio repeated slowly telling Matteo he was writing it down for later.

Alessio had a habit of writing everything down in a leather bound book he always kept on his person. Whenever Matteo questioned the security of such a thing, Alessio would chuckle and respond, If someone has gotten close enough to take my book, they’ve already taken my

life.

“What else do you know about him?” Alessio asked.

Matteo put the phone on speaker and set it on the island so he could start assembling a cold deli sandwich. He shrugged though Alessio couldn’t see him. “He’s started making moves on a few families in LA. Small stuff mostly: running drugs, pushing weapons, opening a few

clubs. No one knows where he’s from. My men did some digging and they couldn’t find anything about him before five years ago.”

“Italiano?”

“Supposedly.”

“Do you think he’s from a family here?”

“If he is, he’s doing a sloppy job but it wouldn’t surprise me. Maybe he’s trying to impress someone back home? Maybe he’s trying to

distance himself and make his own way.”

Matteo slid his cutting board of vegetables to his right as he continued making his dinner. A moment later he froze when he realized what

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Chapter Twenty–Two

he’d done. He looked to his right, where Tony had always wood.

Come on, Matteo, Just let me fise the Nakirt I promise I won’t cut myself again.

“Matteo?” Alessio called.

“Yeah?”

“Are you listening?”

“Sorry, no

Alessio sighed on the other end. “I told you to take a break. You can come to Italy and visit us. Conor will be arriving soon.*

“I can’t. I have too much to handle right now. How is Conor?” Matteo asked, curious as to how his other cousin was doing after what he’d

read in the paper that morning.

The Galante family had been raided by the police two days ago. A dirty cop had been identified within their ranks and had taken the fall for the entire family. It was rather unorthodox but he knew Michele would do anything to avoid hurting his business, even if it meant throwing one of his own under the bus.

“Not sure. I haven’t spoken with him,” Alessio answered.

“Any ideas who tipped the police off? The Irish?”

“It’s possible. Things between them haven’t been going well as of late.”

Matteo snorted and took a bite of his finished sandwich. He leaned over the island.

“As of late, or ever?”

Alessio chuckled, “How have your dealings been going with the Irish? Any issues?”

Matteo thought while he chewed. He mainly steered clear of the Irish gangs within the city. It helped that his business dealings were in gambling rather than drugs or weapons like the Galantes.

“No. I can’t rule them out as being involved with my family’s murders but I don’t trespass on their turf or affiliate with the Galantes They’d have nothing to gain. I doubt they’d attack two of us at once. They wouldn’t be able to handle the fallout that came after ”

“Well, I hope it continues to stay that way. Michele is on a warpath and it’s going to get much uglier before it gets any better.”

“I have enough on my plate without adding Michele to the equation.”

“I heard about Giovanni. Anything there?”

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Chapter Twenty–Two

“No. I had him in the box for over a week and had my men take turns on him. He just wanted the fucking money.”

“Balls of steel,” Alessio noted

Matteo smirked. “Not after we got done with them.”

“Good, I’m glad to see that woman hasn’t taken away your edge.”

Matteo stilled. He set his sandwich down. He splayed his hands wide on the counter and glared down at his phone. “Excuse me?”

“I hear a lot of things, Cugino.”

“She has nothing to do with this. Stay out of it.”

There was a long beat of silence on the other end of the line. “Cazzo, Matteo. You don’t need that kind of distraction.”

“It’s been great talking to you, Alessio.” Matteo went to hang up.

“Wait,” Alessio said, stopping him. “Just, be careful. We don’t know who we can trust. First you, then the Galantes. It can’t be a

coincidence, no?”

“Stay away from her,” Matteo warned. “I’m serious.”

There was another stretch of silence. “I’m sending Rafael,” Alessio informed him.

“Alessio, don’t…”

6

Matteo growled when he realized Alessio had already hung up. He slid his forearms forward and laid his head down on the cool marble of the island. He sat back and glared down at the plate in front of him. In a sudden fit of anger he swiped the plate off the counter. The ceramic hit the wooden floor and shattered. He glared down at the mess he would have to clean up. He almost laughed at the irony of it all. It was the perfect illustration of how his life felt to him now: broken, splintered, unfixable.

His head fell forward. He pulled his broom from the closet and cleaned up the mess. Afterwards, he took a long hot shower before walking around his apartment to check every point of entry and set his security system. He laid down in his bed and put his hands behind his head. He stared up at the ceiling and closed his eyes. He knew it would be a miracle if he was able to get any sleep. But, laying here, with his eyes closed, he could almost feel her laying on top of him. He could almost hear her soft breath and the light thump of her heart

trying to sync with his own.

When he learned she’d chosen this building out of the four options he gave her, he was elated. What better way to woo a woman than to be her friendly next door neighbor. Now, as he laid there knowing she was so close yet still impossibly far, he felt hollow. The apartment was quiet, far too quiet. His thoughts were loud and he prayed for something to make the noise stop. Then he heard it.

Matteo’s eyes flew open. He must have imagined it. There was no way he just heard what he thought he did. Then it came again. Matteo laid very still, worried one twitch would cause the sound to vanish. The noise changed, sounding more desperate and slightly louder. He

listened raptly to the moans and whimpers filtering through the walls. It was Genevieve… and she was touching herself.

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Chapter Twenty–Two

As the soft sounds continued, Matteo found himself slipping one hand into his boxers to touch his already hardened member. He bit his lp to keep from making any noise. Surely if he could hear her, she would be able to hear him. He began stroking himself to the rhythm of her breathing. He closed his eyes and imagined her there with him, sitting atop him and riding his cock. Fucking his hand was no where close to the real thing but listening to her in secret brought about an intimacy which sent a ripple of pleasure up his spine.

He wondered what she must be thinking about. Was she picturing him? Was she watching porn? Matteo stifled a groan at the image of her watching some nameless couple screw each other to get herself off. God, he wished he could just see her. He wished he could know what she was thinking about and…

“Matteo…”

Matteo’s hand stilled. He stopped breathing. Her voice was soft, pleading. For a moment he thought he’d imagined it. Perhaps his fantasy was messing with his reality.

“Matteo…”

His name came again, but this time it was higher, more desperate. Matteo flung back his bed sheets and strode across the room. Before he could form a coherent thought or wonder if what he was doing was the right choice, he stood in front of her door and started knocking loud enough to wake the dead. As he waited for her to answer, he placed his hands on the door frame and gripped it hard enough to splinter the wood. He ducked his head and shut his eyes hard. Alessio couldn’t be more wrong. She was just the distraction he needed.

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