Accardi (Genevieve and Matteo) by Allison Franklin novel Chapter 44

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Chapter Forty–Four

Matten cursed the fact that the liquorn

as she

ins prevented.

nted him from keeping his grip tight enough. Gen pulled away from him far too easily

“Oh my God!” (en squealed. “I’s been, like, what?”

“Ten years?” they both said at the same time.

Paul eliminated the space between them and grasped her in a big hug. He span her around and Gen gizzled with her eyes closed at the hogged him back.

Matteo glared up at the ceiling of the hotel.

Really? Ramut of lock that fast? he asked God.

“What are you doing here?” Gen asked, after he’d finally set her down. They y were still holding each other’s arms though, making Matten angrier than hell..

“Your mom told me you were still in Texas but…”

› you’ve been asking about me, huh?” Paul asked, brushing some hair behind her ear.

Gen hit him playfully on the chest. “Please, my dad told me about your visit.”

to tell you

“What?! He swore not to tell you. I thought you were in Boston, what are you doing here?”

“I actually moved back to New York for a hit to…

“New York? But you hate the city,” Paul argued.

A lump of pure, hot jealousy settled in Matteo’s stomach, burning off what remained of the alcohol in his system. He glared at the couple who had all but forgotten his existence. He felt Leo come to stand behind him in a way that told him he was not hiding his emotions very well. He focused his hate into

dawning his mask of cold indifference.

Genevieve shrugged. “I got an offer I couldn’t refuse. That’s actually why I’m here now. I… Genevieve finally glanced over Paul’s shoulder. She visibly paled and swallowed, confirming his mask was back in place. She only looked at him like that when he was unreadable. “I’m, um, I’m here because of work. This is h… Gen looked at Matteo and fisted her hand in the air as she sought to name whatever it was between them. “My, um, boss, Mr. Accardi,” she finally managed to get out.

Mattes Barrowed his eyes, making her visibly tremble.

“Accardi?” Paul swiveled around, completely oblivious to Matteo’s expression. The naive prick. “No way! He’s my boss too!”

“Really?” Gen asked, her focus back on her ex. “How? I thought you were in consulting now.”

“I am! I’m overseeing the new in

track. That’s why I’m here, to give Mr. A the lowdown on events for this weekend.”

Mr. AP Matteo’s knuckles tightened. A loud seap bright everyone’s attention back to him. He opened his fist and the keycard fell to the ground in several

pieces

“I’ll get a new one,” Leo mumbled behind him.

“Well,” Genevieve said, her voice filled with nerves. “I have to go up to my room and try to get some sleep. I’ll leave you to bounced back and forth between the two men.

u to it,” she suggested. Her eyes

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Chapter Forty–Four

She started to walk away when Paid snapped her hand, Gow’s eyet müdened at the violent shift in Matteo’s body language.

“Tell me you’ll have dinner with me before you lone. I’ve missed you, Baby,” Paul whispered, eroding the last shrivel of Matteo’s civility. “Just tell me you’ll

let me see you

Genester wallowed. She slowly turned to look back at Paul. “……..”

“No,” Matteo finally said. Both of them turned to look at him. He cleared his throat to dislodge the painful lump there. “Miss S kass,” he hissed, glaring at her for her choice in words, “I won’t allow it. Not under company time.”

Sinclair is here to work. As her

Paul’s brow furrowed as he tried to decipher the obvious anger in Matteo’s words. “Oh, okay, well either way I’ll see you at the event tomorrow, right?”

Cen nodded and gave him a shy smile. “Goodnight, Paul. See you tomorrow.”

As she tried to pull away, Paul pulled her into another hug. She remained stiff for a moment but then her entire body relaxed and she hugged him back, desperately. She let go and Paul allowed her to step back. She refused to make eye contact with Matteo as she turned and headed for the elevators. Matten didn’t watch her leave. His eyes were trained on the man who had the gall to touch someone he’d already discarded. Someone Matteo would never allow to be hurt again.

“So. Mr. Brooks,” Matteo said, causing Paul to jerk his eyes away from the elevator.

“You wanted to speak with me? How about we go check out a friend’s new club in town. We can get a few drinks,” Matteo suggested, stepping up closer to

the man. “Let off some steam?”

Paul’s face brightened. “Sure!” he said, his excitement a testament to how idiotic he was. “We had fun at your club while we were in town. I managed to get a few guys on the ground. It felt like I was back in high school. You know…” he started as they walked toward the doors. “Back in high school I got in fights

all the time.”

“Is that so?” Matteo asked.

Paul nodded. “Had to. With a girl like Cen on my arm, there were always guys wanting to take a run at her. Had to put them in their place, you know,” Paul

explained with a jab in Matteo’s ribs for emphasis.

“Oh, I know exactly what you mean,” Matteo agreed.

They each got into the SUV with Leo behind the wheel. It was near midnight in Texas but Matteo’s blood simmered with adrenaline. Paul slapped the back

of Matteo’s chair.

“You know, Gen was that girl I was talking about in our meeting. The one who got away.” Paul continued. Matteo wondered if he should hand him a shovel to help him dig himself a deeper hole all the faster. “What are the chances? Looks like I’ll get that relapse fuck after all.”

Mattes felt his knuckles strain with the urge to pummel the fucker into the ground. Thirty more minutes, he rationalized as Leo drove them deeper into downtown Austin. They pulled in front of a club with a flashing meon sign that spelled, “Hall Way House.”

“No way, is this

*Care to go a couple rounds?” Matten asked with a ile as they steppied out.

“With you?” Paul eyed Matten up and down.

In his Armani suit and Italian shoes, Paul may not see him as a threat: just some pretty

y rich boy who doesn’t know his place. Paul’s biggest mistake was not taking five minutes to do a proper Google search. Sure, Paul was built and could probably hold his own against the college kids who took a chance on asking

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1:05 am

Chapter Forty–Four

out the captivating beauty with blue eyes. That inside this building, Paul would be considered a shrimp All Matteo had to do was get his name on the sign up sheet before he figured that out.

After a few moments of consideration, Paul smiled wide. “Tuck it. Just not in the face, I wouldn’t want to mess up your pretty mug for the press releases

Paul laughed as he sauntered into the building. Matteo felt Lea’s hand on his shoulder. “Don’t do too much damage, Accardi. She’ll run off to help him heal”

“Then maybe I’ll kill him.” Matteo growled, stalking after his prey.

Matteo didn’t return back to the hotel until the sun started to peak over the horizon. As he trudged up to

to the third Door

third floor, he glanced down at his watch and groaned. He only had four hours before he was expected at the track. He pushed open the door to his floor, walked down the longest hallway in existence. and leaned heavily against the wall as he tried and failed to get into the room

He heard the door to the room beside his own open. He glanced up and saw Genevieve staring uncertainly back at him. He sighed and looked back down at the card reader. A few more failed attempts and her hand suddenly appeared on top of his own. She took the card and swiped it once. The door automatically opened. He practically fell inside. Using the miscellaneous furniture to help him stay upright, he made his way to the bed and fell face–first.

Matron expected the curtain of sleep to fall down on him rather quickly. Instead he could hear small noises filtering around the room. He turned his head and cracked one eye open. Geneveieve was walking around, collecting miscellaneous items. By the time she sat on the bed beside him, he’d figured out she was collecting things to help with his bleeding knuckles. She didn’t say anything, or even look at his face as she took his hands and studied his knuckles.

Genevieve started to gently doctor his hand. First she wiped the wound with an antiseptic wipe and then used a cotton swab to clean up the edges of his split skin. Then she pulled out a cream and applied it with a nurturing touch. By the time she got to winding the gauze around his knuckles, the silence was suffocating him.

“He’s the one you learned to do this for, isn’t he?” Matteo finally asked.

Gen’s cheeks turned red but she still didn’t meet his eyes. “He was a very jealous person.”

“So am L” Matteo informed her.

Her eyes finally lifted but they gave nothing away. “I’ve noticed.”

Gen stood up and made her way around the bed. She sat down on the opposite side and started to doctor his other hand. Matteo turned his head to watch her.

“We were high school sweethearts. He got a football scholarship to go to the University of Texas. I would have never been able to afford that school. He went and we broke up,” she said with a shrug.

“That’s not all of the story, though, is it?” he asked,

She met his gaze with an unflinching edge. “No.”

Matteo’s k

knuckles tightened. She clicked her tongue when he reopened a cut she’d just finished cleaning up. “I’ll kill hins for you. If you want.”

Gen’s eyes remained on his knuckles for a few moments. A smile tugged at the corner of her lips. Finally she looked up at him, her eyes brimming with tears. “Don’t you mean you’ll take his hand off?”

un that!=

Matteo’s blond went cold and he felt the color draining from his face. “Who told you about

Gen’s mouth dropped. “It’s true?”

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Chapter Forty–Four

Matte scoffed. “No.”

“Oh my God, Matteo,” she posed “Don’t all his hand?”

“If he touches you again, it won’t leave me with much choter,” he warned.

She shook her head, her mouth still wide with disbelief. She resumed her work, stopping every few minutes to shake her head again

“Alright, I’m all done, get some sleep. We have a big day ahead of us,” she told him.

“Wait,” he whispered. He touched her cheek with the pad of his thumb, noticing the purple bags beneath the striking blue of her eyes. “Stay with me. We can get some sleep together”

Gen’s checks flushed and she looked down while biting her lip. God, he wanted to pull that lip from between her teeth. She finally looked up and shy smile. “Not today, Mr. Accardi, We both know neither of us would get any actual rest.”

him

With that, Gen shoved up off his bed. She left his room with a slight swing to her hips. He laid his head back against the mattress and closed his eyes. A few minutes later, right on the cusp of sleep, he heard her moan his name through the thin walls. Dammit.

Comments

R Visitor

wonderful storyline, can’t wait for more

7 days ago