Accardi (Genevieve and Matteo) by Allison Franklin novel Chapter 47

Genevieve sat en het bed, locking down at her intertwined fingros. She glanced at the clock: 7–M. She’d called Paul an hour ago. She’d canceled. She fell back on her bed, still dressed in the same outfit she wore to the track. After Matten left, Len walked in and took the seat beside her. He’d unfolded the New York Times newspaper and started to read while he waited for her to sort out her feelings. They didn’t speak as she stood up and smoothed out her dress. They didn’t speak as she looked down at the track to watch Mitten place the blanket of roses on his winning stallion. They didn’t speak as he drove her

back to the hotel on on the elevator ride up.

Only when she was at her door and Len was about to walk away did she clear her throat. He glanced back at her with his fish booked brow. She leaned

against the doorframe.

“Did you know sh

she asked. “That he felt that way?

Lee looked down at u

the floor for a moment before his dark eyes returned to hers. “Didn’t you?”

Now as she laid back on her bed, she realized that she had. Of course she had. She’d known from that second night when he’d opened the door to her with a beaming smile that brought out his dimple. She’d known when he’d shown up at her office in Boston. When he’d barged into her apartment. It wasn’t just hust that drove him. He could relieve that anywhere and with anyone. Even if he weren’t a mafia don, any girl who looked at him would immediately fall at his feet and do whatever he asked. Yet, he wanted her. And, if she let herself think about it for even a moment, she wanted the same.

Genevieve pushed up from the bed and went to her nightstand. She opened the drawer and looked down at the card he’d slipped into her pocket. Before she could change her mind, she grabbed the key and left her room

She’d heard music filtering through the walls a few hours earlier, letting her know he’d returned and hadn’t stopped to see if she was still in her room. Perhaps he didn’t want to see her getting dolled up for another man

She stepped up to the door next to her own and knocked. A moment later seemed to only belong in nightmares.

later the d

door opened. Instead of seeing who she expected, she saw th

the man who

Frankie swiped his long jet black hair away from his eyes so he could leer down at her. He propped himself against the doorframe and put a bottle of vodka to his lips.

“Um, sorry. L…”

“We weren’t expecting anyone else,” Frankie interrupted. “but we’re always up to welcoming a pretty new face to the party. Did you bring a box of condoms? We’re low

He bobbed his head inside as he stepped backwards. A nervous churning started in her stomach as she stepped into the darkened room. The room’s lights had been turned off so that a strobe light could dance around the room in time with the bass from a stereo. As the light popped and faded she could make out the forms of several of Matteo’s men… with women sitting on their laps. She gulped as Frankie stood behind her.

“Looking for a lap in particular?” he whispered behind her, making her shiver.

Her eyes moved around the room. She saw Matter’s other accountant, Marco, who had a brunette with large breasts riding his lap. Marco’s eyes were on Cen though as he ground his hips up against the mystery woman. She looked away quickly only to find something even worse: Paul. He was on the couch with not one, but two women. One was kissing him while another was straddling him. His hands were on both women’s breasts. He pulled away from the woman he was kissing to suck on the breasts of the one who was riding him. She looked away, disgusted. It hadn’t been the first time she’d found him in a situation

like this.

“Where’s Accardi?” Gen asked, keeping her gaze focused on the black pits that were Frankie’s eyes.

Frankie pursed his lips and raised his shoulders to his ears. His eyes tracked around the room before they landed on a doorway. He smiled with wicked

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Chapter Forty–Seven

intent. Gew could y–She had to. She gave a cut not and waded. gh the thuongs of gycating people toward the bedroom doorway. She reached for the

and heard the unmistakable sound eď skin slapping together and a hed teart. She shook her hea and turned away. Gen walked back through the

deep throat moan. She stepped back quickly, feeling his eyes sting with

“Thanks for stopping be?” Frankie hollered as she slammed the door shut

With tears streaking down het free she returned to her room and started throwing her clothes back into her suitcase. She would find a cab and get hack to the airport. She would find another apartment. Now that her first paycheck had cleared, she could afford something on her own. Maybe she could even stay

with her dad

the burned out of her room and practically ran for the elevator. If she bumped into Leo, she would have to knock him out or something. As the numbers in the elevator signaled her descent, she knew getting the better of Leo was an impossibility. She sent a prayer up to heaven, asking her mom for help

Gen burst out of the elevator into the lobby and made a break for the reception desk. She placed her key down at the empty desk and turned for the door. That’s when she saw him. Not Leo, but the last person she expected to see.

Matteo sat at one of the tables in the waiting area of the lobby. He was wearing his faded Warped Tour hoodie. His hair was askew, his leg bounced under the table and there was half a pack’s worth of burned–out cigarettes filling the ashtray in front of him. She slowly walked toward him. The door to the hotel alid open and Matten perked up. When two men came stumbling inside from a night of drinking, he groaned and scrubbed his face before pulling out another cigarette from his pack.

“Matteo?

Matten stood sharply and swiveled to look at her. His eyes ate up her appearance. His brow scrunched down in confusion.

“Gen?” He looked from her to the door and back to her luggage. “What are you doing? Where are you going? His face turned murderous, his eyes darkening more so than she’d ever seen causing her to take a step backward. “Did he hurt you?”

“What are you doing here? I thought you were in your room?” she asked, not answering him.

His brow furrowed further before realization dawned. “You went to my room?”

She nodded. “Frankie said… She shook her head. “What are you doing?”

“The guys like to let loose the night after an opening. That’s why I invited Alexander, I thought he would have fun.”

“I thought you were with them…….”

Ha fats deurbed. “Is that what Frankie told you?”

She looked down at the flour. I guess he technically hadn’t told her anything. He’d looked at the bedrooms door and then shoes. If she’d had enough courage to open the door, she would have seen for herself that it wasn’t Matter in the other side.

“No, I guess I just assumed after I saw Paul

“Paul is up t

there? He must have our with O’Bairn. I didn’t invite him, Maltro alionalized as fr skoly eliminated the space between them

Genevieve tried to remember if she’d seen Clinien up there in the flickering lights. The thought occurred to her that maybe he was the one she’d heard in

the bedroom.

“You may not want to use your bed tonight,” she whispered. She saw his sneakers enter her field of vision. Then his knuckle touched her chin, lifting it up

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Chapter Forty–Seven

so she had to meet his eyes. “What are you doing downs here, Matten?” she asked for the third time

He smiled. “Driving myself to the brink of madness,” he whispered. “Waiting for you to come back from your date.

“I canceled

“Ah, I are,” he said, stepping closer. “Now I’ve answered your question, why don’t you answer one of mine? Where are you going?” h painted down at her luggage by her feet.

I thought you were upstairs,” she answered,

“You thought I was with another woman?” he asked. She nodded. “Even after what I told you earlier?”

She finally met his eyes. “It wouldn’t be the first time it happened.”

he asked, Booking

Matteo’s face twisted with disgust. His hands clasped her throat and he lowered his face so he was eye–level with her. “I am not a good man in many ways, Genevieve. But I would never hurt you like that.”

Gen stared at him, reading the promise in his eyes that lightened to gold as the light above them flicked on. “I trust you.”

Matten let go of her neck so he could wrap his arms around her. Gen buried her head in his chest as she let go of the last of her anger from what she’d seen earlier. He sighed and tightened his hold around her shoulders.

“Are you going to

to go back upstairs now?” she asked, her stomach coiling.

“No. I’ll find another room. Maybe just stay down here. There’s a few things I can work on,” he whispered into her hair.

Genevieve gulped. “You could…”

“You could stay with me,” she found herself saying.