Accardi (Genevieve and Matteo) by Allison Franklin novel Chapter 52

Chapter Fifty–Two

Matteo forced the knife deeper into Frankie’s shoulder, causing him to let out a grunt.

“Is this a new form of greeting I’m not familiar with?” Frankie asked, looking down at the hilt of the knife with a smile.

Frankie’s smile was dangerous. Frankie was dangerous. Anyone who caught a glimpse of Matteo’s number two with 90 percent of his skin covered in tattoos and scars from picking too many fights would run the opposite direction. It was instinctual. He’d seen women cover their child’s eyes as Frankie walked past.

He’d seen policemen develop a sudden interest in a scratch on their patrol car to avoid meeting his gaze. Even Genevieve was frightened of the man and

she’d gone to bed with a mafia boss. Frankie loved it. He lived to scare people. The problem was, nothing scared Frankie… Except Matteo.

“We both know you don’t learn unless pain is involved,” Matteo growled.

“And what am I supposed to be learning today, Accardi? If you walk in without knocking, you’ll get a knife to the shoulder?” Frankie asked.

“Stay the fuck out of my personal life,” Matteo warned.

Frankie’s eyes widened. “Ohh, it’s about your little chickadee? Was it the condoms comment?”

“You know exactly what you did.”

Matteo applied pressure to the blade, making Frankie snarl before he pushed away from him and walked to his desk. Frankie grunted as he pulled the knife from his shoulder. Matteo sat down in his chair and laced his fingers together while Frankie rotated his shoulder to make sure nothing of importance had

been cut. Matteo chose the spot well, though, no arteries, muscles, or organs, only tissue.

Matteo glanced at the monitor on his desk, which switched between surveillance footage of different areas of the club. Despite the fact that they only

opened an hour earlier, they were already at capacity. There were some big names on the docket tonight, even a few professional wrestlers who wanted a

taste at some real money. Matteo hadn’t even had a chance to speak with Louis yet as he was running around trying to get his bearings after three weeks

off. Frankie plunged Matteo’s knife into the wood of his desk, drawing his attention back to the matter at hand.

“I don’t see what the problem is. You needed to get laid and I helped,” Frankie said with a shrug before falling back into the chair opposite his desk.

“You told her I was with another woman.”

“Actually,” Frankie said, holding up a finger. “I suggested you were in the bedroom using body language. She was the one who didn’t open the door. Though, I can’t really blame her. Imagine the sight of O’Brien’s ass,” Frankie said with an exaggerated shiver.

*I don’t give a fuck if you communicated through charades. I don’t need your help. Fuck with her again and I’ll put my knife somewhere more vital,” Matteo

warned.

Frankie’s smirk disappeared. He leaned forward. “You were sitting in the lobby smoking a carton looking like a pussy–whipped imbecile. Even O’Brien noticed, Man. That’s not good for business. You should be thanking me,” Frankie said. “Look at you! You fucked. You’re welcome. It did you some good. Your

mood’s much better. Besides, now you know how she feels.”

“How do you figure that?”

“She went running! A girl who doesn’t care would just go back to her room. Or worse, pull a Mallory and fuck another guy to make you jealous. She did neither. She likes you,” Frankie said with a wiggle of his eyebrows. Matteo ran his hands through his hair and stared out the double–paned window to the club below. He noticed Louis coming up the stairs with his phone in his hand. “Then again…” Frankie said. Matteo closed his eyes. Frankie didn’t think very hard very often so when he did the gears in his brain tended to smoke up the room. “You did stab me with a knife… And come to think of it, she wasn’t limping the next morning… Oh my God. You didn’t close the deal?!”

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Chapter Fifty–Two

Matteo swiveled around and sent Frankie a hateful glare. “Watch it.”

“Come on, Accardi! What is with this girl? You need to get a release. Trust me. It’s not good for your health. You know the saying, ‘use ‘em or lose ‘em“?”

The door to his office swung open and Louis appeared. “What the fuck, Accardi? Why did I just get a phone call from my wife saying you’re fucking my

sister–in–law?” Louis asked.

Frankie burst out laughing. “Don’t worry, Lou, the fucking is in the past–tense apparently.”

“Get out, Frank,” Matteo growled. “Get that shit bandaged up too. Maurice will have enough blood to clean up off the floors tonight.”

Frankie sent him a salute. His shoulders continued to shake with laughter until he closed the door. Louis sent him a reproachful look.

“I had one request,” Louis said, walking toward the desk. “I begged everyone going to the wedding to stay away from one person. Yet, here I am, discovering

that you not only went behind my back but have been doing so for three weeks?”

Accardi sighed. “It wasn’t planned.”

“I would hope not,” Louis said, crossing his arms and waiting for an explanation. Matteo had to hand it to him. He was already very protective of his new

sister. More so than he had ever been of Mallory.

“She came up to me at Valentina’s the night of my family’s funeral. Mallory put her up to it.”

Louis sighed and dropped his head back. A moment later he brought his head forward and shook it. “Of course she did. No wonder she wouldn’t leave me

alone during the honeymoon.”

“How pissed is Jada?” Matteo asked, offering a cigarette to Louis.

“Sleep on the couch for the next week pissed,” Louis said with a sigh.

“You’ve been back a day and she’s already this mad at you? Sounds like little Louis didn’t please his lady enough times on the honeymoon.”

“She could barely keep up with me, Man,” Louis said with a smirk that quickly disappeared to be replaced by his trademark father–figure expression. “You know how she feels about this life. Her mom and stepdad did everything they could to keep Genevieve in the dark. They were so happy when she moved to Boston. Yet, here you are, a fucking mafia don no less, coming in and destroying everything they worked hard for. What is your endgame, Accardi? According to lada, the two of you have already slept together, so what more is there?”

What more is there? Matteo wondered. There was everything. An entire life. Her.

“I’m taking her on a date tomorrow,” Matteo confessed.

Louis raised both brows in surprise. “A date? Like dinner, and a movie kind of date?”

“Like I’ve bought four different bouquets because I don’t know what flowers she prefers. Like I have six suits lying on my bed because I’m not sure which is the right one. Like I am wondering if I should get a hair cut or just leave it because what if the barber fucks it up? Like I’ve spent my entire day doing research on what to expect because I’ve never fucking done this before,” Matteo rattled off.

He’d known Louis since he was five. While there had always been a divide between them due to what Matteo’s family took part in and the secrecy that entailed, the two had become fast friends and told each other everything… nearly everything. At the request of his parents, he’d always kept business out of their relationship. Matteo enjoyed having a friend he could discuss guls with, watch football games, joke about the mundane aspects of traffic or the high cost of electric bills… normal stuff. He’d managed to keep their friendship like that until two years ago when everything changed for Louis and Matteo brought him into the family business. Now, due to some random acts of circumstance, their relationship was changing again from friends and coworkers to,

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1:09 am D

Chapter Fifty–Two

possibly, family. A fact that made Matten even more confident about his decision.

Louis sat down in the chair as if his legs were about to give out. “Jesus.”

“I’m taking her to Carmela’s too.”

“Jesus, Accardi, don’t you think it’s a bit too soon? Maybe you should wait until…”

Matteo slammed his fist down on the table. “Why does everyone keep telling me to wait?”

“Because this is irrational!” Louis exploded, never one to worry about what he said to Matteo. “You met the woman a few weeks ago and now you’re taking her to a restaurant where every high–powered Italian in the city will assume you mean to make her your wife!”

As if Louis‘ reaction had set off a string of unavoidable events into motion, a high–pitched alarm went off. Louis covered his ears while Matteo’s heart filled with lead and dropped. He froze for a moment while his eyes tracked toward his keychain. It was an alarm. An alarm that, as far as he could recall, had never been triggered. Hair rose up on his arms as his eyes finally locked on the little circular tag that blinked red and emitted the high frequency: Leo’s panic

button.

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