Accardi (Genevieve and Matteo) by Allison Franklin novel Chapter 56

Chapter Fifty–Six

Gen came awake slowly Her body felt like it was filled with lead She tried to move her arms but they wouldn’t budge. Next her legs, but they were tied above the ankles. She lifted her head only for her energy to immediately dwindle. Her head fell backward. She couldn’t see. There was something covering

her eyes along with her mouth.

The room she sat in was cold and quiet. The only sound came from a drip to her right. Drip. Drip. Drip.

“Hello?” she called, her voice muffled thanks to the gag in her mouth.

She pulled more desperately at her restraints. Gen began to panic. It seemed the more she struggled, the tighter the ropes became. Tears soaked into the

cloth covering her eyes. She felt like she might suffocate from the gag in her mouth. Then she tipped the chair. The air rushed from her body as her head

collided with the concrete ground. Spots appeared behind her eyelids and she squeezed them tighter to keep from getting nauseous. The door to her prison

squealed as it was pushed open. She heard the shuffling of multiple feet.

“Look what we have here,” a male voice said, as he walked closer. His foot hooked around the restraints tying her ankles and pulled until the chair rotated

and she fell to her back.

“Let me go!”

“What was that?” the man asked.

“Sounded like she said ‘hm mhmh hmm,“” a second man joked.

“Shut up. Get the camera set up,” the first man instructed. She heard a few men grumbling and the sound of bags being dropped to the floor. “How are you doing, Darling?” Genevieve didn’t bother to answer. “Are you going to be a good girl?”

Genevieve wished so very badly that her leg was free so she could kick him in the balls. Or even if her mouth wasn’t covered, she could spit at him. Instead, she lay there, completely at his mercy.

“Come on then, we got a job to do,” he said before hoisting the chair upward and putting her back into a normal seated position.

The man undid the eye cover first. She opened her eyes and blinked a few times as they adjusted to the bright lighting surrounding her. She closed one eye so she could focus. They were in some kind of warehouse. The walls were made of brick and the floor was smooth cement.

There were four men in total. Two were setting up a camera pointed directly at her. A third was leaning back against the doorway, his eyes pinning her to the spot while the fourth was regarding her close up with admiration. They all wore masks as well as shirts with long sleeves and pants, obscuring any scar, tattoo or abnormality that might help identify them in the future. All that was visible were their eyes and mouths. As stupid as it sounded, she wanted to be optimistic. If they planned to kill her, they wouldn’t be worried about her knowing what they looked like… right?

“Damn, woman, you are fine. I understand Accardi’s fixation,” the closest man said.

Genevieve could do no more than glare at him.

“You’re going to help us, aren’t you?” he asked.

He placed both hands on either arm of the chair and knelt down so they were eye–level. She was struck with the reddish–brown beauty of them. If only they didn’t watch her like a snake slithering in the leaves at her feet. Genevieve didn’t shrink back, instead she raised her chin in what she hoped came across as defiance. While she’d never been kidnapped or tied to a chair, she had plenty of experience with men like these. If she was going to get through this, she at least needed to pretend to be strong. Any sign of weakness would only encourage them.

“We don’t plan to hurt you. We just need to get a message across to Accardi. Then we’ll dump you somewhere far away and give him the coordinates. While he’s running after you, we’ll make our escape. Now I’m going to take your gag off. Then you’re going to read from a script and we’ll be on our way. Okay?”

The man slowly removed the gag from her mouth, his fingertips lingering on her plush, swollen lips. He smiled and she spat in his face. The man took a step

back and sighed.

“Not really useful when you got this on,” he scolded, pointing toward his mask.

“Still felt good,” Gen retorted.

“Mmm, you want to feel good?” he asked, leaning toward her again.

“Two. Not now,” the man at the door warned. Two’s head fell forward and he sighed.

“Two? Really?” Gen said with a laugh.

He shrugged. “It’s important you don’t know who we are, Sweetness.”

Gen laughed again. “Like it’s going to matter.”

“How do you figure that?” he asked, cocking his head.

“You’ve told me your plan like you’re some half–baked Bond villain. You kidnapped the woman the most dangerous man in New York is obsessed with. Do

you really think hiding your face and changing your name is going to keep him from finding you? Even when you leave me in a ditch, he won’t stop looking

for you until you’re six feet under.”

“Oh, yeah? What makes you so sure?”

Gen leaned forward as much as she could while being bound. “Because I’ll make sure of it,” she hissed.

Two chuckled and then backhanded her. The chair lost its footing and she fell to the ground again. This time she was smart enough to keep her head up, but that only meant the entirety of the impact focused on her shoulder. She cried out as the pain shot down her arm and up into her collarbone.

“Dammit, Two, just sit her up and back the fuck off,” the man leaning against the door instructed.

“Fine, Number One,” Two said with a mocking tone. He pulled the chair up and reoriented her in front of the camera.

“So you’re the one I should be talking to?” Gen asked the man referred to as One,

He shrugged. “I orchestrated this. I’m in charge. Say what you want,”

“He’s going to kill you first,” she whispered, never more sure of anything. They’d struck her. She was going to make sure they paid.

The man chuckled. “Sure. You guys ready? It stinks in here.”

“All good.” “Yep.” The two operating the camera announced.

“Alright,” One said. He stepped forward and held up a large poster board with block letters. “We’ll turn the camera on and you’ll repeat this word for word.

Then we’ll leave you alone.”

Gen took a moment to read the poster: Accardi. I don’t know where I am. The men here tell me they won’t hurt me if you just do what they say.

Please, I’m begging you, do whatever they want. I’m so scared. I just want to go home.

Gen scoffed. “Do you really think he’ll buy that?”

The two men operating the camera turned toward the poster and then their leader. One shrugged. “Don’t care. You bound to a chair with cuts and bruises will be enough to incite him. Plus, whatever I ad lib in the end.”

“Ad lib?” Gen asked.

“You’ll see,” he said with a wink. “Ready?” The two men nodded and switched the camera on. “Go ahead.”

Gen looked from the camera to the board. “Go fuck yourself.”

One sighed and gave a nod to Two. Two smiled, stepped up and punched Genevieve in the jaw. She gasped at the pain that made her eyes swim and her

knees shake. She tried to bring air back into her lungs in a way that didn’t feel as though the air was slicing through her throat. Tears pricked at her eyes

and spilled down her cheeks.

“Try again,” One said.

Gen lifted her head and blew some hair away from her face. She looked at the poster. “Accardi,” she began to read. “I don’t know where I am… But it looks like some kind of warehouse. I smell fish and…” The air rushed from her as Two kicked her in the stomach. She fell forward over her legs. She opened her mouth and pleaded for the air to come back. It took far too long for her to be able to inhale again. She sat back and held her chin up to help the air get down to her lungs easier.

“Alright, Accardi,” One said, stepping beside her. He held up the poster and ripped it in half. “Women can be stubborn. As I’m sure you’ve learned from this woman here.”

He grabbed a fistful of her hair and hauled her head back further, exposing her neck. She gasped as he pulled her upward, straining her body against the ropes keeping her tied to the chair. The rope burned her skin as she tried to readjust herself to the harsh angle he placed her in.

*She is breathtaking,” One said. “You want her back? You’ll do exactly as I say in my letter. She’s in one piece now. After tomorrow I’ll start removing fingers,” he said, brushing his free hand over her wrist. “Once I’m done with fingers, I’ll start on toes. Or… depending on my mood, maybe I’ll start taking other things from her. How does that sound, Sweetheart? Maybe you’d like to feel a real man cum inside you?”

Gen’s stomach lurched as he lowered his face to hers. She started to fight against her restraints again but between his strong grip and the tight knots, it was hopeless. His lips touched hers and she froze. She’d never been assaulted like this. Somehow the feel of his lips violating hers was worse than the kidnapping, worse than the beating, worse than all of it. Fire coiled in her stomach. Gen opened her mouth, making him groan in satisfaction and then she bit down.

One screamed as he tried to pull away from her. She locked her jaw; the taste of copper filled her mouth. Her body buzzed with awareness and triumph as she tore a piece of his lip off. One fell backward on his ass. His hand covered his mouth as he stared back at her in astonishment. She smiled at him and spit the chunk of his lip on the ground at his feet. She looked at Two who stared at the scene in shock.

“Well? Come on Two, I’m ready to be a good girl now, I promise.”

Two looked from his boss to her. He took two steps, hauled his hand back past his body and rammed it into her jaw again. This time when she hit the ground, blackness followed.