Accardi (Genevieve and Matteo) by Allison Franklin novel Chapter 66

Even though Genevieve could no longer see him, Matteo couldn’t keep his eyes off of her. He watched as she glanced into her office and her entire body went rigid. He could understand why. He’d seen Jada arrive hours earlier. He wondered who could be more nervous to face the blue–eyed force of nature: himself or Jada? After what he’d witnessed in the elevator, he could make a fair guess. He wasn’t nervous anymore. He couldn’t wait to confront her.

As she stalked into her office where he could no longer see her, he turned his attention back to the man who thought he still had some kind of claim to her. Paul continued to ramble on about his future with Accardi Industries. A future which no longer existed. He’d done a fairly good job with the track. Nothing impressive. But then he laid his hands on what didn’t belong to him. Matteo would be generous. He wouldn’t take his hand like the last guy. He would just make sure he didn’t work in this city ever again.

“So I believe, thanks to my research, that the next big city for betting is going to be, drum roll, Toledo!” Paul announced as if he’d given

Matteo the coordinates to Atlantis.

“Mr. Brooks, I appreciate all you did for my track in Austin. Profits thus far have been at an acceptable level and the track was completed

on time which I am grateful for,” Matteo began.

“I am so glad to hear that,” Paul interjected. “You know, I am so excited to continue working for you. I am not sure what it is about this place,” Paul said, glancing over his shoulder to the office down the hall. “I think we can do great things together.”

“I will not be hiring you for any more work,” Matteo said.

Paul’s head whipped back around. His ‘boy next door‘ act crumbled before Matteo’s eyes. “What?!”

Matteo shrugged, unphased. “The track only got done on time because I spent…” Matteo flipped a folder open. “Six million in bribes. The profits are only good because of the work of my own team. From what Bernard says, you were hardly even on the site and spent the majority of your time ‘wooing‘ possible investors which, if I remember correctly, is not in the job description I hired you for. You’re lazy, incompetent…” Matteo leaned forward over his desk. “And don’t know how to keep your fucking hands off what doesn’t belong to you.”

Paul’s face reddened with animosity. His nostrils flared and he bared his teeth as if his jaw would snap with the pressure of his anger. “This is about Gen? She doesn’t want you and you’re taking it out on…”

“I do believe I just gave you a list of reasons why I don’t want to work with you. All of which are more than enough to pass on your offer to oversee a new track in Ohio, of all places. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have several other meetings I need to attend today,” Matteo said,

standing so that Paul would get the picture.

Paul stood and gripped the edge of the desk. His expression turned sinister. His lips stretched into a cheshire grin and he leaned forward. Matteo casually placed his hand behind his back and gripped the handgun in his waistband.

“I had her first. Just remember that Accardi. I took her virginity and my cock was smothered in her blood when I came inside her. A part

of her will always belong to me. Don’t forget that.”

With those words Paul turned on his heel and went for the door while Matteo tried to restrain his baser side from whipping his gun out and aiming it just where he knew the bullet would enter through the back of his skull and come out between his eyes. Paul flung the door

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Chapter Sixty–Six

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open only to stop short as Mallory gave him a cold once over. Paul stormed down the hall and stopped at Gen’s door. He gave Matteo a

little wave before breezing inside.

Mallory entered Matteo’s office without invitation. He removed his hand from his weapon and flexed his tight grip.

“Good morning.” Mallory cooed as she walked toward his desk. She swayed her narrow hips from side to side and fluttered her lashes

while slowly brushing some of her bleached hair behind her shoulder.

“What do you want?” Matteo growled as he craned his neck trying to see down the hall.

Mallory shrugged before placing both palms on his desk. She pressed her arms to her side, causing her fake breasts to appear even larger.

Matteo suppressed an eye roll and sat back in his chair.

“I just wanted to come by and say thank you for the larger office. It isn’t exactly where I’d hoped it would be but…” She shrugged again.

“I appreciate the gesture.”

“It wasn’t me, it was Alexander,” Matteo said, looking down at his paperwork, hoping she would get the hint. Knowing she wouldn’t.

“Well, Alexander works for you so…”

Matteo glared harder at the paper wondering if he should go to Gen’s office himself or call security and have Paul thrown out on his ass.

Mallory moved around the desk and leaned back next to him. He sighed.

“I’ve been hearing things from mom and dad,” Mallory started.

Great, Matteo thought, Here we go again.

“Dad says you’ve been pretty stressed lately. Says that if you had a woman…”

“I have a woman,” Matteo ground out between his teeth. She’s just being stubborn about it, he thought.

Mallory scoffed. “You can’t be referring to Jada’s sister? Louis told me what happened. He said she couldn’t handle being with you and

snapped.”

Matteo’s eyes flicked up and she blinked at the hostility she saw there. “Louis did not say that.” He wouldn’t. He was incredibly impressed at the way Gen handled her situation. While he hadn’t seen the video himself, Frankie made sure everyone in his organization knew.

Mallory shrugged and Matteo’s eye twitched at the gesture she’d clung to since grade school. “Maybe it was dad. I can’t remember. Either way, I think we all know you deserve someone more familiar with how things work around here.”

Matteo rolled his eyes and went back to the paperwork in front of him. He felt something glide across his shoulder and froze. Mallory’s hand continued its path over his shoulder and down his back.

“You’ve been fighting this too long,” Mallory whispered.

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Matteo turned in his chair, forcing her hand to drop. This didn’t deter her, however. Instead she stepped closer and straddled his left leg. Her hands settled on his shoulders and squeezed.

“Remember when we were kids and you said we would get married?”

“I was six,” he hissed. “Then I learned who you really are on the inside.”

Mallory’s eyes narrowed for a split second before the anger evaporated. One of her hands left his shoulder and pulled at his tie. “Are you

still mad about those boys in school?”

“I was never mad about them. I couldn’t find a single fuck to give,” he said.

Matteo noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He glanced into the hallway and saw Paul standing there, talking closely with Gen.

She leaned back away from him as he perched his hand on the wall beside her head and tipped forward. Matteo’s breath caught in his

throat while he waited for Gen to push him away. Instead she smiled and his gut twisted. Mallory’s hand on his belt snapped his eyes

away from the pair in the hallway.

Mallory’s breath fanned Matteo’s neck as she whispered, “Come on, Matteo. Forget her and let me…”

Matteo’s hand gripped her throat in a punishing vice causing the remaining words in her throat to come out as a gargle. Her eyes widened

in fear as Matteo stood up while pushing her back. Her feet threatened to lift off the ground as he held her in his fist.

“Who the fuck gave you permission to use my name?” he asked in a quiet, cold voice.

Mallory’s hands tried in vain to get him to loosen his grip. She shook her head and tears brimmed in her eyes. She tried to say something

but it came out as nothing more than a wheeze.

“There’s one woman alive allowed to use my name, Mallory, and you will never compare. You’ve lost. You lost long before the race had even begun. I will never want you. The thought of kissing you makes me want to vomit. It’s not because you are like a sister to me or

because you are kin to one of my best friends. It’s the fact that I can’t even stomach the sight of you long enough to even consider

wanting you. The next time you lay a hand on me, it will be the last thing that hand touches.” Matteo leaned forward so they were nearly

touching. “Do I make myself clear?”

Mallory nodded quickly and patted his hand, begging him to release her. When he finally did she crumbled to the floor and gasped for air.

“Now get the fuck out,” Matteo growled.

Mallory nodded and stood on shaky legs. She stumbled to the door and hurried through it before closing it. He watched her take a moment to resituate her clothing and fluff out her hair before she strutted across the hallway like nothing had happened. As she passed Genevieve, who was now alone in the hallway, she turned her head and said something. Gen’s eyes swiveled to the doorway of Matteo’s office and he watched her face transform into fury. She pulled her phone from her pocket, put it to her ear and walked back into her own office. Matteo picked up the closest thing to him, turned and hurled it into the wall. He watched with satisfaction as the glass award

shattered into dust.