Accardi (Genevieve and Matteo) by Allison Franklin novel Chapter 96

Chapter Ninety–Six

When Matteo said she would be tied to his ankle, he meant it. Which was why she stood in his office at the club, looking out the window toward where he was positioned by the ring talking with someone who used large hand gestures as he spoke. Matteo listened with one arm crossed over his chest and his other propped up while he ran his finger across his lips. Every few seconds his eyes would look up at the fight happening in the ring and his fist would clench before he’d flex it flat and return to rubbing his lips.

“He’s tweaking.” Frankie said beside her as he downed another whiskey and Coke.

“Excuse me?” Gen asked, keeping her eyes on her man.

“You two aren’t fucking, are you?” he asked.

Gen’s eyes widened and her head whipped to look at him. “Excuse me?”

Frankie rolled his eyes and fiddled with the straw he’d put in his drink. “Just making an observation. Look at him,” he said, gesturing back down to where Matteo’s gaze was now fixed on the action. “He needs a release.”

“Don’t we all,” she muttered under her breath.

“Well… what’s going on?” he pushed.

“Is our sex life really any of your business?” she asked.

“Uhh, yes, yes it is. There’s a lot going on, Gen. He’s uptight, wound up. I’m guessing if he was to get one more piece of bad news he’d snap.” Frankie looked over at her. “You don’t want him to snap.”

“Well, we’ve been busy. What with him finding me with his cousin’s gun to my head, a double funeral, and this morning he…” Gen trailed off and crossed her arms.

“He what?”

“Nothing.”

She wasn’t sure Matteo would be comfortable with her discussing what she’d witnessed him going through that morning. Sure, Frankie was his number two and a good friend but there was certain information he kept close to his chest.

“He had another panic attack, didn’t he?” Frankie asked.

Gen kept her eyes on Matteo as the man he had been speaking with walked back into the crowd. Matteo continued to watch the fight, his back tightening and stretching, his hand clenching and flexing as one of the men got the upper hand and started hammering his fists into his opponent. She nodded.

“Goddammit. He needs to get in the ring but of course he won’t,” Frankie said, pulling out his phone.

“Why? I know he fights often. I’ve cleaned his knuckles,” Gen said.

Frankie snorted. “He won’t fight when you’re here.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“Is it? Remember what happened the last time you saw that side of him?” he asked with a raised brow.

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Chapter Ninety–Six

“Well, then maybe you should piss him off again so he can take his anger out on you?”

“Seriously?” Frankie asked, gesturing toward his swollen face. “I’ve already taken enough for the team this week. It’s someone else’s turn. Besides, I wasn’t talking about that time.”

Gen sighed just as the door opened behind them and Louis strutted in carrying reports of their earnings over the last few nights.

“Ah, just who I was about to call,” Frankie said.

Louis slapped the paper down on the desk and put his hands on his hips. “What the fuck do you need?”

“Jeez, hello to you too. I need a slot for Accardi,” Frankie said.

Louis snorted in the exact way Frankie had earlier and cast a glance at Gen. “We both know he’s not getting in the ring with her here.”

“Is this some kind of common knowledge I’ve not been privy to?” Gen asked, exacerbated.

Frankie laughed. “No, we just know Accardi better than you.”

“I doubt that,” Gen said with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

“I can get rid of Anderson’s opponent. He’s the only one in Accardi’s class but you’re not getting him in that ring, Frank.”

“Wanna bet?” Frankie asked.

Louis‘ eyes narrowed and he sighed. “Sure, 100 says he goes home with clean knuckles.”

“100? Are you serious? I won’t bet for less than a thousand or are you scared your little wifie is going to get upset about you betting again?” Frankie asked, his voice turning to one of overblown mockery.

Louis looked at the ceiling and shook his head. “Fine, a thousand. Only because if that’s going to be your tactic to getting him in the ring, I’ll definitely double my money.”

“Can I get in on that?” Gen asked from the window where her eyes tracked Matteo walking back toward the stairs leading to the VIP section and his office.

“You got a thousand?” “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” they both said at the same time.

Gen smirked and faced them. “I will bet five that I’ll be the one to convince him.”

The two men looked at each other and she could read the telepathic conversation going on there. They were cocky. They truly thought they knew Matteo better than her. That would be their downfall.

“Bet,” Frankie said, holding his hand out to shake hers and Louis‘.

Gen and Louis shook hands and separated just as Matteo entered the room. He stopped just inside the threshold and his eyes swiveled between the three of them. He raised a brow in question.

“I brought the reports you wanted,” Louis said distractedly as he typed away on his phone.

“Hm,” Matteo answered, walking toward his desk with his eyes still narrowed as if he knew exactly what they were up to.

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Chapter Ninety–Six

“Ah, fuck,” Louis said with a weighted sigh.

“What is it?” Frankie asked, a smile already playing on his face.

Louis clicked his tongue. “Anderson’s opponent dropped out.”

“That’s a shame,” Frankie said. “Say, Accardi, why don’t you sign up?”

Matteo’s pen stilled on the paper he’d been jotting corrections down on. He glanced up with a nervous look at Gen before his eyes moved and turned to a glare of warning for Frankie.

“What?” Frankie asked. “It’ll be good for you.” Frankie walked over to Matteo and placed his hands flat against the quartzite desk. “You’re a little uptight. You need a physical release.”

Again Matteo’s eyes slid over to Gen who had positioned herself by the glass, feigning interest in the fight going on below.

“No. I have work to do,” Matteo said, causing Louis to snicker somewhere behind her.

“Come on, Anderson needs a good whooping. Remember what he did to the last guy? You said if it had been you…”

“Anderson, he’s the one who I saw the first night I was here, right?” Gen asked no one in particular.

“Yeah,” Louis answered. “He’s a top contender. Always takes home a significant stack of winnings.”

“Hmm,” Gen hummed. “I remember him. He was talented.”

“He’s fine,” Matteo piped in. Gen fought to not allow herself to smile at his irritated tone.

“He dropped his first opponent in less than thirty seconds, didn’t he?” Gen asked, looking at Louis.

“Yeah, he’s a heavy hitter.”

“I liked his style,” Gen continued, looking out the window as the crowd booed while the bartender, Nora, took down Anderson’s opponent’s name from the chalkboard. “I hope someone else signs up. It would be thrilling to see him in action again. I was impressed with his quick style. The way he would stay on the defensive, wear his opponent out, before taking that one last strike to end it all.” Gen hummed in approval again. “Paul fought like that.”

The room behind her was quiet. Then, “I know what you all are doing,” Matteo grumbled. “I’m a fucking Don, for Christ’s sake.”

“You may be a Don but you’re not a fucking one at the moment,” Gen said under her breath.

“What did you just say?” he asked.

Gen turned, trying to appear innocent as she met his harsh glare. “I didn’t say anything.”

Matteo scoffed and started signing reports with a heavier hand than before. “Christopher Anderson is a wanna be MMA fighter who got drunk one too many times and got kicked out of the industry because no one could stand to be around him. He comes here to pick on men who want a shot at a former pro. He toys with the poor saps, humiliates good, paying customers and then vanishes for months at a time with his tail between his legs the second anyone can get

a hit on him.”

Gen chuckled. “Sounds like someone who has had their ego wounded by him in the past,” Gen observed.

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Chapter Ninety–Six

Matteo’s dark eyes flicked up and narrowed at her. “I don’t lose fights, Gen, especially to men like him.”

Gen shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. I’ve never actually seen you fight. I’ve only cleaned up afterward. Besides, even if you did get in the ring, the men probably hold their punches so as not to end up dead in an alley somewhere.”

Matteo pushed back from his chair and stood to his full height. He walked over to her and lowered his head so they were at eye–level.

“I fight fair as do my men,” Matteo growled.

Frankie scoffed behind him. “Come on, Boss. We all hold our punches with you. But he’s right, Gen. Accardi has never lost a fight here and doesn’t fight his

own men.”

Again Gen shrugged, and ignored Matteo’s proximity to pick at the cuticles of her nails. “I’ve never seen it, so I wouldn’t know.”

Matteo’s finger touched under her chin and he lifted it until she met his gaze. “Are you provoking me, Weakness? Do you remember what happened the last time you did that?”

Heat pooled between Gen’s legs as she remembered when he’d thrown her over his shoulder and fucked her on the dining room table. The same table they’d eaten breakfast on that morning.

“All I know is whoever goes against Anderson will end up on the floor within a minute and I’ll be watching…” she said, pushing his finger away. “intently. And then when I get home tonight, I’ll think about it while I take care of myself, like I’ve had to do the last four nights in a row.”

Matteo’s hand wrapped gently around her throat so he could pull her close and whisper in her ear. “Then watch, my little weakness, watch intently as the man who owns you pummels your little crush into the ground.”

Matteo released her and strode for the door, already shucking his suit jacket off. Louis and Frankie watched with their mouths agape as Gen leaned back against the window to catch her breath. It had taken all her willpower to not melt into a puddle during that entire exchange. She gave the two men she’d just beat out a shaky smile.

“Come on, guys, I thought y’all knew him better than me?‘ she asked, her voice strained.

Frankie walked up and put the money she’d earned on Matteo’s desk before standing beside her at the window. They watched as Matteo climbed up toward the chalkboard. The crowd went quiet as he wrote his own name. He turned and hopped down to the ground while the crowd erupted in excitement. Matteo’s eyes were locked on the window she stood behind as he made his way to the ring. She swallowed hard.

“You know when it’s over…” she started, the heat between her legs intensifying.

“Trust me, I’ll light out of here the moment the bell dings.”