Chapter Seventy-Four
Genevieve sat in the back of the SUV eagerly awaiting their destination. She scooted forward in her seat, trying to glimpse the mysterious club Matteo always referred to. She caught Leo’s knowing smirk in the rearview mirror and blushed before sitting back. Though Matteo’s gaze was focused outside the window, his hand instinctively found hers and he wove their fingers together. His thumb ran reassuringly over the back of her hand.
He glanced over at her with the same admiring expression he’d worn throughout their evening together. He raised her hand to his mouth and kissed the back of it. “You don’t need to be nervous.”
“I’m not nervous,” she said, far too quickly. He raised a brow in doubt, as if he already knew her too well to lie. “I’m a bit nervous,” she admitted, making him and Leo chuckle. “More excited though. I’ve heard people talk about the club around the office but…”
“Who has talked about the club?” Matteo asked. His brow drew down in a way that threatened to bring out his more common ‘mafia boss’ aura.
Gen rolled her eyes. “No one but you has talked to me about it. That guy, Raphael, mentioned something, I heard Kaitlin gossiping about it. No one quite knows what it is. All I know is what you told me in the hospital. I don’t even know the name of the place.”
“Because it doesn’t have a name,” Matteo explained. “My father built the club before I was born. He thought if he gave it a name, it would be easier to find, which, as you can imagine, would not have been good.”
“Was it some kind of speak-easy?” she asked, eagerly.
Matteo chuckled. “How old do you think my dad was?” he asked, thoroughly amused.
“Well… We have never really spoken about him,” she pointed out.
Matteo’s smile faltered. He looked down at their interlocked hands and then back out the window. She watched his jaw tick. “Anyway, it’s not really a club. We host fights that people can bet on,” he said with a shrug.
“Like a fight club?” she asked, picturing a dinghy basement where Matteo fought with his multiple personalities. “Is that why people can’t talk about it? There’s just one rule?”
Matteo rolled his eyes and Leo chuckled in the front seat. “No, there are many rules, Genevieve. Which reminds me…” he said, turning his body to face her more fully. “I’m only going to the club because I have to meet with someone. I hope you understand, I wouldn’t have dragged you here if it wasn’t an important meeting,” he added.
Gen gave a nod that she understood completely.
“I’ll meet with him alone. That’s why I asked Leo to come out of the old folks’ home a bit sooner than I would have liked.”
“I’m fine,” Leo grumbled, not appreciating the jab about his abilities.
“Sure thing, Life Alert,” Matteo teased with a roll of his eyes toward Gen. “Anyway, I’ll leave you in the VIP section. It’s right outside my office. I can see you through the glass which means if something happens, I can get to you.”
“‘If something happens’? Does something happen that often in your world?” she asked. Matteo glanced up to meet Leo’s eyes in the rearview mirror. “Psst, remember what I said about having a third man along? That doesn’t just include Frankie.”
Matteo smiled and kissed her hand again. “Of course, I’m sorry. Things don’t happen that often but lately… It’s happened more than I’d like. Things are in a bit of an upheaval state after my mother and brother passed. Someone also went after my cousin’s family and his son’s girlfriend.”
“Is she okay?”
Genevieve could see the effort it took Matteo to not look at Leo for support.
“She will be,” he answered diplomatically.
“So, this guy you're meeting?”
“He’s an up and comer in LA. He says he has some information that he’ll only divulge to me.”
“Cryptic.”
“Unfortunately that’s how we tend to operate. It’s best to sit down with someone before negotiating.”
“You think he wants something?”
Matteo smirked. “He wouldn’t risk coming to my club and asking for me if he didn’t.”
Gen hummed and looked out the window as they pulled into an alley. She recognized the painted sign for the backside of Valentina’s. Leo brought the car to a stop and Matteo motioned for her to wait as he got out. He walked around the backside of the SUV, his head on a swivel as he took a drag from a cigarette that had materialized out of thin air. He opened the door, blew the smoke away from her and held his hand out for her to take.
Gen stepped down, careful to avoid slipping on the cobblestones at her feet. She glanced over Matteo’s shoulder at the sign for his mother’s bar and raised a brow. He followed her gaze and smiled.
Matteo shrugged. “My dad wanted my mom close but far enough to not get into trouble.”
“He was worried about her safety?”
Matteo chuckled. “That and my mom enjoyed a good fight. He was worried she’d get sucked into the gambling life or that she would never get out of the ring.”
“Women are allowed to fight here? Wait, your mom was a fighter?”
Matteo leaned closer. “Women are encouraged to fight here. And yes, my mom loved to fight. I told you my dad was always away. She taught me just about everything I know.”
He pulled away, took one last drag and flicked his cigarette into the alley somewhere. Gen smiled softly up at him and looped her arm through the one he offered her. “I wish I could have met her,” she admitted.
He stopped walking toward a thick steel door to look down at her. He brushed his thumb across her cheek. She could witness the struggle he went through to not kiss her. She’d been watching it all night.
“I wish I could have met your mother too,” he whispered, making tears sting at the back of her eyes. He took a step closer. “Do not leave my side until I go into my office. Do not leave the VIP area. Do not speak to anyone who makes you uncomfortable.”
He held up a device that looked startlingly like a life-alert and she thought of his comment to Leo earlier. Genevieve took it with ginger fingers.
“You’ll get a tracker soon but, for now, this is the best I’ve got. Let me,” he said, taking it back.
He unclipped the clasp and placed it around her neck. He then tucked the device under her dress between her cleavage. His fingers skimmed up the bare skin there as if they couldn’t help it.
“Well, it’s not quite what I pictured when I thought about the first piece of jewelry you’d give me. But thank you,” Gen teased.
Matteo’s eyes went from the panic button and slowly up to her face. He licked his lips and stepped impossibly closer. He touched her chin and tilted it up so she had no choice but to meet his intense gaze. “This is not the first piece of jewelry I’ve bought for you, Weakness. But tonight is not the night for a ring,” he whispered. Gen’s lips parted as she read the meaning behind his eyes.
“Accardi!” Frankie called from the doorway.
Matteo kept his eyes on hers for another moment before he released her chin and swiveled to face Frankie. “I’m coming.”
Gen kept her arm looped through Matteo’s as he continued forward to the steel doorway leading into his club. Frankie gave her a distracted nod while his eyes swept over the empty alley. It was obvious he was in work-mode and was not to be brought into unnecessary conversation. Matteo led them down a long hallway painted black. She waited for the thump of a bass or the blare of a pop song. Instead, as they grew closer to a door where two burly men sat on bar stools, she heard the roar of a crowd and the thwack of someone hitting a hard object.
The men at the door nodded at Accardi before their dark eyes zeroed in on her. Matteo didn’t make introductions though, he merely guided her through the door and into the chaos.
Genevieve stopped short, forcing Matteo to halt his advance while she glanced around. Whatever she had imagined did not prepare her for the reality. There was a large boxing ring in the center of the room surrounded by at least a hundred people, probably more. They waved their hands, called out moves, or cursed at the people beside them as two men pummeled each other. She could smell the tang of blood, bleach, and sweat mingling together. She looked away from the ring and noticed a bar on the opposite side of the room where men and women alike were screaming over the ruckus to get a drink order. A bell chimed twice, pulling her attention to an area with a sign that read, ‘Betting Booth.’ A neon light blinked overhead which said, ‘Last Call before Bell.’
“Come along, Weakness,” Matteo whispered in her ear before pulling her out of her daze.