Chapter Seventy-Three
Matteo cracked his neck as he stepped up to the door. He flicked his left wrist until his watch was visible enough to read the time. The brown parchment paper crinkled in his hands as he shifted the bouquet of wildflowers to his other arm. His stomach squeezed with nerves as he raised his fist to knock. He scoffed at himself for being so nervous.
While he waited for Genevieve to answer the door, he adjusted his slim black tie. It took him far too long to decide what to wear. In the end, he’d decided to keep it classic with a black suit and white button-down… a different button-down than the one he’d sent her off with an hour earlier. He smoothed his hand over his hair as he heard the numerous locks turn on the opposite side.
Genevieve opened the door and smiled shyly as she came into view. Matteo’s hand slowly dropped from his head as he took her in. She looked magnificent in the burgundy silk dress she’d picked out. The material flowed over her skin as if the designer had used her as his muse. Her dark hair fell in soft waves over her shoulder. Her cheeks heated to his favorite color and her eyes fluttered down in embarrassment as he stood frozen before her.
“Matteo…” she whispered, tucking some hair behind her ear.
He cleared his throat and thrust the flowers toward her. She looked down at them and her smile turned from uncertain and shy to beaming with excitement. She touched the various pedals of pastel lavender, cream, and peach.
“I love them,” Genevieve whispered, turning back inside to find a vase for the bouquet. “How did you know these were my favorites?”
Matteo followed her inside a few steps. “Jada.”
Genevieve smiled with pleasure. “You talked to Jada about tonight?”
He nodded, taking in her every microexpression. “After I apologized for the way I handled your kidnapping.”
Genevieve walked back over to him, wrapping a shawl around her shoulders as she did. She stopped in front of him and bit her lip as her bright eyes saw straight through him. “Flowers and a gesture. I’m quite impressed already, Mr. Accardi,” she said.
“With her now on our side, I’m afraid you won’t stand a chance,” he whispered, unable to keep from brushing his fingers over her bare arm. He leaned down toward her, his intent set on tasting her.
Her palm flattened on his chest and stalled his advance. He looked down at her palm and back to her amused expression.
“Have you never been on a first date before, Matteo?” she asked.
“No,” he stated, probably too quickly.
She laughed. “You don’t kiss when you pick your date up. You have to wait til the end of the night.”
Matteo chuckled darkly and stepped an inch closer. “I was inside you an hour ago, Weakness. A kiss on your lips would be the most innocent thing I’ve done to you in the last twenty-four hours.”
The color in her cheeks heightened at his words. “Nevertheless,” she said with a shaky breath. “We should do this right. Shouldn’t we?”
He groaned as she ran her palm up to straighten his tie. “Fine,” he growled. “But I’m getting that kiss.”
Genevieve giggled. “You’ll have to earn it, Sir.”
As she walked past him toward the door, he spanked her, causing her to yelp. “Burlona.”
Matteo and Genevieve walked down the stairs with her hand wrapped around his arm. As they stepped out onto the street, she glanced around for his car.
“No car tonight. We’re walking,” he said gesturing with his hand toward the sidewalk.
She narrowed her eyes. “You could have warned me. I’m wearing heels.”
He looked down at the black heels adorning her feet. He leaned back so he could view her long legs. He gave a sound of approval and shook his head. “I’ll carry you home. It’s imperative for my plan of getting into your bed,” he explained.
Her mouth twitched into a smile while she put her hand back on his arm. “Well,” she whispered, running her hands over his lapels. “I would hate to ruin a well-laid plan.”
Matteo touched her chin, knowing not being able to kiss her would be much harder than she assumed. They walked down the street in silence. Genevieve glanced around as if she’d never walked in this direction before. They passed multiple restaurants, coffee shops, a small park and some fine clothes boutiques. Finally they arrived at their destination: a small french restaurant he’d found in his research perfect for a first date.
The hostess showed them to their reserved table. Gen glared as the brunette tried her best to get his attention. As her hostile eyes followed the hostess back to the front of the restaurant, Matteo reached across the table and took her hand. Her eyes jerked back to his as he brought her knuckles to his lips and kissed them.
“I haven’t said how beautiful you look tonight,” he whispered.
She looked down and fiddled with her silverware. “You look beautiful yourself.” She looked around. “This place is… dreamy.”
He kept his eyes on her, completely unaware of anything but the way the candles on their table lit up her face with their golden glow. The waiter soon came to the table and they placed their drink orders. She sat forward, resting her head in her hands as he asked her question after question about her childhood. He loved the way her face would light up when discussing her mother and their home in Georgia. He loved even more how her eyes would sharpen and she would nod along and ask further questions when he would talk about his own childhood. He’d never spoken to people about his life before becoming “Accardi.”
She wasn’t interested in the big details like where he went to school or how many countries he’d visited. No, she wanted to know what his favorite outdoor game was to play as a child, his favorite Christmas memory, the first time he’d stood up for his little brother. He realized he had no reason to be nervous, they’d done this all before and it was the reason why he’d fallen in love with her so quickly: without even trying she knew exactly how to remind him of the small joys in life.
He felt as though he should thank the men who had come before him. It was far too easy to brighten her eyes. Kissing the back of her hand, offering the rest of his oysters, politely telling the waiter he’d brought out the wrong side-dish… all things any man should know to do seemed hero-like to her. By the end of the dinner, her wine was making her eyes twinkle and the color on her skin glowed pink with pleasure.
The tips of her fingers trailed over the rim of her wine glass as he ignored her protests and ordered chocolate souffle for dessert. She propped her head up in her other hand as he sat back and watched her from over his own wine glass.
“I thought you were going to take me to Carmela’s,” she said, her voice sultry with the alcohol buzzing in her veins.
He sat forward. “I thought about it, but I decided I would rather enjoy our night together.”
“Rather than…”
He sighed. “Rather than be on edge, having to keep my guard up for threats or having Frankie along for backup.”
Her nose scrunched up. “Wise choice. Bringing another man along on a first date would not bode well. Why would you want to take me there in the first place?”
“It’s… kind of a declaration,” he said, watching her face carefully. She narrowed her eyes.
“Of what?”
“My intentions.”
“I do so love riddles,” she said with a roll of her eyes and a sip of her wine.
His phone started to buzz in his pocket. He pulled it out, saw it was Frankie and hit ignore. “I’m sorry, it…” He shook his head and decided he just needed to be honest. She’d already agreed to stay, he couldn’t keep worrying that he was going to scare her off. He set his glass down and leaned forward over the table. “People in the Italian community… higher-ups tend to frequent Carmela’s. Even if they aren’t there themselves, they always send their representatives.”
Genevieve looked down at her glass for a minute. “And I imagine a powerful Don showing up with a woman on his arm can cause quite a stir,” she guessed.
“It means he intends to make her his wife… That if said woman is hurt, she will be defended by the three families and every resource at their collective disposal.”
“The three families,” she said with a nod as if she knew exactly what he meant. He tried to ignore the fact that she made no comment to the ‘make her his wife’ part.
He smiled and nodded at the waiter as he put the chocolate souffle between them. Matteo picked up a spoon and waited for her to take the first bite before he took one for himself.
“I am Don to one of three major Italian families. We were all Palladinos: one of the largest crime syndicates in lower Italy. When triplets were born, their father had to decide who would take over the Italian business and inherit millions.” He shrugged. “For obvious reasons, the other two weren’t happy. They decided to rebel. They took a huge chunk of the Italian business across the Atlantic to New York. They fought between each other until they were able to decide on territories. To further themselves from their Italian family, one changed their name to Galante, the other to Accardi.”
“And they all lived happily ever after?” she asked, entranced in his story.
His phone buzzed and he hit ignore without looking at the name. “I have a feeling the best is yet to come,” he responded softly, making her smile tug higher.
“Excuse me, Sir,” the waiter said, looking uncomfortable.
Matteo sighed and Gen snickered at his sudden hostile expression. “What?”
“You have a call from a gentleman who says it’s urgent,” he whispered.
“Are you going to give me a name or do I need to play Clue to obtain it?” Matteo asked, thoroughly annoyed. Gen covered her mouth to stifle her laugh.
“He says his name is Frank…” The waiter cleared his throat. “Frank get him the fuck on the phone.”
A harsh laugh escaped from behind her hand. She turned away as Matteo fought his own smile at her reaction. “I’ll call him.”
“Thank you, Sir,” the waiter said, rushing off in embarrassment.
Matteo pulled his phone out and rolled his eyes at the nine missed calls. “I’m sorry, I have to call him real quick.”
“That’s fine,” she said, wiping her teary-eyes as she stood up. “I need to freshen up anyway. Go ahead.”
Matteo put his phone to his ear as he watched her sashay around the various tables in search of the bathroom. He loved the way she smiled down at the individuals she passed.
“Yo.”
“Why are you calling me? You know where I am,” Matteo growled.
“Hello to you too,” Frankie mocked. “Something is going down at the club. I need you here.”
“What is so important that you can’t take care…”
“It’s Guerra,” Frankie interrupted.
“Fuck,” Matteo said, rubbing his eye with the back of his palm. “What does he want?”
“A meeting. Says he has some important, valuable information for you. He says it’s tonight or not at all.”
“Of course he does.” Matteo sighed and looked up as he noticed Genevieve coming back towards him. She sent him the same smile he’d been admiring while she had walked away. “You know where I am,” Matteo repeated.
Frankie groaned. “I thought you said she was in it?”
“This is different than…”
“How? How is this going to be any different from how she spends every other night with you?”
Gen sat down across from him, her brow furrowed with worry as she read his expression.
“Okay. Fifteen minutes.”
Matteo hung up and kept his eyes on Gen’s face as he tucked his phone into his jacket pocket. She pouted her lip. “Night’s over?”
“Not necessarily…” Matteo began, thinking about how badly he wanted that first-date kiss.