Chapter Ninety
“Glad you could make it, Accardi,” Galante said, annoyance lacing his words. “How’d you get in?”
“I’d tell you to ask the six men you had stationed at the back but to get an answer you’ll need to purchase a ouija board,” Matteo clipped back.
“Pity.”
“We both know you’re smart enough to realize the consequences of what you’ve just done,” Matteo sneered.
Galante snorted. “I don’t see a fucking ring.”
“She’s mine. Ring or not. Nothing is stopping me from putting two bullets in your head.”
“You know the laws between our families. You kill me because I threatened a woman not yet your Donna? Palladino will have no choice but to wage war.”
“That is if Conor seeks vengeance. Tell me, Michele, how is your relationship with your son at the moment?”
Gen shivered as the gun lowered from her head at the same time as Michele let out an aggravated sigh. Gen stumbled a few feet away with Beatrice before she looked back. Matteo continued to hold the gun to Michele’s head. Her heart did flips at the look of pure fury on his face. His dress shirt was wrinkled, his right shoe wasn’t tied and his hair was ruffled as though he’d run his hands through it repeatedly. Matteo’s jaw ticked as he stared at the man who had been a second away from killing her. The look there, the anger, the heat, the callousness made her heart clench. God, he was fucking hot as hell in that moment.
“Now tell your boys to let my number two go. Trust me, he’ll get what he’s got coming to him,” Matteo ordered.
Michele smiled at Gen and winked. “You heard the Don.”
“Get the fuck off of me,” Frankie said, shoving his way out of the hold of the three men pinning him to the wall. Frankie walked toward Matteo. “Accardi, look…”
Matteo removed the gun from Michele’s temple only to swivel it toward Frankie. Frankie stopped dead and raised his hands. “Get out,” Matteo demanded, his voice clogged with so much anger the words came out as a whisper. “Take Genevieve and Beatrice and wait for me outside.”
Frankie gave a nod and started toward Gen, keeping his eyes on the gun that followed him through the room. Frankie took Beatrice from Gen and started walking toward the door. When Gen didn’t immediately follow, he reached his other hand out to grab her wrist and tow her along. Gen kept her gaze on Matteo whose attention had focused back on Michele the moment Frankie reached the two girls. He didn’t look at her at all. He remained coiled tight until they reached the front door. As it swung shut she noticed him exhale for the first time.
The cool night air of New York forced her attention away so that she could accept the jacket Leo held out for her. She enveloped herself in Matteo’s scent while Leo shook his head a few times in disapproval. He turned his focus to Beatrice and helped Frankie get her into one of the waiting cars.
“We’re getting you out of here, Bea,” Frankie promised. “As soon as the boss is done, we’re getting you to the hospital. Hang on just a little longer.”
Gen walked over to better hear what was being said. Beatrice noticed her approach. She looked up and their eyes met. Tears shimmered in Beatrice’s eyes. Her throat worked as she fought the floodstorm of emotion from her entire ordeal. Beatrice licked her lips and mouthed 'Thank you.' Gen smiled and gave a slight shrug. Then the door behind them slammed open.
Everyone turned to watch Matteo storm out of the restaurant. She looked him over but saw no blood. Had he killed Galante? Had a deal been struck? For the first time, Matteo’s eyes flicked up and their gazes met. Gen took an involuntary step back at the look of rage in his dark eyes that she’d never witnessed before.
“Get in the car,” Matteo growled, his eyes telling her which one.
Gen didn’t waste a second. She scurried past him, nearly tripping over her heels as she raced for the passenger door to the car behind them.
“You…” Matteo snarled.
“Look. I had no choice but to go to her when I saw…”
“Shut the fuck up, Frank. Get in the car behind ours. Follow me. That’s a fucking order, or have you forgotten who’s in charge here?”
Frankie’s eyes narrowed, a feat she had to applaud him for. He knocked Matteo in the shoulder as he passed. She looked at the car behind the one she stood beside. Stephen gave her a shy wave as he waited for his brother to get in the passenger seat.
“Hey, Bea, how are you doing?” Matteo asked, his voice a stark contrast to the sharp, clipped tone he’d used on herself and Frankie.
“Don’t be too hard on them, Boss. They were trying to help,” Beatrice pleaded.
“It seems everyone has forgotten who gives orders here, hm?” He didn’t wait for a response. He slowly closed the door and turned to Leo. “Get her to the hospital. Make sure she’s seen first and apprise me of her status as soon as you get an update.”
Leo nodded and walked to the driver’s side. The tires squealed along the pavement as he took off from the curb. Matteo watched the car leave with his hands in his pockets. She saw his shoulders rise slowly and drop. Then he turned. His eyes locked on her still standing outside of the car.
“Get. In,” he hissed.
Gen slid into the passenger seat and clicked on her seatbelt as he wrenched the driver’s side door open. She noticed him stop and look over the top of the car. She turned to see Galante watching them from the restaurant entrance, a smug smirk on his face as if this had been his plan all along. A moment later Matteo dropped into his seat and revved the engine. He peeled away from the curb and started to fly down the street. Gen gripped the side panel as he ran red lights and took alleys toward a destination she wasn’t privy to.
Her heart rate soared as his recklessness continued. She dared to take her gaze away from the blurring lights in front of her to stare at the man who had just saved her for the second time. His knuckles were white against the black leather of the steering wheel. The tendons of his arms strained against the fabric of his dress shirt. His jaw was firm, his eyes hard. His nostrils flared as he took in short, halting breaths. Then the car screeched to a halt. Tires squealed behind them as Stephen tried to keep the cars from colliding into each other.
Gen looked around at the abandoned, trash-filled alleyway he’d stopped in. Matteo shoved open the car door and got out. Gen tried to wrench herself free from the seat belt but her nervous fingers slipped along the red button. She heard people shouting behind her. She finally managed to undo the seatbelt and stepped out just in time to see Matteo throw the first punch.
“Matteo!”
“You had no fucking right getting her involved in that shit. What the fuck were you thinking?” Matteo yelled down at Frankie.
Frankie shook his head as he wiped a trail of blood from his nose. “I was thinking,” he said, pushing Stephen away so he could pick himself back up. “That someone needed to step in and save Bea. You weren’t here! It’s my job to take over when you’re not here.”
Matteo scoffed. “You stepped way the fuck over the line. You don’t call meetings. You don’t make decisions. You don’t involve her in shit she has no business being involved in!”
“You said she was in it! Bea was in trouble. He would have killed her if no one showed, and you know it! Just because you’ve gone soft…”
Matteo lurched forward. He pinned Frankie to the car hood and started pummeling him with his fists. He held Frankie’s shirt twisted in one fist while he cracked the other against his skull. Each hit caused Frankie’s head to snap back against the metal of the car hood before he received the next fist.
“Matteo! Stop!” Gen rushed over to put an end to it before he killed his best friend. She grabbed him by the arm holding Frankie up and tried to pull him away. “Stop this, now! I agreed to this!” Gen yelled, finally managing to wrangle Matteo away.
“You know she had no idea what she was agreeing to!” Matteo yelled down at Frankie’s bloody body. Frankie turned his head so he could spit blood from his mouth. He accepted Stephen’s help this time so that he could stand back up. His face looked disfigured as he glared back at his boss.
“Yeah, she did. Once she saw the video she…”
“You showed her the fucking video?!”
“Yeah! And it struck a nerve! You know why? Cause you put her in that exact same position before,” Frankie wheezed.
Matteo took a step forward but Gen planted her feet and held him back.
“No, it’s fine, Gen, let him go. If he knocks me out, he knows he won’t have to listen to me anymore. He won’t have to hear the fucking truth. The truth that he went soft long before he met you.”
Matteo growled.
“Yeah, you’d like us to think it’s because you fell in love but you and I know the truth, don’t we? You lost it long before she came along. If not, George and Teller would still be here with us, wouldn’t they?”
Again Matteo tried to move but Gen held firm. She looked over at Frankie who was watching him with contempt. She realized this was a confrontation he’d wanted to have for a long time. He didn’t care about the consequences.
Frankie shook his head. “You got lazy. You checked out. You gave the fuck up all because you got tired of being the Boss. Woe is me, I am rich and powerful. Life is so God damned hard!” Frankie took in a shaky breath, the effort causing a rattling sound to escape his mouth. “It’s your fault they're dead: George, Teller, Mike, Willy, Joe. It’s your fault they’re all gone. And it’s not just their blood on your hands, is it?” Matteo’s body locked up under Gen’s touch. “You let your own mother and brother die all so you could have a few days off.”
Gen gasped while Matteo stopped breathing altogether. His muscles went rigid, the skin beneath her fingers started to vibrate with coiled energy. Frankie’s eyes swiveled to her for a second before returning to his target. Gen looked back toward the car, then she released Matteo’s arm.
She couldn't watch as Matteo walked forward. She heard the crack, a brutal resounding noise that filled the empty alleyway where the two cars idled. She looked back in time to see Matteo holding Frankie’s limp body up by the shirt he had fisted in his hand. He gently lowered Frankie’s body the rest of the way to the ground before he released his hold.
Matteo walked back toward her. Stephen lurched forward to put two fingers to his brother’s neck. He sighed long and looked over to Gen with a nod that he was alive. Matteo passed by her.
“Get in the car,” he said, his voice low now, mixed with anger, regret, sadness and guilt.