Accardi by allison franklin novel

You Were My Favorite Hurt, And My Hardest Goodbye by Ava Knight 107 Summary Gen falls asleep during the drive but wakes abruptly when Matteo stops outside the house where they first spent nights together. As Matteo tries to help her out of the car, she instinctively kicks him and distances herself, leading to a tense confrontation where Matteo forcibly pulls her out. Gen resists fiercely, managing to lock herself back in the car after striking him in a vulnerable spot. Despite Matteo's anger and frustration, he compromises by allowing her to come but not enter the interrogation room.

At the abandoned restaurant they arrive at, Matteo warns Gen she must stay with the guards while he interrogates Marco, a man suspected of betraying their family. Gen asserts her position as the future Donna and insists on being present, standing her ground against Leo's objections. Matteo reluctantly agrees, placing her under guard while he and Leo enter the walk-in cooler where Marco is restrained. Gen's curiosity and protective instincts drive her to watch the interrogation unfold on a small TV.

Marco taunts Matteo and reveals his betrayal, describing cruel acts he committed against Becca, Gen's friend. The graphic and brutal details cause Gen immense emotional pain, tears streaming down her face as she listens helplessly. Frankie explains that Matteo is trying to provoke Marco into revealing useful information. Overcome with rage and heartbreak, Gen suddenly storms into the walk-in cooler, grabbing a heavy tool and violently attacking Marco with relentless fury. Matteo intervenes, restraining Gen as she screams in anguish and frustration, desperate to inflict more pain on Marco.

Her tears and fury reflect the deep torment she feels inside, struggling against Matteo's hold until she is physically exhausted. The chapter ends with Gen caught between her desire for vengeance and the limits imposed by Matteo and the situation. Continue Regular Chapter Reading Below Chapter One Hundred and Seven Gen had made the unwise choice to doze off during the drive to the box. Her eyes snapped open when Matteo swung the car door open outside the very house where they had spent their first nights together.

Before she even fully registered what was happening, he had already taken her hand to help her out. Reflexively, she lifted her leg and kicked him square in the chest. Matteo grunted, stumbling backward several steps to regain his balance. His eyes grew wide as she slid over the leather seat to the far side of the car, putting distance between them. Standing with hands on his hips and a fierce look in his eyes, he suddenly lunged forward, trying to pull her out of the vehicle. When he finally managed to haul her out onto the sidewalk, Gen went completely limp, nearly causing him to drop her.

She kicked and screamed, her defiance fueling his grunts and sharp breaths as he struggled to drag her across the pavement. She caught Stephen's warning about the noise, but Matteo's wheezy response-"I don't fucking care!"-only made her fight harder. One lucky strike was all it took. Right where it hurt the most. Matteo gasped sharply and dropped to one knee. Seizing the moment, Gen scrambled back into the car and locked the door behind her. She watched as he stayed down on one knee a moment longer, catching his breath.

Her own breathing rattled through her chest, heart pounding so fiercely it felt like it might burst through her throat. She waited, tense and wary, to see what he would do next. Eventually, he stood and fixed a glare at the locked window behind which she cowered. He tried the door handle, found it locked. "I want to go," she shouted through the glass. "No," he mouthed back, firm and unyielding. Gen slumped back into the seat, folding her arms tightly across her chest. She didn't care if she looked childish; she was determined to stand her ground.

Matteo pushed off from the SUV and began pacing wildly on the sidewalk, gesturing with his hands in furious frustration. She didn't need to see his lips to know he was cursing up a storm, enough to make any sailor blush. Suddenly, he banged on the window, making her jump. "You can come, but you can't go into the room with me," he offered, his voice rough but compromising. A small smile tugged at Gen's lips as she unlocked the door. Matteo yanked it open, and she quickly shifted to the other side, wary of any sudden moves.

But all he did was sit down angrily beside her and bark at Stephen to get in and start driving. The journey to the box took nearly twenty minutes. During the entire ride, Gen's mind raced with questions and fears. She had a sense of what Matteo's methods were when it came to extracting information-she had endured some of those torture tactics herself. Could she bear to watch the man she loved tear someone apart for betraying him? Her thoughts drifted to Becca.

Gen knew she could never harm her friend like that, but if this man had been the one to betray Becca-if he had planted the listening device or the keystroke logger-she needed to find out. She wanted to see him pay for it. "We're here," Matteo announced, opening the door with an irritated grunt. Gen followed him up the cracked sidewalk to a rundown restaurant, its windows covered with yellowed newspapers. Dust clung thickly to the iron gates that barred the entrance, and a faded health code notice taped to the front confirmed the place had been shut down for decades.

"I'm going to talk to Marco," Matteo said as he lifted the gates and pushed open the door. "Right, but-" "Weakness," Matteo interrupted sharply. "Don't push me. You'll stay with the guards in the main room while I go into the walk-in." The walk-in? Gen bit back her questions and followed silently as they moved through the abandoned restaurant. In the lobby, five men sat scattered at tables, eating takeout and nodding in their direction. Each cast a curious glance at the woman on their Don's arm. Matteo led her past them and into the back kitchen, where another five men waited, including Leo.

Leo snapped upright from his chair, eyes darting between Matteo and Gen with a look Gen recognized all too well-the same glare her father used when catching her sneaking out late at night. "What the fuck, Accardi? Why the fuck is she here-" "Don't start with me," Matteo cut in. "She can't be here." Actually," Gen interjected, stepping forward with resolve, "she can.

I'm the future Donna of this family, and if I want to be present while you all get information from a man who might have hurt my friend, then that's exactly what I'm going to do." She planted herself firmly in front of Leo, meeting his glare head-on. She had been able to overpower Matteo only because he held himself back to avoid hurting her. Leo, however? She suspected he wouldn't hesitate to leave a few bruises if it meant keeping her from witnessing their savage side.

"She stays here," Matteo assured Leo, then moved to a small box TV in the corner where a few guards watched a man tied to a chair. He pressed the power button, and the men groaned. "Stephen, you're sitting here to make sure your Donna doesn't move. Don't let her watch. Don't let her press her ear to the door. Keep your eyes on her every second." Gen crossed her arms and glared up at him. He pointed to a chair in the corner, and with a narrowed gaze, she walked over and plopped down with a huff, crossing her legs and bouncing her foot impatiently.

Matteo reached out, gently lifting her chin to meet his gaze. He pressed a soft kiss to her lips before stepping back and nodding to Leo. The two men disappeared into the room together. She heard Marco's mocking "hello" before the door slammed shut behind them. Gen sprang from her chair and hurried across the room, startling the men nearby. She hit the power button on the TV before Stephen could stop her. "Let go of me, Stephen," she warned sharply. "Sorry, Donna, the boss said-" "The boss said what?" Frankie asked from the doorway. Stephen released her, and both turned to look at him.

"Frankie, where the hell have you been?" Gen demanded. Frankie shrugged casually. "Had some things to take care of. Why is Marco tied to a chair?" He nodded toward the screen. Gen glanced back just in time to see Leo reach up and knock the camera off, plunging the screen into static. She sighed heavily. "Matteo thinks he planted surveillance in Marco's office and... did some other things. I don't know all the details. That's why I wanted to watch." "Interesting," Frankie said, stepping closer and shooing Stephen and the other guards away from the TV.

He turned the volume up and braced his arms on the table. "I hope you enjoyed the benefits of what Guerra had to offer," Matteo said casually, the clinking sound of metal on metal audible as if he were moving objects on a table. "Immensely," Marco admitted. "What exactly did he give you? What could possibly be worth betraying your entire family?" "You aren't my family. If you were, I'd be able to call you Matt..." Marco's grunt of pain echoed through the speakers. "Even if you don't consider us family, is five million a year not enough?

The free penthouse, the Audi Q5, the travel, the girls-none of that enough?" "Not compared to what he had to offer." "You know you're not leaving this room alive, Marco," Matteo said with a heavy sigh. "Why don't you do us one last favor and tell us everything you did? I'll make it quick. You've seen what we do in here. Hell, you've done some of the worst damage yourself. You and all those other fuckers are going to die anyway." "Please, Accardi," Marco's voice dropped low. "I saw your woman in there before you closed the door. I know you won't drag this out.

You wouldn't want her to think less of you. Then again, I've seen the guys she usually goes for. Maybe if you give me a few hits, she'll get jealous and let you color her skin a bit." A sharp crack sounded, and Marco screamed, masking the pain. His breathing grew rough and uneven. "I'll tell you what. I'll tell you about the last thing I did for Guerra, huh?" Marco sneered. "How I took that cute little shy roommate of hers. Let me tell you something, Accardi-those Boston girls have some fight. Not enough though." He laughed maniacally.

"She stopped fighting after the third time I fucked her raw. She just lay there and took it after that. Of course, you know how boring that can be, right? Even after I took her in the ass, she wouldn't let out so much as a tiny scream of pain." Gen's insides tightened into a coil of pure agony. Her vision blurred, and she realized she hadn't breathed in far too long. Her fists clenched against the table as Frankie watched her with concern. Marco laughed cruelly.

"Everyone fears you, Accardi, but you're missing out on such a high by never having a woman beneath you shaking in fear, pissing herself because she knows you're about to use her up and slit her throat." A hot tear slid down Gen's cold cheek. Her skin felt numb, yet her heart shattered inside her chest, sending waves of pain through every limb.

"Why isn't he doing anything?" she whispered, as Marco continued to describe in sickening detail how he had kidnapped Becca from their home, taken her to a warehouse outside Boston, tied her to a pillar, and- "He wants to see if he'll slip and give useful information," Frankie explained softly, placing a steady hand on her shoulder. "Useful information?" Gen hissed through clenched teeth. Rage flooded her veins. One moment she stood in front of the TV; the next, her vision tunneled and her legs moved on their own.

She heard Frankie calling her name, felt hands reaching for her-but nothing stopped her. She yanked open the door to the walk-in cooler. Matteo turned, his face draining of color at the fury blazing in hers. Leo's mouth fell open, and Marco's eyes widened as she strode into the room, her focus razor-sharp. She didn't even glance at what she grabbed from the table-one end was heavy enough to throw her off balance, but she didn't care. Raising the tool with both hands, she pulled it back and let out a scream as she swung it forward with every ounce of her strength.

The monkey wrench slammed into the side of Marco's face with a sickening crack. Teeth flew from his mouth as his head snapped sideways. Blood splattered across the floor, splashing onto Leo's shoes. It wasn't enough. She lifted the wrench again and struck his knee, bending his leg at an unnatural angle. His agonized cries echoed around the small room, fueling her fury. She didn't slow, swinging the heavy wrench over her shoulder and bringing it down again and again with relentless force. After several brutal blows, Marco stopped crying out. He ceased flinching or bracing himself.

He simply stopped. The wrench was ripped from her hands, and she spun toward the man who took it. Matteo absorbed the brunt of her furious fists until he managed to trap her wrists, pinning her against the wall. His body pressed into hers as she screamed-shrieks of anger, frustration, and unbearable pain. It wasn't enough. The ache burning in her chest, turning her heart to ash and swelling her lungs until she couldn't breathe, demanded release. She needed to hurt him more. She needed to channel this torment somewhere. Tears streaked down her face, blurring her vision.

She fought against Matteo's hold, desperate to return to the broken man in the chair and unleash more of her wrath. She struggled until exhaustion claimed her. Conclusion The chapter closes with Gen's fierce determination and raw pain laid bare, revealing the depth of her emotional turmoil. Her struggle to maintain control amidst the chaos reflects the intense conflict between vulnerability and strength, love and rage. Matteo's presence, both protective and relentless, underscores the complicated dynamics of their relationship, where care and cruelty intertwine in a tense dance.

Gen's actions, driven by a desperate need for justice and retribution, highlight the devastating impact of betrayal and the lengths one will go to protect those they love. Ultimately, this chapter captures a moment of profound heartbreak and fierce resilience, as Gen confronts the brutal reality of the threats against her world. The emotional weight of her choices and the pain she carries resonate deeply, reminding us that love can be both a source of healing and a catalyst for fury.

Emotional turmoil, unexpected alliances, and heart-wrenching decisions await, setting the stage for a gripping continuation that will keep readers on edge.