Accardi (Genevieve and Matteo) by Allison Franklin novel Chapter 17

Genevieve watched Matteo walk to the door. He opened it just as Jasmine was holding her hand up to knock, an irritated Misty Cohen stood behind her. Both women gawked at the handsome man as he sidestepped them without a backward glance. Gen seethed in anger

She strode in his wake

“I’ll be right back,” she practically growled.

Rather than turn right and follow him to the stairwell, she turned left and headed straight for Charlotte’s office. She shoved the door open and ignored the guilt when it cracked against the wall.

“Where the hell do you get off signing my services over before discussing it with me?” Gen barked.

Charlotte’s mouth slowly closed. She told the person she was speaking with that she would call them back before hanging up.

“Excuse me?” Charlotte asked.

“We are equal partners. You had no right signing me over to the Accardi account without first discussing it with me.”

Charlotte crossed her arms. “You know how much this account would mean for us.”

“I don’t care! I won’t go to New York, Charlee,” Gen warned.

Charlotte stood. “You don’t care? We’re barely making ends meet here, Gen. Neither of us have gotten a paycheck in months. Your dad’s been having to chip in on your rent while Benny is working two jobs to support me and the girls. We are one lost account away from having to fire someone from our staff. We need the income. This account would not only help us stay afloat, we can make new contacts, we can get higher net–worth accounts.”

“Then send someone else.”

“He asked for you specifically,” Charlotte said with a shake of her head.

“And you’re not curious as to why?”

Charlotte shrugged. “So he thinks you’re hot. Why should we turn down his business just cause he thinks it’ll help get in your pants?”

Gen stared at her friend. Of course everything she was saying was right. Truthfully if it had been anyone else she wouldn’t care either. “I

can’t.”

Charlotte narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “Why? You’ve never had a problem using charm to win clients before. What is so different with

this guy?”

Genevieve sighed and walked forward to collapse in Charlotte’s guest chair. “Do you remember the guy I told you about from Jada’s

bachelorette party?”

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Charlotte gave her a sultry smile. “Oh yeah I do. I would love to meet that guy”

“Well, you just did.”

Charlotte’s mouth fell open again. She sat down in her chair and scooted forward, her interest piqued. She wet her lips and glanced around. “You said that guy was in the mafia,” she whispered, as if Matteo had bugged her office somehow.

“He is,” Gen confirmed.

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“But… Gen you looked into his accounts. You said there was nothing illegal. Suspicious, sure, but there was nothing illegal that could get us in trouble by taking his case.”

“A man like that probably has a second company and uses a ‘dirty‘ accountant. The guy who started questioning me about the suspicious stuff in Atlanta and who pulled me aside at the end. I’m guessing it’s him.”

“Shit,” Charlotte said, running her hands through her hair. She spun her chair as she thought. “Well, if there is nothing illegal with the business he wants to hire us for…”

“You’re joking.”

Charlotte scrubbed her face and pulled at her hair. She took out a piece of paper from her desk drawer and slid it over for Gen to see.

Gen’s eyes widened at the warning from the bank saying they had three months to catch up with their loan payments before reaching

bankruptcy.

“This arrived this morning,” Charlotte whispered. “I was going to tell you later. I didn’t want to mess with your mojo right before the big

meeting.”

“Is it genuine?” Gen asked, worried that this could be something Matteo cooked up to further convince her to come work for him.

“Yeah,” Charlotte said with a few sad nods of her head. “I called Josephine down at the bank. It’s real. We have three months to get out of

the red or we’ll have to close up shop.”

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner, Charlotte?”

Charlotte shrugged, her eyes misty. “We’ve all been working so hard, you know? I just thought I could get us caught up before something

like this happened.”

Gen set the paper down and sat back with a huff. She knew they were having trouble making ends meet but she never realized things were

this bad. They’d only just opened but clients were hard to come by in such a saturated market. Could she really not turn Matteo’s offer

down?

“He gave you a contract to look over, right?” Charlotte asked, more carefully this time. Gen merely nodded. “Okay well… maybe just think

about it. Talk to your dad, get an opinion from the girls tonight. Give me a call when you decide.”

Gen walked back to her office in a daze. Misty Cohen sat in the chair by the window with her arms crossed. Gen stepped to the side of the

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door and let her head Ball Buck She met a breath and focused on putting her most recent problem to the back of her mind so she could

Focus on the first one. She cropped but in from of the dog with her best customer service smile in place

“Mrs. Cohen, I’m glad you coni come im to help us mendive this issue”

“This is ridiculous. You threatened me!”

Gen sighed. “In a way, I guess I did. This is a semis situation we find ourselves, Mrs. Cohen.” Gen walked toward her desk and pulled her chair out. “Whether you knew about the funds or met, both the firm and yourself are…”

As she sat a flash of gold caught her eye. She stopped down and piled up the two cufflinks on her desk. The “A” inscribed twinkled as she held it up to the light. Nerves clawed at her chest. Her suspicions about Matteo tapping Charlotte’s office morphed and grew. Did he plant these? She squinted her eyes but saw nothing out off the ordinary.

“Excuse me, do you mind paying attention?” Mrs. Cohen hissed

Gen’s eyes flicked up and narrowed. “Of course, we were just discussing my call to the police…”

After Mrs. Cohen left from their meeting, Gen busied herself with anything other than the Accardi account. She caught up on old

paperwork, helped Lauren market herself to garner new clients, organized her desk and even dusted the corners of her window. When

Jasmine knocked to let her know she was leaving and that everyone else had left as well. Gen finally looked back at the rolled up paper

sitting atop her desk.

She dropped down in her seat and started reading. She went through the contract six times, manting several sentences she didn’t like.

Overall it was a fair deal: six months of service ensuring the accounts were scrubbed clean, all guilty pumies were identified, and a new

accountant was trained. The firm would get compensated far above market value, she would have an apartment paid for, a food stipend,

and a car service. There was only one thing she didn’t like about the contract: no company policy against romantic relationships between

employees. She knew what she had to do.

Genevieve collected all of her things, put her sneakers back on and left the office. She walked the tem blocks to her home, allowing her

ample time to practice her confrontation. The small brick townhome was bustling with life. Music blared out the windows while women

laughed. Gen shook her head as she unlocked the door and stepped inside. Abigail poked her head our from the karthen and waved.

She walked down the hall and smiled at the scene. Abigail, Sarah, and Louise were hanging around the kitchen island. Lousse, a sous–chef

at one of the premier restaurants in town, was boiling some kind of stew. The aroma made her stomach grow!

“Hey, ladies,” Gen greeted.

“why to gium” Louise asked. Even with her back turned, she was great at reading people.

Uge, nothing just have to go run an errand,” Gen told them as she walked through the kitchen to her bedroom.

*hat murs, we’re going to watch How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,” Sarah sang.

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Genevieve groaned louder as she walked into her room.

“Did she just grumble about my favorite movie?” Louise asked

“She’s all worked up.” Sarah explained.

Genevieve shook her head as she went to her bed, pulled back the sheets and grabbed the faded, 2012 Warped Tour hoodie she’d been sleeping with.

“I’m not worked up.” Gen said as she left her room and walked back through the kitchen again.

“What’s that?” Abigail asked.

“That’s Mystery Hottie’s sweatshirt!” Louise shrieked.

Geneveieve rolled her eyes. “How long did it take for them to spill the beans.”

“I texted Lou and Beck on the way home,” Sarah admitted with a sly grin.

“Whatever, I’m just returning it.”

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“Returning it?” Abigail asked.

“He’s in town?” Louise asked, dropping her ladle.

“Bye guys,” Gen said with a little wave and a wink. She knew they would be waiting up for her all night if they had to in order to get the

scoop.

Genevieve walked toward the cab she’d called on her walk home. Behind her she could hear giggling from the open window.

“Hey Gen! Be a dear and get a pic with him in just the hoodie!” Sarah yelled from the window loud enough for the entire street to hear.

“See if he has a billionaire cousin. Mamma needs herself a new kitchen!”

“Gen! Do you need a condom!?” Abigail screamed louder than the rest.

Genevieve shut the door and rolled her eyes again. They thought it was funny but she knew this confrontation would require all of her

concentration.