Chapter Forty-One
“Congratulations,” Charlotte said with a slight chuckle.
“Thanks,” Gen replied, her smile broadening as she added some sugar to her coffee. “I tried to explain it to my assistant but the poor girl’s eyes glazed over within five seconds. Some people just don’t get the intricacies of accounting. I had to talk to someone who would understand.”
Charlotte laughed on the other end of the phone. “I get you. I know that look well. Poor Benny tries but the longest he’s ever gone is about thirty seconds,” Charlotte told her. “How is everything else going?”
Genevieve resituated her phone between her ear and her shoulder as she added a pinch of hazelnut syrup to her cup. “Eh, busy. There’s a new track opening this weekend that has everyone in a tizzy.”
Everyone, including Matteo, it seemed. She hadn’t seen or even spoken to him since the brunch fiasco. Sometimes when she knew he was in a meeting she would walk by his office or the conference room just to feel his eyes on her. She was sick. A sick individual.
He hadn’t even come home as far as she knew… Because she’d run to the peephole anytime she heard a creak. Whether it was a tactic to get her attention or just that he was plain busy, she couldn’t deny that she missed him. With Jada not returning from her honeymoon until Monday, she’d felt very much alone the past week. The only person she really spoke to was Leo when he dropped her off and picked her up but even then it was a struggle to get the gruff man to say more than two words in a row.
“Well, don’t work yourself too hard. It’s six o’clock on a Friday. What are you still doing at work?” Charlotte asked.
Genevieve leaned forward to glance around the corner at the closed office door where Matteo continued to work. “Just have a lot to do. We only have six months, remember,” Gen rationalized.
“Or until you find a new accountant,” Charlotte reminded her.
Gen’s gut tightened. “Right, of course.” Kaitlin walked into the kitchen then. “Gotta go, Girl. Love you.”
“You too, go home!”
Gen hung up the phone and set it on the counter while she watched her assistant. She knew something was up with her. The cheerful bubbly girl had been sullen the last few days. While it didn’t affect her work, it made Gen uneasy.
“Spill,” Gen finally said, turning around while she stirred her coffee.
Kaitlin glanced around the kitchen. “Is there a mess?”
Genevieve laughed. “No, I mean spill whatever it is that’s bothering you. Is it Alexander?”
Kaitlin’s face burned red. She tucked some of her coppery hair behind her ear. “Is it that obvious?”
“To me? Yes. To him? Probably not. Men can be thick-headed.”
Kaitlin groaned and fell down into the nearest chair. “We went to college together. Had all the same classes. I…” She glanced through the door to make sure no one was listening. “I kinda followed him here. Am I a stalker?”
Genevieve laughed and shrugged. “I’ve seen people do worse.”
Kaitlin cupped her face in her hands. “I was going to tell him this weekend. It’s his birthday but at the last second Mr. Accardi asked him to go to the opening weekend and Alexander never says no to Mr. Accardi. He canceled his party so…” Kaitlin shrugged.
“I’m sorry.”
“I just…” Kaitlin stopped talking as she heard Alexander’s voice approaching.
Genevieve cocked her head when she recognized the voice of the woman with him.
“What do you mean there isn’t an office for me on this wing? I’m head of marketing now, Alexander. Accardi promised I would be on this side. Instead I have an office clear on the other side of the floor. I want to speak with him. Now.”
Genevieve walked out of the kitchen and groaned: Mallory.
“I’m sorry Miss Carmichael, but Mr. Accardi does not want to be disturbed. He’s buried in paperwork. I can schedule a meeting for next week when he gets back.”
“Are you joking? It’s me. We…” Mallory’s head turned as the two women approached. Her eyes bugged out of her head when she recognized Genevieve before they narrowed completely. “You. What the hell are you doing here?”
Genevieve shrugged. “I work here.”
Mallory’s head swiveled to Alexander. “She works here?”
“Miss Sinclair is our new accountant. She replaced Mr. Esposito.”
“Temporarily,” Genevieve added.
Gen took Kaitlin’s hand and dragged her toward her office. She went to close the door, hoping to stall the crazed woman when said crazed woman’s hand slapped against the glass. Sensing a storm, Gen calmly walked toward her desk while pulling out her phone again. She tapped on the name her finger had hovered over every night and sent a quick message.
“Where the hell do you get off, huh?” Mallory asked. “One night wasn’t good enough for you?”
Gen gave Kaitlin a smile and nodded her head toward the door, asking her to leave. Kaitlin got the message and slowly walked from the room as if she was afraid any sudden movements would set Mallory off.
“Look, Mallory, I’m an accountant. I was given a case without knowing who…”
“Bullshit,” Mallory hissed. She strode forward until she was in Gen’s face. “You sought him out. You probably knew exactly who he was when we went to his bar and manipulated me into thinking he should be the one I picked for you.”
Genevieve guffawed at the audacity. “Mallory, you sound…”
“He’s mine. He’s been mine since we were kids. He’s the boy next door and I’m the girl he ends up with. We’re going to get married one day and you’ll be some blip in our memory we recall from time to time.”
“Woah.” Gen’s office phone rang. She slowly put her hand out and answered using the speaker. “Hello?”
“I need you. My office. Now,” came Matteo’s curt voice.
Genevieve quickly hung up and smiled at an enraged Mallory. “Sorry, duty calls.”
Gen strode past Mallory who was one second away from blowing a gasket. She hurried down the hall and entered without knocking. She closed the door and gave a slight wave to the woman watching with steam escaping her ears. Gen turned around and sucked in a breath.
Matteo was sitting behind his computer. She could hear the click of his fingers over the keyboard. He was staring down at the screen, deep in concentration while a cigarette clung limply to his lips. He’d taken off his suit jacket and rolled his white dress shirt up to his elbows. His hair was tousled as if he’d been running his hands through it. His green-brown eyes glanced up over his screen at her for a split second before returning to whatever he was typing.
“What’s up? Why did you send me an SOS?” Matteo asked.
It took Gen a moment to collect her thoughts enough to remember. She shrugged and started walking further into the room. “I was trying to get away from an old acquaintance of yours that has an odd dislike of me. The girl next door?”
Matteo snorted. “We didn’t have a girl next door growing up. We had a whore next…” Matteo glanced up and looked out through the glass. “Oh.”
“Yeah,” Gen said, now standing in front of his desk. She placed her palms on the wood. “You’re going to have to do something about that. She’s psycho.”
He sat back in his chair and put the half-burned cigarette out in the nearby ashtray. He sighed. “Unfortunately not much I can do. Her dad asked me to get her a job.” He shrugged.
“So you know Louis?”
Matteo sent her a knowing smirk. “Wondering why I wasn’t at the wedding?”
Gen gave him a dubious look. “You were in mourning.”
A flash of grief crossed his features that evaporated quickly. “How shocked would you have been to see me there?”
She gave a playful shrug. “Who says I hadn’t been looking around hoping you were?”
Matteo raised a brow before he pushed back in his chair. “You were looking for me, huh?” he asked, standing.
“I found you, if you recall,” she said, taking her hands away from his desk as he stalked around it.
He hummed. “I do recall. Were you trying to escape the lesser of the Carmichael clan then too?”
Genevieve backed up as he slowly advanced in her direction. “What if I was?”
“I may have to find her a closer office after all."
Genevieve scowled. “I’ll quit.”
Matteo trapped her against the wall beside his door. In her periphery she could still see Mallory standing by her office. Matteo placed his palm against the glass wall on the opposite side of her head.
Matteo chuckled. “So, you’ve escaped her. Now what?”