Page 53 of Hometown Heartbreakers: Sunkissed

"Dante?" No, it couldn't be him.

"Michelle… Wow, you look amazing," he complimented.

I didn't miss the way his eyes traveled up my body. I was wearing my black skirt suit, a red blouse, and power pumps, setting the rules from the beginning that I was in charge as long as I was involved. And clothes always gave me that extra boost of confidence.

All that aside, he didn't look bad himself. Jeans, suit jacket, collar shirt, and boots. Country, but still clean.

Dante hugged me, and memories came flashing back. He smelled just like he had in college, like fresh linen and a hardworking man. His arms were even stronger than before. We’d spent many nights hanging out and having fun after his football practices or games. I’d seen the way he kicked ass on the field. His arms were bigger now. The hugs I got then didn’t feel as good as the one I was getting now. I felt safe, even though I hadn’t seen him in so many years.

Dante finally let go, giving us a chance to breathe without inhaling the other person’s scent. But I could still smell him. “You’re from MGG?”

“I am. Want to tell me what I’m going to find when I dig through things?” I asked, judging his response both physically and waiting for the verbal. Was he in over his head?

“I do not know. I just don’t understand it. We lost a few clients when my dad died. I expected it. They were older men who were used to things being done a certain way. I’d created that standard almost ten years ago. I’m the reason business took off how it did!”

I saw how hard he was taking this loss. He cared about how everything was going, so then what happened?

“The actual problems started when payments started returning. Mostly everything is electronic payments. Sure, there is about ten percent loss in profit. Nothing too alarming. But the money isn’t there. I’ve looked through the ledgers and sat with accounting, and the money I thought was there isn’t. I do not know what Pop did with it, but there definitely isn’t money in the bank. Bills are behind. If I can’t pay people, it holds up the work.” He wiped away a tear I’m sure he didn’t want me to see.

“Did he leave you anything?” It sucked having to ask, but I needed to know what I was working with it.

“Yeah. He left me a fund I’ll get on my thirty-fifth birthday. It is already in my name. However, stuff that was left in his name was taken by the bank. Taxes.”

“Where’s his house?”

“I’m slowly getting it cleaned out. Pop ‘collected’ more shit than he ever got rid of.”

Which meant that they could still use it as potential collateral. “I hear you. Well, want to show me to accounting and I’ll go from there?” I asked.

“Everybody knows what’s going on. They’ll be expecting you to tear this place apart.” Dante walked me out of his office and down the hall to a smaller office with two ladies. “This is where you’ll start.”

I looked around, surprised by the amount of order in there. No fly away papers, no messy files, and they knew where everything was. They kept physical delivery receipts along with a digital receipt showing payment to vendors. Everything had a place, and every place had a trail affiliated with it. I assumed an empty desk in the back of their office.

I spent that week looking for things that didn’t add up. I came up with nothing out of the ordinary in their expenses, which meant I would spend the following week looking over income.

“Michelle, Dante is on line four for you,” Linda, one accountant, said over her shoulder.

“Thank you.” I picked up the call from my desk and greeted him, trying to lose the exhaustion from my voice. “This is Michelle. How may I help you?”

“Please tell me you’ve found something.” Dante didn’t even bother with a greeting. Something was wrong with him. I could tell from the exasperation in his voice.

“I wish I could. I’ve gone through paperwork from this year and last year, looking for inconsistencies of expenses. You still have the same billers and payroll going out. Unless there’s something you’re not showing me.” I hoped I was wrong, and that there wasn’t anything suspicious going on.

“No, I’ve made everything available.”

“Do you have access to bank statements from this year and last? I want to see if what’s coming in is the same thing that you have inputted.”

“I do. I’ll call the branch manager and see how quickly he can get me information for both years. Online, I can only see a few months.”

“I’ll start with those months that you can see, and then you’ll get me the others. I’ll expect all of that starting on Monday?” Not wanting to be too pushy, but I needed movement. Otherwise, I was just pushing paperwork that all seemed in order. Almost as if I were wasting my time.

“Sure thing. Michelle, I know you work for me right now—”

“No, we’re working together. This is a partnership,” I corrected.

“One that requires payment?” he joked.

“Absolutely. You still pay your partner. Right? Your father paid you?” I asked.

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