by Reana Malori
FORGIVEN
Lady Guardians
REANA MALORI
CONTENTS
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
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Also by Reana Malori
About the Author
Onyx Rides by Celeste Granger
LADY GUARDIANS: FORGIVEN
Copyright© 2018 Reana Malori
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Chapter One
Geneva Powers’ head was spinning. She needed to get the hell out of here before she went all the way off. These motherfuckers had lost their minds if they really thought she was going to go along with this. She’d worked at this firm for more than five years without even a hint of an issue. She’d been working as the Controller that entire time and thought her boss, the Chief Financial Officer, had her back. Based on this conversation, that was obviously not true.
She’d been so proud to join this company when the recruiter contacted her, enticing her to leave her old company. After being with the company for a couple of years, they’d offered her the role of Controller when the person who held the job before her moved out of state. She’d been beside herself. Geneva had been at the top of her graduating class and she’d known from the beginning that she was going places. There had never been any other choice. Now five years later, here she sat. In one of those intimidating conference rooms with dark wood furniture and fancy leather chairs, the only black face in the room. All eyes were centered on her as the question came again. This time from the Chief Executive Officer. A man she had no love for and would prefer to never sit across from again.
“Ms. Powers. I’ll ask you again. Can you explain the anomaly in the annual financials for the past three years? As we’ve mentioned, our external auditors have found some…discrepancies. We’ve spoken with Dave and he’s assured us there would be a reasonable explanation.”
Cutting her eyes at her boss, she sent Dave a wicked smile as his face flushed and he tried to avoid her gaze. She knew exactly what he’d done to her. Based on the way he avoided looking at her and the red hue of his face, he knew he’d been caught.
“Mr. Livingston, I assure you, I have no idea why Dave would think I knew the answers you’re seeking. The results of the external audit have not yet been shared with me, so I’m at a loss. How could I have the answers to a question I haven’t been asked?” She wasn’t a damn fool and if Dave thought she was, then he was about to get a wake-up call.
Dave chose that moment to cut in. The man she’d once looked up to as a mentor had thrown her under the bus. That was something she couldn’t allow him to get away with. Not now. Not never.
“Geneva, I think what John is asking for, is a better explanation regarding how the numbers have been so far off. I know how diligent you are with the numbers. Here, let me show you something.”
Sliding a packet of information across the table to her, he also turned on the video screen projecting what appeared to be a side-by-side comparison of the annual results and the auditor’s numbers. The discrepancy on the screen almost made her slack-jawed. Based on the calculations they’d come up with, there were millions of dollars missing from the company. The first year showed an unexplainable loss of just over eight-hundred thousand dollars. Next year was just more than one-and-a-half million, and this final year was right at three million.
That must have been what triggered their audit. That amount was just too much. She’d always known the company had a secondary financial auditor looking at the books. They’d been in place before she’d joined the company five years ago. This had never been an issue before, but surely, they’d seen the signs and had questions about the money disappearing.
“Mr. Livingston, the financials are reviewed monthly. If there are discrepancies in the numbers, I’m sure we can figure out why that’s the case.” Turning her head to Dave, she glared at him. Did he think she was stupid? This motherfucker really thought she wasn’t going to protect herself? If he’d come to her, she could have helped him. Given him financial advice. Helped him see that he needed to stop. Something. Anything. That didn’t mean this shit didn’t need to be reported, but she could have helped him find a way to save face. But after this bullshit stunt? Fuck him.
She was pulled back to the discussion by Mr. Livingston’s voice. “Who else has the ability to record information on the balance sheet?”
Glancing at Dave again, she realized he would be of no help. She was on her own. “Other than Dave and me, only Robert.”
“But he does financial planning and analysis. How is he managing the financial reports?”
Sighing, she shook her head. She could visualize where this was headed and while she didn’t want to go there, she would. Of that, she had no doubt. “He was provided full access so that he could provide support when needed. It wasn’t expected that he would need to do anything, but it was a backup plan for internal controls and reducing the potential of a failure point.”
“Who gave him this access,” this was the Vice President of Human Resources. Yeah, shit was about to hit the fan.
“I did.” Well, she wasn’t going to lie.
“And who provided approval for Robert to have this access?”
For a few seconds, she hesitated. If she opened this assortment of problems, things would go south very quickly. It was either be upfront and honest or allow fate to decide the direction of her career. Fate had never been her friend.
“Dave asked me to provide access to Robert just over three years ago.”
“Wait a second Geneva. I don’t believe I did. There would be no reason for me to request that of you.” Now he was blustering. His sole focus was on saving his own ass, while trying to send her career into a tailspin.
“Yes, actually, you did. In fact, I keep very good records related to every request for system access and approval for our monthly, quarterly and annual financial reports.” As she spoke, her mouse was clicking within her system, opening the folder with copies of all approvals and other requests. “Ah, here it is. If you’ll allow me,” she motioned for the video screen control. Connecting her laptop to the screen, it changed from the spreadsheet showing the financial discrepancies to an email document. “As you see on the screen, here’s the email from Dave requesting that I grant Robert access to the system. In the last sentence, he mentions the reason for this was to prevent a single point of failure. Dave went so far as to state that he’d inform Robert of his access and how to login to the system.”
Not avoiding her eyes any longer, his gaze was filled with anger. Hell no, there was no way in fucking hell she was going down without a fight. “Ms. Powers, this is highly inappropriate.”
“No. What’s inappropriate is the email prior to your request.” Clicking her mouse, she brought up another written note between her and Dave. “Mr. Livingston, the reason for the discrepancies is not clear to me. However, what I can tell you is that I noticed them two years ago and brought them to the attention of your CFO, Dave Martin. While I did not perform a forensic review of the financials, what I saw concerned me. In the attached email, I spelled out my concerns in the numbers to my boss. I was then informed by Mr. Martin that he would take care of it. That you and he had already spoken about it, and the financials would be updated and corrected.”
Turning to Dave, Mr. Livingston asked, “Is this true? Ms. Powers highlighted these issues to you over two years ago? And you said nothing to me?”
Well, now she knew that her suspicions had been spot on. The past few years, something had been off about her boss. That’s what prompted her to begin keeping notes about everything. Every email went into a special folder, both on her laptop and in the cloud. Whenever he made a verbal request of her, she followed up in writing to confirm what he’d requested in the guise of making sure she hadn’t misunderstood, and to give him a date when she expected to be completed.
“John, I don’t recall this at all. These emails must be about something else entirely,” her boss stuttered as the sweat began to roll down his face. If he hadn’t been so comfortable putting her on the hot seat, she might have felt sorry for him.
She loved her job. Like, really, really loved her job. But she wasn’t going to be anybody’s scapegoat. If coming to the table with facts was a problem, then so be it. Walking away was not a choice for her. It was time to go big or go home.
“I can assure everyone in this room that every transaction that came across my desk had the appropriate approvals. While some may say I’m a tad obsessive about my documentation, that trait has always served me well. In addition, no financial transaction above twenty-five thousand dollars was transmitted without valid invoices, documentation, and division leader approvals. The only exceptions to that rule must be approved by the CFO, or higher authority,” she glanced at Mr. Livingston as she said this, because he was the only approver above her boss. “I also have those exception approvals in writing stored in my folder, which I would be more than happy to share with the auditors for secondary review.” Disconnecting her laptop from the screen, she calmly folded her hands on the table and gave each man in the room a hard glare. If they thought she was a fool, she’d happily disabuse them of that thought.
“Ms. Powers,” Mr. Livingston spoke to her again, his words much kinder than they were ten minutes ago, “I know this may be uncomfortable for you, but as you can see, we have a bit of a situation. Our auditors know where the money is going and have traced it back to an offshore account. The name on the account is fake, of course. The payments were sent via authorized direct payment. What we weren’t sure about was who in the company was handling the strings.”
“I can assure you, Mr. Livingston, that person is not me.” Geneva had been raised better than to steal from her own company. Nothing in her life was so bad that she’d have to stoop so low. She may not have grown up with much, but her mother was determined to make sure her children never suffered. Even if she had to work two jobs while going to night school. Ms. Bernice Powers was going to make sure her children succeeded, and she’d be damn if she’d build her career based on dishonesty, thievery, and lies.
His gaze never left her face as he thought about the information she’d just laid out. “Thank you for your time, Ms. Powers. The auditors will need to review those other files and documentation you have stored. We appreciate your cooperation and help in this matter. Mr. Lucas will walk with you to your office to discuss accessing the cloud storage. Why don’t you take a long weekend, clear your head and we’ll see you back in the office on Tuesday.”
“Am I being suspended or placed on admin leave for some reason?” Her heartbeat sped up in fear. They couldn’t still believe she was at fault for this.
“No,” he said, looking around the table as if daring anyone to contradict him. “However, we do need to look into this matter further. I’d encourage you to take this time off and not worry about what’s happening here.”
Glancing over at her boss, she almost shivered at the intense look of hatred that filled his gaze. She glared at him right back, giving him a slight smile as well. At only thirty-four, she may seem young, but she sure as shit wasn’t stupid. “Good luck Dave,” she said in a sing-song voice.
“You’re going to pay for this,” he mumbled in a low tone. Geneva heard him though, and so did a few other people in the room.
“Dave,” John growled in righteous anger, “I think you’d better watch your tone and your words with Ms. Powers. This is not her doing. It’s time you finally admit that this is your mess and it’s time for you to clean it up. Mr. Lucas, as you’re walking with Ms. Powers, please contact the attorneys and let them know we’re ready to move forward. Settle in Dave, it’s about to be a very long day for you.”
OPENING HER FRONT DOOR, Geneva heaved a huge sigh. Finally, she was home. Today had been something else and she never wanted to experience anything like that again. Removing her jacket, she placed it on the hallway coat rack. She walked up the stairs to her bedroom and undressed. Her shoes were flung into the closet and her work clothes were placed on top of the ottoman at the foot of her bed. Pulling on her baggy pajama pants and a tank top, she exited her bedroom and made her way back downstairs to her kitchen.
Gripping a bottle of unopened wine, she paused before opening it. Nope, not what she needed. Tonight required a different kind of chill. Placing the bottle back on the wine rack, she grabbed a bottle of beer from the fridge and popped the top. The cold brew trickled down her throat as she moved into the living room.
For a few moments, she considered calling her mother to tell her what was going on but decided against it. No need to worry her, or her little brother about work stuff. They’d just tell her to quit. Or her mother would want to call the entire family and then she’d have her mom’s crazy ass siblings all calling her, half of them offering to come stay with her to help her deal. She’d wait until she knew more.
It bothered her that Dave thought he could get away with this for so long. That she would be naïve enough to allow him to blame her for what he’d done. Not only would she lose her job, but she would lose her life when she was placed behind bars for grand theft larceny and embezzlement. Fuck no. Dude had picked the wrong chick for this bullshit game.
Flipping through the channels, nothing caught her attention. There was a buzz of uncomfortable energy flowing through her body. She needed to get out of the house. Staying in wasn’t going to work for her. She needed something more to calm her and television and pasta wasn’t going to cut it.
“Fuck,” she said out loud to the empty house, she swallowed down the rest of her beer and stood up. Stopping by the trash before she walked back upstairs to change again, she felt a calm come over her. It was the same feeling she always had just before climbing on top of her baby, whom she’d fondly named “Beauty.”
The Harley Davidson Softail sitting in her garage was the freedom she needed right now. Today had been a shitty day and being cooped up inside the four walls of her home was driving her crazy. Feeling the rumble of the engine underneath her as she drove through the streets of Fairfax always set her mind at ease. And this situation today had her on edge.
She needed to stop by the Club tonight and see what the ladies were up to. There was always something going on and with the weekend coming up, she was positive some of them would be hanging out, making plans. She grabbed a pair of form-fitting jeans, a dark gray t-shirt, and her black riding boots. Putting her pink bandana on her head to control her hair, she removed her cut from the closet and slid it on. The heavy leather felt good on her shoulders. Admiring her reflection in the long mirror of her closet door, she smiled. “Damn, I look good.”
After she’d first de
cided to join an MC, she’d had all types of doubts. Had she picked the right Club? What if they didn’t understand that her career was just as important as the Club? She wasn’t willing to give up either and fought hard to live between two worlds. It had been four years since she’d been a prospect—which had been one of the most humbling experiences of her life—and she’d never been happier.
Well, except for today. Giving herself one last look, she grabbed her wallet and keys, heading outside to her Beauty. Opening the garage door, she climbed on the seat and started the engine. The roar of the engine sent of jolt of excitement through her veins. Was there another feeling like this in the world? Pulling back on the throttle, she allowed the sound to echo loudly within the space. A smile coming over her face.
Fuck it.
She had four days off. It was time for her to put the prim and proper Geneva to the side for a few days and bring out her inner devil to play. Pushing back the kickstand, she revved the throttle, lifting her feet to the foot pegs as the bike shot forward. Time to have a little fun.
Chapter Two
Jamison Reed sipped his whiskey while looking around the bar. It wasn’t his normal place, but he’d been on the road a long time, he was tired as fuck, and this was the first watering hole he’d come across. The crowd was mixed between yuppies looking to unwind after a long day, to people who looked as if they’d seen a bit too much of this world and needed to escape. Which he understood more than he wanted to admit.
Escape had been his only focus for the past five years. When the memories from his time in the Army and the many months spent overseas became too much, the only thing he could do was get on his bike and hit the road. That was the only thing that cleared his head. The one thing he could count on to give him some damn peace of mind when shit hit him hard. He’d been living the only life he knew and that had to be enough. Maybe it was a half-life by other people’s standards, but it was his.
