The Ultimate Merger (5 page)

He scribbled his signature in blue ink and then rose from the
chair.

“Congratulations.”

Renaldo didn’t return the man’s smile. “Let’s wrap this up,” he
said, casting an impatient glance at his watch.

“Certainly, sir. I’ll put together your packet of documents. As a
reminder, if we find any errors later, you’re required to…”

Renaldo tuned out the attorney. All he could think about was
Sabrina. He didn’t want to leave without saying a proper goodbye. And he wanted
to talk to her about their relationship. He’d be back and forth to the United
States now, and he intended to continue seeing her. Did she want to continue
seeing him?

Chapter Nine

Sabrina stepped out of the shower
and rubbed lotion all over her skin. She sprayed on a light fragrance and finger-combed
her hair, loosening the curls and forcing them into a position that framed her
face.

Now she had Jewel settled in a
treatment facility, she felt more at ease and planned to return to work on
Monday.

She donned her green silk robe and
stepped out of the bathroom into the master bedroom of her two-bedroom
apartment. She didn’t need the two bedrooms, but she kept them because of
Jewel. Her cousin had come and gone out of her life over the years. Whenever Jewel
cleaned up, she always stayed with Sabrina.

When they were younger, safety and
cleanliness were a luxury they couldn’t afford. As two parentless teens, they’d
struggled to make ends meet.

Jewel’s downward slide started
slowly. First, underage drinking. Then weed. Then the dreaded crack. During
Sabrina’s freshman year in college, Jewel, two years younger than she, had
fallen prey to the same drug that had taken the life of Sabrina’s mother.

Only in recent years had Sabrina herself
started drinking. Drugs had never been an option after seeing how it destroyed
her family and the people around her. Jewel had always been a daredevil and
rebellious. Her rebellious spirit had been her downfall.

Sabrina had no intention of ever
turning her back on her, though. As far as she was concerned, Jewel was her
sister, just like their mothers had been sisters. She would always look out for
her and make sure she was safe. Maybe this stint in rehab would work. It had
to. Her cousin’s appearance had scared her so much this time, she worried Jewel
would end up dead.

She walked into the living room
with a black dress in hand, pulled the ironing board from the closet, and set
it up. Now she had to talk to Renaldo. She’d avoided him long enough. He was
leaving the country tomorrow, and she couldn’t let him leave without seeing him
one more time.

She loved him, and she wanted to
say a proper goodbye. At this point, she didn’t even know if he wanted to see
her, but she had to try.

A knock sounded on the door. She wasn’t
expecting anyone. She set the dress on the ironing board.

“Who is it?”

No answer, but the knock came
again, louder this time, sounding like a sledgehammer.

She stood in the hallway for a
moment, and then she tiptoed to the door and peered through the peep hole.

Renaldo! Her heart skipped a beat.  

She undid the safety latch and
swung open the door. “Renny!” The smile on her face died a quick death when he
stared back at her with an angry scowl.

“Where have you been?”

Her charming Brazilian looked like
he wanted to wring her neck.

****

Renaldo pushed his way into the
apartment.

“I told you, I had a family
emergency.”

“A family emergency?” he repeated.
He took a look at the ironing board and the little black dress draped across it
and pressed his lips together in a thin line. His head rotated back to her in
her silk robe, smelling freshly showered and wearing the scent of pink lilies
he loved so much. “Looks to me like you have plans tonight.”

“No,” she said, shaking her head
emphatically. “It’s not what you think. I planned to call you, to see if I
could come see you.”

“Was that before or after your
date?” Jealousy ate at him, grinding in his gut.

“I don’t have a date,” Sabrina
said. “How could you think that?”

“What am I to think?” Renaldo
ground out. “I have not heard anything from you in days, and when I did, it was
a cryptic message that didn’t tell me much. Yet, I show up here, and you look
like you’re getting ready to go out for the night. But I’m supposed to believe
you planned to call me?”

“I was. I know you’re leaving
tomorrow.”

She put her hand up to massage the
back of her neck, and the movement made Renaldo take notice of her appearance. Her
eyes held a tiredness in them, and he wondered if she’d been having difficulty
sleeping. He certainly had. At night, he kept reaching for her, and when his
arms came up empty, he woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Nothing.”

He walked toward her. “What is this
family emergency you had?”

“There’s nothing you can do.” She looked
like someone who had the weight of the world on her shoulders and didn’t know
how to ditch it.

“Are you in some kind of trouble?
Is it your job?”

“No. I don’t want to talk about it.
It’s personal, and I’ll get over it. You can’t help me, and you’ll be gone
tomorrow anyway.” She passed him on her way to the ironing board. “I’ll get
dressed and we can—”

Renaldo took her by the arm and
forced her around to face him. He tilted her chin up toward him, searching her
face. “Tell me what’s wrong. We’re not leaving until you do.”

****

Sabrina twisted out of his grasp.
She’d taken great pains to keep her past a secret. What was she supposed to
tell him? That she was one of the lucky ones, having grown up in a community
known to be a haven for crime, where drug dealers ruled the streets and
violence kept children indoors?

“Sabrina…?”

His probing gaze held her captive.
She wanted so badly to tell him everything and unburden her soul. But it was
easier to keep her secrets to herself and wear the mask of independence and
strength, while wondering the entire time if she’d ever be good enough.

She let out a shaky breath,
deciding not to hide from her past this time. “It’s my cousin, my
family—everything about me.”

“You have told me almost nothing
about your family. This is the first time I have ever heard you talk about
them.”

She chewed on her lower lip, still
afraid of being judged.

“What about your family, Sabrina? What
are you not telling me?”

Chapter Ten

Sabrina lowered her eyes. “I didn’t
have the same childhood you did,” she said. “Not even close.
No
perfect, traditional house with two
parents and a loving family. I’m not even sure who my father is. My mother
wasn’t sure. My father was either her boyfriend or her drug dealer.”

Renaldo inhaled sharply.

Sabrina lifted her head. “The
reason I never shared my past with you is because it’s a past I want to forget.
I don’t want to remember the things I saw or what I had to do.”

Concern etched in his face. “What
did you have to do, 
meu amor
?”

The gentleness in his voice scraped
away the final layer of self-defense. She didn’t want to keep everything inside
anymore. It was hard being strong all the time. She wanted to unburden her soul.
The tears swelled and overflowed onto her cheeks. Sobbing, she fell against the
wall and covered her face with her hands.

Renaldo pulled her close. “Shh.” He
guided her to the sofa and sat down, pulling her onto his lap. In a soothing
whisper, he spoke to her in Portuguese.

She told him everything. About how
her mother raised her and Jewel in a small, one-bedroom apartment. How she had
to go down to the morgue to identify her own mother as a teen. She told him
about Jewel’s addiction, and how it strained their relationship over the years.
In the throes of addiction, Jewel lied to and stole from Sabrina, so Sabrina
learned to keep her money, credit cards, or anything else of value locked up or
away from her.

She told him about the guilt she
continued to feel because maybe if she’d gotten help for her mother, she
wouldn’t have died. She’d been angry at her mother—even secretly hated her at
times. When she passed away, the bottom had fallen out of her world, and she
wished she had been less judgmental and more helpful.

“After she died, Jewel and I barely
made ends meet,” she whispered, hanging her head. “We lied, begged. When we
couldn’t get what we needed, we stole it—food, clothes—and moved around from
place to place, sometimes staying with family, sometimes sleeping wherever we
could lay our heads. We did whatever we had to do to survive.”

“Couldn’t you get help from the
state?”

“Yes. But as minors, we didn’t want
to end up in the foster care system and risk getting split up. We had been
through so much together, the thought of getting separated terrified us. When I
won a scholarship to go to college, I thought our prayers had been answered. I
was able to get additional financial aid, and I wanted to rent a small
apartment off campus. That way Jewel could stay with me and finish high school,
and if I got a part-time job, we could live more comfortably than we had in
years.” Sabrina sighed. “But she met an older man and forgot all about school
and our plans. They moved in together and everything about her changed after
that. He was the worst thing that ever happened to her.” Tears clouded her
vision. “I wish I could have done something to convince her to leave him.”

Renaldo stroked her hair
consolingly. “You did the best you could.”

She sniffed to keep her nose from
running. “What do you think of me now?”

His hand cupped her cheek. “I think
what I thought the first time I met you. You are a strong woman. I admire your
strength even more now that I know what you’ve been through. If you thought I
would judge you, you’re wrong.” He smiled ruefully. “You are a better person
than I am. Because even after everything that’s happened between you and your
cousin, you still forgive her. You still protect her.”

“She’s family. We’re all we’ve got.
I won’t turn my back on her. She needs love and forgiveness. It’s not too late
for her, and everyone deserves a second chance.”

“You’ve given her several second
chances.” He fell silent. “I admire you, Sabrina. I admire your ability to
forgive. I have a habit of cutting people off when they hurt me or make a
mistake.”

“If you love someone, you learn to
forgive them,” Sabrina said. “Sometimes losing them hurts more than the pain
they’ve caused you. Believe me, when Jewel acts the way she does, I know it’s
the drugs. When she’s herself, she’s such a good person—caring and generous to
a fault.”

“Like you.” He traced the fullness
of her lips with his thumb.

A tremulous smile graced her lips.
“I must look awful right now.”

“No, you look beautiful. I missed
you these past few days.”

“I missed you, too.”

He gently kissed each eyelid. “I
really, really missed you.” His voice sounded husky and filled with longing.

She nodded, emotion clogging her
throat.

“I love you, Sabrina.” Her gaze
flew up to meet his. He cupped her face in his hands. “I couldn’t stop thinking
about you. I missed talking to you. I missed hearing your voice.” He swallowed,
brushing a palm over her thick hair. “I thought I was losing my mind. That’s
why I had to come see you.”

“Do you mean it?” It was too good
to be true. Not only did he not care about her past, but he loved her, too?

“Yes.”

She wrapped her arms around his
neck and kissed him hard on the mouth. “I love you, too.”

“Do you mean it?” he teased with a
smile, echoing her question.

“Yes!” She kissed him again. Her body
pressed closer to the hard planes of his, as he cupped her bottom and prolonged
the kiss.

Finally, he lifted his head and
whispered, “How are you with long distance relationships?”

“I’ve never been in one, but we can
make it work, right? I mean, Brazil is far away, but you’ll be back and forth
now, won’t you?”

He nodded. “When I come back, I
want to see you. Every day.” He kissed her. “Every night.” He kissed her again.
“I want to spend every moment I can with you when we’re not working.”

“I wouldn’t want it any other way,”
Sabrina said. She felt light-headed and drunk with happiness.

“Let’s not go out. Let’s stay here.
I leave tomorrow, and I want to spend as much time alone with you as possible.”

Sabrina nodded her agreement. She
rose from the sofa. She took Renaldo’s hand and led him into her bedroom.