Second Chances (2 page)

She crept toward
the staircase. Renaldo would not be pleased she’d worked another late night,
particularly since she hadn’t been at home to greet him upon his return from
Chicago. But she’d been getting so much accomplished, she simply hadn’t been
able to tear herself away.

She only had one
more thing to take care of before she joined him in bed.

Nausea filled her
stomach. She had to get rid of the latest round of photos she’d received. Then
she could concentrate on Renaldo and find a way to make up her absence to him.

She sensed his
presence before she saw him. He emerged like an apparition from the darkened
interior, slowly coming toward her. The shirtsleeves of his white shirt were
rolled up to reveal his bronze, hair-sprinkled forearms. He still looked as
handsome as the day she married him, even with the tired lines on his face.

She set her shoes
on the table against the mirrored wall and planted her most becoming smile on
her face.

“Honey, I’m sorry
I didn’t get here earlier. Feel free to give me a spanking.”

He stopped a few
feet away, not cracking a smile. “Where have you been?”

She couldn’t
decipher the strange look on his face. “At the office, of course.”

“Working late
again. You knew I was coming back tonight, but you couldn’t tear yourself away
from whatever you were doing to be here to greet me.”

She’d really
screwed up this time. He was obviously very upset with her. “I’m sorry, but
when you see the numbers I have, you’ll understand why I couldn’t break away.”

He took a step
forward, but stopped again, examining her as if seeing her for the first time.
But there was something else. His eyes were hard and cold. She’d finally pushed
him too far.

“Renny, I know
you’re mad at me.” She walked toward him, adding an extra swing to her hips,
smiling teasingly. He could never resist her when she moved like that. “I’ll
make it up to you.”

And then she saw
the photos turned inward toward his leg. He couldn’t have found the photos;
she’d hidden them in her desk.

“What are those?”
Her heart was in her throat, so she barely got the words out.

Renaldo tossed the photos on
the floor and they fanned out across the polished wood, mocking her.
Oh God
.
Her worst nightmare.

“You tell me.” His quiet
voice was louder than any shouting could be because of the derision it held. “Who
is this man, and what are you doing with him?”

Sabrina swayed and reached
for the wall to steady herself. “Where did you get those?”

“You didn’t answer the
question.”

Because she couldn’t. She
didn’t have an explanation.

“Were you with him tonight?”
He spoke calmly, but she could see the darker emotions swirling in his eyes. He
was seething.

 “No. I was working. I swear.”

Renaldo’s hands clenched. “Why
should I believe you? It seems that when I’m out of town, you find alternative
ways to keep yourself entertained.”

“No. Renny, that’s not
true.”

He jabbed his finger toward
the pictures. “Then explain those to me.”

She would if she only knew
how they’d happened. But she didn’t.

He was so angry. His accent had
gotten thicker, like it always did when he was aroused—either in passion or
anger.

“I don’t know how.”

“They are not…” His voice
trailed off as he fumbled for the correct English word. “They are not
doctored?”

If only they were. She’d
managed to keep this a secret for as long as she could, worried that this day
would come and she would lose him.  

“No, they’re not doctored.”

The breath he drew in was
harsh and loud in the grave-like quiet of the house. “So you have been lying to
me and sneaking around behind my back? For how long?”

“I never went behind your
back,” Sabrina said. “It—it just happened. I didn’t plan it.”

Renaldo snorted. “That’s
hard to believe when I find photos of you in intimate positions with another
man, hidden away in your desk for enjoyment when I am not here.”

“That’s not why I hid them.
I was ashamed, and I knew if you saw them I would lose you. I was scared. I was
going to get rid of them. I—” She pressed her palms to her hot cheeks. “Please.
You have to believe me.”

“You should leave before I
do something I regret.”

“No, Renny, please. You
have
to listen to me. You have to hear me out.” The scorn and anger in his voice
hurt. It was almost too much to bear, because ever since she’d met him, he’d
been her champion and treated her with care and respect. Her perfect world was
falling apart.

“Leave.”

“Renny, please.”

“By the time I count to
three, you better get out or I will toss you out.”

“Please don’t do this to me.
Give me another chance.”

“One.”

“I was drunk,” she said,
shaking uncontrollably. “I didn’t know what I was doing.”

“Two.”

“You love me.” He flinched
as if she’d struck him. “Can we please work it out? I don’t know what happened,
but you know that’s not me. I
love
you.”

“Love me?” His upper lip
curled. “You love this life. Your ambition betrays you. You love money and
power. You love material things, but you
do not love me
.”

Sabrina’s eyes welled up
with tears of pain at the way he’d characterized her. “If you believe what
you’re saying, why did you marry me? You don’t believe that. I know you don’t.”

“I was a fool,” Renaldo said
in a voice full of regret. “I saw what I wanted to see.”

“That’s not true. I’m your
wife.” Her hand flattened against her heart to stem the hurt expanding in her
chest. “You know me.”

“Obviously I do not. Your
time is up. Three.” He reached for her.

He was really going to do it;
really going to put her out.

Sabrina slapped at his hands.
If he couldn’t catch her, he couldn’t toss her out.

But Renaldo caught her
hands. He was too fast, too strong. He caught her arm and spun her around hard,
slamming her back against his chest.

“You can’t do this.” Her
pulse kicked up a notch. 

He was so tall, that when
his arms cinched around her like tight bands and he easily lifted her, her feet
dangled a few inches above the floor. “Go to him now. Tell him I sent you, and
he can have you all to himself.” His breath was hot against her cheek and
bitterness laced his voice. “I want you out of my house and out of my life.”

Sabrina twisted and kicked,
throwing her body backward to force him to put her down. “I’m not leaving!”

Her desperate movements only
made him clamp his arms tighter as he marched toward the side door leading out
to the stairwell.

“Renny, I love you. Don’t do
this. D-don’t!”

He didn’t stop and managed
to hold her still with one arm and use his free hand to open the door.

“Renny!”

He stepped out into the
stairwell and deposited her there. “Do not come back here.” His voice was so
cold. So devoid of any emotion except anger. “You will hear from my lawyer.”

He stalked back inside and
slammed the door behind him.

Sabrina blinked back tears
as she stared at the bare white walls and the long staircase leading down to
the next floor.

This couldn’t be happening.
It couldn’t be over. She loved him. He had to let her explain. Something had
gone terribly wrong that night, but she was still Sabrina, the woman he
married. The woman he said he’d love forever.

She would make it up to him.
She’d do whatever he wanted, if only he’d forgive her. Didn’t he know she
couldn’t live without him? He
had
to forgive her.

She pounded on the door.
“Renny! Please forgive me. Please!”

She didn’t know how long she
stood out there, pleading for his forgiveness. She pounded until her fists grew
sore and her arms tired. But he never came back. It would be futile to try the
private elevator; he would’ve had her key card deactivated by now.

Exhausted, Sabrina finally
accepted her fate. She’d lost everything. Renaldo, her home, her security.

And she was the only person
to blame.

Finally, she crumbled to the
floor in a miserable, sobbing heap.

__________

Later that night, Sabrina knocked on the
door of her cousin’s apartment. When Jewel opened it, she stared at Sabrina
with wide eyes.

“Brina, what happened to you?”

Sabrina knew she looked as bad as she
felt. She’d seen an image of herself reflected in the mirrored walls of the
elevator on the ride up. Her cheeks were tear-streaked, and lines of black
mascara ran down each side of her face. Her hair, which she’d taken great care
with, was a mess after tumbling from its neat arrangement during her altercation
with Renaldo.

“Can I come in?” she whispered. Her
throat felt raw from all the screaming and crying she’d done.

“Of course.” Jewel opened the door
wider.

“I don’t have any money. Would you pay
the taxi downstairs?”

“No problem. I’ll be right back.”

In the past, Sabrina had been the one to
help Jewel; now the tables had turned.

Like a zombie, she trudged in and
dropped onto the sofa. She rested her cheek against its back and curled her
bare feet under her. When Jewel returned, she didn’t have the energy to lift
her head and face her. How she managed to make it to the apartment was still a
mystery.

Jewel sat beside her, her brow furrowed
in lines of worry. “Brina, what happened? What’s going on?”

“He threw me out.”

“
Renaldo
?”

Sabrina nodded, feeling the tears well
up in her eyes again. She hadn’t thought she had any more left.

“What do you mean he threw you out? What
for? The two of you are married.”

“We won’t be for much longer.”
Overwhelming sadness forced the tears from her eyes.

“Honey, you’re not making sense.” Jewel took
her hand. “What on earth would make him want to divorce you? He’s madly in love
with you and you’re madly in love with him. You followed him here from Chicago.
You even convinced me to come with you, for heaven’s sake. Of course you’re
staying married. You just had a little spat, that’s all.” Jewel patted her
hand.

Sabrina shook her head. “No. It was more
than a lovers’ quarrel.”

“Tell me what happened.”

Sabrina sniffed and wiped under her
nose. “He found out.”

“Found out what?”

“About Mateo.”

“Who in the world is Mateo?”

“The guy we met at the club.”

“Wait a minute, that was months ago. You
stayed in touch with him?”

“You could say that.”

“Honey, you’re not making sense. Look at
me.” Jewel moved closer on the sofa. “What are you talking about? Why were you
still in touch with Mateo?”

Sabrina closed her eyes and her face
crumbled. “Because I spent the night with him.” Her voice pitched lower and
cracked. “And now Renny knows.”

Chapter Two

Six weeks later…

If asked to name a city in Brazil, most
people would mention Rio de Janeiro, the home of easily the most famous
carnival celebration in the world. However, Sao Paulo was just as important, if
not more so. As the financial heart and soul of Brazil, it was the largest city
on the continent and the fifth largest in the world. Its shopping districts were
well known; it was foodie heaven, filled with every type of ethnic restaurant
imaginable because of the rich diversity of its occupants. It also boasted some
of the most expensive real estate in all of South America.

So it made sense that Silva Development
Group, commonly known as SDG, would be headquartered here in the country’s
commercial center.

Renaldo stood on one side of his desk at
the corporate offices of his company. On the other side, Paulo Raposo, his
assistant and right hand man, sat with one leg crossed over the other,
reviewing the two pages Renaldo handed him when he’d entered the office.

His concerned gaze met Renaldo’s. “You
do realize what a problem this presents for you?”

“Of course I realize it. That’s why I
wanted to see you.” Paulo had been his father’s assistant, too, when he’d been
alive, and had seen his share of disasters. This was probably one of the
biggest, if not the biggest. At least it was to Renaldo.

The papers were a letter from Mayor
Salazar’s office with the time and date for an interview with
Semanal
, one
of the largest magazines in the country. Paulo also held an invitation to the
special event the mayor was hosting to mark the midway point of his second term.
An affair to which the mayor had invited Renaldo and Sabrina, where he’d
present a plaque to Renaldo for his leadership in the business community.