Second Chances (18 page)

When Mateo came to stand in front of
her, he leaned forward as if to press a kiss to her cheek, and she pulled back.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

He straightened. “Greeting a… friend.”

The way he said that word made her skin
crawl. How could she have jeopardized her marriage for
him
? How could
she have been so stupid?

“We’re not friends. What you did was
despicable, taking those pictures.” 

A sly smile slid across his features. He
looked different than he had the night they met in the club. When she’d first
met him she’d thought he was attractive, but now he looked sick, with sunken
eyes and a sallow complexion.

“If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have had any
proof.”

“And you couldn’t have blackmailed me to
get money.”

Mateo’s eyes hardened in response, as if
what she’d said was untrue. “This way, please.” He took her arm, but she yanked
it away. His cold, clammy fingers made her feel sick.

“I can follow just fine without you
touching me.”

“You have developed an unattractive
attitude.” The look in his eyes made her blood run cold. He led her out of the
way of the after-work patrons purchasing fresh fruits and vegetables for the
evening meal. “Did you bring the money?”

“I did, but I’m not giving you anything
until I find out what your intentions are regarding the original photos. How
much do you want for them?” The number he gave made her gasp. “I can’t get that
kind of money without my husband questioning me.”

“Then tell him. I don’t care what you
do. I heard you are a very smart woman and good with numbers. I’m sure you’ll
figure something out. Maybe you could play with the numbers and take the money
and your husband would never have to know.”

Renaldo paid close attention to his
assets. There was no way she could slip out a substantial amount of cash
without him noticing, and there was no way she would do it.

What was she thinking coming here to
meet this man? “No.”

Mateo’s eyes widened. “What did you
say?”

“I said no.” Her voice came out stronger
and louder. She’d learned her lesson. “I’m not keeping secrets from my husband
anymore. I’m not lying to him and pretending everything is fine when it isn’t.
You will
not
have any more power over me.” She straightened her spine. This
felt better, right. Renaldo had been correct. It would never end with this man,
and she had been foolish to think that she could handle it. She’d been so used
to taking care of herself that she thought she had to continue to do so, even
in her marriage. But no more. She had a partner and should have been honest and
upfront with him from the beginning.

“You’re making a mistake.”

“No, I’m not.” She looked him squarely
in the eye and asked the question that had burned in her mind for weeks. “Did
you drug me that night?” She’d asked him once on the phone, but he’d laughed it
off. But she’d had to ask him again, now that she could look him in the eye and
see his reaction. Because it was the only explanation that made sense. She
couldn’t have been that drunk.
She
couldn’t have risked her security and the love of her life for a night with
this piece of scum. Could she?

“No. I didn’t drug you.” The sly grin
came back.

Her heart dropped. He hadn’t hesitated
even a second. She didn’t think she could trust him, but he seemed to be
telling the truth. He took immense pleasure in the denial. Which meant she had
willingly…

Sabrina shook her head. “I’m done with
you. I’m going to tell my husband you called me again, and we’ll figure out
what to do about you and those photos.”

Mateo looked over her shoulder. “Why
don’t you tell him now?”

Dread forged a path down Sabrina’s back.
She turned to see Renaldo making his way toward them. He wasn’t smiling and the
look he sent her made her want to wither away.

“Mateo. Sabrina.” He spoke calmly
enough, but his face was dark, and his eyes were black and stormy.

How did he know she was here? How did he
know Mateo’s name? “Renny, I can explain.”

He didn’t give her a chance. He just
slammed his fist into Mateo’s face. Sabrina gasped as Mateo slid to the floor,
dazed. Smeared blood covered his upper lip, and his nose looked painfully
twisted.

Renaldo pulled him to his feet.

“Renny—”

The second punch landed in Mateo’s gut, forcing
him to double over as air was forced from his lungs in a painful huff. Renaldo caught
him by the throat and forced him upright, pushing him into the wall. His head
bounced against the brick.

Renaldo got up close, intimidating,
towering over him. “Stay away from my wife,” he said in deadly calm Portuguese
so Mateo couldn’t misunderstand. “For your own sake, don’t ever let me catch
you near her again. Or I will personally break every bone in your body.”

He shoved Mateo to the floor with a look
of cold disdain. Then he took Sabrina’s hand and pulled her toward the exit.

She looked back at Mateo, who was on his
knees with one hand covering his broken nose. Their gazes connected, and his
was filled with anger and malice.

The message was clear. He wasn’t done
with them yet.

Chapter Sixteen

“I can explain.”

Renaldo didn’t respond. His face was set
as rigid as stone as they rode the short distance home in the taxi that he had
waiting outside the market.

“Say something.” Still he didn’t speak.

They entered the penthouse and he tossed
a blue envelope onto the table in the entryway. He remained silent all the way
up to the master suite. She followed close behind. Fear of the unknown filling
her.

“Renny?”

“What is there to say?” He practically
tore his tie off and tossed it to the chair near the bed. “I cannot trust you.”

“That’s not true.”

He paced away from her and laughed, the
sound pained and unnatural. He ran his hand over the back of his head and kept
moving, as if he couldn’t stay still.

Suddenly he stopped, and he looked at
her. Before she had a chance to read the expression on his face, he arced away
and swung his fist into the wall. The sheetrock popped and gave way. A large
hole appeared.

Sabrina inhaled sharply and started to
tremble, but she couldn’t move. She was rooted to the spot.

“What were you doing with him?” he asked,
talking to the wall.

“Not what you think. You have to trust
me.”

“Trust,” he muttered. “What good does
trust do when nothing changes? You want me to trust you?” He turned to face
her, stabbing his finger in the air. “You were supposed to be at home, but
instead I find you in a corner with
him
.” His coal black eyes condemned
her.

“I was trying to negotiate the original
photos from him. He threatened to share our…my…what I did, with reporters. I
couldn’t risk it. I had to talk to him.”

“Without me and without my knowledge?”

“I know. I wasn’t thinking. But before
you came I realized what a mistake I’d made. I was going to tell you
everything.”

“Save it.” His hand sliced through the
air. “I cannot believe you are still communicating with him.”

“I’m not.” She rushed through an
explanation about the phone call and the conversation at the market, but the
look of doubt never left his face. “How did you even know where I was?”

His eyes narrowed. “How do you think?”

Her stomach bottomed out. “You’re still
having me followed?” She hadn’t noticed anyone keeping an eye on her, but then,
she wouldn’t. He only hired the best.

“Luckily, I am,” he bit out. “You
couldn’t even wait one more day, could you? The probation period is over
tomorrow, but you couldn’t wait.”

“No, I was trying to fix this mess. He
threatened to go public with the photos. I was protecting you. Protecting us.
Honey, you have to believe me. I did not want to meet with Mateo for any reason
except to get those photos. You and I have been moving forward. Don’t let this
take us back.”

“I also thought we were moving forward,
but I was wrong.”

“No, no.” She didn’t know what she felt
at the moment. Anger, disbelief? Her life was falling apart for a second time.

“I told you I would not be blindsided by
you again.”

“So what do you plan to do? Keep tabs on
me forever?”

“What choice do I have? You’ve proven
you can’t be trusted.”

“You don’t mean that. We’ve grown
closer.” Sabrina took a quivering breath, trying to be strong. “I can’t live
under a microscope, treated like a child. I refuse to do it.”

“You refuse? You’re my goddamn wife, and
as long as you
are
my wife, I will know where you are at all times. And
if I ask, you
will
tell me.”

Sabrina couldn’t believe what she was
hearing. “What does this mean for us? That you’ll never trust me? That you’ll
never really forgive me?” She wanted him to deny it, to tell her no, she was
mistaken, but he remained silent. “I was trying to repair the horrible mess I’d
made of our marriage. I know I should have told you. I realized it too late,
but I was going to tell you. I only talked to him.”

“We both know in the past you’ve done
much more than talk.” The cold anger was back in his eyes. She’d never wanted
to see it again, but her foolish decision had brought it back. “I had him
investigated and found out he has a criminal record. I left the report
downstairs. You’re welcome to read it. Drugs, theft, simple battery—you name
it, he’s done it. He’s a career criminal, Sabrina. Did you know? Did it even
matter or was that part of the attraction because he’s the same sort of man
from that life you’re familiar with? Is he more your type than I am?”

He was crushing her with his cruel
words. “Stop it.”

“Is this one of your scams—part of some
big plan to fool me and make me think everything is fine, that you love me and
want a life together?”

“How could you say that? Don’t say things
you’ll regret later.”

“How do I know this whole marriage
wasn’t one big scam?”

The day had taken such an ugly turn.
From hungry kisses to angry words. From desire-filled eyes to harsh
accusations. “I know how it looked. I was foolish to go to see Mateo on my own.
I admit it. But this is not a scam. My
love
is not a scam. It’s real.”

“Is it?” He walked over to her. “Or is
this one of the hustles you’ve told me your family pulls? Am I a fool for
thinking you’re nothing like your family, or a fool for not seeing that you
are? And if you are, who are you like the most? You gave me so many examples to
choose from, which I chose to ignore. Perhaps the aunt who’s a functioning
addict and sleeps with married men, then pretends to get pregnant—even though
she can’t have children—so she can extort money from them? Or maybe one of your
other family members, like the cousin who writes bad checks? Or maybe it’s
Jewel—”

“Don’t you dare talk about Jewel. She’s
been clean for over a year.” Her protective instincts kicked in immediately for
her cousin. “You’re so self-righteous except when it suits your purposes. It’s
all well and good to pretend to the world that we’re still together so you can
close a deal. Or there’s the convenience of hiring someone else to do your
dirty work for you. You never did explain to me how a
despachante
was
able to get my work visa pushed through so quickly.”

“There is no comparison between what I
do to expedite business and the things your family does. You have a cousin in
jail for selling drugs and an uncle in for fraud. The list is so long I cannot
begin to repeat it. It’s in your blood. You’re no different than any of those
morally corrupt—”

Her hand landed with a loud crack across
his face. Color suffused the skin of his hard jaw where she hit him as tears of
hurt sprang to her eyes. She wouldn’t apologize. He deserved it. She’d confided
in him and shared stories that she’d never told another person. Had he thought
he was better than her all along?

She’d cut off ties with her family years
ago, except for Jewel, so she could break the cycle of drugs and illegal
activity. Before she met Renaldo, she’d had a string of what could only be
called affairs, not relationships, because she’d never wanted to get close to
anyone for fear they’d find out about her family. He’d been the only man she’d
ever shared those intimate details with, even shared her concerns about whether
or not
she
was better than the life she’d left behind. She’d lowered her
guard and allowed him to see past the tough, independent image to the
vulnerability underneath.

All the years she’d suffered, all those
stories she’d shared with him, and he threw them back in her face? How dare he. 

“You arrogant, hypocritical bastard.”
How had they gotten to the point where all they wanted to do was hurt each
other? “You said none of that mattered.” She angrily swiped a tear that slipped
from her eye. “I made a mistake, and I should have told you right away what I
was going to do tonight, but I was only meeting him to convince him to get rid
of the photos. I don’t want anything else to do with him, but I can’t convince
you of that because you’re so damn perfect and never make mistakes. And
everyone else in your life has to be perfect, too. That’s how you maintain control,
isn’t it?”