The Ultimate Merger: Chapter 7

This is a short story and the prequel to the fourth book in the Hot Latin Men series. It’s the story about Sabrina Porter and Renaldo da Silva. He’s the cousin of Leonardo da Silva from The Arrangement. The fourth book will be available this summer and named Second Chances.

BLURB 

Two workaholics slow down long enough to find love when they least expect it.

Renaldo da Silva is on the verge of entering the U.S. market with the purchase of a hotel in downtown Chicago. After working hard for several days straight, he heads to a local bar and sees a woman who instantly makes him reconsider how to spend his evening.

When another one of her male counterparts unfairly becomes the lead on a project, Sabrina Porter leaves work intent on drowning her sorrows in wine and loud music at a local bar. Instead, she meets a sexy Brazilian who’s intent on showing her a different way to unwind.

Chapter One   Chapter Two  Chapter Three  Chapter Four  Chapter Five  Chapter Six

CHAPTER SEVEN

Sabrina hadn’t expected to meet the man of her dreams a month ago, but life had a way of throwing curve balls. Never in her wildest dreams as a young girl growing up on the mean streets of Englewood—on the South Side of Chicago—had she ever thought she’d be lying in a king bed in a posh suite at The Drake Hotel.

The enormous room was the size of a small apartment, with a separate living room, dining room, and bedroom. Decorated in warm colors, fine linens, and heavy drapes, it had become her home away from home. Nowadays, she spent more time here than she did in her own apartment.

Because of him.

She’d fallen hopelessly in love in such a short time, and it scared her. She dreaded the end of the relationship, but the end loomed near. Once he concluded the deal he’d been working on, Renaldo would return to his country. Lucky for her, he’d hit a few snags and the real estate closing had been delayed.

Sabrina rolled over and stared at her lover’s back as he stood looking out one of the windows at the breathtaking view of Lake Michigan. With one arm braced on the window frame, he spoke in a low tone into the phone so as not to disturb her, not knowing she was still awake. Her eyes drifted over his bare back and the solid beams of his long legs in a pair of black boxer briefs that clung to his firm buttocks.

Renaldo da Silva was every woman’s dream. Muscles covered each inch of tanned flesh, and every night they spent together she received such pleasure that she closed her eyes momentarily as warm sensations filled her.

When she lifted her lids, she saw he’d turned toward her. His onyx-colored eyes swept over the imprint of her body beneath the covers. Heat swelled within her, and she welcomed his attention, even though they’d already made love this morning.

He said something into the mouthpiece of the phone. Then she heard him say, “Adeus,” never taking his eyes from her, before he hung up and placed the phone on a table against the wall.

She smiled. “Are you coming back to bed now?”

One corner of his mouth slanted upward. “You were not satisfied earlier? I’m not doing my job very well.” He walked with confidence toward the bed, and Sabrina dragged the sheet down her skin to unveil her body and invite him onto the mattress with her.

He growled low in his throat, eyes darkening as his gaze swept her nakedness. The creep of moisture between her thighs readied her for him. She wanted him in the worst way.

“I guess you’ll have to work harder,” she whispered breathlessly. He lowered onto the bed and slipped his hand between her open legs.

He tenderly kissed the corner of her mouth while his fingers stroked with skill. “Sim,” he whispered. He lifted his head and looked down at her beneath half-lowered lids. “I will work very, very hard this time, meu amor.”

With a wicked grin, he covered her body and went to work.

****

Two days later, Sabrina arrived at her job with a smile on her face, all because she’d spent another satisfying night with Renaldo—or Renny, as she teasingly called him. She was enjoying this little affair too much. She should thank her employer for getting on her nerves or she would never have gone out that Friday night, and then she never would have met Renaldo.

When she considered the men she’d been involved with in the past, no one else compared. She’d dropped her friend-with-benefits, Samuel. All because Renaldo had become absolutely addictive.

They had so much in common. They were both driven, with a strong work ethic. Because of that, he treated her as an equal and didn’t try to put her in a box. Several times he’d bounced ideas off of her and asked her opinion about aspects of the hotel purchase. She’d been flattered he valued her opinion so much and wished she could garner the same respect at her place of employment.

On the weekends, she took him around the city. At one of her favorite pizza joints, they ate authentic Chicago-style pizza, a deep-dish pie filled with cheese, chunky tomato sauce, and meat and vegetable toppings. One weekend she joined him on a bus tour of the city. She’d learned some things herself as she listened to the guide. They also set sail on a one-hour architectural cruise and listened as the young woman explained how the city bounced back from the Great Fire of 1871 to become a show piece of modern American architecture.

One of her favorite things was learning his language. She knew how to count to twenty in Portuguese now, and he’d gotten into the habit of teaching her two new expressions every day.

Bom dia. Good morning.

Boa tarde. Good afternoon.

De onde você é?  Where are you from?

Desculpe. I’m sorry.

And her favorite words: Até amanhã. See you tomorrow.

Sabrina entered the tall, glass-covered building on Michigan Avenue and rode the elevator up to the floor where she worked. On the way to her office, Ernestine’s voice stopped her in her tracks.

“Sabrina, you have a visitor.”

The look in the other woman’s eyes made her uneasy. Her fingers curled tighter around the covered cup of coffee in her hand, and she hitched her leather business bag higher on her shoulder. She started to lose the buzz from her morning high.

“Who is it?”

“She said she’s your cousin…?” The feeling of dread increased exponentially. Ernestine lifted one brow higher, her tone and expression suggesting either she doubted they were family, or she didn’t comprehend how they could be. “She’s in the restroom right now.”

Taking a deep breath, Sabrina forced what she hoped looked like a genuine smile onto her face. “When she comes out, please send her back to my office.”

Ernestine nodded and Sabrina stepped quickly down the hall, not bothering to pause and say “Good morning” to her officemates like she usually did. She couldn’t, because her mind reeled at the thought that Jewel was here, at her workplace.

It had to be Jewel, because she was the only family Sabrina kept in contact with in Chicago. She’d walked away from the old neighborhood years ago—the crime, the filth, the drugs, the dysfunction. She wanted no part of the old life to connect with her career.

But Jewel was here.

_____________________________

Come back next Friday for chapter eight!

Like me on Facebook or subscribe to this blog so you don’t miss future chapters.