The Ultimate Merger (7 page)

Her desperate movements only made him close
his arms tighter around her. He marched toward the side door
leading out the stairwell.

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

It was as if he could no longer hear her. He
didn’t speak. He 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,” he said in a cold
voice. “You will hear from my lawyer.” He swung around and stalked
back inside. She heard the latch hit hard on the other side of the
door.

Sabrina looked around at the bare white walls
and the long staircase leading down to the next floor. Her eyes
brimmed with tears. He’d put her out. This couldn’t be
happening.

It couldn’t be over. She loved him. He had to
forgive her. She moved swiftly to the door and pounded with her
fist. “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. She knew it would be
futile to try to get back in through the private elevator. He would
have had her key card deactivated by now.

Exhausted, Sabrina finally accepted her fate.
She had no one to blame but herself.

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 Porter opened it, she stared
at Sabrina with widened 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
dark 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 widened the door and let
her enter.

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

“Of course.” In the past, she had always been
the one to help Jewel, but now Jewel was helping her.

Like a zombie, Sabrina trudged in and dropped
onto the sofa. She rested her cheek against its back and curled her
bare feet under her. She heard when Jewel reentered the apartment
after she’d gone downstairs to pay the driver, but she didn’t have
the energy to lift her head and face her. How she managed to make
it to Jewel’s apartment was still a mystery.

Jewel sat in front of her on the sofa, 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 didn’t think she had any more tears.

“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 said
patiently. “What on earth would make Renaldo 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.” She laughed at how they’d moved thousands
of miles to a foreign country. “Of course you’re staying married.
You just had a little spat, that’s all.” Jewel patted her cousin’s
hand in a comforting gesture.

Sabrina shook her head. “No. It was more than
a lover’s 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?”

Sniff. “The guy we met at the club.”

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

“I guess you could say that.”

“Honey, you’re not making sense. Look at me.”
Jewel took her cousin’s hand and squeezed. “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,” she said, her voice
pitched lower and cracking. “And now Renny knows.”