The Ultimate Merger Read Online Free PDF Page A

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 didn’t give her name, but 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.
     
     

Chapter Eight
     
    Oh my
God.
    Sabrina’s mouth fell open as she stared at
her cousin’s bedraggled appearance from behind her desk.
    Her cousin’s eyes filled with embarrassment.
“Hi, Brina.”
    Jewel Porter looked like she’d been dragged
through a sewer once, and dragged through it again for good
measure. Her skin, the same buttery color as Sabrina’s, was covered
in dirt and had an unhealthy pallor to it. Her long hair was
disheveled and clumped together in several places. And the
smell…
    “Jewel,” she whispered, her heart hurting.
She raced around the desk.
    “No.” Jewel stepped back, lowered her eyes
and shook her