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think that?”
    “What am I to think?” Renaldo ground out. “I
have not heard anything from you in days, and when I did, it was a
cryptic message that didn’t tell me much. Yet, I show up here, and
you look like you’re getting ready to go out for the night. But I’m
supposed to believe you planned to call me?”
    “I was. I know you’re leaving tomorrow.”
    She put her hand up to massage the back of
her neck, and the movement made Renaldo take notice of her
appearance. Her eyes held a tiredness in them, and he wondered if
she’d been having difficulty sleeping. He certainly had. At night,
he kept reaching for her, and when his arms came up empty, he woke
up and couldn’t get back to sleep.
    “What’s wrong?” he asked.
    “Nothing.”
    He walked toward her. “What is this family
emergency you had?”
    “There’s nothing you can do.” She looked like
someone who had the weight of the world on her shoulders and didn’t
know how to ditch it.
    “Are you in some kind of trouble? Is it your
job?”
    “No. I don’t want to talk about it. It’s
personal, and I’ll get over it. You can’t help me, and you’ll be
gone tomorrow anyway.” She passed him on her way to the ironing
board. “I’ll get dressed and we can—”
    Renaldo took her by the arm and forced her
around to face him. He tilted her chin up toward him, searching her
face. “Tell me what’s wrong. We’re not leaving until you do.”
    ****
    Sabrina twisted out of his grasp. She’d taken
great pains to keep her past a secret. What was she supposed to
tell him? That she was one of the lucky ones, having grown up in a
community known to be a haven for crime, where drug dealers ruled
the streets and violence kept children indoors?
    “Sabrina…?”
    His probing gaze held her captive. She wanted
so badly to tell him everything and unburden her soul. But it was
easier to keep her secrets to herself and wear the mask of
independence and strength, while wondering the entire time if she’d
ever be good enough.
    She let out a shaky breath, deciding not to
hide from her past this time. “It’s my cousin, my family—everything
about me.”
    “You have told me almost nothing about your
family. This is the first time I have ever heard you talk about
them.”
    She chewed on her lower lip, still afraid of
being judged.
    “What about your family, Sabrina? What are
you not telling me?”
     
     

Chapter Ten
     
    Sabrina lowered her eyes. “I didn’t have the
same childhood you did,” she said. “Not even close. No perfect,
traditional house with two parents and a loving family. I’m not
even sure who my father is. My mother wasn’t sure. My father was
either her boyfriend or her drug dealer.”
    Renaldo inhaled sharply.
    Sabrina lifted her head. “The reason I never
shared my past with you is because it’s a past I want to forget. I
don’t want to remember the things I saw or what I had to do.”
    Concern etched in his face. “What did you
have to do,  meu amor ?”
    The gentleness in his voice scraped away the
final layer of self-defense. She didn’t want to keep everything
inside anymore. It was hard being strong all the time. She wanted
to unburden her soul. The tears swelled and overflowed onto her
cheeks. Sobbing, she fell against the wall and covered her face
with her hands.
    Renaldo pulled her close. “Shh.” He guided
her to the sofa and sat down, pulling her onto his lap. In a
soothing whisper, he spoke to her in Portuguese.
    She told him everything. About how her mother
raised her and Jewel in a small, one-bedroom apartment. How she had
to go down to the morgue to identify her own mother as a teen. She
told him about Jewel’s addiction, and how it strained their
relationship over the years. In the throes of addiction, Jewel lied
to and stole from Sabrina, so Sabrina learned to keep her money,
credit cards, or anything else of value locked up or away from
her.
    She told him about the guilt she continued to
feel because maybe