Second Chances Read Online Free Page B

keep a part-time job to cover
her other expenses. Jewel worked as a waitress at a restaurant within walking
distance. The pay wasn’t great, but it was the first time Sabrina had ever
known her cousin to have a job. She was proud that Jewel was handling the
responsibility so well and for being clean and sober for over a year now.
    “It’s fine, and you’re trying to change the
subject.”
    “I am, but I really do want to know if
everything is okay with you. Are you still happy there?”
    Jewel shrugged. “I wish I had other skills so I
could earn more money, but it’ll do for now.”
    She didn’t want Jewel to get discouraged and
had always checked to make sure she was still attending her Narcotics Anonymous
meetings. She’d been happy when they finally found one that offered the
meetings in English.  
    “Hang in there. It takes time. You have to
crawl before you can walk.”
    Sabrina picked up her purse and checked for
cash. At the same time, she tried to remember the details of that night, but as
always, her brain hit a brick wall. She couldn’t remember anything after her
second mixed drink. She didn’t drink much except for wine, and granted, the
drinks were strong, but to get so sloppy drunk she couldn’t remember the rest
of the night was unheard of for her. She’d been so scarred by the whole
experience she hadn’t touched another alcoholic beverage since.
    Normally, she and Jewel went out to dinner or
did something else together when Renaldo left town, but that night Jewel had
wanted to go dancing at a club. At first Sabrina had said no, worried about
having Jewel enter that type of environment because of her addiction, but she’d
given in after Jewel reminded her she had been sober for over a year.
    Mateo had been one of the many men who
approached them. Sabrina initially thought his interest was in Jewel, so how
they’d ended up back at her home, she didn’t know. But the following morning,
she’d woken up in bed naked and groggy and with a pounding headache. Next to
her on the bed was a note.
    I had a great time last night. I’ll be in
touch. Mateo
    She’d checked her cell phone and found numerous
missed calls from Jewel and a voice message from her cousin demanding to know
where she was and if she was okay. And even though her brain hadn’t been able
to accept the meaning of the note, it all became clear when the first set of
photos arrived in an envelope with no return address.  
    That’s when the nightmare had begun.
    She’d never told Jewel or shown her the photos.
She’d shredded them, and soon afterward a demand for money came. It was a large
sum, and she’d paid it, desperate not to lose Renaldo and everything she’d
worked so hard to achieve. The second time was the same—the photos showed up
and the demand for money came after.
    The third set had arrived late the day before
Renaldo came back from his overseas trip. She’d quickly hidden them in the desk
when Vera, the housekeeper, entered to clean up. She’d left them there overnight.
Sick to her stomach and knowing that another request for money would follow,
she wondered how she would ever get out of the mess she was in. She worked late
the following day, and since she hadn’t shredded the photos like she normally
did, she planned to do it as soon as she arrived home. But he’d found them
first.
    It killed her to think she’d caused him pain.
How it must have hurt for him to see her in an embrace with Mateo in their bed.
To have seen her lying side by side with him, one breast exposed, her eyes
closed, and her head resting on his shoulder while he looked into a camera held
in his outstretched hand.
    Strangely, she hadn’t received a request for
money after the third arrival. Not that she planned to pay it now that Renaldo
knew. There was no point. She’d paid because she’d been afraid to lose
everything, but she’d lost anyway.
    Renaldo had made it clear he wanted her to exit
the marriage with nothing more than