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At First Sight_by Penny Brown (Epub)
Catalina Richards has always been the good girl...doing what her parents expected, graduating at the top of her class from college, and finding a good job. However Catalina to experience life – a life away from her family. Moving to Miami, she dreams for going on her first date and finding love. What she didn't except to meet was Michael Diaz. He seemed to be the man of her dreams. He seemed have it all in control. To bad Catalina never learned never to judge a book by it's cover!
Michael Diaz is the opposite of everything good. He’s had a life filled with strife – some at the hands of others, but mostly done by him, and he’s unapologetic about the things he’s done in his life. He just doesn’t know what it is until he meets Catalina that he yearned for more. He is quite smitten with Catalina upon first meeting her...love at first sight!. She’s the opposite of everything he usually dates. The term date is not really applicable to Michael because he does not date; he has sexual encounters. However, this one is different. He knows he can't change who and what he is, but he's willing to try to attempt to be a better man to ensure Catalina doesn't know about his other life.
As their relationship grows, troubles arise from friends and foes, will their blossoming love be enough to overcome these conflicts? Or will they give into the challenges that will alter their future together.
TAKE A PEEK INSIDE!
Prologue
“You make one move, and I’ll put a bullet in your head. Do you understand,” he asked?
She nodded her head silently, staring at the man standing in front of her.
“Good. Now answer the question. Where is my fucking money,” he demanded angrily?
Catalina stared in terror at the man with a gun pointing directly at her. Tears started to leak out the corner of her eyes. She had no idea what the man was referring to. She was trying to remember how she got here. Wherever there was. Quickly looking around, Catalina couldn’t make out where she was. The room was dimly lit, and she was tied to a chair. She couldn’t even recall or guess how long she’d been in this
place. She was hoping that it wasn’t long at all. But her arms were tingly and got numb from being bound by the wrists and tied to the back of the chair. From the rest of her body, she couldn’t determine if she sustained any injuries. Besides the numbness, she didn’t feel any pain anywhere on her body.
Looking back at the man, she said, “I don’t have your money. What are you talking about?”
Irritably the man cocked the gun that was still pointing to Catalina’s head and asked, “Where is my money or better yet where are the drugs?”
Drugs! Catalina was even more confused by the mention of drugs. As the tears ran freely down her face, she looked around the room again. She noticed a door across the room. But she couldn’t see anything else because of the poor lighting.
Catalina didn’t look the guy in the face as she pleadingly begins to whimper, “Sir, I don’t have your money or your drugs. You must have me mistaken for someone else.”
Annoyed and frustrated, the guy back-hand Catalina in the face. The hit was so forceful that her teeth cut into her lip. She cried out from the pain and felt her bottom lip split from the hit. He roughly yanked her face forward, forcing her to look him in the eyes. “Bitch stop lying. We’ve seen you with him. There’s no mistaken identity.” He pushed her face away from him. He started pacing in front of her, becoming more agitated.
Sobbing loudly, Catalina shouted, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Who did you see me with? Where? I don’t have your money or your drugs! I swear. I don’t deal with drugs or stolen money.”
“Do you think we’re stupid?! When things began to come up short and missing, you didn’t think we would notice,” the man ranted. He continued pacing and mumbling to himself about her being a stupid bitch. “Continue lying to me, and you’ll make it worse, but don’t worry he’ll be here shortly. I’m pretty sure of it,” the guy sneered with a glint in his eye. Catalina wasn’t sure if the gleam meant whoever was coming was friend or foe. After looking at her for a few more seconds that felt like hours the man walked to the door and left the room.
She continued to cry softly. How long had she been missing? She looked down at herself and saw she was still wearing the same clothes from work on Thursday. That at least meant she had not made it home to change clothes, as that was her usual pattern as soon as she arrived home. But that still didn’t tell her how long she’d been taken. That only gave her hope that someone would be looking for her. She hadn’t made it home and shown up for work if it was the next day.
As her tears began to dry, Catalina started to think about what the guy had said. She knew first and foremost that he had the wrong person. She definitely didn’t have anything to do with drugs or stolen money. If he could check her account, he would see that she didn’t have any obscene amounts of money. No, on second thought that wasn’t a clever idea. She did recently come into lots of money. But she could explain that. Michael had given her that money so that she could be financially secure if he wasn’t around or available. Oh my God! Wait, did Michael steal their money or drugs? Then she remembered the man saying he’d seen them together.
Oh my God…it was Michael!
Chapter 1
4 months before…
"I've got to find something soon. My savings will be all gone in a few months. I have two options. Move back home or have Mom and Dad pay my bills for me," uttered Catalina on the phone to her older sister Lisa. Catalina looked around her moderate two-bedroom apartment, thinking how she desperately needed to find a job soon. She did not want to have to ask her parents for anything when they had already done so much. She sighed deeply as she curled her feet up under her and ran her fingers through her thick curly brown hair with natural golden highlights.
"Yeah, I understand," Lisa was saying, "don't worry. You'll find something. You're smart. Something is bound to turn up. Don't you have an interview for Monday?"
“Yeah.”
“Well, then this might be what you’ve been waiting for; Keep your chin up,” Lisa encouraged.
"I'm trying."
"Well, Chris and Sean are getting into each other. Gotta go, love you."
"Love you too. Bye," Catalina chuckled as she ended the call with her sister. Her nephews were a hand-full.
Catalina could always depend on Lisa to lift her spirits. It had been two months since she moved to Miami and still had not found a job. Catalina had started feeling sorry for herself, but leave it to Lisa to encourage and give her hope.
After hanging up the phone with Lisa, Catalina walked to the refrigerator took out a pint of ice cream and began to eat. Walking slowly towards her bedroom, Catalina switched off the light in the hall, walked into the bedroom, flopped down on the bed and stared into space.
ᵱ.b~ ᵱ.b~ ᵱ.b
"Russ, this is the third time in eight months we've had to hire a new manager for one of the businesses. I want a professional who can operate all three without the aid of you or me. I have too much on my mind with other affairs. I need my legit businesses to run smoothly," Michael said as he stood up from the couch in the den of his Miami Beach condo.
"I know, I know,” James Russell said as he walked over to the bar and poured a finger of Remy Martin Louis XIII. Russ watched Michael as he walked to the window overlooking the scenery of the beach. Michael stood with his hands behind his head and sighed.
"Don't worry, Mike. The ads we placed with the various companies, like Monster and LinkedIn, bought in a lot of applicants. We have interviews set up all this week," James voiced.
"I know. I want you to interview the applicants. I don't have the experience. Besides that, most people spend most of the time trying to kiss up to the boss. I just want someone who’s talented enough to manage all three businesses," Mike admitted.
"All right Mike, whatever you say. You know I would handle them myself, but between all that’s going on, I know you need me elsewhere. Don't worry about it too much. We'll find someone qualified."
"I hope you're right. Hope you're right," Mike said looking at the cars speeding by on the street below.
In addition to finding someone qualified to manage his legal businesses, he was also having problems with his shipments. Some of them have been coming up short on product. On others, the product seemed to have been tampered with; Michael was starting to have a gut feeling that his life was about to change. He just wasn’t sure if it was for the better or, the worse.
ᵱ.b~ ᵱ.b~ ᵱ.b
The following morning Catalina woke up at seven. Her interview was scheduled for nine. She went through her morning ritual of showering, brushing her teeth, and applying moisturizer to her skin. After that was completed, Catalina walked to the kitchen, poured a glass of guava juice, sliced a grapefruit in half and put a bagel in the toaster.
Once she had finished eating breakfast, Catalina hurried back in her room and began to get dressed. She had already picked out a navy-blue pantsuit with a white blouse and a comfortable pair of navy three-inch pumps. After securing her hair into a clasp at the nape of her neck, she quickly applied a coat of bronze colored gloss to her lips.
Glancing at herself in the mirror, she put on a simple pair of gold hoop earrings, a spray of L’eau d ’Issey by Issey Miyake, her favorite fragrance, and picked up her attaché case, which contained her resume and other personal identification. Catalina grabbed her keys and left out the door.
At precisely 8:45 that morning, Catalina walked through the downtown headquarters of MS Real Estate. She walked to the pretty blonde receptionist sitting behind the desk.
“Good morning,” said Catalina.
“Good morning. How may I help you,” asked the receptionist?
“I’m Catalina Richards, and I have a nine o’clock appointment with Mr. James Russell.”
“Yes, Catalina Richards. I have you down. I’ll let Mr. Russell know you are here. You can have a seat over there,” the receptionist said as she pointed to the chairs behind Catalina.
“Mr. Russell, your 9 o’clock is here. Alright thanks,” the receptionist said to Mr. Russell over the intercom.
“Ms. Richards, Mr. Russell will be right with you,” said the receptionist.
Less than five minutes later the elevator doors chimed open and off stepped a handsome man in his late thirties, early forties. He was wearing a dark gray suit with a white shirt and burgundy tie. As he approached where Catalina was sitting, she stood to shake his outstretched hand, assuming he was Mr. Russell.
“Hi, Ms. Richards. How are you? I’m James Russell.”
“Fine, thanks, Mr. Russell and yourself?”
“Great-great. We’ll be heading upstairs to our administrative offices where we’ll be conducting the interview,” Mr. Russell said as he escorted Catalina to the elevators.
As they awaited the elevator car to arrive, Mr. Russell turned toward Catalina and explained, “The administrative offices of MS Real Estate are on the top floor. We lease floors two through eight to other businesses. MS Real Estate has floors nine through twelve with marketing, management, advertising and accounting on these floors. The receptionist handles all the visitors coming in.” Once the car arrived, Mr. Russell stepped back to allow Catalina to enter first. “Thank you,” she said as she entered.
The ride up the elevator was relatively fast and smooth, considering they had to stop twice to allow other passengers to get off and on. Once they exited, Catalina passed two doors on her left and one on her right. Three secretarial desks set in the center of the floor. Mr. Russell walked to the desk that was in the middle and told the secretary sitting behind the desk that he would be interviewing and he did not want to be interrupted, unless it was vitally important or from Mr. Shay. Catalina then followed Mr. Russell towards the second door on the left and entered after he stepped back for her to enter.
Inside his office, Mr. Russell walked behind his where Catalina’s resume was already on top of a file. He asked Catalina to have a seat as he took a pair of glasses from the coat pocket of his suit. Before sitting, he removed his jacket and placed it behind his chair. “Well, Ms. Richards according to your resume here, you graduated from the University of Sarasota."
“Yes, that’s correct. I have a business degree in business administration.”
“That’s great. What were your responsibilities at your last place of employment,” inquired Mr. Russell.
Catalina briefly described her responsibilities at her last job. While she was there, she had been promoted twice. She also had letters of recommendation from her previous directors. Catalina reached into her bag and passed Mr. Russell her resume and letters. He quickly placed the glasses on the bridge of his nose and read the letters, He smiled. He was thoroughly impressed with the resume and letters. She had worked in finance and accounting. But something pulled at his mind.
***END OF SAMPLE***
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Michael Diaz is the opposite of everything good. He’s had a life filled with strife – some at the hands of others, but mostly done by him, and he’s unapologetic about the things he’s done in his life. He just doesn’t know what it is until he meets Catalina that he yearned for more. He is quite smitten with Catalina upon first meeting her...love at first sight!. She’s the opposite of everything he usually dates. The term date is not really applicable to Michael because he does not date; he has sexual encounters. However, this one is different. He knows he can't change who and what he is, but he's willing to try to attempt to be a better man to ensure Catalina doesn't know about his other life.
As their relationship grows, troubles arise from friends and foes, will their blossoming love be enough to overcome these conflicts? Or will they give into the challenges that will alter their future together.
TAKE A PEEK INSIDE!
Prologue
“You make one move, and I’ll put a bullet in your head. Do you understand,” he asked?
She nodded her head silently, staring at the man standing in front of her.
“Good. Now answer the question. Where is my fucking money,” he demanded angrily?
Catalina stared in terror at the man with a gun pointing directly at her. Tears started to leak out the corner of her eyes. She had no idea what the man was referring to. She was trying to remember how she got here. Wherever there was. Quickly looking around, Catalina couldn’t make out where she was. The room was dimly lit, and she was tied to a chair. She couldn’t even recall or guess how long she’d been in this
place. She was hoping that it wasn’t long at all. But her arms were tingly and got numb from being bound by the wrists and tied to the back of the chair. From the rest of her body, she couldn’t determine if she sustained any injuries. Besides the numbness, she didn’t feel any pain anywhere on her body.
Looking back at the man, she said, “I don’t have your money. What are you talking about?”
Irritably the man cocked the gun that was still pointing to Catalina’s head and asked, “Where is my money or better yet where are the drugs?”
Drugs! Catalina was even more confused by the mention of drugs. As the tears ran freely down her face, she looked around the room again. She noticed a door across the room. But she couldn’t see anything else because of the poor lighting.
Catalina didn’t look the guy in the face as she pleadingly begins to whimper, “Sir, I don’t have your money or your drugs. You must have me mistaken for someone else.”
Annoyed and frustrated, the guy back-hand Catalina in the face. The hit was so forceful that her teeth cut into her lip. She cried out from the pain and felt her bottom lip split from the hit. He roughly yanked her face forward, forcing her to look him in the eyes. “Bitch stop lying. We’ve seen you with him. There’s no mistaken identity.” He pushed her face away from him. He started pacing in front of her, becoming more agitated.
Sobbing loudly, Catalina shouted, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Who did you see me with? Where? I don’t have your money or your drugs! I swear. I don’t deal with drugs or stolen money.”
“Do you think we’re stupid?! When things began to come up short and missing, you didn’t think we would notice,” the man ranted. He continued pacing and mumbling to himself about her being a stupid bitch. “Continue lying to me, and you’ll make it worse, but don’t worry he’ll be here shortly. I’m pretty sure of it,” the guy sneered with a glint in his eye. Catalina wasn’t sure if the gleam meant whoever was coming was friend or foe. After looking at her for a few more seconds that felt like hours the man walked to the door and left the room.
She continued to cry softly. How long had she been missing? She looked down at herself and saw she was still wearing the same clothes from work on Thursday. That at least meant she had not made it home to change clothes, as that was her usual pattern as soon as she arrived home. But that still didn’t tell her how long she’d been taken. That only gave her hope that someone would be looking for her. She hadn’t made it home and shown up for work if it was the next day.
As her tears began to dry, Catalina started to think about what the guy had said. She knew first and foremost that he had the wrong person. She definitely didn’t have anything to do with drugs or stolen money. If he could check her account, he would see that she didn’t have any obscene amounts of money. No, on second thought that wasn’t a clever idea. She did recently come into lots of money. But she could explain that. Michael had given her that money so that she could be financially secure if he wasn’t around or available. Oh my God! Wait, did Michael steal their money or drugs? Then she remembered the man saying he’d seen them together.
Oh my God…it was Michael!
Chapter 1
4 months before…
"I've got to find something soon. My savings will be all gone in a few months. I have two options. Move back home or have Mom and Dad pay my bills for me," uttered Catalina on the phone to her older sister Lisa. Catalina looked around her moderate two-bedroom apartment, thinking how she desperately needed to find a job soon. She did not want to have to ask her parents for anything when they had already done so much. She sighed deeply as she curled her feet up under her and ran her fingers through her thick curly brown hair with natural golden highlights.
"Yeah, I understand," Lisa was saying, "don't worry. You'll find something. You're smart. Something is bound to turn up. Don't you have an interview for Monday?"
“Yeah.”
“Well, then this might be what you’ve been waiting for; Keep your chin up,” Lisa encouraged.
"I'm trying."
"Well, Chris and Sean are getting into each other. Gotta go, love you."
"Love you too. Bye," Catalina chuckled as she ended the call with her sister. Her nephews were a hand-full.
Catalina could always depend on Lisa to lift her spirits. It had been two months since she moved to Miami and still had not found a job. Catalina had started feeling sorry for herself, but leave it to Lisa to encourage and give her hope.
After hanging up the phone with Lisa, Catalina walked to the refrigerator took out a pint of ice cream and began to eat. Walking slowly towards her bedroom, Catalina switched off the light in the hall, walked into the bedroom, flopped down on the bed and stared into space.
ᵱ.b~ ᵱ.b~ ᵱ.b
"Russ, this is the third time in eight months we've had to hire a new manager for one of the businesses. I want a professional who can operate all three without the aid of you or me. I have too much on my mind with other affairs. I need my legit businesses to run smoothly," Michael said as he stood up from the couch in the den of his Miami Beach condo.
"I know, I know,” James Russell said as he walked over to the bar and poured a finger of Remy Martin Louis XIII. Russ watched Michael as he walked to the window overlooking the scenery of the beach. Michael stood with his hands behind his head and sighed.
"Don't worry, Mike. The ads we placed with the various companies, like Monster and LinkedIn, bought in a lot of applicants. We have interviews set up all this week," James voiced.
"I know. I want you to interview the applicants. I don't have the experience. Besides that, most people spend most of the time trying to kiss up to the boss. I just want someone who’s talented enough to manage all three businesses," Mike admitted.
"All right Mike, whatever you say. You know I would handle them myself, but between all that’s going on, I know you need me elsewhere. Don't worry about it too much. We'll find someone qualified."
"I hope you're right. Hope you're right," Mike said looking at the cars speeding by on the street below.
In addition to finding someone qualified to manage his legal businesses, he was also having problems with his shipments. Some of them have been coming up short on product. On others, the product seemed to have been tampered with; Michael was starting to have a gut feeling that his life was about to change. He just wasn’t sure if it was for the better or, the worse.
ᵱ.b~ ᵱ.b~ ᵱ.b
The following morning Catalina woke up at seven. Her interview was scheduled for nine. She went through her morning ritual of showering, brushing her teeth, and applying moisturizer to her skin. After that was completed, Catalina walked to the kitchen, poured a glass of guava juice, sliced a grapefruit in half and put a bagel in the toaster.
Once she had finished eating breakfast, Catalina hurried back in her room and began to get dressed. She had already picked out a navy-blue pantsuit with a white blouse and a comfortable pair of navy three-inch pumps. After securing her hair into a clasp at the nape of her neck, she quickly applied a coat of bronze colored gloss to her lips.
Glancing at herself in the mirror, she put on a simple pair of gold hoop earrings, a spray of L’eau d ’Issey by Issey Miyake, her favorite fragrance, and picked up her attaché case, which contained her resume and other personal identification. Catalina grabbed her keys and left out the door.
At precisely 8:45 that morning, Catalina walked through the downtown headquarters of MS Real Estate. She walked to the pretty blonde receptionist sitting behind the desk.
“Good morning,” said Catalina.
“Good morning. How may I help you,” asked the receptionist?
“I’m Catalina Richards, and I have a nine o’clock appointment with Mr. James Russell.”
“Yes, Catalina Richards. I have you down. I’ll let Mr. Russell know you are here. You can have a seat over there,” the receptionist said as she pointed to the chairs behind Catalina.
“Mr. Russell, your 9 o’clock is here. Alright thanks,” the receptionist said to Mr. Russell over the intercom.
“Ms. Richards, Mr. Russell will be right with you,” said the receptionist.
Less than five minutes later the elevator doors chimed open and off stepped a handsome man in his late thirties, early forties. He was wearing a dark gray suit with a white shirt and burgundy tie. As he approached where Catalina was sitting, she stood to shake his outstretched hand, assuming he was Mr. Russell.
“Hi, Ms. Richards. How are you? I’m James Russell.”
“Fine, thanks, Mr. Russell and yourself?”
“Great-great. We’ll be heading upstairs to our administrative offices where we’ll be conducting the interview,” Mr. Russell said as he escorted Catalina to the elevators.
As they awaited the elevator car to arrive, Mr. Russell turned toward Catalina and explained, “The administrative offices of MS Real Estate are on the top floor. We lease floors two through eight to other businesses. MS Real Estate has floors nine through twelve with marketing, management, advertising and accounting on these floors. The receptionist handles all the visitors coming in.” Once the car arrived, Mr. Russell stepped back to allow Catalina to enter first. “Thank you,” she said as she entered.
The ride up the elevator was relatively fast and smooth, considering they had to stop twice to allow other passengers to get off and on. Once they exited, Catalina passed two doors on her left and one on her right. Three secretarial desks set in the center of the floor. Mr. Russell walked to the desk that was in the middle and told the secretary sitting behind the desk that he would be interviewing and he did not want to be interrupted, unless it was vitally important or from Mr. Shay. Catalina then followed Mr. Russell towards the second door on the left and entered after he stepped back for her to enter.
Inside his office, Mr. Russell walked behind his where Catalina’s resume was already on top of a file. He asked Catalina to have a seat as he took a pair of glasses from the coat pocket of his suit. Before sitting, he removed his jacket and placed it behind his chair. “Well, Ms. Richards according to your resume here, you graduated from the University of Sarasota."
“Yes, that’s correct. I have a business degree in business administration.”
“That’s great. What were your responsibilities at your last place of employment,” inquired Mr. Russell.
Catalina briefly described her responsibilities at her last job. While she was there, she had been promoted twice. She also had letters of recommendation from her previous directors. Catalina reached into her bag and passed Mr. Russell her resume and letters. He quickly placed the glasses on the bridge of his nose and read the letters, He smiled. He was thoroughly impressed with the resume and letters. She had worked in finance and accounting. But something pulled at his mind.
***END OF SAMPLE***
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