Billionaire Wedding: Brooklyn's Baby (Interracial Billionaire Wedding Romance) ( Contemporary Taboo Alpha Male Wedding Romance) Read online

  She got dressed and headed out, pausing briefly in her kitchen to grab a banana and make some toast for her breakfast. Honestly, she was surprised she could keep her head together enough to make toast. Waiting outside was Yury; he instantly noticed that something was off about her. “Everything oaky, Miss Mercado?” he questioned as he opened the door for her. She kept quiet, not really sure what to say to Yury.

  Much to her dismay, Kerry was waiting for her at the construction site. She rolled her eyes as Yury helped her out of the car. “I’ll see you later, Yury,” she grumbled while walking up towards the site entrance. There was no way in that she could avoid having to walk by Kerry, so she tried to ignore his presence as she headed in through the open part of the fencing, but he would not be ignored.

  “Can we talk?” Kerry asked the moment she started to pass by him into the work zone; he reached out and grabbed her by her arm which she immediately yanked away.

  “Is it about the project?” she asked angrily. She wanted to avoid the inevitable conversation at all costs.

  “You know it’s not,” he said.

  “Then no,” she said. “I need to get to work. We have a long day ahead of us.” To her surprise, he let her pass by without saying much more. He looked incredibly disappointed and confused by her behavior, but she could not bring herself to talk to him just yet.

  The morning proceeding rather normally. Kerry was out of sight and out of mind, so she was able to some-what concentrate on her duties as foreman although it was hard to concentrate after a night like she had had. A part of her hoped that if she brushed the evening under the rug, Kerry would forget about it and move on. There was no need to talk about it, no need to bring it up, and there certainly was no need for her to talk to him ever again about anything other than the work project. “You all right, boss?” one of the workers asked about an hour into the work day; she cringed, realizing that her frustrations were evident on her face. She had always been bad about hiding her emotions. Her ex, Ernie, had always said that about her.

  “I’m fine,” she said assuredly, but the man looked at her like she was lying. As punishment for questioning her, she quickly put him to work on a mind-numbingly dull task. He would regret asking about her feelings; Mercedes wanted to maintain the illusion that she was an emotionless drone who always kept her head on straight. When lunch hour came, Mercedes felt a sense of relief knowing that she could lock herself away in her on-site office. She hurried across the worksite towards the trailers.

  Mercedes immediately closed the door behind her, breathing in the air conditioning for the first time that day. The cool air brought an extreme sense of relief that she had been looking forward to all morning. She had not packed herself a lunch, but she was not in the mood to travel off site so decided she would just hide out in her little office for a while. She entered into the office, only to discover that Kerry was waiting for her. “Are you serious?” she grumbled under her breath.

  When he saw her he stood up, there was a serious and somber look about him. He had come there with a mission. He wanted desperately to talk to her, but he was trying hard not to show off that desperation. “Mercedes,” he spoke softly.

  “I hope this is about the project,” she hissed in an attempt to remind him that she was not interested in talking about their brief affair, but he was not going to be backing down - that much was clear.

  His smile was gone; this was not something she was used to. The man was always smiling like a lunatic. The frown that was currently making up his face was unbecoming on him. “We are going to talk about last night. I’m not just going to brush it off like nothing happened,” he said sternly. Clearly he had made up his mind that a conversation needed to be had.

  Mercedes closed the office door behind her; the last thing she wanted was for one of the workers to overhear them talking about their encounter. The workman’s initial thoughts about her had not been pleasant, but now they were all on good terms and had a certain understanding about her leadership. She spun around and looked at Kerry with a serious expression. “What is there to talk about, Mr. O’Brian?”

  “So I’m Mr. O’Brian now?” he sounded rather appalled that she had called him as such. He scratched the back of his head, a sort of nervous twitch, and then he leaned back into her desk. He looked so incredibly confused by her behavior.

  “Kerry,” she said his name sternly. “We got drunk and had sex. It was inappropriate. It won’t happen again.” She was still trying to figure out how it had happened in the first place - how she could have allowed herself to be so foolish and immature with the man who was writing her paycheck.

  “Why not?” for a moment his frown inched up into his familiar smile, but she would not allow it to stay.

  “It’s not funny,” she snapped at him. “You think I’m stupid? I know what this is. I don’t want this job that bad.”

  “You think I just gave you this job so that you would sleep with me?” he questioned. He was clearly offended by the thought.

  “Big CEO. You couldn’t possibly want me for anything beyond sex. And that is not something I want to get into with you,” she said.

  “That’s the kind of person you think I am?” his voice raised. He did not look at all pleased. His eyebrows lowered; he stood upright, and he loomed towards her. “You really think that that is the kind of man I am? You honestly think I’m that kind of guy?”

  “Well you did just sleep with someone you just met,” she said. “You don’t know me.”

  “I know enough,” he said, his arms crossed. “Mercedes, I don’t want to just pretend it didn’t happen. I can’t promise you anything, but I would want to see what this is. Don’t you?”

  “You’re bullshitting me,” she snapped. “You’re so full of it. I bet you do this with all your women employees.”

  “I’m not like that!” his strong tone was slowly becoming an angry shout. His anger was evident, but there was a certain amount of hurt in his voice that she could not deny. “You’re so paranoid! What’s wrong with you?”

  Mercedes felt her throat tightening. There was a part of her that wanted to be open and honest with him. She felt nervous and at a loss for words. A few tears fell down her cheeks. “I can’t do it. I just can’t do it.” Just trying to make words to explain herself was suddenly a challenge.

  “Do what?” he lowered his voice, stepping only slightly closer to her. Now his arms hung down at his side. He allowed his shoulder to slump so as not to seem so angry. He wanted to know what was keeping her from opening up.

  “I can’t-” she hesitated.

  “Can’t what?” he asked softly, desperately seeking understanding.

  “I can’t lose anyone again, Kerry. I don’t want to find out what this is because if it is something I don’t want to lose it,” Mercedes explained. Kerry reached out to her, attempting to comfort her, but she pulled back violently. “I’m just some woman you hired off the streets.”

  “You mean your mother… and your father… your garage…” Kerry seemed to be piecing everything together. “You’ve lost a lot, Mercedes. You have seen a lot of loss, but that is no reason to push people away. Mercedes, I’m not going to stand here and promise you the world. I won’t do it.” He reached out and touched her arm, slowly working his hand around towards her back. “I won’t do it - I won’t just make a bunch of empty promises, but I do care about you, Mercedes. I really do. I don’t want to lose you so soon.” He pulled her into him, and she did not resist. “I want to try. To see if we stand a chance. I’d rather try and it not work out than not try at all, you know?”

  “You’ll get bored with me,” Mercedes said.

  “Bored?” he laughed and squeezed her tight in his arms, “Mercedes, you are the furthest thing from boring. How could I get bored with you?”

  She smiled. “Okay,” she forced herself to say.

  He lunged into her upon her weak approval, pressing his lips against hers tightly. Mercedes instantaneously felt her body shive
r at his now familiar touch. He ran his hands up and down her back. Kerry grabbed her by her rear and lifted her up a few inches off the ground, pushing her towards her desk. He sat her up on the desk and proceeded to undo her jeans. “God, you’re beautiful.” He told her and kissed her chest for a moment when his hands stumbled. He held her face in his hands for a moment so he could get a good look at her before kissing her again.

  Mercedes slipped her fingers into the rim of his pants, pulling his waist closer to her. She leaned back slightly as he worked diligently to bring her pants down to her ankles. Her thighs felt cold against the metal desk that had been sitting in the air condition all morning. The excitement on his face told her that she was in for another pleasant round of lovemaking with Kerry. She realized she was incredibly excited herself as her mind went back to their previous encounter. He carefully pushed her onto her back and slid her hips towards him so that her legs hung off the side of the desk. He pulled down her underwear and then allowed a moment for his sober eyes to take in the sight before kneeling down to enthrall her with his breathy touch. Suddenly the trailer shook slightly, someone had entered into the trailer.

  Kerry jumped back, and Mercedes sat up and quickly jumped off the desk – rushing to get her underwear and pants pulled back up. Kerry jolted behind the desk, sitting down in the chair to hide his erection from whoever had come to interrupt what would have likely been an erotic sequel. Mercedes blushed while trying not to laugh at his nervousness. She had her pants up and buttoned before the office door opened.

  “Hey, Miss Mercado?” it was Al.

  “Whatcha need, Al?” Mercedes asked.

  Al saw Kerry and nodded approvingly at his employer. “Good morning, Mr. O’Brian.”

  “Morning,” Kerry said, looking down at some paperwork that had been left out on the desk for Mercedes so as not to meet eyes with the construction worker.

  “Sorry, I didn’t realize you were in a meeting.” Al said. “When you have a moment, Miss Mercado, those replacement wire rope slings and the lifting assemblies just got here.”

  “Thanks, Al. I’ll be out in just a moment,” Mercedes said.

  Al nodded and closed the door on his way out. Mercedes and Kerry waited to speak until after Al had left the trailer. She began to laugh as she turned around to face Kerry. “Maybe you should go, Kerry. Lunch break is almost over.”

  He nodded, clearly embarrassed after almost being caught. Kerry stood. “I will see you again soon,” he said it as though he were asking a question. She did not say anything; she just stared at him, unsure of what to say. Kerry frowned. “You need to think,” he said, disappointed.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, “But yes.”

  Kerry nodded as though he understood. “Okay,” he said rather unwillingly. “But I hope you decide that you want this as much as I do.”

  As he passed by her he leaned in and kissed her forehead before heading out the door and off site. Mercedes rolled her eyes, but a part of her actually felt happy.

  That afternoon Yury drove her home. The two flights of stairs did not seem so awful that day. When she entered into her apartment she collapsed on the futon and took a moment to breathe after a long day at work. Mercedes noticed a missed call on her cell phone. After holding the phone up to her ear, she heard her uncle’s voice. Whatever it was he sounded somewhat urgent but not so much so that she felt like she had to jump up and run out the door. He merely said that he needed her to come by the garage as soon as possible.

  A heavy sigh escaped her since she had hoped to have an afternoon alone in her apartment, but it did not seem as though that was going to happen. Mercedes decided to walk rather than calling Yury. She made her way down the familiar street that led to Benny’s and Tito’s, taking the long way around so as to avoid the bar. She had avoided going to the bar ever since her run in with Edgar in the bathroom. She did not even want to walk by it to risk running into Edgar as he was entering or exiting the building.

  The sun was setting just as she was arriving. Tito was waiting out front, an annoyed sneer on his face. “How was work?” he asked, trying to sound casual, but Mercedes knew something had greatly irritated him. There was something off that had him fuming slightly. She assumed it had something to do with the bank, but she was wrong.

  “It was good,” she said, deciding to play along with the small talk he was insisting upon them having. He was quite, his hands stuffed in his pockets. Eventually she realized that the conversation would be going nowhere unless she pressed for information from him. “Everything all right, Uncle Tito?”

  “Ernie is here,” he said under his breath, clearly not pleased with the information he was providing her with. “He waited around here for you all afternoon. He’s passed out in one of the cars inside.”

  Mercedes stomach ached. “Ernie? He’s out?”

  “He’s out.” Tito practically spat when he said it. “He didn’t have anywhere else to go, so he came here. I wanted to make sure you knew he was back in town though. He wants to see you, but I wouldn’t bother with him if I were you. He’s out on parole.”

  Mercedes sighed, “Well, I guess if he’s come all this way.” She and Tito made their way back to the garage; her ex-boyfriend was one of the last people she wanted to speak with at that moment. Once inside the garage, she saw him fast asleep in the passenger’s seat of a car. It had been years since she had seen that stupid face of his. They had gotten into a terrible fight and had broken up only weeks before his arrest. Those were her younger years that she was not proud of. Mercedes rolled her eyes. “Don’t wake him. Let him sleep,” she said to Tito. “I’ll wait for him in the office. I’ll do some filing for you while I’m here.”

  She dragged herself across the garage to Tito’s office, discovering that the man had emptied out countless files in a failed attempt to organize his paperwork before the bank took the place. She sighed, realizing she had her work cut out for her. She began by gathering everything up into large heaps on the floor, deciding it would be easier to lay everything out on the floor rather than the small desk with the ungodly amount of papers. She sat on the seat cushion that had still yet to make its way to the dumpster and began sorting.

  Several hours of sorting papers went by before Mercedes fell asleep sitting on the cushion, her head leaned back against one of the filing cabinets. She was not sure how long she was out, but when she arose and gazed out the window she could see that it was dark out. Mercedes stretched and exited the office, heading into the garage. Tito was across the way, sipping on a fresh batch of coffee while on his cell phone. It sounded as though he was talking to someone with the bank, so she did not pester him. Ernie, however, was up under the hood of a car working in an attempt to repay Tito for allowing him to sleep at the garage all afternoon.

  Mercedes’ stomach ached; she did not want to talk to Ernie, but it did not seem like she had left herself much of a choice by staying. “Ernie,” she said and he slid himself out from under the car.

  He grinned, showing off that he had lost a tooth while in prison. Ernie stood, “What’s up, baby girl?” he came towards her, his arms outstretched.

  Mercedes took a step back, and he awkwardly lowered his arms. “Why are you here, Ernie? What do you want?”

  “Baby, you know I’m here for you. I want you, baby,” he said flirtatiously.

  Mercedes rolled her eyes, trying to be as obvious as possible that she was not at all thrilled to see him. “Here for me?” she questioned. “That’s quite a change of heart since the last time I saw your stupid ass.”

  Ernie chuckled half-heartedly. “I know, I know. Mercedes, look, while I was away I had a lot of time to think. You know what I realized?” She did not respond to his question; she did not want to give him any sort of satisfaction. He continued, “I realized that the best thing about my life had always been you, baby. I couldn’t stop thinking about you, and I know you have been thinking about me too. I know you missed me.”

  Mercedes laughed. “Not re
ally. Ernie, we’re not kids anymore. There’s a reason I never visited you in prison, you know?”

  “I know I’ve made some mistakes, but I’ve missed you, girl,” he said. “I’m different now. I swear. You’ve missed me too, right?”

  She could tell he had not changed. He was on a freedom high - that was all. “Ernie, I’m sorry, but I have no intentions in playing around with you anymore. I’m not going back to our hoodlum, teenaged yank-selves. I’m done with that life.”

  “Come on, I know that can’t be entirely true,” he grinned, attempting to step towards her but each step he took she took one back. “I heard you dropped out of MIT to come back to the neighborhood. Did you miss it here that much?” he asked. He was desperate to hold her in conversation. Tito had said that Ernie had nowhere to go, but she certainly was not going to bring him back to her apartment and offer him a place in her bed just because she felt sorry for him.

  “Ernie, let’s get one thing straight,” she jeered, “I dropped out because my dad had gotten sick. I didn’t come back for this neighborhood or for you. I came back for him.”

  “Well now you’re back,” he said. “I was hoping things could go back to the way they were - you and me and Tito and the garage?”

  Mercedes crossed her arms. “I got another job too. The garage is going to be gone, Ernie. The bank is taking it.”

  Ernie bypassed the news about the garage. “Another job?” he acted like the words tasted nasty on his lips. “What other job?”

  “I’m working an architect project with a prominent businessman right now. It pays well.” She let herself brag a little, wanting Ernie to see that she had moved on in her life. She did not want to hurt him, but she could remember how stubborn Ernie was. He was not the kind you gave subtle hints to.