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“It would have been, I promise you,” Valencia said as her phone rang. She looked at the display and saw that it was Adrianna returning her call. “I need to take this,” she said handing the roses to Geno. “Good morning, Adrianna.”
“How are you feeling?”
“I feel a lot better, thank you.”
“What can I do for you?”
“I need you to get in touch with Andrade Ferreira.”
“I haven’t heard of him,” Adrianna said, thinking that she’d heard of everyone in her family.
“Andrade is a tobacco farmer in Brazil. He’s in New York looking to expand his hand-rolled cigar business and is looking for an exporter. Get in touch with Samantha Vázquez. She should be able to tell you where he’s staying while he’s in the city.”
“Understood.”
“See if you can’t arrange a meeting for tomorrow.”
“It shall be done. When are you going to be released?”
“The doctors have made their rounds, so I hope that it won’t be much longer.”
“Do you need me to send a car for you?”
“No, I don’t think that will be necessary.” She looked at Geno and smiled. “I think I have that covered.”
Chapter Fifteen
It had been a rough two days for Valencia. She’d been questioned in the murder of her blackmailer, Coleman Patterson. She was able to get through that and be released only to find that she had a new blackmailer. The day before she was in the hospital with a severe case of food poisoning. But what a difference a day makes.
That afternoon, she had an appointment to see Andrade Ferreira to find out exactly what he needed to expand his hand rolled cigar business. Once she found out exactly the type of items that he was looking to import, Valencia would call Shy and get the two of them together.
She was introduced to Andrade when she first moved to Rio. There was a party to celebrate Gustavo’s return and he took that opportunity to introduce his
family to his new fiancé. It was Andrade who first told her that she shouldn’t marry Gustavo.
“Gustavo is a pig. A pig with a pretty face and a nice suit, but a pig all the same,” Andrade told her once they had become better acquainted.
But, since that was not the Gustavo that she knew, Valencia ignored his many warnings and the subsequent warnings that followed from family members and even some friends of his. To her, Gustavo DeVerão was one of the kindest, sweetest, most considerate men she had ever met. If there was a man who possessed more of those qualities in abundance, it was Geno.
That following afternoon, Valencia went to The Langham hotel to see Andrade. It had been a few years since she had seen him, so she was excited about seeing him again. Valencia only wished that it could have just been a social visit to catch up instead of what was; another step in whatever it was that Ezequiel Simmonds had planned for Mike Black.
“Hello, Andrade.”
“Valência,” he gave the woman that he looked at as a niece or even a daughter a big hug. “Please come in.”
“Thank you,” she said, and he escorted her into the suite. “How have you been?”
“I’ve been very well, thank you. And what about you, my dear. You must tell me how things have been for you,” Andrade said, and the two spent the next hour or so talking about what was going with Valencia in her business, chitchatting about family gossip, before she worked the conversation to the reason for her visit.
“So, tell me about the expansion of your tobacco business. I understand that you’re in New York looking for a parts distributor.”
Andrade looked at her curiously. “Who told you that?” He let out a little laugh. “Ezequiel?”
“Yes,” she said, and Andrade shook his head.
“How many times have I told you that Ezequiel is a man that you should stay away from.”
“You should tell him to stay away from me.”
