Redemption (Iris Series)

by Lynn, Rebecca

  REDEMPTION

  Book 2 in the Iris series

  Rebecca Lynn

  Also by Rebecca Lynn

  Iris Series

  RELEASE (Book 1)

  Copyright

  Copyright © 2013 by Rebecca Lynn

  Cover image © Shutterstock

  All rights reserved.

  Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the above author of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  Table of Contents

  PART ONE

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  PART TWO

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgements

  About the Author

  REDEMPTION, n.

  1. an act of redeeming [making up, making amends], or atoning for a fault or mistake.

  2. deliverance; rescue.

  dictionary.com

  Thank U by Alanis Morissette

  ...how bout me not blaming you for everything

  how bout me enjoying the moment for once

  how bout how good it feels to finally forgive you

  how bout grieving it all one at a time...

  ...thank you india

  thank you providence

  thank you disillusionment

  thank you nothingness

  thank you clarity

  thank you thank you silence

  PART ONE

  Thirteen Years Earlier

  High school freshman Ayanna Sarin examined her reflection in the mirror, humming along to Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill album playing in the background. She flipped her long glossy black hair over her shoulder and leaned in to inspect her eye makeup, touching up her already long eyelashes with mascara, then swiping the lip gloss wand along her full lips.

  Ayanna was one of those girls in high school who the other girls wanted to be, and the boys wanted to fuck. After all, she’d developed breasts early, was mature and well liked, a brilliant student, dated older guys from other high schools, had a ‘take no prisoners’ attitude, and intimidated the shit out of most of her peers.

  These attributes just made her all the more alluring.

  Tonight she was getting ready to meet up with Tony Castaldo, the senior quarterback from the neighboring town’s football team. She looked at the clock next to her bed and noted the time. 9:06pm. She would be sneaking out of her house momentarily to meet him at the Pit, a local park where kids sometimes met up to make out in the quaint New Jersey suburb where she lived with her overbearing parents and her sweet younger brother.

  At the ripe old age of 14, she had figured out two universal truths. One: if a pretty girl played her cards right, she could get any hot blooded male to do whatever she wanted him to. And two: hard work and determination would take you as far as you wanted to go.

  The first truth she’d learned at 11, when she’d gotten Jason Cather to punch Travis Marsh in the nose for hurting her best friend, Ryann Campbell. The promise of ‘seven minutes in heaven’ was all it took.

  The second truth she’d learned from her parents at an early age. Immigrants from Sri Lanka, her father was a heart surgeon, and her mother was a high powered attorney in New York City. They worked hard to fulfill their dreams in America, and they expected Ayanna to follow in their footsteps, to achieve riches and glory. Setting them straight a few years back, she confessed to them she was neither going to be a doctor, nor a lawyer. She wanted to be a chef. Or maybe a writer. She hadn’t decided yet.

  They scoffed and absolutely forbade her to be either. She was to choose a career that would enable her to be a powerful professional, one that helped her to attain success in this country, one that made her an excellent living, and one that was respectable like her parents’ career choices. Otherwise there would be no money for college. Period.

  So every chance she got, she worked at odd jobs, babysat, and worked at local pizza joints. She saved her big pennies, all behind her parents’ backs, and worked her ass off in school so she could obtain scholarships to pave the way for her future.

  She’d also begun to sneak out of the house to see the handful of older guys she dated. And every once in a while, she would make noise upon her return, just as a ‘screw you’ to her parents who had begun to tell her she was going to amount to nothing and bring shame to the family name.

  So she planned and strategized, determined she could use the two universal truths she’d learned to achieve her career goals. If there would be no money from Mommy and Daddy, then she would do it her own way and get out, get away from them and their critical judgmental ways. Hard work and determination would take her far. And the farther, the better.

  And the string of guys? How would they help her achieve her goal? Well, what girl didn’t love the powerful feeling that came upon her when a guy wanted her and thought she was hot?

  Pissing off her parents was just an added bonus.

  And for now, that was enough.

  Chapter 1

  Present Day

  Assholeshitmotherfuckerpussbucket...

  Ayanna swore in frustration, always ready with a creative swear word. She unpacked the first of the kitchen boxes on Monday evening, only moments after she had moved into her new apartment. How on earth was she going to survive living in the same apartment complex as that gorgeous pain in the ass?

  She was eternally grateful to Ryann, her best friend of 17 years, for renting the one bedroom apartment in Chelsea to her. Finally she had her own space, and her own kitchen. After years of living with roommates in New York City, having her own kitchen was probably the best part of all.

  But Jonathan White, a.k.a. ‘gorgeous pain in the ass’ as her neighbor? That beautiful, intelligent, serious-minded, judgmental asshole? She swore again in frustration.

  Ryann, who’d only recently purchased the apartment, had fallen madly in love with a phenomenal guy. Just the week before she’d moved herself and all of her belongings in with him. Ayanna couldn’t be happier for her. Mainly because a few years back, Ryann had lost her first husband of only a year and a half to a tragic car accident and had since been trying to get on with her life. So, when Jeremy swept her off her feet a couple of months earlier, Ryann didn’t stand a chance.

  Jeremy McCallister was perfect for Ryann, not allowing her to analyze too deeply and teaching her how to live again. Even though they had only dated a short time, Ryann had almost lost her own life three weeks back and the incident had pushed their relationship to the next level quickly. Both of them had
realized neither of them wanted to live without the other.

  Ayanna’s stomach flipped when she remembered hearing the news that Ryann had been shot. Ryann had been completing her summer internship at the Manhattan Institute for Art and Design, the same Institute Jeremy’s family had founded. She had walked in on the robbery of a loaned Mackenzie Renault painting and was shot by the thief in the process. Now fully recovered and living with Jeremy, Ryann had insisted that Ayanna move into her old apartment since Ayanna’s two former roommates had moved to San Francisco, forcing her to find a place of her own.

  The only downside to the apartment was the neighbor who lived two floors above her.

  That neighbor was also a good friend of Ryann’s. Jonathan, or ‘Johnny Be Good’ as Ayanna liked to call the self-righteous ass, was a former colleague of Ryann’s from Westside Academy, a private high school for the privileged youth on the Upper West Side. Jonathan was currently a teacher of Business and Finance at the Academy, and as a member of the co-op board of the apartment complex, was also the one who had told Ryann about the availability of this particular apartment when it had gone up for sale.

  Ayanna sighed.

  To her knowledge, he was the only man in the universe who had ever turned down her sexual advances, the scum sucking pig, and as much as she hated to admit it, it had bruised her ego something fierce. She was used to chewing up men first thing in the morning and spitting them out before breakfast.

  And the guy wasn’t even her type, she grumbled. I mean, who the hell cared whether he liked her or not, she sighed. The problem was she wanted him to be her type. He was smart and sexy, and truth be told she was a sucker for a good brain even though all of her past boyfriends had been duds.

  But that was another story.

  Jonathan didn’t want her. Maybe that was why she wanted him so badly. He was a challenge. She just needed to fuck him and get him out of her system, right? Not as if she could, though. She was only on Day 23 of her 40 day fast from sex.

  She muttered another curse. Her crazy journey had begun nearly two months earlier on the first night Ayanna had met Johnny Be Good.

  She remembered every detail vividly, like when a person recalled the entirety of a tragic event in their life: the smells, what they were wearing, what day it was, where they were at the time...

  It was the Sunday night Ryann had moved into this very apartment. They were in the midst of unpacking when he had unexpectedly shown up at the door. The moment came back to her as if it were happening in real time.

  ……

  Ryann opened the door to the unknown visitor who knocked a little after 6pm in the evening, and when Ayanna looked around Ryann to see who it was, she simply blinked.

  And stood there, stunned. Drinking in the man standing there holding the pizza box.

  Listening to their exchange at the door, Ayanna could barely believe her ears. This was Jonathan White? The same man who Ryann had been telling her about for ages? He’d been helping Ryann with investing her late husband’s life insurance money and Ayanna had been hearing about him for over a year, but they’d never been introduced.

  And as if being hot as hell wasn’t enough, he had brought pizza. Why the hell hadn’t Ryann introduced her to him before this?!

  Dee. Lish.

  Ayanna preened while appreciating the lean and muscular six foot, one inch frame of the handsome man. She guessed his age to be around 30. With close cut, but thick sandy colored hair, blue eyes and stylish glasses, he was dressed in brown pants and a smart red and white checked button down shirt with the shirt sleeves rolled up. He kind of had the studious Ryan Gosling thing going for him. And even though he was dressed conservatively, anyone could tell the man was in great shape.

  In his hands was a pizza box, smelling divine. It didn’t matter that she had studied at the famous Le Cordon Bleu culinary school in Paris. Pizza was still her favorite meal in the world and she was convinced it was the best food to ever be invented.

  The two of them were introduced and acknowledged each other by shaking hands. Then he stepped away and completely ignored her.

  When they were about to dig into the pizza, Ryann went into the kitchen to get plates and glasses, while Ayanna sauntered over to make her move. She was wearing black yoga pants, an ‘off the shoulder’ blue t-shirt, and was barefoot with her hair in a messy topknot.

  Not hiding her attraction, she purred, “So, I can’t believe we haven’t met before now. Two of Ryann’s closest friends, both single...” She let her voice trail off in a husky tone, flashing him a sexy smile. It was obvious to any man who had a heart pumping that she was after him.

  Jonathan’s eyes heated and he gave her a thorough once over with his eyes. Ayanna felt the familiar current of arousal and feminine power curl through her.

  He stepped closer to her and leaned forward. “You certainly don’t waste any time, do you?” He cocked his head.

  “Not when I see something I like,” she said, her voice husky.

  “Sweetheart, I’d venture to say you don’t even know what you like. But maybe you don’t even care. Which is a shame. Is this your modus operandi, Ayanna?” he said, looking amused, almost condescending, rather than interested.

  Ayanna flushed at his accurate and pointed question, just as Ryann re-entered the room.

  Ryann noted the tense atmosphere, but Ayanna breezily made it through the next few minutes while Jonathan paid her no mind. A few moments later, when Jeremy surprised Ryann with an unexpected arrival, both Jonathan and Ayanna decided to make their exit.

  Walking out together, Ayanna stopped Jonathan in the hallway before he could get away.

  “Was it something I said?” she asked in a charming and humorous tone. “I get the feeling you don’t like me very much.”

  He looked amused again and leaned against the wall, his hands in his pockets. “I don’t like or dislike you. I don’t even know you,” he said, giving her a pointed look.

  She was taken aback by his assessment, but she held strong. “Well, we can change that.” She let the statement hang in the air, her gazed burning into him with promise. “Don’t you live in this place? We could always take a few minutes to see where things go,” she murmured, a smile touching her lips.

  He narrowed his eyes and scrutinized her with that damned amused look again. “This is how you normally go at it? The first guy you see, you decide to fuck him? Just like that?”

  She swallowed down the shame that was usually close to the surface. She was normally successful at squelching it quickly, but there was no doubt in her mind.

  He thought she was a slut.

  “If you’re not interested, champ, just say so,” she said cool as a cucumber, as if his comment didn’t slice right through her. He, no doubt, would be surprised to find out that she didn’t fuck men at random. She just had a naturally flirtatious way about her. She liked hooking men in. Especially ones that wouldn’t be around long.

  But with Jonathan, keeping him around longer than normal wouldn’t have bothered her one bit. First, she’d have to show him she wasn’t what he thought she was.

  He looked at her long and hard, then tightened his jaw and said, “I’m familiar with your type, Ayanna. You like to play the field, but rarely take the time to see what’s really going on around you. He paused. “So, thanks for the offer heartbreaker, but I’m not interested.”

  He pushed off the wall and smirked, making her feel like one of his annoying teenage students, then turned toward the elevators. “See ya around.”

  ……

  Ayanna flushed as she remembered the scene. It was the first time in her life a man had rejected her. Well, not counting her father.

  The thing that had pissed her off the most was that she had all the right parts to attract a man, and worked hard at keeping her five foot, six inch frame sleek and fit. Her Sri Lankan and Indian heritage gave her latte colored skin and exotic light brown eyes. Good genes gave her a naturally lean build, great boobs, full lips, a
nd flawless skin. Her midnight black hair was cut in long layers that spilled down her back.

  She knew she looked good. Men had told her so her whole life. That was how she liked it. She’d been around the block and she knew her way around a man.

  Except for this one.

  She shook herself. He wasn’t interested. Fine. She would deal. The problem was her mind kept going back to him. He was different than any man she’d ever hit on. In every way.

  He wasn’t easily controlled. He wasn’t an underachiever, or a boy in a man’s body. He had goals. He had a job, for crying out loud. Jonathan was the complete antithesis of her usual cast of characters. One of those rare good ones. Hence the nickname.

  Ayanna stood in her living room in the midst of the boxes. She continued her trip down memory lane as she remembered the night after that first encounter. She and Ryann had gone out for drinks, and for the first time in their relationship, they had discussed the reasons for Ayanna’s choices in men and her flirty flamboyant ways. Ryann gave her her own psychological observation in a way only best friends could.

  The conversation had started with Ayanna wistfully asking why the “good” guys were so hard to snag. Ryann had mused aloud the theory that Ayanna had perhaps started her particular dating patterns so early in life simply to gain the attention of her parents, and to fill the void they had left when they hadn’t offered her the unconditional love she so deserved and needed as a child. She also thought Ayanna chose men that purposely pissed off her parents.

  The observation had made Ayanna pause, and had also made her angry...mostly with herself for making such damaging choices and not realizing it before then. It was indeed a jagged pill of truth to swallow, but she began to think Ryann might be on to something. After all, Ayanna was a beautiful, bright accomplished woman. Why did she always pick such losers to date? Did she think she wasn’t worthy of better?