Redemption (Iris Series) (47 page)

“Don’t tease me, woman.”  He had her lower lip between his teeth, sucking it.  “How much time do we have?”

“Janie will be here in 10 minutes.”  She nipped at his mouth.

“I only need three,” he breathed.

“How romantic.”

He felt so good against her.  She could easily come simply by looking in his baby blues and rubbing herself on his jean clad cock.  She started to rotate her hips on him.

“In reality, I probably only need one.  Three minutes
was
me being romantic.”  He grabbed the back of her neck keeping her still so he could devour her mouth while the vice like grip of his other arm held her in place allowing him to start a slow hard grind.  He was already reaching down to undo his jeans when the intercom buzzed.

She laughed into his mouth with a groan.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,” he moaned. 

Ayanna chuckled and spoke against his mouth.  “Since you’re picking us up later, maybe you should spend the next couple of hours getting mentally prepared for it to last
longer
than a minute, JBG.  I want a good 10 minutes out of you,” she said dryly, raising her eyebrow.  She got up and walked over to the intercom, telling Janie she’d be right down.

Jon got up as well, adjusting himself and looking disgruntled.  He was irresistible.

“What time will you be done?  Nineish maybe?”

“Yeah.  I’ll text you as we’re finishing up.”  She reached her hand up and stroked his cheek.  He got serious for a moment. 

“I can’t wait to hear how it goes with your mom.  Stay positive.  This is new for her too, so don’t go in expecting it all to be perfect right away, okay?”

“I know.”  He was so right.  She was trying not to expect too much so she wouldn’t be disappointed.  Old habits die hard, she thought.

“I love you, babe.  Have a great time.”  He kissed her nose.

“Thanks, champ.  I love you, too.”  She leaned up and kissed him.  Before she could walk to the door, he grabbed her one last time.

“And for the record, it’s gonna be
much
longer than 10 minutes, so maybe you should mentally prepare
your
self over the next couple of hours.”

“Ooh,” she felt a chill of anticipation zing through her.  “I’m looking forward to that.”   They kissed one last time, and she was out the door.

……

At 7:03pm, Janie and Ayanna sat in the new and swanky
Chez Catherine’s
waiting for Ayanna’s mom to arrive.  Ayanna had taken a moment to introduce Janie to Catherine, who had come out to welcome the diners to the soft opening.  The restaurant had a French flair, along with a hip youthful feel.  Catherine had used a natural palette for the colors, focusing on the berry, brown, and green families.  The sage walls and the dark stained floors were a great contrast with one another.  She had placed bronzed sconces throughout with abstract art done in muted natural tones to match the setting.  That, along with twigs of berries on each table offered a warm yet chic atmosphere, and the new configuration allowed for more seating and intimacy, with half walls separating more tables in the back.

The wait staff was dressed comfortably in berry colored lycra dress t-shirts with an emblazoned
Chez Catherine’s
in pale green over the heart.  The fitted tops looked good on all of them, and coupled with their black trousers and aprons, they looked sharp.  Ayanna spent a couple of minutes talking and laughing with them since she had worked with all of them when Robert had owned the place.  There was an excitement in the air and she could tell they were all pumped for the soft opening that night. 

When
Ayanna’s mom walked in at 7:15, Ayanna waved her over and they awkwardly hugged each other in welcome.  Ina Sarin was very pleasant with Janie and they fell into comfortable small talk. 

Her mom looked good, Ayanna thought.  She had always been a beautiful woman, so Ayanna didn’t know why she was so surprised, but there was something lighter about her mom that night.  She didn’t look as pinched around the eyes.  She actually looked softer.

“How’s Dad doing?” Ayanna asked when her mom was finally seated.

“He’s doing well.  Working hard but loving it,” Ina smiled.

“How about you?”  Ayanna watched as her mom took on a surprised look.

“I’m doing well, Yannie.  Thanks.”  She turned to Janie to include her in the conversation.  “It’s nice to finally meet you, Janie.  Tell me about
The Local Yokel.
  Ayanna has told me a little about the business and how happy she is to be working with you.”

Janie happily told Ayanna’s mom about how the business began, how she came up with the name, and then took a break in the middle of the story so they could place their orders.  Natalie, their waitress, was one of the women Robert had harassed so Ayanna had a soft spot for her.  After she walked away, Janie finished her story with how she and Ayanna met.  “I love working with your daughter, Mrs. Sarin,” Janie began.

“Please call me Ina.”

“Will do.  Ayanna is a dream to work with.  Smart, creative, a phenomenal work ethic but knows how to have fun.  It’s only been a few weeks since she’s joined me in this venture and already I couldn’t imagine doing this without her.  Add in her blog that she’s designed, and we have a great marketing tool with her fan base.  I wish I had met her sooner.  I’m just thrilled she wanted to join me on this crazy ride,” Janie laughed.

Ayanna was touched by Janie’s words, but even more so from the words coming next from her mother. 

“Yannie has always been smart.  Naturally she’s brilliant, given who her parents are,” Ina
smiled at Janie.

Holy shit.  Her mom just made a joke.

“Her father and I have always been proud of her ambition, as well as my mother when she was alive.  We often talked about it.”  Ina turned to Ayanna, but continued talking to Janie.  “We knew she would make a name for herself, but it just took us a while to trust her instincts.  She may not have followed the path we first chose for her, but she followed the path that was right for her.  And we respect that.”

Ayanna was unprepared for the wash of emotion that hit her.  She had never in her life heard words like that from her mother.

Her mom could tell that she didn’t know what to say, because Ayanna stayed silent for a moment trying to get her footing.

“It looks like my daughter is speechless.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before,” Ina laughed lightly, but her eyes twinkled with unshed tears.

“I just never knew you felt that way,” Ayanna said, still in a state of shock.

“Well, I admit it took us a while to get there, and I know we weren’t easy in the meantime, but we both know your talent and skill in the kitchen, as well as your love of writing.  Ammie would’ve been very proud of you if she were here with us today.”

Ayanna went with instinct and reached out her hand to take her mother’s.  “Thank you for saying that.”  Then she pulled her hand back in time to catch the tear that was escaping her eye.  “Shit,” she muttered.

“Language,” Ina smirked and shook her head.

Ayanna took a deep breath to settle her nerves.  At that moment, Natalie came over with their drinks, giving Ayanna a much needed reprieve from the emotional roller coaster she’d just been on.

As the waitress walked away, Ayanna’s phone beeped a message indicating an email from her blog had come in.  Given the fact that she’d been talking up the opening of the restaurant for several days on
The Yummy Ammie
, she wanted to check to see if it had anything to do with that.

She said, “Excuse me.  I just want to check this real quick.”  Then she looked down at her phone.

And nearly threw up.

There on her scre
en was a message from the same Gmail account which had sent her the threatening email.  This new message read,
Are you ready to die?

She heard what sounded like a rush of water in her head and began swallowing over and over, her heart racing.  She seriously felt like she was going to pass out and began frantically looking around.

“You okay, Yan?”

She could hear Janie asking the question, but couldn’t seem to form a response.

“Yannie?” her mom asked.  “What is it?”

Ayanna snapped out of it long enough to say, “Um…”  Her eyes continued to search the room.  Robert was dead.  How on earth was she getting messages from him?

“What, Yan?  You’re scaring us,” Janie said, her eyes filled with concern.  When Ayanna still hadn’t responded, Janie reached across the table and took the phone from her to read the message.  Janie’s face turned as white as a sheet and she looked at Ayanna.  “Oh my God.”

“What’s wrong?  Is it Jon?” her mom asked sounding worried.

Ayanna turned to her mother, let go of a breath and said, “I need to tell you something.  Then I need to call the police.”

……

Twenty minutes later, their food had been served.  Although Ayanna was sure it would be spectacular, none of them were eating it.  She had finished telling her mother everything, from the attack, to her pressing charges.  From Robert’s fall, to the loss of his wife and the very restaurant in which they were seated.  From discovering the first death threat, to Robert’s suicide.  While her mom processed all of the information, Ayanna called the detectives who originally worked on the case from when she was assaulted by Robert, and who had also found him dead only days earlier.  She knew they would be arriving shortly, and not wanting to cause a scene in the restaurant, she was keeping her eye on the door so she could intercept them and talk to them outside.

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell us this.  You didn’t think this was something we would want to know?” Ina asked.

“Honestly?  No, I didn’t.  I mean, it’s not like we talk about things.”

“Your life was at risk, Yannie!  Could
still
be at risk.  Of
course
we would want to know.”  Her mom looked really upset.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled.  “I need to call Jon.”  She started to reach for her phone when she noticed the detectives at the front door.  Before they could enter all the way, she said an “Excuse me,” and immediately got up to walk to the entrance.  She didn’t want to have this conversation anywhere near the patrons who were there tonight.  The detectives made eye contact with her and waited where they were until she got to them.  Before she could speak, she noticed her mother and Janie at her side.

Ayanna looked at them then asked if they could talk out on the street.  When they were in front of the restaurant, Ayanna took out her phone and showed them the message.  The first detective stepped away to make a phone call and the other began riddling her with questions.  When did she see the message, have any others come in on this email address, have there been any additional strange messages from other email addresses, etc. 

While Ayanna answered the questions, her mother stood protectively next to her like a Mama Bear and the first detective got off the phone to join them.  “We never looked for the laptop after Mr. Rivera’s suicide.  We knew the messages came from a laptop registered to him, though.  After his death, we called his wife to inform her of his suicide and that the scene was cleaned up and they were ready for her to come get his effects.  I don’t know if she did or not, but if the laptop was in that apartment, she could have it.  This second message may have come from her,” he said. 

“Hell, it’s possible the
first
message came from her too, if she’s had the laptop all along,” the other detective said.

Unbe-fuckin-lievable.  Not only had Robert been off in the head, he had a crazy wife too?

The first detective got back on the phone to check the whereabouts of the wife, which reminded Ayanna that she hadn’t called Jonathan yet.

“Miss Sarin, do you know what Robert’s wife looks like?”

“Robert used to have a picture of her in his office when he owned the restaurant.  She’s middle aged, dark hair and eyes.  She looks Italian maybe.  She was attractive, slightly overweight.  She never came to the restaurant.  I only know her from the picture.  I don’t even know her name.”

“Her name’s Maria.  I remember that from when we called her after her husband’s death.  Okay,” he said taking a deep breath.  “Why don’t you ladies head back inside and try to enjoy your dinner,” the first detective said.  “We’ll start looking into it and give you a call when we find out anything, Miss Sarin.”

“I can’t believe you didn’t look for the laptop.”  Ina was in full trial lawyer mode.  “You better pray nothing happens to my daughter, Detective.”

“We should’ve verified the location of the laptop, you’re right.  We’ll find it.”  He turned to Ayanna.  “You have my word.”

“Thank you.  Please call if you find out anything.”

“We will.  Have a good dinner,” he said then he walked away.

“Complete and utter incompetence,” her mother mumbled.

“Let’s just go inside and finish up.  I don’t want whoever this is to ruin our night,” Ayanna said trying to remain stoic even though she could feel the anxiety in her stomach.