Page 49 of Redemption
“This wasn’t about that!” Redemption replied. “I care about her. She was being kidnapped when we arrived.”
“By whom? O’s people?” Jarret asked. “Never mind. You could have messed up the exchange by killing her men.”
I stood still as I realized Jarret was right. It could still backfire. More mistakes and it could cost Redemption his sister.Fuck, I really screwed up this time.
“Dad, you need to calm down. This isn’t like—”
“Like what?” his dad snapped back. “You flipping skirts and notching your bedpost?”
I blinked at the way he put it.Was it that?
“You are stepping over a line here, Dad. I know it’s hard for you to believe but I found a woman that I really care about.”
Silence.
Jarret then let out a cold laugh. “In the middle of getting your sister free and back safe, you decide to have a fucking romance?” His voice rose.
“It just happened is all and you have no say over my personal life, Dad. Step off this,” Redemption warned him.
“Or what?” Jarret retorted.
“Or we will have problems,” Redemption said. “Leave this alone. I can handle the exchange and all else. Now, if you will excuse me…”
The door opened and I found myself staring at Redemption.
He paused and shook his head. “Sorry about not coming back.”
I nodded as I had nothing to say just now.
“This, the girl?” Jarret came over.
I stepped to the side. I wasn’t sure if I even wanted to talk to the man.
“Yes, Dad. This is Cinnamon.”
Jarret stared at me. “What kind of name is that?”
I raised my chin up and shelved my previous fear of the man. “The same kind of name you gave to him.” I motioned to Redemption.
Jarret stared at me and raised his eyebrow. “Not true. I gave him a name to live up to.”
I refused to back down. “And what woman wouldn’t want to live up to sweetness?” I countered.
Jarret stared at me while looking confounded.
Redemption laughed and stepped over to scoop me close with his arm around my shoulder. “You see? This girl won’t let me slide by with my usual bullshit. She’s smart, brave and she gets me.”
Jarret shook his head as he kept his severe looking gaze on me. “In actuality, cinnamon is not sweet.”
“You may be correct about that,” I replied. “So I have been working on the sweet part. But in actuality, it was considered to be honored by the gods in Egypt…A coveted spice. In the bible, cinnamon symbolizes an olfactive representation of God's holiness and magnificence. The spice is mostly used in religious contexts to illustrate His spiritual purposes.” I stared right into his eyes. “Now, I’m not saying I’m holy, because I most certainly am not. But a person can aspire to achieve their name.” I looked over at Redemption. “He lives up to the name you gave him, by far.”
Redemption shook his head as he grinned. “I’d say she just dropped the mic on you, Dad. So if you will excuse us, Bea will take aswitch to our fanniesif we hold up dinner.” He turned me around and we went down the hallway.
“I hope we didn’t make your father mad,” I whispered to Redemption.
“Nah baby, you did it just right. Damn, he was stumped.” He laughed and kissed my cheek with a huge smack of his lips.
I wasn’t so sure his dad would accept me. He didn’t even know the truth about my past either. I inwardly winced. Sometime soon I would have to go and visit the guy to have an extremely difficult talk with him. But right now, he was right. They all needed to focus on Glory.
