Page 37 of Trial of Deceit (The Family’s Oath #1)

Chapter twenty

present

S tanding in the doorway, Jediah gritted his teeth as he watched Bryony rub ointment on Ashari’s back.

Footsteps padded toward him and stopped behind him. “It’s done,” Elias said, but Jediah didn’t react. “The guests are waiting for you to give your speech, Jed.”

He still couldn’t tear his gaze off Ashari. Her screams had been music to his ears. He wanted her to hurt. He thought he would’ve felt better if he wasn’t the one to do it, but the tears rolling down her cheeks made him wonder if he’d taken it too far this time.

Bryony got up from the bed, grabbing a bottle of water off the bedside table. Ashari tried propping herself up on her elbows to drink, but Bryony shook her head. “Stay, Ash. I’ll go get you a straw.”

“Okay,” Ashari rasped.

Jediah gulped. The lump in his throat was hard to swallow. Bryony walked toward him, glaring as she pushed past. Seeing Elias, she paused to shake her head, then hurried down the hallway.

Ashari groaned as she moved to lie on her side while glancing at him. Their eyes met. Her teary ones bore into his as he feigned passiveness. His eyes drifted down her battered body, breaking his facade of calm as his jaws clenched.

“Jediah, the ball,” Elias said, and Jediah nodded, turning away as Ashari winced.

Placing one hand in his pocket, he used the other to grab his jacket from Elias as they went downstairs. They exited the main house, walking toward the warehouse at the far end of the property while Elias gave a rundown of the situation.

“The Majors aren’t here. They’re stuck in traffic.”

“Raven, too?”

“After the stunt she pulled on Kirani, I’m not sure he’ll allow her to come,” Elias said and handed Jediah a jacket.

Jediah resisted the urge to chuckle. Raven was interesting. How’d she managed to steal Kirani’s product and sell it? He doubted Kirani had made a profit off of it. Either way, Jediah didn’t care. He’d gotten his cut from the deal, and that was all that mattered.

“The rest of the family will miss the main event, but they assured me they’ll be here later,” Elias continued.

Jediah nodded while pausing outside a door. Chatter over classical music drifted from beneath the door. He shrugged his jacket on.

“Wait,” Elias said. He reached forward to wipe a spec of blood off Jediah’s black tie with his thumb. “Go ahead now.”

Jediah watched as Elias opened the door, then stepped aside so he could enter.

The nearest patrons paused mid-conversation to glance toward the doors as Elias closed them, flutes clutched between their fingers while their wallets or purses were heavy in their pockets or hands.

Beyond them, servers had a circular silver tray in hand while they weaved through the crowd of politicians, investors, and prissy rich people, who were ready to flaunt their status through wealth by being among the night’s highest donors.

Classical music drifted from the live band on the makeshift stage at the front of the room.

Stage lights casted shadows of the musician’s bodies as they rocked to the music, some with their eyes closed while others were focused on their music sheet stands.

Jediah moved forward. He offered a kind smile to anyone who made eye-contact with him.

While approaching the stage, he noticed people drifting into the room from the four opened doors of the room — the fifth was closed because it led to the kitchen.

The band’s music slowed to an end, and the crowd erupted into a long cheer, while Jediah climbed the two steps onto the stage.

He cleared his throat before taking the mic.

His eyes roamed over the crowd, skimming past faces in the most polite way he could muster.

He didn’t want to entertain any eye-contact for longer than necessary.

He was tired of smiling. His jaw already hurt from clenching it so hard earlier, and now his cheeks were starting to ache, too.

“Thank you all for coming tonight,” Jediah said in faux enthusiasm.

“My father extends his apologies for his absence. He has been out of the spotlight since his accident, and I’m sure you’ve all heard that his health took a turn for the worst a little over a year ago.

Therefore, it is with great pleasure that I continue this tradition he started seventeen years ago.

As you all know, tonight’s a special night.

Richardson Motors will expand into the East of Jamaica, and half of the first year’s profits will be donated to this foundation. ”

Applause and murmurs of approval flowed from the crowd.

A series of camera flashes went off from the photographers Jediah had hired.

They were the only ones capturing memories of the night so everyone else could be occupied with mingling.

In addition to being a donation ball, this was also one of the only occasions many attendees got to indulge in guilty pleasures.

They had to be careful with how they were perceived by the media because many weren’t here with their legally recognized partners, while others were trying drugs in the bathrooms for the first time.

Anything that got out beyond the sum of their large donations could jeopardize reputations.

The donors’ insistence for Jediah to be the one with full control of documenting the night’s events made him pretend to be unaware of what many of them were doing, and he would happily continue to oblige so long as their money kept flowing.

Some tension left Jediah’s stature as the emcee walked toward him from the left. Jediah glanced at the man as he stood beside him.

The emcee congratulated Jediah on his future investments, then asked him questions for the next few minutes.

“Now, Mr. Richardson, I must ask. Where’s the missus?

I caught a glimpse of her dancing with you earlier, but many of us — including myself — have never gotten a chance to formally meet her.

Tonight’s such a pivotal night for you. Could you do us the honor? ”

Fighting the urge to swallow, Jediah forced another smile. “Actually, she—”

“I’m right here,” came a voice from the back of the crowd.

Jediah almost got whiplash as he spun his head in that direction.

His mouth dried as Ashari walked through the space that the crowd had formed for her.

She held him captive in eyes that swirled with a mix of raw emotions — too many to decipher, too powerful for him to understand.

She grinned, leaving him unsure if his smile had faltered, or if he looked like a fool still smiling with numb facial muscles.

The world was caving in on him. Ashari was the center of his tunnel vision while his heart pounded at an alarmingly fast rate.

His throat dried. His tongue darted out, but he wasn’t sure if it wetted his bottom lip as he trailed it along it.

Her head was held high, her shoulders straight as she took assertive steps toward the stage.

As the crowd closed behind her, Elias stepped forward.

He hurried toward Ashari, offering her a hand to mount the stairs.

Ashari broke Jediah’s stare to look Elias in the eye, and her eyes ticked fleetingly, before she mocked Jediah’s fake smile.

She muttered a thanks while laying her hand in Elias’, allowing him to help her up the stairs.

Now on stage, Ashari strode toward him. The sickening smell of her blood was erased by a sweet perfume.

It surrounded Jediah completely, making his world spin as he saw flashes of his mother, then wife; wife, then mother; until reality struck and he refocused on the world around him.

He stood more upright and carefully wrapped an arm around Ashari’s delicate waist, bringing her a bit closer so her body pressed against him.

A series of flashes went off as she sagged against him, making him hold her tighter while still being careful.

A smile came on her face as she looked at Isley, whose smile had faded.

Jediah’s throat tightened and his heart raced.

He hoped it wasn’t so obvious how Ashari depended on him to stand.

How’d she managed to walk this far by herself?

Why did Bryony allow this? Angered by the thought, Jediah’s fingers dug into Ashari’s waist.

Her sharp intake of breath caused him to loosen his grip. Clearing her throat, Ashari spared the crowd a smile before telling Isley, “I had to change my dress because I had an accident.”

“An accident?” asked Isley, his smile back in place. “I hope it isn’t one that was too bad that’ll take Mr. Richardson’s focus away from such a special night.”

Ashari chuckled. “Of course not. If anything, it’s making it more special.

For the both of us.” Ashari laid a hand on Jediah’s chest. He inhaled a long breath as she looked at him, not that he’d looked away from her in the first place.

“Right, husband?” she asked, but Jediah didn’t reply.

The corner of her mouth ticked upward before she looked at Isley. “I’m pregnant.”

Isley’s eyes widened, his mouth loosening. “Congratulations!” he exclaimed after recovering. Turning to the crowd, he demanded, “Let’s give them a round of applause, everybody.”

Loud cheers erupted in the crowd, paired with more flashes that were almost blinding. Ashari’s focus shifted to Jediah. She practically glowed while staring into his wide eyes.

Had he breathed since Ashari said those two words? He wasn’t sure. A throb was even beginning to develop in his head as the flashes continued.

Ashari laid a hand on his cheek, giving him a sly grin. “Smile, husband. Cameras.”

Jediah sucked in a breath. He laid one hand atop hers while the other dug into her waist. Disregarding how hard she stifled a grimace, he forced a smile and whispered through clenched teeth, “I’m going to kill you.”

“And the baby I just announced to the entire world that you have?” she asked, tipping to place her lips on his.

Jediah tasted blood as he returned Ashari’s gentle kiss.

“I heard what you did,” Reine said.

With his elbow still propped up on the armrest, Jediah stopped swirling his glass of rum in the air.

He raised a brow at Reine’s statement while keeping his gaze on the photo of himself and his mother.

“I do a thousand and one things every day. Be more specific,” he said before bringing his glass to his mouth.

Reine stomped over. She yanked the glass from his hand and slammed it onto the desk behind him, causing him to sigh. “Ash is pregnant! Mi know she been a hide fi the past three months, but how yu fi do dat to her?!”

His brows furrowed. “Spare her life?”

“ Spare ? She can barely walk, and Bryony have fi a wipe her down ’cause she ’fraid fi go wash off the rest a the dirt and blood!”

“I was going to have her killed. She should be thankful she’s still alive to live at my expense,” he muttered with a scowl. He spun the chair around and grabbed his glass. Tossing his head back, he drained the contents.

“Not even Daddy would do this,” Reine said, her voice cracking.

Coldness seeped into Jediah’s veins and raised the hair on his skin.

His eyes narrowed into slits as they settled on his sister.

Reine was seething so hard, her chest raised and fell at a rapid rate.

His fuming little sister faded before his eyes as childhood memories forced their way to the forefront of his mind.

Jediah’s scowl deepened. His hands balled into fists atop his desk as he forced himself to his feet while yelling, “Don’ ever compare me to Kayon! Yu don’ know the real him!”

Reine glared back. “How me don’ know mi own father? He’s nothing like you! Now me a start fi understand why everybody hate yu behavior!”

“Hate me?” Jediah mocked

Reine’s glare deepened. “Yes.”

Jediah laughed dryly. “Mi have a great mind actually do something fi make yu hate me.”

“Wa you a talk ’bout?” Reine asked, her brows furrowing while she shook her head. “Don’ try change the topic from Ash—”

“Shut up!” Jediah boomed.

Reine gasped, her eyes widening.

“Get out,” Jediah hissed, panting while he sat. He reached for the bottle on his desk and refilled the glass.

“I’m going to the club. Weh Cameron?”

Jediah wanted to yell at her again, but he was too tired to. He heaved a breath. “Gone again.”

“Dimitri?”

“Him a deal wid a thing. Find another driver,” he said before taking a quick sip from the glass. The alcohol burned his throat as it went down. He placed the glass onto the desk, then circled the rim with his index finger.

Jediah lingered in silence for a moment before standing. He approached the chessboard on the side table. He lifted the queen piece lying on its side and fixed it back into place. “Four months.”