Page 43 of Trial of Deceit (The Family’s Oath #1)

Chapter twenty-five

J ediah’s head throbbed as he lowered himself onto the chair opposite Ashari.

She wasn’t in the bed when he woke up. He reached for the coffee Bryony always made him, taking a long sip before placing the mug down and sighing at the table.

He rested an elbow on the table and held his head as images from the funeral flashed before his mind before everything went blank.

“Has Reine left her room?” Jediah asked as he heard Bryony enter the dining room.

Bryony stopped humming a tune. “No.”

Jediah fought the urge to groan. He loved his sister, but he had a long day ahead of him. He didn’t have time for this. He sighed and was about to stand, when Bryony spoke again.

“Me a go give her breakfast and stay with her,” Bryony said.

Jediah slumped into the chair. He gave her a tired smile. “Thanks, Miss B.”

Bryony returned the gesture before she continued stacking a plate full of food.

Dimitri entered. He stood a short distance away. “Ready?” he asked, and Jediah nodded.

He stood and walked toward Ashari. His brows furrowed as she avoided his gaze. He stopped by her and lowered his body to place a kiss on her forehead while placing a hand on her belly to give it a small rub. “Have a good day, queen.”

“As if I can have a good day with this on my foot,” she muttered.

Jediah pretended not to hear as he straightened himself. He heard the click of a tongue, and shot a glance at Bryony. The older woman shook her head, disappointment shining in her eyes. Jediah sighed, the burden on his shoulders growing heavier as he followed Dimitri to the car.

“Should be Cameron doing this,” Dimitri complained, sitting in the driver’s seat while Jediah sat across from him. He followed the car in front of them.

Another car fell in line behind them. Jediah laid his head back and closed his eyes.

“Your whore called me this morning,” Dimitri added.

“ Essence ,” Jediah corrected.

“You know what she is. Good.”

“Essy is not my whore,” Jediah said, annoyed.

“Not anymore?”

“Why did she call?”

“A check if yu reach home safe and wan’ she come back.”

Jediah’s eyes fluttered open. He focused on the SUV before them before he turned his head to the side. He pretended not to notice Dimitri’s angry scowl. “What did you tell her?”

“That you’re a married man and she’s a whore.”

“Dimitri.”

“Mi tell her seh yu mix all sorts of liquor at the club last night ’cause yu neva have her fi talk to. It’s a miracle yu wake up this morning,” Dimitri said, then glanced at Jediah. “Don’t scare me like that again.”

Jediah wordlessly nodded. Dimitri shifted his focus back to the road.

“I don’t want her to come back…”

“She won’t. She’s making good money at the new club, and mi wouldn’ allow her fi have yu wrapped back ’round her fingers. Not that yu mek a good choice after her,” Dimitri accused, and Jediah didn’t reply. “About Reine…”

Jediah’s fists clenched atop his thighs. “I have a headache. Mi don’ wan’ think ’bout you a grind mi sister.”

“I’ve never—”

Jediah snapped his head to the side, sneering at Dimitri. “Nothing shouldn’ happen in a the first place! Yu don’ see how that sheg up? Yu older than mi, and know mi sister from she a baby! Don’ talk ’bout Essy when you a the same.”

Dimitri gasped and slammed the brakes. The car skidded to a halt by the open gates. “Don’ compare me to dat gyal!”

“Yu shoulda neva look at Reine, dawg. Especially when she tell mi seh the whole reason unu get close a ’cause yu did up in a yu feelings ova Sashoy.”

Dimitri gulped. “There’s more to it than that…

Mi know it seem wrong, but mi wouldn’ even a have this conversation wid yu if mi neva rate Reine.

” His grip on the wheel tightened after Jediah scoffed.

“We never do anything before, and she a no mi girl despite wa yu think. I can’t do it without your blessing. ”

“ My blessing ?” Jediah repeated through clenched teeth, his voice laced with disgust. His anger surged, bubbling hot in every crevice of his body, as Dimitri nodded before continuing through the gates. Jediah scoffed and looked through the window.

Silence filled the remainder of the journey until they arrived at the warehouse. They made their way through the rows of women and men bagging drugs while guards watched them. The two guards stationed before the back room stepped aside to allow Jediah and Dimitri to enter.

The door closed . Reka spun around in her chair while moving her headphones off her head to settle them around her neck. Her bloodshot eyes settled on Jediah, causing his chest to tighten.

“Reka…” he whispered.

“Don’t,” she said with a sniffle.

“Mi neva have a choice.”

“You had a choice,” Reka hissed.

His jaw clenched. She’d never spoken to him like this before.

Reka had always obeyed him and spoke to him with reverence.

It was a stark change that he hated more than words could explain.

But this tightness in his chest was painful.

His heart stopped every time she stared at him through cold eyes.

It had happened every time he entered the room since Tyre’s death.

“The search he did was unauthorized,” Jediah explained for the umpteenth time. “It leaked information to the police and made construction halt at two wholesales that weren’t a part of the initial sweep.”

“It wasn’t unauthorized!” Reka screamed.

“I know Tyre. I loved him like a son. He looks up to you. To all of you,” Reka said, tears filling her eyes as they shifted between Jediah and Dimitri.

“He would never do anything without clearance. He wouldn’t take up such an important task without my instructions.

You killed him ’cause you wanted someone to blame for everything that happened, and he was your easiest target. ”

Jediah’s jaw clenched as he thought of what happened.

Some actions were unforgivable. Jediah had too much product to move with too little time.

All of it couldn’t stockpile into the warehouse, and it wasn’t worth the risk to try moving it to another wholesale, so it had to be kept at the car marts.

The police were always finding new reasons to dig into his business.

Though they hadn’t lately, he was on edge.

It only took one warrant from a paid off judge for them to do a sweep, and everything he worked hard for would crash down.

“You could’ve given me his body to bury it,” Reka continued. “But you left him at sea like he was nobody. Tyre was more. He meant something to you. To me. I guess all I’ve ever done for you doesn’t matter ’cause I’m not Ash—”

His eyes narrowed. “Consider your next move carefully, Reka.”

She lifted her chin. Anger still sizzled beneath her skin as she swallowed her words. Her hand darted out, snatching a file folder off the desk. She stretched it toward him. “Here’s everything I could find.”

Exhaling a heavy breath, he stepped forward. Jediah accepted the folder from her. He opened it to the first page, and his mouth dried as he scanned the page.

“Everything you need about her is in there,” Reka added. “Take some time to read through it. There’s something in there that will surprise you.”

Jediah flipped to the next page. “Nothing caan’ surprise mi at this point.”

Reka spun her chair around. Her fingers soared across the keyboard as she resumed working. “It will when you read it.”

Jediah read through a page twice. The funeral replayed in his mind. He exhaled a ragged breath, closing his eyes as he tossed his head back. He needed a cigar or two. Then, he needed to be deep inside Ashari’s pussy.

“A wa?” Dimitri asked, moving closer to Jediah.

“Kayon knew she was alive,” Jediah answered.

Saying the words out loud hurt more than reading them.

His chest tightened as he opened his eyes after Dimitri snatched the file.

As Dimitri flipped through it, Jediah said, “She didn’t die in the accident.

She was badly hurt like Kayon. Bryony didn’t allow us to visit them because—”

“She knew about it?” Dimitri asked, clenching the file tighter as he looked from it to Jediah.

Jediah shook his head. “She didn’t visit them either because she had to take care of us. Remember that comms changed during that time? That’s what Bryony relied on to give us updates.”

Dimitri hummed, then continued reading. “Kayon did upset ’bout the possibility seh him did a go cripple fi life, and him tek it out pon Malia. So, wa happen? Him did a hide her, or she escape him?”

“That’s what I need to figure out. Maybe if you had a reason to believe that she was alive, I could’ve dug deeper into the hospital records,” Reka said.

“Did Cedella know?” Jediah asked.

“I’ll try to find out,” Reka said. “So, if you’ll excuse me… I need to get to work before it takes too long to gather and makes you kill me next.”

Jediah groaned. “Reka…”

Dimitri patted Jediah’s shoulder. He tucked the file beneath his arm and exited the room.

With one last glance at Reka, Jediah exited, too.

Jediah ran his tongue across the top row of his teeth before moving the bottle of brown liquor to his head.

He took a big chug. The liquor burned his throat.

Jediah groaned aloud, yanking the bottle from his mouth then throwing it at the headstone.

The bottle smashed into tens of pieces, flying outward in various directions.

Different sizes of shards settled atop the white tiles of the grave, reflecting the sun while other pieces fell between the vivid green blades of low cut grass.

The brown liquid trailed down the curves engraved into the headstone.

Knowing all he did now, the letters made his blood boil.