Page 55 of Trial of Deceit (The Family’s Oath #1)

Chapter thirty-four

“I shouldn’t be doing this,” Ashari grumbled while wiping at the wound on his eyebrow.

Jediah hissed as Ashari pressed the alcoholic wipe harder against his skin. He wanted to demand that she be gentle, but he refrained because he knew this was his fault. How’d he manage to drink himself into such a stupor that he fell face-first into Kayon’s grave?

Jediah clutched the cigar between his fingers more tightly. Things were already not going as smoothly as he’d liked.

“You need stitches,” Ashari said, tossing the wipe into the nearby bin and standing. She peered down at him as he sat on the ottoman with a bottle of water by his feet. “I’m gonna get Cedella—”

“No.”

“Dedrian?”

“ No ,” Jediah insisted. “I’m paying them to take care of the baby. Not me. The F.B.I. must’ve taught you something. Grab the needle.” He grabbed her arm and pulled her forward.

Ashari nibbled her bottom lip after Jediah released her. She reached for whatever she needed in the first aid kit, then got to work. Jediah hissed as the needle dug into his skin.

“Want something to numb the pain?” she asked.

Watching her through his one opened eye, Jediah smiled. He loved it whenever she showed how much she cared about him. “Put yu pussy pon mi cocky.”

“Jediah.”

He chuckled. “No, queen. I’m good. Just get it over with.”

“Alright. ’Cause I shouldn’t be doing this anyway,” she grumbled as he took a quick puff from a cigar.

“Then don’t. Afta a no the first me a get injured.”

Scowling, Ashari yanked the cigar from his hand. “Stop acting invincible, Jediah!” she yelled, her voice breaking from exasperation.

“I am once I’m in this country. Nobody caan’ touch mi.”

Ashari glared.

Jediah anticipated her move.

He grabbed her wrist before she could press the red ring of flame into his wound. His grip tightened on her while he used his other hand to yank the cigar away. “Why yu so tormented?”

“’Cause you act like you don’t care about anything in your personal life.”

“That’s not true. I care about Reine.”

“What about yourself?” she interrupted. “What about me? Us? You knew how I was hurt when I thought Sashoy’s baby was yours, and you didn’t try to clear things up.

You made Bryony do it. You’re trying to be everywhere all at once to ensure everybody’s okay, then you come to me, needing to be patched up, and no one else gets to see you like this. ”

A lump formed in his throat while tears shone in Ashari’s eyes. Did she really care this much about him?

Ashari continued to stare at him. After a moment, she shook her head, then resumed stitching. Jediah knew she’d been waiting on a specific answer from him, but it wasn’t one he was able to give.

Not now.

Not like this.

Not when all the pieces on the chessboard had shifted, erasing all his meticulously calculated moves from its play. The rules changed. He was now playing a game too new for him to truly understand.

Jediah moved his cigar to his lips. It hovered inches before his mouth as he said the next best thing, “Mi wish mi coulda be like you, who can escape this life, but still come back to it every chance yu get.”

“I didn’t come back just ’cause I was pregnant. I didn’t find out about that until a few days before I was already planning to leave. I came back ’cause I found out that Malia’s alive.”

“ What ?” Jediah hissed, ready to go on an angry rant about why she made it hard to trust her at times. Was she playing him again? She’d pretended to be shocked when he told her about his mother being alive.

“Ashari, two. Jediah, three,” she taunted, causing Jediah’s jaw to tighten.

Ashari chuckled at his reaction before explaining, “The F.B.I. found her in disguise at a youth conference Isley and some other politicians were hosting. They put a tail on her and were gonna use it to make you slip up, but I… didn’t want that.

So, I came to give you a heads up. Even though the truth would’ve hurt you, you deserved to know that Kayon knew that Malia wasn’t dead.

You helped me to find clarity about my parents, and after everything that’s happened, I thought it was the least I could do for you. ”

The emotion in her voice pulled at his racing heart. Jediah couldn’t look away from her.

Those long lashes framing tired eyes.

Those plump lips that were agape while she awaited an answer.

The corner of his mouth twitched a little, the action not lost to Ashari. A tiny smile came on her face as she shifted her focus back to the wound.

Maybe this time she understood what he wanted to say.

There was some solace in that.

“Anyway, I guess coming back to tell you doesn’t matter now,” Ashari continued as he tossed the cigar into the nearby bin. “If you hate it here so much, why didn’t you leave?”

“I couldn’t do that. Who would take care of my sister? Run the family? Plan Kayon’s inevitable funeral? Put food on my workers’ tables?” Jediah asked, sighing. “If I could leave, I would’ve been on the first flight to one of the Richardson islands.”

“Why not the great land of America?” she teased.

Jediah dryly laughed. “Yu swear yu funny, Ash.”

She chuckled. “Until you told me, I never knew that your family owned islands.”

“Yes, agent. Dem never teach you that at Richardson School?”

“No. Go way.”

Jediah groaned. “Don’t start with the bad Patois again. Please.”

Ashari chuckled. Finished with the stitches, she disappeared into the bathroom to clean up.

When she returned, she straddled his lap.

Jediah wrapped both his arms around her waist. Cedella had assured him that she was healing perfectly from the induced labor, but Jediah was still mindful of the excess fat that remained on his wife’s tummy.

A part of him was convinced that her body hadn’t fully accepted the fact that the baby that should’ve still been growing inside her was expelled three months too early.

Jediah placed a long kiss on her forehead. He smiled against her skin as she relaxed further against him, lazily wrapping her arms around his body. “Do you want to color and eat strawberries?”

She shook her head. “I just want to lay with you for a while. I know you’ll soon be off to save the Richardson world.”

“Earlier, you said you love me,” he said.

Her brows furrowed. “So?”

“Do you mean it?”

“Yes,” she answered without missing a beat.

Jediah’s heart raced. He smiled. “I knew you would. I told you I’m patient,” he teased, and she chuckled. The sweet sound made his smile stretch. “I love you, too.”

“I know,” she bragged, her eyes shining.

“Who’s the cocky one now?” Jediah teased.

“Still you.”

Shaking his head with a slight chuckle, Jediah felt along her curves as he moved his hands downward.

He cupped her ass, then lifted her. He laid them on the bed, Ashari still atop him, while his hands grazed her back, passing over the ridges on her skin.

With time, Jediah was hopeful they’d be gone completely.

“I’m sorry…” he whispered.

Ashari didn’t answer.

They lay in silence.

Ashari didn’t ask for more detail about his meeting with his mother.

He didn’t wonder how his mother was liking her cell. Wasn’t curious how everyone was taking time to cool off.

The only thing he was sure of was now, and he wanted to make the most of it with his wife. It wasn’t every day he experienced such an almost dream-like state of peace. His mind wasn’t working overtime trying to keep his sister safe. The lack of responsibility was beyond relaxing.

“Ash?” Jediah said.

“Hmm?” she asked, her voice hazy as if she’d been falling asleep.

“You know I love you, right?”

“Yes.”

He smiled, wishing he could hold her closer than he already did. “Good.”

Ashari leaned off of him. She looked down at him with a smile, then pressed her lips against his.

The action stunned Jediah temporarily. He recovered fast, then returned her slow kiss with the same hot passion she kissed him with.

Ashari was the first to pull away, only because a knock came on the door.

“Jediah,” came Dimitri’s voice.

Jediah groaned, closing his eyes after Ashari looked over her shoulder at the door. “Go away, Dimitri. I’m spending time with my wife.”

“No, it’s okay. I’ve been hogging you for the past half hour. You can return to your responsibilities,” Ashari said, moving out of his hold. Now standing beside the bed, she said, “I’m gonna spend time with the baby.”

Jediah’s heart skipped a beat. A lump formed in his throat, hard to swallow while he nodded. Ashari gave him a small smile before moving toward the door. She opened it, nodded at Dimitri, who gave her a quick smile, then walked down the hallway.

Jediah’s brow raised. “You’re best friends with Ash now?”

“Scared she a go tek mi from yu?” Dimitri asked plainly.

Jediah dryly laughed and came out of the bed. He walked toward Dimitri, who turned and began walking down the hallway. They fell into stride while heading toward the office.

“You know that I’m going to find Charlie and kill her, right? I can’t have a loose end running around like that.”

“She’s dead,” Dimitri assured. “Why mi woulda eva go behind yu back?”

“Fi grind mi sister.”

“I haven’t—” Dimitri released a long sigh, then dragged his hand down his face. “Mi just seh dat fi mek Ash feel better.”

“Better be.”

Inside the office, Jediah got the chessboard ready while Dimitri closed the door.

After the door slammed shut, Dimitri spun around. Rage stormed in his eyes as he stomped toward Jediah. “Mi don’ eva question yu, but this?”

“Sit,” Jediah said while staring at the board. He didn’t look away until Dimitri made the first move. Calculating what move he wanted to make, Jediah ignored Dimitri’s scorching glare. “You’ve met her?”

“No,” Dimitri answered. “Not yet. Bryony don’ wan’ mi near the nursery until me calm.”

“Are you?”

“Mi sound calm?” Dimitri hissed.

Brow raising, Jediah spared a glance at Dimitri. Dimitri’s jaw was clenched tight, his lips twisted into a livid scowl. Jediah shifted his focus back to the board, then made his first move.

“When Sashoy found out that she was pregnant, she came to me. She explained that she was scared about how you’d react because the Jordyn accident was still fresh,” Jediah explained. “Your move.”

Dimitri didn’t glance at the board as he grabbed a rook and placed it haphazardly somewhere. “W-wa?”

Irritated by Dimitri’s clumsiness, Jediah fixed the piece.

He considered his next play. “She wanted to abort the baby and solely focus on helping you to get your mental health in check, but I knew that wasn’t the right thing to do.

You’ve been engaged to her for five years and have been trying to get a child—” Jediah paused, swallowing the urge to chuckle as a memory hit him.

It’d been comical listening to Cameron jest that Dimitri wasn’t capable of making a woman pregnant.

“I know it’d send you completely over the edge if she’d gone through with it.

So, I gave her a less stressful environment to safely carry and deliver the baby. ”

“Environment?” Dimitri asked as if the word was foreign. “Who else knew?”

“Cedella, of course,” Jediah stated. “I’d never trust anyone else with Dimitria’s life.”

“Dimitria… Her name’s Dimitria.”

Reaching for a pawn, Jediah paused. His focus dragged to the man across the table. Dimitri had a small, tender smile on his face. Full of disbelief. Already full of love for an almost six-month-old daughter he didn’t know.

“Reka also knew,” Jediah added. “Then, I had to tell Cameron.”

The wistful expression faded from Dimitri’s face. He gulped hard before telling Jediah, “Thanks.”

Jediah nodded. He leaned back in his chair, watching Dimitri carefully.

“Mi understand why yu do it, but…”

“What’s your move?”

“I love Reine,” Dimitri confessed, no regret tainting his expression when Jediah glared at him. “Mi know yu don’ wan’ hear dat, but I do.”

“She loves you, too…” Jediah admitted. “Reine probably went to Bryony already. Bryony must’ve explained everything that I told her when I brought Sashoy home a few hours ago.”

“But mi also love Sashoy. She match mi in a ways mi caan’ even explain. Yu know how mi love her, dawg.”

Jediah nodded. “Yes.”

“When we stop hear from her, mi think she did gone back to her old life of petty crime. Mi swear she neva mean it when she say she woulda deh by mi side until mi get better.”

“She meant it. But becoming a mother changes priorities.”

Dimitri sighed. He quieted for a while, then asked, “Will she stay?” Dimitri sighed again after Jediah shrugged. “Then how me a go see Dimitria? Mi want a life wid her. Mi lose mi father at a young age. Mi caan’ afford fi mi youth grow up and don’ know mi.”

Jediah gulped hard, wondering if Dimitri realized he said the quiet part out loud. Jediah shuffled about the chair. “That can be arranged… if it’s what Sashoy wants. You have a lot that you need to figure out.”

Dimitri huffed. He propped an elbow atop the abandoned chessboard, then rested his head in his hand. “Mi caan’ choose.”

“You have to,” Jediah said, glancing toward the door as a fist tapped against it. “Come in.”

Bryony entered the room. Her glasses were tucked haphazardly into her hair.

“A go tek another walk,” Dimitri said while standing.

Jediah nodded. He resetted the board while Dimitri left the room and Bryony marched toward him.

“Mi just talk to Ash,” Bryony announced, crossing one arm over the other.

“She told you?” he asked, daring to glance at Bryony. Jediah wasn’t surprised to find her livid, but he didn’t expect it to have him second-guessing himself like this. “You can’t change our minds.”

Bryony frowned. “Giving unu baby up fi adoption a no waa sensible decision.”

“You’re saying that because you’re already attached.”

“No. Mi a say it ’cause that baby is a Richardson,” Bryony insisted. “Wa unu mean by give weh? How unu know the overseas agency actually trustworthy? This is nonsense. Me will take care of the baby while unu sort out whatever it is unu a go through.”

“A dat we a do. No time’s better than now.”

Bryony’s brows furrowed. “Wa yu mean?”

Jediah looked at the chessboard. Every piece sat comfortably in their designated spots. “My mother is back for her empire, and I will give it to her.”