Page 109 of Trial of Deceit

Jediah paused at the door, one hand tucked inside his jacket.His finger grazed the cigar travel case.“You’re the man of their house, but you didn’t think about them.”

“No!”came a loud wail from behind Jediah.

Jediah rolled his eyes and moved the cigar to his mouth.With his mind still processing the influx of information from his earlier meeting, he didn’t have time for anyone’s antics.He took a long puff as the mixer truck reversed.It stopped short of the building’s foundation, then emptied cement into it.

The sound of something falling made Jediah look over his shoulder.Iyana was kneeling on the rocky ground, her hands by her side and her shoulders drooping.Her mouth was agape, but no sound escaped as tears continued to roll down her cheeks.

Jediah removed the cigar from his mouth.He savored the taste of the tobacco on his tongue before exhaling the smoke.He stepped toward the woman.Not because he wanted to, but because he needed to walk by her to get to the entrance of the site.

Iyana’s eyes shifted to his.They lacked the shine he’d grown up seeing.“After all Elias did for you and y-your family, this is how you repay him?Us?”she forced out, her voice cracking.

Jediah stooped before her, resting his arms atop his knees.He scowled at her tears.“He betrayed me first.”

“We did it because he got threatened!”Iyana cried, her hands shaking at her sides as they balled into a fist.

“We?”Jediah asked, and she sucked in a breath.Noting her slip up, a small smirk came on his face.He took a puff from his cigar, then blew the fumes toward her.He ignored how she glared at him through the fading cloud between them.“Out of my love for Howie, I’m making you live.”

Another loud sob ripped from her mouth.Dropping her head, she shook it.Her teethclickedagainst each other while her lips trembled.“He d-didn’t want to let you down again.”

“He didn’t let me down the first two times.It wasn’t his fault,” Jediah said.“But now he’s dead and can always look up at the place he loves so much.”Jediah dug into his pocket, finding a coil of money to toss at Iyana’s feet.“Tell Howie the tooth fairy visited early.I know you’re not going to want me around her for a while, and I won’t disappoint her like you and your husband did me.”Jediah straightened himself and returned to the car, driving himself to Cedella’s hospital.

His heart raced as he entered an empty hospital room.

Where was Ashari?!

About to pull his gun out and demand answers from the first nurse he could find, Jediah halted when he remembered they were with Bryony.

Sitting on a chair on the balcony, Ashari looked over her shoulders as the door slid open.She sneered at Dimitri.

“Jed’s orders,” Dimitri said before she could demand he leave.“He says he’ll be home soon.”

Ashari huffed and looked away.“I’m alright, as you can see.”

Dimitri didn’t reply.Instead, he moved to the chair across from her.He stood behind it and crossed his arms behind his back.He allowed a moment of silence to pass before he asked, “How are you?”

Ashari stiffened.Her brows furrowed.To her knowledge, Dimitri wasn’t one to ask about children.But she wouldn’t allow that to bother her.For, he was asking something that no one else had asked her.Everyone else was concerned about the health of the baby.

Jediah had got a top notch NICU unit made in an empty wing of the house.Cedella and her team transferred into the wing and worked around the clock to ensure the baby survived these incredibly vulnerable weeks.

“I’m… not okay,” Ashari confessed.

Dimitri sat on the chair.He stretched his arms across the arm rest, stared at her, waiting for her to speak.

Ashari looked at the trees in the garden.She understood why Kayon was fascinated by the property; it was beautiful from every angle.“All my life, I’ve lived in my brother’s shadow.No matter how hard I worked.No matter how much I tried.I’ve never had my own spotlight, and it’s not a good way to live.The case was supposed to take me out of it, and it did, but not in a good way.”

“But you got what you wanted.”

“A child I’m scared to look at, and a husband who will kill me — for sure, this time — if I cross him again?”

“Then don’t.”

“I won’t.”

“And the baby?”

“It won’t bother you?”

He shook his head.“Not anymore.”

---