Page 45 of Trial of Deceit

“I don’t think pigs can do that either,” Elias added.

“No.Him might be right… But mi don’ too sure,” Cameron said, placing Barrel back onto his lap.He used the hem of his shirt to pat Barrel’s snout.

“Only thing yu sure ’bout a yu pixelated girlfriend,” Dimitri teased.

Cameron gasped.“She’s real!”

Jediah scowled as Dimitri opened his mouth to further poke at Cameron.“Unu done?Or mi need fi mek unu stand up in a waa corner, face the wall, and count to hundred like the children you are?”

Snickering, Dimitri shifted his focus to Jediah.“We’re done.”

“You and Tyre don’ need fi continue,” Jediah said to Cameron.“Mi have more important things fi worry ’bout.”

“Like what?”Elias asked, exasperated.

Jediah smirked, moving the cigar to his mouth.“A wedding.”

Entering the room, Ashari looked around.All the furniture was made from dark wood and varnished with a glossy coat.Jediah’s cologne still lingered in the air.The door slammed shut behind her, and she turned around.Faced with a scowling woman, Ashari forced a smile as she extended her hand.“I’m Ashari.Nice to meet you.”

Bryony crossed her arms.“How yu meet Jediah?”

Ashari pulled her hand back to her side.“At a club.”

“How long ago?”

“Why does it matter?”

“Because Jed was engaged to a very nice girl, and now yu come outta nowhere weeks after she died,” Bryony stated before saying through clenched teeth, “I.Don’t.Trust.You.”

Ashari stared at Bryony, reminding herself not to scowl.“You don’t have to trust me.Jed does… and that’s the only thing that matters to me,” Ashari said with faux sweetness.

“Something don’ right ’bout yu,Ashari,” Bryony said with disdain.Bryony scrutinized her from head to toe.“I will find out what it is.I won’t allow you to hurt Jed—” She paused as the door opened and in came Jediah.

Jediah lingered by the door.“Yu naa give mi wife problems, Miss B?”

Bryony huffed and exited the room.Jediah closed the door, then faced Ashari.He walked toward her, and she backed away until she fell onto the bed.A smirk came on his face as he stared down at her.The look in his eyes was so intense that it made Ashari breathe hard.She didn’t know if he wanted to kill her or worse… continue where they’d left offthat night.

She sucked in a breath as Jediah crawled over her body.His weight pressed into her smaller frame, his strong cologne infiltrating her rationale.

Jediah’s hands laced around her wrists.Ashari struggled against him, but he managed to pin her hands to the bed on either side of her body.Leaning forward, he buried his head in the crook of her neck.“I want you so bad,” he murmured while kissing where her neck met her shoulder.

Ashari shivered, making a mental note to scrub the skin raw tonight.“You’re confusing.”

“How?”

“’Cause you know who I am, but you asked me to marry you.I can’t figure out what you’re playing at, and it scares me ’cause…”

“Because?”he asked, and she couldn’t find an answer that he was worthy of hearing.He pulled away to look at her, his brows raised.“Because of what, Ashari?”

She licked her lips as she stared into his eyes.“’Cause I want you, too,” she whispered, scared someone was listening.“But this can’t happen.”

He smirked and leaned in.“Why not?”

“You’re a criminal,” she said, her breathing ragged as his lips brushed hers.She pressed backward into the bed, trying to create some space between them.“A-and I’m a—”

“Don’t say it.Not here,” he said, amusement shining in his eyes as he watched her try to shrink beneath him.His eyes drifted from her lips to her eyes, and the tiniest smirk came on his mouth.

Ashari tightly snapped her eyes shut, her breath catching in her throat as Jediah drew closer still.His lips must have parted, for she could hear his breathing much louder now.It fanned across her face in tantalizing waves, stimulating the finest of hairs all over her skin with its faint tobacco fragrance.