Page 55 of Trial of Deceit

Finally remembering which wing was Reine’s, she took brisk steps down the hallways until she stood before the bedroom’s door.Ashari knocked once, willing her heart to steady as the door cracked open.

Reine’s eyes widened briefly before returning to their normal size.A delayed smile came to her face.“A-Ash…”

“Not who you were expecting?”Ashari asked, her brow raising.

Reine cleared her throat and straightened herself.“Mi just surprise you a talk to me.Think yu woulda still angry because I tricked you for my brother.”

Ashari shook her head.“I’m not upset about that.I would’ve done anything for my brother, too…” she admitted, gulping hard as Romar’s dirt-speckled face flashed across her mind.

Reine sensed the change in Ashari.Her eyes softened.“I’m sorry… Jed can be extreme sometimes.”

“I know, but I didn’t come here for that.”Ashari locked away the memory of Romar where she kept her nightmares.She looked around the empty hallway before leaning forward while lowering her voice.“You say you’re sorry, right?”she asked, and Reine nodded.“I know how you can make it up to me.”

Reine’s eyes narrowed in scrutiny.“Why mi feel like Jed don’ know ’bout this?”

“He doesn’t.”

Reine shook her head.“Mi never gon’ go against mi brother’s words if a that yu come here fi convince me fi do.”

“So, you wouldn’t care if he knows about your relationship with his friend?”

Reine’s eyes widened as she gasped.She opened the door wider, reached her arm out, locked her fingers around Ashari’s wrist, and yanked her into the room before slamming the door shut.She took them to the furthest corner in the room and lowered her voice.“How yu know ’bout that?!”

Ashari smirked.“Worry ’bout me telling Jed if you don’ help me.”

“Don’ talk Patois.Yu sound terrible,” Reine hissed.Friendliness vanished from her eyes while she crossed her arms.“Wa yu want?”

“I want to know how I can sneak out of the house without Jed knowing.”

“Yu caan’ sneak out.You’re his wife.Anything can happen to yu—”

“You’re not supposed to sneak out either, but I’m willing to bet that you do it a lot,” Ashari challenged, and Reine pursed her lips.Ashari gave Reine a pressing stare, the threat of blackmail looming in the tense air between them.

She sighed.“Fine… There’s a way, but it very risky.And yu have fi do it during the shift rotation of the guard dem.”

Ashari nodded.She listened keenly as Reine advised her how to sneak out.After Reine finished, Ashari returned to the bedroom she shared with Jediah.She ensured the door was closed before she went to the back of the large walk-in closet.Jediah had given her half and told her she could use his space if she desired, but she was yet to further intrude, despite him not seeming bothered by it.

As she lowered herself onto the floor, her ring caught her attention.The beauty of the sparkling cushion cut diamond made her lips slowly spread into a smile.

Ashari’s heart skipped a beat at the realization.Her guilt morphed into anger and sheer determination as she tightly pursed her lips.She didn’t want to wonder about how he got this ring within a few hours of her professing herself his wife.The answer was much simpler than anything her heart wanted to trick her into believing that it could be: he was Jediah Richardson.Ashari was sure if he wanted the world to stop spinning, it would be done at his command.

She removed an earring from her ear, then held it against the back of her phone.She was sure Jediah had a bug on this phone, but this earring was high-tech.It was embedded with a chip linked to a secure website made by Tsai.

The pop-up came on the phone, and Ashari inputted her access code.It loaded quickly, and she pressed play on the intel gathered today.

“Since there’s no other way, I think we will have to continue moving guns through the new construction site,” Elias finally said.

Jediah scoffed.“Wisdom don’ come wid age.Mi been seh this.”

“You’re right just this once, Jediah.But, what should I tell Iyana?”

“Iyana knows you’re not a saint, so don’t worry.Tell her to look through the paperwork for the most skilled blue collars.The ones who have the most to lose and gain, single them out.”

“I can do that right now,” Reka said.

“No,” Jediah declined.“I need you and Tyre to focus on finding out if they found anything.Iyana needs to be prepared, just in case… Can’t be too careful.”

Ashari sucked in a breath as she remembered how Jediah trailed a finger along her inner thigh after saying those last four words.“Focus,” she mumbled, crossing one leg over the other before resuming the recordings.

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