Page 79 of Trial of Deceit

Chapter twenty

present

Standinginthedoorway,Jediah gritted his teeth as he watched Bryony rub ointment on Ashari’s back.

Footsteps padded toward him and stopped behind him.“It’s done,” Elias said, but Jediah didn’t react.“The guests are waiting for you to give your speech, Jed.”

He still couldn’t tear his gaze off Ashari.Her screams had been music to his ears.He wanted her to hurt.He thought he would’ve felt better if he wasn’t the one to do it, but the tears rolling down her cheeks made him wonder if he’d taken it too far this time.

Bryony got up from the bed, grabbing a bottle of water off the bedside table.Ashari tried propping herself up on her elbows to drink, but Bryony shook her head.“Stay, Ash.I’ll go get you a straw.”

“Okay,” Ashari rasped.

Jediah gulped.The lump in his throat was hard to swallow.Bryony walked toward him, glaring as she pushed past.Seeing Elias, she paused to shake her head, then hurried down the hallway.

Ashari groaned as she moved to lie on her side while glancing at him.Their eyes met.Her teary ones bore into his as he feigned passiveness.His eyes drifted down her battered body, breaking his façade of calm as his jaws clenched.

“Jediah, the ball,” Elias said, and Jediah nodded, turning away as Ashari winced.

Placing one hand in his pocket, he used the other to grab his jacket from Elias as they went downstairs.They exited the main house, walking toward the warehouse at the far end of the property while Elias gave a rundown of the situation.

“The Majors aren’t here.They’re stuck in traffic.”

“Raven, too?”

“After the stunt she pulled on Kirani, I’m not sure he’ll allow her to come,” Elias said and handed Jediah a jacket.

Jediah resisted the urge to chuckle.Raven was interesting.How’d she managed to steal Kirani’s product and sell it?He doubted Kirani had made a profit off of it.Either way, Jediah didn’t care.He’d gotten his cut from the deal, and that was all that mattered.

“The rest of the family will miss the main event, but they assured me they’ll be here later,” Elias continued.

Jediah nodded while pausing outside a door.Chatter over classical music drifted from beneath the door.He shrugged his jacket on.

“Wait,” Elias said.He reached forward to wipe a spec of blood off Jediah’s black tie with his thumb.“Go ahead now.”

Jediah watched as Elias opened the door, then stepped aside so he could enter.The nearest patrons paused mid-conversation to glance toward the doors as Elias closed them, flutes clutched between their fingers while their wallets or purses were heavy in their pockets or hands.Beyond them, servers had a circular silver tray in hand while they weaved through the crowd of politicians, investors, and prissy rich people, who were ready to flaunt their status through wealth by being among the night’s highest donors.Classical music drifted from the live band on the makeshift stage at the front of the room.Stage lights casted shadows of the musician’s bodies as they rocked to the music, some with their eyes closed while others were focused on their music sheet stands.

Jediah moved forward.He offered a kind smile to anyone who made eye-contact with him.While approaching the stage, he noticed people drifting into the room from the four opened doors of the room — the fifth was closed because it led to the kitchen.The band’s music slowed to an end, and the crowd erupted into a long cheer, while Jediah climbed the two steps onto the stage.

He cleared his throat before taking the mic.His eyes roamed over the crowd, skimming past faces in the most polite way he could muster.He didn’t want to entertain any eye-contact for longer than necessary.He was tired of smiling.His jaw already hurt from clenching it so hard earlier, and now his cheeks were starting to ache, too.

“Thank you all for coming tonight,” Jediah said in faux enthusiasm.“My father extends his apologies for his absence.He has been out of the spotlight since his accident, and I’m sure you’ve all heard that his health took a turn for the worst a little over a year ago.Therefore, it is with great pleasure that I continue this tradition he started seventeen years ago.As you all know, tonight’s a special night.Richardson Motorswillexpand into the East of Jamaica, and half of the first year’s profits will be donated to this foundation.”

Applause and murmurs of approval flowed from the crowd.A series of camera flashes went off from the photographers Jediah had hired.They were the only ones capturing memories of the night so everyone else could be occupied with mingling.In addition to being a donation ball, this was also one of the only occasions many attendees got to indulge in guilty pleasures.They had to be careful with how they were perceived by the media because many weren’t here with their legally recognized partners, while others were trying drugs in the bathrooms for the first time.Anything that got out beyond the sum of their large donations could jeopardize reputations.The donors’ insistence for Jediah to be the one with full control of documenting the night’s events made him pretend to be unaware of what many of them were doing, and he would happily continue to oblige so long as their money kept flowing.

Some tension left Jediah’s stature as the emcee walked toward him from the left.Jediah glanced at the man as he stood beside him.

The emcee congratulated Jediah on his future investments, then asked him questions for the next few minutes.“Now, Mr.Richardson, I must ask.Where’s the missus?I caught a glimpse of her dancing with you earlier, but many of us — including myself — have never gotten a chance to formally meet her.Tonight’s such a pivotal night for you.Could you do us the honor?”

Fighting the urge to swallow, Jediah forced another smile.“Actually, she—”

“I’m right here,” came a voice from the back of the crowd.

Jediah almost got whiplash as he spun his head in that direction.His mouth dried as Ashari walked through the space that the crowd had formed for her.She held him captive in eyes that swirled with a mix of raw emotions — too many to decipher, too powerful for him to understand.She grinned, leaving him unsure if his smile had faltered, or if he looked like a fool still smiling with numb facial muscles.

The world was caving in on him.Ashari was the center of his tunnel vision while his heart pounded at an alarmingly fast rate.His throat dried.His tongue darted out, but he wasn’t sure if it wetted his bottom lip as he trailed it along it.Her head was held high, her shoulders straight as she took assertive steps toward the stage.

As the crowd closed behind her, Elias stepped forward.He hurried toward Ashari, offering her a hand to mount the stairs.Ashari broke Jediah’s stare to look Elias in the eye, and her eyes ticked fleetingly, before she mocked Jediah’s fake smile.She muttered a thanks while laying her hand in Elias’, allowing him to help her up the stairs.