Page 51 of Trial of Deceit

Reka raised a perfectly arched brow.“You?”

Ashari pursed her lips, unsure how to voice her conflicting emotions.

“Exactly.Don’t act like you’re better than me.You’ve always been that way — only looking out for yourself.Now I’m starting to remember why we wouldn’t have worked in the first place,” Reka spat, turning red from anger.

Tears rushed to Ashari’s eyes.“Ididlove you.”

Reka scoffed.Her eyes darted to the doorknob as it rattled.“You loved what I could do for you.”She returned to her seat as the door opened, and Ashari quickly wiped the tears away.

Elias and Jediah entered the room.Jediah stormed over, stopping by Reka and lighting his cigar.He took a sharp puff and tightly clung to it after he removed it from his mouth.“Check the wholesale’s cameras.”

“Which one?”Reka asked.

“The one being built in St.Mary.Obviously,” Elias answered.

“Reine was about to drop off the books to Iyana this morning when she saw officials from the Parish Council requesting paperwork.They must’ve been fishing for something because the police were lingering at the entrance,” Jediah added.

“Did they find anything?”Reka asked.

“Not sure.They didn’t enter the site.I doubt they had a warrant,” Elias said.“This is why I advised Jediah to not use the construction sites as temporary storage for the guns while Cameron handles the backlog of the car imports.There’s no explaining drugsandguns to the police.It is too risky for us to continue like this.”

“Some risks are worth taking,” Jediah said, his eyes darting to Ashari.

She turned away from him quickly.“Where’s the restroom?”

“Open the door and ask one of the guards to show you,” Jediah said, and Ashari nodded before complying.

The guard led her to the large room of workers, then down a quiet hallway.He pushed open a door, then pointed toward another one.“A the first door down that hallway.”

“Thanks,” Ashari muttered, taking uneven steps toward the door.Her shoesclackedon the floor, echoing off the walls.She was sure she heard murmuring, but it quieted quickly.Ashari’s brows narrowed as she entered the hallway, seeing nothing except more doors and another hallway.She opened the first door, waited a few seconds before pulling it shut, then steadied her breathing.

“Think dem gone in a the bathroom,” came a male voice.“What you did was risky.”

“I know, but it’s me.Him naa go vex ’bout a white lie fi long,” came a response.

“He will when he finds out about us.”

“Jed can’t kill you.Him need yu, and mi won’ mek him tek yu from me.”

A low smack as lips met made Ashari’s mouth slacken.She opened the bathroom door, then closed it again.After she rejoined the guard, he led her back to the security room.

Elias stood by a printer, occasionally glancing at his watch while fiddling with his purple tie that had orange lightning bolts on it.Jediah was sitting in a chair, glaring at the screen Reka was focused on.Reka laid her hands on Tyre’s shoulder, massaging them and giving him words of encouragement as he did something on the screen that was far too complicated for Ashari to understand.Now she wished she’d had a more interest in computer classes; maybe she could piece together what illegalities they were working on.

Ashari walked toward Jediah and sat on his lap.Jediah paused in moving his cigar to his mouth, and straightened as his hand found Ashari’s ass.Reka glanced at them as Jediah leaned in to take a waft of Ashari’s neck.

“You smell good,” he murmured before placing a soft kiss on her neck.A chill ran through her body that made him smirk.

She crossed one leg over the other.“Thank you…” Ashari whispered, hoping he couldn’t sense her discomfort as Reka continued staring at her.

Jediah moved his hand from her ass.He wrapped his arm around her waist and splayed his fingers over her thighs.Ashari’s eyes locked onto the blade tattoo on his finger while he used his thumb to rub her thigh.Jediah moved his mouth close to her ear, his breath fanning her skin as he whispered, “Does it still feel like a mistake?”

Ashari shook her head.She turned her face to the side so she could see Jediah instead of Reka.Ashari tried and failed to ignore Reka’s heated stare, burning into her skin with the ferocity of a thousand buried, broken memories, as she stared into Jediah’s eyes and proudly told him, “No… Not at all.”

Chapter twelve

Jediahcrossedhisarmsbehind him, staring through the window as the sun fell behind the hills in the distance.He’d returned from the warehouse a few hours ago.Ashari was in the gazebo in the backyard coloring, and he had to be here.He’d rather be with her, being amused by how fascinated she always seemed to be by such a childish act.

A mechanicalwhircame from inside the room, getting louder as it approached Jediah from behind, then stopped beside him.The faint sound of the joystick sounded over the jazz playing on a recorder before the computerized voice said, “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

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