Page 78 of Trial of Deceit

Jediah’s brows furrowed as he looked at her.“We?”he asked, wondering if being momentarily lost in his thoughts made him mishear, or if it was the lingering effects of the drugs.

Reine nodded.“You knew who Ash was, yet you still decided to love her.After what happened, everyone’s going to find it hard to see past you sleeping with the enemy.They’ll want to question your leadership.Whatever happens, you know I stand beside you.”

“I know, but I don’t want you to worry about me.No one in this family is brave enough to challenge me, so complaints about Ash won’t phase me.I know what I was getting into when I married her.Everyone’s in check.And it’s not we… it’s just me.I want you to focus on school and the books.Nothingelse.”

Reine nodded after a moment, then exclaimed, “And my birthday!I want a boat party this year!”

He stiffened at the mention of Reine’s birthday in December.She knew she had him wrapped around her fingers since she was a baby, and demanded more extravagant birthday parties for every year.If Kayon hadn’t carved them a legacy that couldn’t be undone, Jediah wondered how he would’ve been able to keep up with his sister’s refined tastes.

“Your birthday is three months away, Reine.Remember we have the sponsor’s ball, too,” Jediah said, already knowing that the month would be eventful.

She pouted.“Ugh.I don’t understand why we have to be there.”

He chuckled.“Because Kayon can’t do it anymore.It’s out of goodwill to Cedella’s hospital for doing everything to save our Mom.You know that large donations make the government blind.”

“Plus, the tax deduction.”

“Can’t forget that,” he said with a chuckle.“I’m a businessman first, you know?”

Rolling her eyes, Reine hummed.“Ready to go in, or do you want to talk to Malia some more?It’s been a while since I’ve seen you come out here…”

Jediah’s jaw clenched.“I’m ready,” he answered.“For anything that’s coming.”

While Jediah pulled the cigar from his mouth, he used his other hand to accept Reka’s latest invention from Elias.It was a decoy phone fixed to accept calls from his real phone, and would only ping off the nearest cell tower to wherever his real phone was.In this case, his phone was back at the estate.And with this call, it could’ve been only one of two people calling.

He pressed the phone to his ear.His grip tightened around it as he moved the cigar back to his mouth and instructed, “Speak.”

“J-Jed,” she breathed into the line.

Jediah closed his eyes, savoring the high from the tobacco, and her voice.

How he’d longed to hear that voice.He’d fallen asleep to it many nights.Either from dreams of her begging him to go faster, or pleading for him to spare her life.

Either way, it was always the same ending.

They’d been recurring dreams for hours.Days.Weeks.Three damn months.

It shouldn’t have taken that long.There wasn’t the tiniest hole someone could hide in Jamaica where Jediah couldn’t find them.She must’ve left the country.But there hadn’t been any flights with her on it, either.

So, where’d she been?

He regretted not getting a tracker fitted into her ring.Reka had relentlessly worked on a device, but the device had crashed within minutes, too tiny to withhold all the power he wanted to be embedded in it.

Anger surged inside Jediah.His grip around the phone was so tight now, he wondered how it hadn’t been crushed beneath the cruel force.He pushed away how her desperate plea, begging for forgiveness, was trying to force its way past the iron-clad influx of knowledge he had about her working on his downfall.He shouldn’t have been naïve to believe she liked him enough to give him a chance like he’d given her.

It was foolish.

Hewas foolish.

But that was once.

And never again.

“My dick is hard from me thinking about how I’m going to kill you,” he said slowly.

A whimper passed through the other end of the line, and a devious smirk crawled on his face.“J-Jed,” she stuttered.“You have this all wrong!I didn’t betray you.”

“I trust no one,” he said, glancing at the man a few feet before him, who was heaving and coughing up blood.“Be at the ball tonight at eight p.m.sharp.Maybe I’ll make your death less painful.”

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