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Story: The Love of Priest 2

Priest didn't understand why Britain opted to record the disagreement between them. Britain had always taken interest in documenting her relationship with Cameron because he was the first guy to ever sweep her off her feet. When things hit a decline in their relationship, she always tried to forget about thebig blowups they had, but that often led to her forgiving him for the insanely disrespectful things he did. Toward the end of what they had, Britain really fought hard to begin the process of letting him go. This sparked the tendency to record each and every one of their disagreements and cheating scandals. Not only was Britain holding Cameron accountable, but she was also holding herself so she would no longer tolerate disrespect. Often times, she would do this without Cameron's knowledge.

The video showed Britain grabbing ahold of the phone that was next to the camera. A second later, there was a loud clash, which led to Priest assuming that she had pitched the phone right into the wall. "I hate you so much! All you ever do is cheat and come up with elaborate excuses for yourself to make it seem like I'm crazy! Fuck you, Cameron!" Britain jeered through tears. "I'm tired of you constantly putting me through this bullshit!"

"Yo, you're fucking crazy," Cameron spoke up. "You breaking my phone won't change what you saw, Britain. You went searching for it, and now you're distraught? Get the fuck out of here," he smacked his lips once more.

Britain's sobs channeled through Priest's ears, causing his stomach to churn. Despite this situation being in Britain's past, it was still unsettling for him to know someone had put her through that much pain. Priest tapped the space bar on the keyboard, halting the video only a quarter through it. Overwhelmed by what he had heard in the video, he let out a heavy breath as he eased back in his seat. This was what Britain was referring to when she told him she wouldn't be able to recognize the woman she once was in her past. She had grown tremendously. Priest was sure that if he tried anything that Cameron had done to her in her past, she wouldn't even think twice about calling an end to what they had. Priest had absolutely no leeway when it came to many things in theirrelationship simply because Cameron had put her through the ringer.

He exited the video and went on to the next photo. What displayed in the computer screen caused his jaw to constrict in anger. Britain had documented every stage of her and Cameron's relationship, the lowest stage included. The photo was of her busted lip and bruised cheek. Priest wasn't the least bit surprised by the fact that Cameron had put his hands on her. From the videos, Priest could tell the respect wasn't there on Cameron's part.

Priest had witnessed and endured some pretty graphic and horrific things, but he just couldn't stomach the sight of Britain bruised and beaten. The photos of Britain’s injuries that consisted of bruising from her face down to her legs went on for about seven slides. He halted from tapping the forward button abruptly once he caught sight ofa different type of picture. This time, on the screen were two positive pregnancy tests on the countertop of her bathroom sink. The next photo confirmed the fact that she had gotten pregnant with four additional positive pregnancy tests.

After the photos of the tests, a video appeared on the screen. Once he pressed play, he was surprised to see that Britain managed to skip so much time. It made sense, though, since she had told him how severely depressed she was within her first trimester. In the video, she sat down on the floor of her bedroom with her legs crossed. By now, her rounded stomach was pretty big as she cupped it with both of her hands.

"Never thought I would be doing this alone, but it is what it is," she said as she shrugged her shoulders. "I'm assembling your crib by myself. If you fall through it when you get here because I did it wrong, Mommy's sorry. I'm kidding,” she jested with a laugh.

She began extracting different pieces of the crib from the box before she came across the instruction manual. The video caught her staring down at the manual with deep confusion as she tried to read it over. "How in the hell am I supposed to understand this? I don't even speak Spanish, let alone read it." She smacked her lips before flipping the manual over. Priest chuckled at the look of realization that etched her face. She couldn't contain her laughter once she found the English version of the manual on the other side.

"Girl, you have the rest of your life with me. Hopefully you can make up for my stupidity," she continued to laugh, finding the silver lining in her situation.

Although she seemed to be in great spirits in the video, Priest could tell there was still some sadness weighing down on her. She was doing what she did best: hovering. Laughter was her main coping mechanism. Britain was truly broken after spending her entire pregnancy alone. She tried to be as tough as her mom, but she wasn't. After every video or picture that she forced a smile in, she turned off the camera and immediately reverted to her sadness. It pained Priest to see her put her best foot forward when she really shouldn't have had to. She had been through the unspeakable yet always remained so uplifting and happy. This ultimately made Priest reevaluate the way he looked at life and all his trauma.

Distancing himself from his thoughts, Priest glanced down at his phone that was sounding off with a phone call from Matteo. His mind instantly returned to the growing agenda Suzette and Matteo had for him. Taking on a business at such a grand scale was going to be difficult for the first couple of months, especially since he played by a whole different set of rules. In hopes of making a smooth but temporary transition, Suzette and Matteo called for Priest to be on time to the dock where they would beloading their transport ships. Priest had completely dropped the ball by being an hour behind schedule.

Letting out a light groan, he accepted the call before holding the phone to his ear. "I'm on my way now," he assured Matteo as he stood up from the seat behind the desk.

"This was scheduled to happen an hour ago," Matteo scolded with his thick Italian accent.

"I got caught up," Priest stated. "I'll be there soon," he reassured him before hanging up the call.

He exited the study before heading toward the exit of the home. Grabbing the first set of keys he laid his eyes on, he unlocked the doors to the Range Rover before getting in. For the first time in a long time, he felt a heavy weight of regret shackle him. Taking on Matteo and Suzette's empire wasn't the best thing he could have done, but now that he was already committed to it, he had to follow through, even if it meant being at odds with his fiancée.

As he drove to the dock where he was sure Suzette and Matteo were impatiently waiting for him, his mind drifted back to Britain. After discovering what was on the memory card, he wished he had gone without looking. Guilt began to set in as he started to realize he had just cheated not only himself, but also Britain, from a pivotal point in their relationship where she would have felt comfortable enough to open up in great detail about what she endured in her past.

Trying his best to rid his thoughts of Britain, he turned on the radio, drowning his tormenting thoughts with music. The dock was in the middle of a rural area, so the drive was long and straining. Eventually, he arrived, parking his vehicle in the first available space he noticed.

Stepping out the car, he smoothed his tender hands down his suit, exhaling a light breath. He set out in the direction of the dock, seeing Matteo and Suzette in conversation with eachother. Before he could step any closer to them, he was halted by a firm hand placed on his chest by security. Upon noticing he had been stopped, Matteo and Suzette drew their attention away from each other, casting their eyes onto him. They were pleased to see he actually showed up. It was a bad look on their part that he was late since he was the one they were trusting to run their empire. Bad time management wasn't a good look, especially not in the first day.

"Yo, tell y'all mans to fall back," Priest requested from Matteo and Suzette as he pushed the security's hand off him.

They both folded their arms across their chests as they shamed Priest with a shake of their heads. "Check him," Suzette ordered security, making it clear that Priest would have to endure a pat down despite the fact that she knew he was clear.

Priest smacked his lips, feeling a bit disrespected by Suzette. He didn't come all this way to be treated as if he wasn't doing them a favor to begin with. "This some fucking bullshit," Priest spat. "You don't trust me now?" he asked as he spread his legs apart and extended his arms so he could receive a routine pat down.

"Nobody on our side shows up two hours late, so you are a little questionable at the moment," Matteo condemned his late arrival once more.

Priest shook his head as security retrieved his gun from the waistband of his slacks. "You know when you talked all that shit about you handing me the baton, I should have known you would never give up that much control so easily," he scoffed.

He watched as security exchanged glances with Matteo and Suzette to see whether the gun should be returned to his possession. Suzette gave security a curt nod, allowing him to turn the gun back over to Priest. Taking it from security, Priest secured it in his waistband, being sure the jacket of his suitcovered it. Security stepped aside, allowing him full access to Suzette and Matteo.

"You being late is a bad look," Suzette said as she brushed a few of her waist length curls that blew in the wind out of her face.

Priest pursed his lips and nodded. "I know.” He wasn't always the best when it came to being on time, but when it came to business, he was usually on top of it. Today just wasn't a good day. He was dealing with the woes of not having Britain around, and he had to muster up the will to drag himself to the dock despite Suzette and Matteo's business being the main reason his fiancée wasn't around in the first place. "What did I miss?" Priest attempted to steer the conversation elsewhere. He didn't think they should waste any more of their time crucifying him for being late.

Instead of harping on his late arrival any longer, Suzette led the way toward the line of ships that were all anchored close to the platform. Priest could recall Matteo bringing him to this very dock years ago and breaking down how he and Suzette kept their money flowing in fast but clean. They had invested and bought out a company of cruise ships that was not only great for Italy's economy, but it also served as great transport from continent to continent. The travel time to get the product from place to place had definitely been set back by a few days; however, it was far less suspicious to transport on a commercial ship that sailed tourists from one continent to another.

"The ship to North America has already sailed." Suzette pointed at the empty docking space that would have been filled by one of their massive ships.

Priest pursed his lips. He knew he had fumbled by not being able to witness what would be sent out to J'Ru and Kaymen. He and the guys discussed how they would utilize his new role to secure more product. Although his new yet temporary business venture had put a strain on his relationship with Britain, it wasserving as a huge gain for what he and the guys had going on in New York. Being hands-on with the process the product went through before it was shipped out to J'Ru and Kaymen would have made it easy for Priest to up the scale on their incoming supply and maximize their income. Not being around when Suzette and Matteo sent the ship off set his plan back until another reup. Not only did he have to deal with the hell Suzette and Matteo gave him for being late, but he needed to prepare himself for the hell he was about to get from Kaymen and J'Ru.