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Britain laughed as well as she glanced down at Priest's name that was alongside J'Ru's. "Yeah, I thought I mentioned that," she jested as she tried to act oblivious.

Brea waved her sister off with more laughter. A moment later, Brea glanced around to ensure no one was within earshot. The sole purpose of the private area was for Priest and his people to be able to discuss things openly without risking anyone overhearing anything. With the mess of a situation they were in at the moment with Priest's“death,” Britain was only comfortable dining atLa Lealtáwith her sister, who said anything that came to her mind. "So, you keep all your privileges even though he's dead?" Brea leaned in to ask.

"Brea," Britain smacked her lips.

"What? I'm just asking. I never thought you'd be living a double life. It's kind of cool." She shrugged before pointing at the ring that decorated Britain's hand. She had strategically placed it on her opposite hand just to throw everyone off. She was sure Sylvia would’ve had a field day if someone ran back and told hershe was rocking a ring on her finger when as far as she knew, Priest had only been gone for a month and a half. It would just brew more lies for Sylvia to lure media attention and slander her name.

Britain took a sip of her wine as she shook her head. "It's not cool," she muttered with a displeased look etched on her face.

Brea smacked her lips and waved Britain off. "Mocha, this man has given you the best of the best. You live in a multimillion-dollarestate,you can fly to and from in a private jet, he's handsome, seems to be treating you well mentally and emotionally…" Brea used her fingers to count all the reasons why Britain's current situation shouldn't have been deemed awful. "And did I mention he's handsome? If you don't think you're living life, then I don't know how else to convince you that you are.”

Britain pursed her lips as she glanced down at the ring that was perched on her finger. Despite her placing it on the wrong hand purposely, she still knew the significance and purpose of the ring. "I can never marry him," she let out with a deep sigh of defeat to follow.

Brea screwed up her face in question as she eyed her sister. "And why not? Is that not an engagement ring?" She gestured toward the ring.

She nodded her head, confirming that the ring wasn't just an accessory to her outfits. "He can't have a paper trail that could lead to him, Brea, so legally, we could never get married."

This was true. If anyone caught wind of a marriage license, it would be obvious that Priest wasn't dead, and that would just stir up too much chaos.

Brea shot her sister a look of sympathy. She could tell it was a sensitive topic for her. "I know that sounds bad, but who really cares, Brit? You two don't need a piece of paper to validate whatyou two have. A marriage is built on unconditional love and a strong foundation, not a marriage license."

Sure, what Brea was saying sounded good, but the thought of never being legally married to Priest made her feel uneasy. Any sense of normalcy she could cling to would always be stripped away due to the fact that he had to keep his life under wraps. "It's not just a piece of paper, Brea. Well, at least not to me."

Brea sighed heavily. It was evident that Britain needed to let out whatever she was feeling. If she knew her sister, her feelings had been building up in her head for a long time. "Mocha, what's wrong? If you don't let it out, you'll say all the wrong things when you go back to Italy," she encouraged Britain.

Britain leaned back in her seat while pursing her lips. She contemplated whether it would’ve been best for her to confide in her little sister before she confided in Priest, the person she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. A look of defeat webbed her eyes as they met with Brea's. "Am I in way over my head? What if Ma was right, but my love for him is so strong that I just block out anything that sounds like it's against us? Agreed, Priest is undeniably the love of my life, but would I ever be in love with the situation we're in?" she asked as if Brea had all the answers.

Brea's eyes widened a bit. "Those are some loaded questions, Brit."

"I know," she groaned. "And I'm sorry for dumping it all on you. I've just been feeling so confused lately. Sometimes I forget to ask myselfwhat does Britain want?”

Brea sat her glass of wine down as she leaned back in her seat. "Well, what does Britain want?" she asked, hoping her sister could put things in perspective for herself.

"I want the life he promised me, the life we promised each other. I just don't want to be constantly running from chaos. I've dealt with that enough. I want stability and comfort. Not saying that P can't offer me that. I just feel like with the situation he'sin, it's kind of impossible for him to do so," she explained as she glanced out one of the grand windows of the restaurant.

Not too far away was Cyro's vehicle where he sat, keeping close tabs on her. Extending her finger toward the all-black SUV, she brought Brea's attention to it. "I want to be able give his security, Cyro, a well-deserved vacation and not have him following me around like he's my shadow. I want to be able to sign our marriage license without the fear of blowing my husband's cover. I want his mother to stop slandering my name in the media with her sidekick who happens to be his ex-girlfriend. I want kids, and I want him to be just as excited about having kids as I am," Britain listed.

It felt good to vent openly without fearing that she would open a can of worms for her relationship. She knew Priest was understanding and patient with her, but she still felt like it was best to withhold a few of her feelings simply because he had warned her of how unorthodox and crazy his life could get. He had given her an out far before they were madly in love and got engaged. It was her decision to move forward and continue to devote her all to him as did he. It would’ve been unfair if she made him feel bad about how things were playing out for them when he always made sure she knew she had a choice. The only person Britain could blame for any feelings of uncertainty and fear was herself.

Once more, a heavy breath aired out of Brea as she reached across the table to grab the bottle of wine the server left for them. Britain eyed her sister as she poured herself another drink. She was sure if she went on to tell her the real reason she flew back from Italy so soon was because Priest went back to doing the same things, they would need more than one bottle of wine.

"I hear what you're saying, Brit, but the real question is why haven't you discussed this with your soon-to-be husband?You can't expect things to just change if you don't express your concerns," Brea said.

Britain pursed her lips as her shoulders slouched. "Because he never made me feel like I was obligated to do this. Since day one, everything has been my choice. He's always been clear, brutally honest, even tried to end things with me when he knew things were taking a turn for the worst in his life. I knew what I was getting myself into. I fought to stay around and be by his side through it all. It just wouldn't be right of me to add more weight on him when he's currently hauling the weight of the world on his back.”

Over the past few days she had been in New York, Britain had processed all her thoughts, then reprocessed them, just to repeat the cycle over again. She concluded that being with Priest made her happy and she did want to spend the rest of her life with him. What didn't make her happy was being forced to live a life neither of them signed up for. If him being presumed dead in New York was hard for her, she could only imagine how hard it was for Priest. It would’ve been selfish for her to act as though she was the only one getting the short end of the stick because truthfully, she wasn't.

Brea related and sympathized with Britain. She had endured the same battle during her relationship with her boyfriend. In Brea's case, her dilemma lied between continuing her residency or putting her career on the back burner for her boyfriend Micah after he sustained traumatic injuries from a catastrophic motorcycle accident. It pained Brea to have to put her life and what she was passionate about aside just to be there for Micah, who needed to learn how to walk and gain his motor functions back. Brea went through some very selfish moments where she wanted to just throw in the towel, leave Micah's side and resume her residency. At one point, Brea even felt like the love between her and Micah didn't amount to anything since his situationrequired her to sacrifice so much. It took a lot of thinking for Brea to realize that if the shoe was on the other foot, Micah would have done the same for her… without any hesitation or complaints.

Only Britain could judge whether Priest would do the same for her, but from what Brea had been told by her sister and witnessing their love firsthand, there was no doubt that he would have. "I know right now it feels like you're losing more than you're gaining, but that will soon pass. The best way to get through it is to communicate however you’re feeling to him. You may sound harsh at times or even selfish, but at least he'll know that even though you have all those bad feelings about everything, you still are seeing him through whatever," she preached to Britain as she reached across the table to cup her hand over her sister's. "This doesn't mean he can't meet you halfway because he definitely can. If it means legally marrying you or taking action to show you that him beingdeadout here is just temporary, then he should do it. That's only fair."

Listening to her sister, Britain finally felt her chest alleviated of the sense of confusion and question that had been pooling there. She had come to terms with everything far before Brea. Hearing her sister say everything she was thinking made her feel less crazy and less biased. She had her head on straight when it came to this situation. After all, she wasn't blinded by love like her mother accused her of being.

Britain thanked her younger sister for the much-needed advice before the two continued with the lunch. After enjoying some fine dining, the ladies exited the restaurant with their arms looped together in light laughter. "Still down to go shopping?" Britain asked her with a raise of a brow.

Handing her ticket over to the valet, Brea nodded her head in response. "Yeah, I still haven't figured out what I'm wearing to Ma and Pop's award ceremony," Brea sighed. "Speaking ofwhich, you haven't told any of us if you would be there.” At this point, their family group chat was in shambles due to the lack of time they all had to spend with each other, but they all managed to take notice to the invitation Pops sent out to Britain that had still gone unanswered.

Britain shrugged as she stood alongside her sister awaiting valet to come around with her car. "I still don't have an answer," she clarified. "Hell, I might be back in Italy by then.”