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Picking the memory card up from the desk, she eyed it while toying with it in her fingertips. She wanted to destroy it and dismember it into a ton of fragmented pieces that would be impossible to put together again, but the urge wasn't strong enough. She had an attachment to it, maybe because she had shoved all the memories of Dreux into it. Pulling open the desk drawer, Britain tossed the memory card into it before closing it again. She rose from behind the desk, making a quick exit out of the study.

Knowing that Priest was now familiar with a part of her past that she had yet to introduce him to was nerve wrecking for her. No matter how much he would try to tell her otherwise, she was fully convinced that he would now view her differently. He had uncovered a layer of vulnerability that she was too ashamed to show him. She feared telling him about all the disrespect she allowed and all the trauma she endured all at once. For their entire relationship, she had been feeding him her past in doses. He had definitely ripped the Band-Aid off now that he had gone through the memory card. Britain was unclear about how she should take it.

Trying her best to rid herself of the shame that had overcome her, she trekked back to the foyer of the home where her bags were left. She grabbed them, hauling them upstairs so she could begin unpacking.

Knowing that he went through the memory card had really stripped her of the excitement she initially felt about seeing him, replacing it with a suffocating feeling of uneasiness. Britain didn't want to get defensive or confrontational about the mattersince she didn't want to cause tension between them.As she unpacked, she would shift her attention to her phone, where she would check the time every so often. She had no idea when he would be returning home, so her nerves were a wreck.

The wait and the suspense it caused became straining. Just as she was about to fold and make a phone call to him to let him know she had arrived, she heard the security system signal her within the home. It let her know that the front gates had opened, which meant Priest was driving along the lengthy pathway up to the home.

Her nerves returned quickly, causing her stomach to turn somersaults. In hopes of getting herself together, she smacked her lips, scolding herself. "Get it together. He's going to be excited to see you and not even be thinking about that memory card, Britain," she mumbled, encouraging herself to push the thought of the memory card far into the back of her mind.

Just a few moments later, she heard the faint sound of the tumbler of the lock. She shuffled to the exit of the bedroom, navigating through the hall so she could reach the top of the staircase.In the foyer, she overheard him having a conversation on the phone. "Kaymen, I'm working on it. Just fall back. In the meantime, don't cop shit from the city. I don't need motherfuckas to think we falling off," Priest scoffed. She could hear the stress in his voice, which he was trying his best to conceal from Kaymen. If he panicked, then so would J'Ru and Kaymen, which would lead to chaos.

Britain leaned against the banister of the stairs, being sure to remain unnoticed as he absentmindedly headed for the kitchen. From the stairs, she heard him smack his lips loudly before responding to Kaymen. "Yo, you and Ru just need to figure some shit out while I take care of everything on this side. But I'm serious, Kay. Don't cop no bad quality shit from the city," he told Kaymen in a stern tone.

Eventually, the called ended once the men came to an agreement and said goodbye to each other. That was Britain's cue to descend the staircase. Her light footsteps allowed her to saunter toward the kitchen where he had his nose buried in his phone. Ironically enough, he was making a FaceTime call to her, which went unanswered because she left her phone upstairs.

Unaware that she was in the home, he continued to wait for her to answer the call. She heard him smack his lips slyly at the fact that the call was still ringing and she had yet to pick it up. Amused, she decided not to drag her surprise out any longer and wrapped her arms around his torso from behind. She could feel him tense up immediately in her hold, which caused her infectious laugh to flutter out of her.

"Surprise!" she screeched in excitement, immediately causing his tension to lift from his body.

"Man, you can't be doing shit like that,Gioia," he warned her with some laughter of his own, despite the fact that he was still shaken up by her sudden presence.

Quickly, he turned around to face her, an ear-to-ear smile pasted on his face. Before she could let anything out, he anchored his hand at her waist, lifting her from the ground with ease. She squealed in excitement on her way up before securing her legs around his torso. He wasted no time securing one hand underneath her rear while using the other to cup her face so he could get a kiss.

Britain was a little taken away by the kiss, causing a short-lived gasp to stream out of her as their lips pressed against each other. As he slipped his tongue into her mouth, his hand squeezed a good handful of her rear. The kiss was full of heat and passion. It was their way of saying they missed each other without uttering the words. Being able to hold her in his arms was such a great feeling for him. Going two weeks withouthugging her, kissing her, or waking up to her had definitely been a big adjustment, so he was elated to have her back.

Britain finally pulled away from the kiss as she heaved out heavy breaths due to the lack of air she had taken in during their kiss. Priest maneuvered himself around to sit her down on the island’s countertop. Just as he was leaning in eagerly for another fiery, sloppy kiss, she stopped him with a laugh.

"Relax. I'm not going anywhere," she let out in amusement as her tender hands cupped his handsome face.

Priest stood comfortably between her legs with his hands curved to her petite waist. "C'mon, stop playing," he told her as his hands strayed from her waist and went to her wrists instead. He removed her hands from his face to prevent her from avoiding another kiss.

For a second time, he pressed his tender lips against her plump ones, his tongue finding comfort in her mouth again. They kissed slowly with their heads moving in the opposite direction of each other. Teasingly, Britain slowly sucked on his bottom lip, which evoked a low grunt from him as his hands navigated to her thighs. For the sake of not running out of air, he decided to pull away from the kiss and not smother her with his lips any longer. As his dark hollow orbs peered into hers, he took his bottom lip between his porcelain white teeth. His look was almost devilish as he narrowed his eyes at her.

"Two weeks," he let out as if Britain needed a reminder about how long she had been away.

"I'm back now," she assured him with a smile etching her gorgeous face.

"I missed you," he admitted with a smirk tugging his lips.

"I missed you too, P.”

He leaned down to nestle his face into the crook of her neck. There, he allowed the floral notes of her perfume to fill his nostrils as he basked in her scent. Finding his clinginess comical,she shook with more laughter. He lifted his head from the crook of her neck to eye her.

"Leave for two weeks again and watch how bad shit get for you," he playfully threatened her with a mean mug embedded on his face.

Britain scoffed at his empty threats, nonchalantly waving him off. Priest wanted nothing more than to remain close to her, so they navigated out of the kitchen and toward the lounge area of the home. He refused to allow her to have her own seat and sat her on his lap instead. Straddling him, she rested her hands on his shoulders while his hands gripped her ass.

"Why you ain't let me know you was coming home? I would have made it a lot more special for you.”

A light smile canvassed her face. "I wanted to surprise you. That was special enough."

"I don't like surprises," he mumbled as his hand navigated to the crook of her neck.

Gazing down at him through her soft umber brown eyes, Britain batted her lashes innocently. "You like me," she countered.

Priest licked his lips, before taking his bottom lip between his teeth again. She knew that look all too well. His suggestive eye was enough to make her spine shudder and her core wet. "Nah, Iloveyou," he corrected her with his deep voice.