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Priest pursed his lips. "Are you?" he asked.

Britain quickly shook her head. "I want kids, Priest. I talk about it so much because you're the man I want to create a family with."

He could feel a heaviness shackle his heart. Talking about children was always a conversation he avoided. Kids were thejoy of the world, and he was wonderful with them. He was a nurturing and caring person, so Britain just didn't understand why he was so adamant about never having kids. "Gioia, I don't know," he sighed.

She was trying her best not to get worked up about the conversation. She wanted it to be an open space in their relationship. The last thing she wanted was to make Priest avoid ever talking about the matter again.

"What are you afraid of?" she asked as she lifted her perfectly arched brow at him.

He sighed as his broad shoulders slouched. "My karma," he admitted shamelessly. "What if every fucked-up thing I put out into this world comes back tenfold on our kids?"

Britain rested her head on the headrest of her seat. He had many deep-rooted fears, and the source of them all was the way he grew up and how he continued to live. She knew that no matter how hard she tried to convince him otherwise, he needed to figure it out himself.

"P, we aren't God. We will never know how our kids’ lives will turn out beginning to end. All we can do is raise them and take it day by day. If you don't want what you consider your karma to come back on them, then you just have to do your due diligence as a dad and give them the childhood you never had," she explained, hoping Priest could see things from a different standpoint.

She awaited a response, but he opted out of giving her one. Instead, he let his mind ponder what she told him as he continued to drive in the direction of Havani's office. Figuring the silence had lasted long enough and Priest wouldn't be rendering her a response, she spoke up once more. "Children are a dealbreaker for me, Kanaz. I want nothing more than to be a mother," she let out as she angled herself so she was gazing out of the window. "I don't want you to feel as though I'mforcing your hand, but we have to figure this out and come to an understanding before we get married. I don't want to subject ourselves to a lifetime of unhappiness.”

Priest nodded his head. "Heard'ju."

Eventually, the two arrived at Havani's office, which was located in a strip mall in the inner city. It was Britain's first time exploring the inner city since she had been staying in the outskirts near their estate. She was pleased to see the resemblance of the strip mall to the many she'd seen in The States. Once Priest parked, he exited the vehicle before making his way around to open her door. Together, they walked into the office hand in hand, her feet feeling much heavier than his.

Priest held the door open for her to step inside the office. They were greeted by the receptionist. She offered a polite wave to him since she knew there would be no chance the two would understand each other with the language barrier.Priest stepped in quickly, picking up the conversation with the receptionist. As always, whenever he handled any exchange of words in Italian, Britain simply looked at him in admiration. He always told her that soon she would be grasping onto the new language, but she knew herself well enough to know that she wouldn't take to learning the language as easily as he had.

The two were ushered down the hall to what Britain assumed was Havani's office. Priest thanked the receptionist before applying a light knock on the door.

Britain let out a deep breath, hoping to ease her nerves. She tightened her hand around his as the door was pulled open, revealing Havani’s radiant smile. Despite the nervousness that rained down on her, Britain couldn't help by smile once she noticed that Havani too sported a gap between her teeth. As childish as it sounded, that made her feel a little better.

She watched as Priest and Havani greeted each other. Britain was always amazed at how quickly Priest was able to formgenuine bonds with people. From what she heard from him, he didn't even complete his first course of sessions with Havani before he had to return to The States, yet he was just so open and comfortable with her. He had great intuition, so his comfort with Havani gave her the notion that Havani wasn't just some crooked therapist who was just going to repeat her problems to her in different words. She was legit, and that scared Britain shitless. She hated getting deep when it came to her own trauma. Something told her that this first session with Havani would lead her to better methods of coping.

Havani's attention diverted over to Britain, a wider smile panning her face. "So nice to finally put a face to a name," she said as she stuck her hand out to Britain.

Britain matched her smile while placing her hand into hers. "It's nice to meet you."

After their greeting, Havani appointed Britain a seat and Priest followed suit. He could sense how tense she was, and he was hoping if he didn't draw too much attention to himself, Havani would let him sit through the session, despite her forewarning that it wouldn't be best if he did. A light chuckle aired out of Havani as she noticed Priest had taken a seat alongside Britain.

"If I'm not mistaken," she said, pointing to Priest. "You've already had your session for this week."

A sheepish smile etched Priest's face as he eyed Havani. "I know, but?—"

"Britain doesn't need any protection here. This is a safe place," she interrupted Priest before he got the chance to spill out his excuses.

A light sigh aired out of Priest before he glanced over at Britain. She gave him a light nod, indicating that Havani was right, and she was okay with sitting through the session alone. He ultimately was beginning to regret agreeing to sit out of thesession in the first place. He knew how fragile Britain could become when diving back into her trauma. He just didn't want Havani to break her as badly as she had broken him, only to build him back up into a stronger unit. Britain needed care, and he wanted Havani to understand that.

"Heard'ju," he nodded his head and said as he slipped his hand from Britain's. "I'll be outside.”

Havani stood up, ushering Priest out of the room. She stepped out as well, shutting the door behind her so she could have a word with him. "Codependency," she stated to Priest in a light voice, almost as a reminder to him.

He ran his hand down his face. He should have known that even though this session today was for Britain, Havani still would manage to hold him accountable somehow. "My fault," he apologized. "I'm working on it."

"Don't apologize if you're working on it," Havani corrected him. "She's going to be fine. Even if she tells you she doesn't want to come back by the end of the session, don't coddle her and her feelings. That'll just be you giving her a crutch to not properly heal. I want you to sit in the waiting room far away from this door and let her at least get through this session without a safety net."

Priest pursed his lips before nodding his head, agreeing with her. "I'll be in the waiting room," he stated before making his way over to the sitting area Havani appointed him toward.

He was by far one of Havani's easiest clients. He took advice well and always made the effort to make small changes within himself. She was hoping Britain would be the same way, and even if she wasn’t, Havani wouldn't give up. As soon as she saw Priest take a seat, she returned to her office, where Britain was patiently waiting for her. "My apologies for keeping you waiting.”

"It's fine," Britain assured her.

Havani claimed a seat across from Britain, her smile remaining on her face. She was hoping to ease Britain's nervousness and show her there was no reason for her to be standoffish. As she flipped the cover of her iPad case to access the screen, Britain tensed up. She assumed that Havani's would be taking detailed notes on her iPad during their session. Knowing she was being closely examined caused Britain to quickly straighten her posture and try her best not to look nervous, despite feeling her spine rattling within her.