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"Those are real fucking businesses, J'Ru! Y'all niggas got her running 'round the city with re-up money like some fucking goofy. God forbid somebody gets the drop on her and the paper! Then what?!" Priest snarled.

Kaymen shook his head as he remained laid back in his seat with his arms folded across his chest. "Priest, we don't have her doing shit," he corrected him. "Like I said, we ran into an issue, and she had a resolution. We, of course, had our reservations about getting her involved, but she sealed the deal with the accountant shorty. We don't have her out in the city transporting millions because we know she ain't equipped for all that. What we do have her doing is overseeing the numbers. She deals with the accountant to make sure shit looking straight. We trust her with that because she got history with shorty," Kaymen explained without the temper J'Ru currently had.

Priest frustratedly ran his hand down his face before averting his attention over to Jazzlyn. "Who's the accountant?" he throated out to Jazzlyn in his rugged baritone voice.

In response to her brother, Jazzlyn's orbs trailed over to Britain. "Avery Simmons," she informed Priest.

At the mention of Avery's name, Britain felt her mouth grow dry. She shifted in her seat uncomfortably. Her hand gripped the stem of her wine glass as she nervously downed the rest of the merlot that lingered in it. Seated at the table alongside Britain, Jazzlyn was the only one who noticed her reaction to the mention of Avery. She knew and understood that Britain had history with both Cameron and Avery. She wished that she had gotten the opportunity to go into full detail about the entire situation with Britain before she had to air things out at the dinner table.

"She only handles the re-up money right now. Ru and Kay thought it would be a good idea to eventually split the paper route. Your accountant handles the clean and consistent money while Avery handles everything else," Jazzlyn further explained, internally wishing Priest would see that even though they were working on change, it would actually be for the better.

Silence waved over the table once more as everyone waited for Priest's response. Britain cleared her throat, no longer able to witness the menacing look of fury that flashed his dark orbs. "I'm sorry, but this doesn't seem like a conversation I should be sitting in on, so I'm just going to excuse myself," she spoke up while rising from her seat.

They were aware that Britain was kept out of the mix when it came to business, so everyone understood her urge to quickly leave the table. She took her plate along with her glass of wine, beelining straight to the kitchen, away from the dining room. After trashing the remains of her dinner, she poured herself some more wine, immediately tossing it back. At the kitchen island, she anxiously leaned against it, letting out a heavy sigh.

It was like she couldn't get away from Cameron. He found a way to nestle himself into her life every chance he got. She wouldhave never thought in a million years Cameron's wife would’ve been the topic of discussion at her dinner table, but life had a funny way of playing out. Britain didn't know what motive Cameron had, but there was no way Avery was miraculously placed in Jazzlyn's life to be her accountant. Cameron had to be running some sort of ploy or game. The tension in the dining room was already too thick to cut into. There was no opening for her to let Priest know that Avery was her ex-boyfriend’s wife, but Britain was definitely going to be telling him soon.

As she deliberated with herself in the kitchen about how and when she would be filling Priest in, she could hear him shouting.

"You don't have all the answers, Jazzlyn! This is not your fucking lane!" he snarled.

"PJ, I get it. You’re trying to protect me, but life is already turned upside down for me! I'm not fucking normal, PJ! I have to walk around with security like I'm some celebrity! I can't go anywhere without people giving me condolences because they think you're fucking dead! Not to mention I'm out in the city by myself because you had to flee to Italy!" Jazzlyn jolted up from her seat challenging her brother. "I can't depend on these niggas to be there for me like you're supposed to be because they have their own fucking lives!" She pointed to Kaymen and J'Ru as she continued to make her point. "Maybe I've come to a point in life where I don't need the bubble wrap you're suffocating me with to keep me safe."

Priest leaned back in his seat. Shaming Jazzlyn and her spiel, he shook his head with a disgusted grimace masking his chiseled face. "Yo, you sound like a fucking idiot," he spat at her with his thick New York accent lacing his words. "You want to get in the business of selling drugs because life ain’t normal enough for you? Is that what'chu saying? Let me tell you something. Life will never be normal for you!" he spewed harshly without an ounce of remorse. "Because I busted my ass to give you this life!You wouldn't be able to study abroad in Paris amongst the elites without me busting my ass! You wouldn't be able to travel in a jet at your fucking leisure without me busting my ass! You wouldn't be able to sign the checks you sign, drive the cars you drive, and buy the amount of designer you wear without me busting my ass! You don't have a normal life, Jazzlyn! Deal with it!" Priest slammed his massive hand against the dining room table. "Because everybody at this table had it harder than you!"

"Yo, P, she gets it. Fall back," Kaymen attempted to calm Priest down so he wouldn't continue to be so harsh on his little sister.

A bitter chuckle drifted out of Priest as he shook his head. "Nah, let me finish," he told Kaymen before reverting his attention back to Jazzlyn. "Aye, if your accountant shorty fuck up them numbers, make sure you get your lawyers ready because we all know bitches behind a desk who just handle the numbers fold quicker than anybody. Not mention you gone have the Italians coming for you too, ‘cause now you’re playing with their money. I pray you know what the fuck you’re getting yourself into because you see what I had to go through. I ain’t got it in me to fight that battle twice, so you're on your fucking own. I'm done."

Jazzlyn felt her orbs scorch with tears that she refused to let fall. She eyed him as he rose from his seat before exiting the dining room, leaving her, Kaymen and J'Ru behind at the table. He had just handed Jazzlyn her own shovel. It was now up to her to figure out whether she was willing to dig her own grave.

Chapter Twenty-One

Darkness filled the sky as a smooth wind circled the smooth acres of the estate. Priest found himself looking over the extended amount of land he acquired with the home. He remembered when purchasing the estate, his real estate agent raved about all the new construction and development he could begin with all the empty plots of land. He had yet to decide what the land would be used for in the future, but as of right now, the sight of the evenly cut landscape served him with the calmness he needed to unwind from the tense dinner he endured.

In desperate need of clearing his mind, he had a joint pinched between his fingers. He extracted a lighter from his front pocket, igniting the flame before scorching the tip of the joint. Taking his first pull alleviated his shoulders of the heavy feeling he was carrying from the dinner. Streams of smoke drifted out of his nostrils before he took another pull.

He was in disbelief after finding out his sister had fallen into the same things he had been desperately trying to get away from. He knew the pattern and routine all too well. One day, she was just making sure the money was right, and the next, she would be handling all the logistics. She’d be in over her head before she even knew it.

What made matters worse was the fact that Kaymen and J'Ru were just allowing her to do so. He honestly felt like the dispute he just had with Jazzy shouldn't have even happened because Kaymen and J'Ru should have put a stop to everything before it got too far. Now, Jazzy was scheduled for her very first sit down, one that Priest couldn't be a part of because of his situation back in The States. He felt sick. Usually, he was all for teaching a lesson whenever Jazzlyn or even Mirsad were being hardheaded. However, in this instance, what could he possibly do? After this visit, Jazzlyn would be on the jet back to New York where he wouldn't know what was really going on. Priest also knew his sister. He was sure he had just lit fire right underneath her ass to do everything he forbade her from doing.

The heaviness of his eyelids began weighing down on him. He wasn't clear on whether it was the good weed he had in his system or if he was actually tired. Whichever one it was, it was being overpowered by his circling thoughts, making it impossible for him to want to sleep.

As he stood in the backyard of the home gazing at the acres of land, he reflected on the things he had done to get to that very moment. Standing in the backyard of a multi-million-dollar estate had always been the goal for him, but somewhere along the way of accomplishing his goal, he fucked up. He let the riches, the status and the power blind his little sister and convince her that she too could play the dirty game that had defeated him in more ways than he could count.

Interrupting him from dwelling in his deep thoughts was the sound of footsteps making their way through the evenly cut blades of grass. Hearing the occasional light groan and huff of heavy air caused a light chuckle to stream out of Priest. With his joint pursed between his lips, he looked over his shoulder at Britain who was tiptoeing through the grass with a panicked look on her face. He decided to save her from walkingany further by making up for the distance and meeting her halfway. It took a lot of persuading for Britain to make her way through the grass to meet him. Her mind instantly filled with the pessimistic thought of being bitten by a snake after their gardener made a frightening discovery of a garden snake while tending to the land.

Britain quickly scurried over to him with a distressed look on her face. "Why'd you decide to come all the way back here? You know we have snakes," she complained while looking down at the grass below her to ensure there wasn't slithering through the grass around her.

"We hadonegarden snake,Gioia," he reminded her so she could tone down her dramatics. He positioned himself behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist so she too could take in the sights of their open land.

"Are you calm now?" She reached her hand up to caress the side of his face. "I heard pretty much everything, and your mean streak is nothing to play with." She shook her head, still in shock.

Another chuckle escaped Priest. Despite feeling like Jazzy, J'Ru and Kaymen deserved every lethal remark that rolled off his tongue, his conscience still made him feel bad. "I don't know,G.I just feel like I move five steps forward just to get kicked ten steps back." He shook his head as his eyes drifted away from her.

A light sigh aired out of Britain. She sympathized with him. She knew how painful the blow to the stomach was for Priest when Jazzlyn revealed that she had been getting her feet wet in the business. From what everyone told her, Priest had protected Jazzlyn from the world ever since she was a little girl. She knew he was not only upset by the fact that Jazzy was voluntarily throwing herself into a whirlwind of chaos and trouble, but he was also upset because he felt like the one thing he had doneright in his life was raising Jazzy to be everything he wasn't, and now he was finding out that he had once again failed.

"Where did I fuck up at? I mean, I knew shit was rough in the beginning. I kept getting locked up and shit, but I thought I gave her a pretty good childhood. I only had so much to go off of really," he vented with a troubled look etched on his face as he tried dissecting every piece of Jazzlyn's upbringing in his head. "I gave her everything I ain't have. She can live the rest of her life without lifting a finger because of all the bad shit I've done. Instead of taking what I provided for her for what it is, she wanna be a fucking crash test dummy. That shit just don't make sense," he said, shaking his head.