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Priest had proven his point; he could do both after all.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Stress had overtaken Jazzlyn as she exhaled a heavy groan of frustration. Her anger had brewed a fiery feeling that ignited within her entire body as she paced the backyard of the estate. She had never been one to be okay with defeat. She did everything exceptionally and always found herself on top, no matter how dirty and straining things got. She was a fighter, and her mentality had brought her this far in life. However, the only person she could never defeat was her older brother, Priest. Jazzy had the wisdom, she had a good head on her shoulders, and she was calculated; however, she could never outsmart the person who taught her the game. Priest stood confidently in the fact that he would always be two steps ahead. While Jazzy was thinking of her next move, Priest was thinking of the next two moves he would have to make to seal his victory. Jazzlyn couldn't keep up. She was far too inexperienced. She hadn't devoted as much time as Priest had into thinking things through in all aspects, hence the fact that she moved as hastily as she did.

With her phone ringing nonstop in her right hand and a racing mind that prevented her from being rational, Jazzy continued to walk back and forth in hopes of planning her next move.

She was now being impacted with just a fraction of what Priest had to deal with for the past six years of his life. The arrangement she made with Avery showed just how arrogant she could be. She made her moves out of ego, something Priest hardly ever did when it came to his and others’ livelihoods. She was so confident in her plan with Avery that the thought of Priest wreaking havoc on everything she had set up never once crossed her mind. Now, she was stuck.

Figuring she had run from her problems long enough, she decided to answer the incoming call from Avery.

"You set me up!" Avery screeched into Jazzy's ear. She was in distress as she enclosed herself in her office with the sole mission of getting in contact with Jazzlyn. After dozens of calls and texts, she finally got through, and with her anxiety levels and anger up to the ceiling, she didn't even bother to utter out a polite greeting once Jazzlyn did answer the phone.

Jazzy's perfectly arched brows bumped together in confusion, completely caught off guard by Avery's statement. "What are you talking aboutI set you up?" She screwed up her face.

Avery inhaled a deep breath to keep her composure as she continued to pace her office. "You set me up," she reiterated, and this time she refrained from shouting in hopes of getting some clarification on what the fuck was going on. "When you came into my office with this proposition, I made it very clear I have a daughter I'm trying to keep in my custody. Why the fuck would you do this to me?" she cried out in full-fledged panic as she ran her fingers through her hair.

"Yo, calm down and tell me what happened,” Jazzy instructed her. Usually, whenever someone was accusing her of something, Jazzy would have been on ten and spent no time on a rational response. Due to the fact that she was in such a panicpertaining to her daughter, Jazzy decided not to lash out and listen instead.

Over the phone, Jazzy could hear Avery take in a deep breath in hopes of bracing herself. "Your people picked up the paper you dropped off, and they wiped me clean of what Ron just gave me," she explained, this time speaking coherently and refraining from using an accusatory tone.

"What?" Jazzy’s face screwed up once more. Intense stress had overcome her as she raked her fingers through her jet-black tresses.

"Jazzy, you said I could trust you. You said this would be clean and easy for me and my kid. What the fuck am I supposed to do now?" Avery gritted.

She exhaled heavy, curt breaths as she felt her chest tighten in fear at the aftermath of not having Cameron's money when he expected it. Avery had only done what she was instructed to do. Kaymen and J'Ru had given her explicit instructions to run one more cycle of stashing Ron's money just so things wouldn't look suspect on her part. They made it very clear that in a few days, they would have everything handled and she would be free of the burden of washing Cameron's money and only have to focus on keeping the numbers right for the grand amount they were pulling in.

"Look, get yourself the fuck together," Jazzy ordered. As much as she understood Avery's fear and worry at the moment, she couldn't allow that to have Avery talking loosely over the phone. "How much was it?" Jazzy asked.

"Forty," Avery advised Jazzlyn.

Inwardly, Jazzlyn cursed, knowing that Priest was on a mission to defeat her simply because he felt like that was the only way to get through to her. "Listen, I'll get it back. Just stall him out," Jazzlyn responded before ending the call on her end, not giving Avery the chance to even respond. Droppingher phone into her pocket, she glanced up from the spacious backyard only to be met with Priest’s taunting gaze as he overlooked the backyard from the balcony of his bedroom.

Seeing the menacing look that forged within Jazzlyn's eyes brought Priest amusement as he blew some smoke out from the pull he had taken from his blunt. "We not playing the same game, Jazzy-Fae," he mocked her with a shake of his head.

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Jazzlyn tried her best to contain her anger. He was pushing her buttons as he always did whenever they were fussing about something. Although the stakes of this argument were much higher than what they would usually fight about, it still managed to remind Jazzy of when they were younger. He was the older brother who liked to poke fun at her to teach her a lesson. He was doing it all over again, and she hated it.

"Priest, you got your money. Why are you doing all the extra shit?" She raised a brow at him. It went without saying that he took the money. She could tell by the way his smirk gallivanted on his face, he found her nothing short of amusing.

His broad shoulders motioned in a mild shrug. "Your accountant had her hands on my paper. It's only right if I have my hands on hers," he replied smugly as he exhaled another stream of smoke.

"This has everything to do with me and nothing to do with her," Jazzy protested as she motioned her hand between her and Priest, referring to their current dispute. "Just give the paper back, Priest."

He pursed his lips, acting as if he needed a moment to contemplate it. Ultimately, he shook his head, which irritated Jazzy. "That's not how this works, Jazzy.”

She pursed her lips in an attempt to contain herself and keep from lashing out. "PJ, your issue is with me, not the accountant.Just give the paper back," she reiterated, hoping she would be able to convince Priest this time around.

Once more, Priest shook his head. "Look like you in debt of forty stacks, baby sis. You dug your grave. Crawl out of it," he chuckled as he turned around and headed back into his bedroom, no longer wanting to continue a conversation with Jazzy.

"Fuck," Jazzy cursed deeply as she massaged her temples. There was no way in hell she would be able to come up with forty thousand dollars as quick as Avery needed it. Right now, her next move had to be her best move because things could get messy.

Taking a seat in one of the pool chairs that decorated the backyard, Jazzy twiddled her thumbs as her mind went to work on how she was going to get Avery the money. Priest had tied her up in some deep shit, and her pride prevented her from begging her brother just to put an end to the situation. Deep in thought, she didn't even notice that the seat next to her filled up. Trailing her soft oak orbs from her thumbs, she set them onto Britain, who seemed hesitant to start a conversation since she was unclear what headspace Jazzy was in.

To Britain, it was evident that the two siblings weren't willing to put their differences aside for the benefit of their relationship. They were in two different mindsets, and they allowed it to pull them apart. Priest made it clear that his business wasn't up for debate with his little sister since she wasn't supposed to have any parts of it in the first place. Truth be told, Britain really had no idea what to say to Jazzy. She was caught in the middle since she wanted to keep the peace and please everyone, but off principle, Britain felt like Priest was right. His business shouldn't be in the cards for Jazzy—ever. There were so many other things she could do that would bring her lucrative income and serve herwell in life. Britain just couldn't wrap her head around why Jazzy was being so narrow minded and stubborn about it.

Britain raked her mind for advice she could offer Jazzy without blatantly letting her know that she thought Priest was right about cutting her access to his business. Coming up short, she felt a sense of relief once Jazzy's phone rang from her bag. It was evident that she was under a lot of stress. She had a lot riding on Avery making a smooth transition of the funds with clean numbers that wouldn't raise any suspicions. This would have solidified Avery's credibility with J'Ru and Kaymen, making things a hell of a lot easier on Jazzy for what she had in store for Cameron.

While she was playing checkers, Priest was playing chess and struck her with a power mover that no one saw coming. Jazzy had gotten in way over her head. She made promises to people that she couldn't uphold without the approval of Priest, and she knew she would never get that approval.