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"Nah, she's fine," Priest responded to Jadey. "She just decided to sit this one out tonight."

Priest's tone was telling to everyone. Britain was not to be mentioned for the rest of the night unless it was by him.Soon, the table all joined in great conversation over the decadent dinner entrees and drinks. Priest was touch and go when it came to the conversations that were being held around the table. Fond memories that brought laughter were being shared, yet all Priest could think about was Britain. Slyly, he tried to go unnoticed as he glanced at his phone underneath the table. Still no response from Britain. He decided to send another text.

Priest:I'm sorry, Gioia. I really didn't mean for our conversation to ruin your night.I'll give you your space tonight. Hopefully you still come to the trial tomorrow.I love you.

Delivered 9:45 PM

The text was quickly read by Britain, causing Priest to lean up in his seat, anticipating her response. The three suspenseful dots danced across the bottom of the screen for a while. He wasn't sure how she was responding, but he was sure that he was in for a lengthy text.

After a while, the dots disappeared, and in came a text from Britain.

Britain:I love you too P.

Received 9:59 PM

A light sigh drifted out of Priest as he shook his head. She had discarded the lengthy text and shortened her response to a simple I love you.

Even though he had just agreed to give her space, he so badly wanted to call an end to the dinner and head straight to her apartment. By now, Britain had probably downed the bottle of vodka she used to suppress her emotions. She drank whenever things got too heavy to deal with. It was a habit Priest was hoping to get her to free herself from, but they were taking it one emotional reckoning at a time.

Priest had been clear. He didn't want to end things with her while he was away in Italy. He really believed they could make something work. It wasn't like he was completely exiling the thought of New York. Of course, he would be flying back and forth, despite how taxing it would be flying from country to country. She was worth it. What they had was worth it.Right now, she wasn't giving Italy much thought. She had decided that the change would be too drastic, and she didn’t appreciate how horribly he sprung the idea on her. She needed to be convinced, and he felt like he could do that only if she had an open mind.

"What's the matter, PJ?" Mrs. Cox questioned as she surveyed the distant look Priest had on his face.

Priest shook away from his thoughts, masking his face with a fraudulent smile. "I'm good, Mrs. C," he assured her.

Dinner continued for a while longer before Priest felt it was time to conduct a toast. He stood with his glass of whiskey in hand, summoning everyone's attention.He cleared his throat before beginning. "First, I would like to thank everyone for being in attendance tonight. I really appreciate it," he expressed his gratitude.

"Can't nobody turn down free food, no matter how raw it is," Mirsad screwed up his face as he poked at the steak tartare that sat in the center of the table.

His lack of approval for the raw beef and raw egg caused everyone to laugh. They had all stayed away from the appetizers simply because they all viewed raw meat and raw egg as hazardous.Coming down from his laughter, Priest resumed with his toast. "I want to give a special thanks to J'Ru and Kaymen. The three of us have gotten through each and every adversity that threatened to deter us from our destiny. You two are my brothers, and without the hard work and dedication from you guys, I wouldn't be anything," he dedicated to his brothers, causing an array of claps to wave through the table.

"I also want to thank my lady, Britain. Even though she couldn't make it tonight, I still want everyone to know how indebted I am to her. She has made this entire journey a breeze, and for that, I owe her the world." The claps quickly transitioned to heart felt awes being cooed around the table.

Priest shifted his attention to Remy. "Jeremy," he began, causing Remy to laugh at the use of his government name. Priest smiled before continuing. "Thank you for always being willing to give me the shirt off your back. You've always told me that you would never be able to give me what you've never gotten, but I want to let you know that you have. You taught me more than just my street smarts and hustling mentality. You brought me up with morals, respect, and humility. With the most gratitude, I thank you for raising me up to be every positive thing you've projected into this world," he honored Remy.

Remy placed his right hand over his chest, as did Priest. "Love," Remy said to him with a respectful nod.

Priest then averted his attention to Mr. and Mrs. Cox. "Thank you for always taking me in," he said to them. "You guys saw past the anger I had with the world and nurtured me like I wasn't some troubled kid everyone had already given up on. Thank you for posting my bail all those times, even when I told you guys not to so I could learn my lesson. Thank you for always holding meaccountable for my actions, whether they were small or big. I'm grateful that I got to experience all the good God blessed you two with."

After expressing his thankfulness to Mr. and Mrs. Cox, he shifted to Tasha. "Tasha, this has been the hardest year for you, and I just want to praise you for getting through it. A piece of you was taken away from you forever, yet you still remain whole. Thank you for trusting me so much with your son. He brought nothing but light to all our lives. Like I told you when Jamari passed, I vow to keep all the promises he's made to you, and that will never change." Tasha smiled up at him, thanking him as well.

"Jazzlyn," Priest started.

"Finally," Jazzy joked, causing the table to laugh. She had been waiting for her praise for a while now.

"Thank you for everything, kid. You gave me purpose when I felt like I had nothing. Raising you to be the wonderful woman you are today was the most humbling thing I have ever done. To you, I would give my last, simply because you remained with me when I had nothing left. You were my struggle, and now, you are my success. You make me proud, Jazzlyn," he expressed to her, causing Jazzy to smirk up at him as they slapped their hands together for the kiddy handshake they created when they were younger.

"Nia, Cyro and Talia, you guys are more than what everyone thinks are jobs. You guys get paid to do your job, yet you guys give way more than that. Whether it be you, Talia, sacrificing time with your son to prepare hour-long dinners. Nia, you handling The Groves with so much ease and love. Or you, Cyro, being called at all different times of the night and morning to keep whoever safe. You guys don't go unnoticed or unappreciated." He raised his glass to Nia, Talia, and Cyro. They were the first additions he made to his staff when he becamefinancially secure. They'd been with him for years and never did anything that rubbed him the wrong way.

After the many claps and praises he received in return from everyone, he prepared to end the night with his final announcement.

Mirsad loudly cleared his throat hinting that he had been forgotten. "You must've skipped over me or something," Mirsad mumbled, causing Priest and everyone else to laugh.

Truthfully, Priest had nothing to thank Mirsad for since he'd only served as a headache, but he decided to spare him some nice words. "All jokes aside, Mirsad, I'm thankful that you're giving life a second chance. Going back to school was a big step to take, and I commend you for that. You're more than what you see going on outside, and I will never stop reminding you of that."

Mirsad raised his glass to Priest with a smile. He had matured from the immature teen he once was. Priest played a huge role in that.

"Now that we've gotten through that, I do have an announcement to make," he informed them, piquing everyone's interest all over again.