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Priest took in a deep breath, preparing himself for the various different reactions and responses he knew he was about to receive. "After my trial tomorrow, I will be leaving for Italy at the end of the week," he announced.

Priest was big on never telling his plans unless they were set in stone, so his announcement about moving to Italy caught everyone by surprise. Jazzy, J'Ru and Kaymen couldn't help but feel a bit betrayed. They were just getting him back from the toxicity of this dreadful trial, and now, he was planning to uproot himself. It just didn't make sense.

"Like vacation or something?" Jazzy cut in to ask.

Priest cleared his throat of his nerves before shaking his head. "Six months to a year," he clarified. "I'll be back and forth sometimes, but only to make sure things are going smoothly so I can permanently reside in Italy," he fully explained. At that moment, everyone was staring at him like he had two heads. What could possibly be so compelling about Italy to make him want to stay there permanently?

"I want to assure everyone that things will continue operating how they are now. The only difference will be my time zone and availability," Priest addressed the unspoken concerns.

Remy leaned up in his seat. The look on his face let everyone know that Priest's announcement wasn't taken well by him. "Britain's going too?" he asked.

Another sigh drifted out of Priest. He wasn't a liar, and he wasn't about to become one because he wanted to save face. "No, she isn't coming with me," he confirmed.

Jeremy nodded. "Is this why she didn't show tonight?" He returned with another question pertaining to Britain.

Truthfully, Priest nodded his head in response.Remy shook his head in disappointment before rising from his seat. Excusing himself, he walked away from the table and exited the restaurant altogether. Priest was definitely expecting a scene from Jazzy, but to his surprise, Remy seemed to be taking the news harder than anyone.

Priest excused himself from the table as well, following Remy out the restaurant. He finally caught up to Jeremy, who was waiting for his car from valet. "C'mon, Rem. You're tripping," Priest said to him.

Remy buried his hands in his coat, glancing at Priest. Again, he shook his head in disappointment before rendering Priest a response."Priest, go back to your dinner," Jeremy advised him.

"Where you headed?" Priest asked as he folded his hands across his chest to withstand the harsh and frigid wind.

Jeremy scoffed. "To check on my daughter."

"I didn't hurt her," Priest asserted just so Jeremy wouldn't think otherwise.

He took in a sharp breath before rotating around to face Priest. "You just stood at a table and thanked me. Then, in the same breath, you told me you're leaving my daughter. You think I'm supposed to take this shit lightly?" he gritted in anger. "Britain is the line you don't fucking cross. I warned you of that when all this shit started."

"I'm aware of that, Remy. I honor Britain and never disrespected her in any way. Britain and I have already discussed this," Priest clarified, hoping to deter Jeremy from his brewing anger.

He carelessly smacked his lips. "Did you fucking forget that you just asked me and Seven for our blessing to marry Britain? Now you're fucking announcing a move to Italy?" he venomously spat at Priest.

Priest's shoulders dropped as he hung his head low in guilt. Things didn't work out as he intended them to. Tonight, he was supposed to be announcing more than just his move to Italy. He planned on proposing to Britain, but things took a turn quickly. Even though Britain had shot down the suggestion of moving to Italy before, Priest didn't think she was so headstrong about it. He really thought she would have given in once they talked everything out. Instead, Britain was giving him her blessing to go out and live for himself.

"Listen," Jeremy warned as his jaw clenched. "You can play with me all day because I see past all the bullshit, but Britain? That's a whole different story. I'm not about to let you fuck with her happiness because you want to weigh out your options in life. Trust me, if you would have started with the fact that you were relocating to Italy, you wouldn't have gotten my blessing," he seethed without any remorse. His words were definitely ablow to the heart. It made Priest feel unworthy of Britain. He understood, though. Remy had to protect his daughter at any cost, even if it came between their relationship.

Offended, Priest screwed up his face in anger. "I don't bullshit, and I especially don't bullshit about Britain," he gritted ferociously. Reaching into his pocket, he extracted the royal blue velvet box that had been weighing him down for the past few weeks. "I carried this fucking ring around for weeks, searching for the perfect time to ask your daughter to spend the rest of her life with me. If you thought I was playing some fucking mind game for my ego's sake, then you don't fucking know me. I asked for your blessing out respect, but don't let that shit go to your fucking head. She would say yes to me with or without your blessing," he sharply spat, his dark eyes searing right into Remy's soul.

"Just like Britain is the line that shouldn't be crossed with you, she's my line too. Don't overstep in our relationship, and I won't overstep in you being her father," Priest concluded before turning around and heading back into the restaurant.

This was Priest and Remy's first ever disagreement. The two always saw eye to eye. With Britain involved, things got incredibly blurred. She was both of their soft spots, and neither could handle the other hurting her.

Priest paused his steps, taking a look at the velvet box he still had clenched in his grip. Opening the box, he examined the 11-carat princess cut diamond ring. The clarity of all the diamonds was almost blinding. Britain was a humble woman, so the ring was definitely beyond her limits and not what she would have found suiting for herself, but Priest didn't think so. She deserved each carat and each diamond the ring had to offer.

Priest exhaled a stressed-out breath before shutting the velvet box. He nestled the ring back into his pocket where itreturned to weighing him down like it had been doing for the past couple of weeks.

Time was no longer all they had.

Chapter Eight

Jeremy leaned against the wall, eyeing Britain as she clasped her tennis bracelet around her wrist. He hung his head low with a sigh of defeat. In an hour, he watched his daughter completely transform herself from the emotional wreckage left behind by Priest's decision and a bottle of tequila.

She seemed to have completely forgotten about all the tears she shed the night before and the endless ranting about Priest and their relationship. This morning, she got up on time, cleaned herself up, got dressed and was preparing to leave for Priest's trial. Jeremy didn't think it would be the best idea for her to attend the court date, but Britain was insistent on doing so.

"Could you stop making that face?" Britain requested in a hoarse voice.

Her soft and soothing voice had been compromised from her crying all night. Despite no longer looking like a mess now that she had on makeup and a nice outfit that matched her designer heels, she still sounded like one.