Page 47

J'Ru stuffed his hands into the pockets of his suit as he shrugged. "Italy," he said as he gestured his head toward Priest.

A deep breath flowed out of Britain. She too shifted her attention to Priest, eyeing him momentarily before setting her attention back on J'Ru. "I understand," she simply stated with a shrug of her own.

J'Ru smacked his lips lightly. "Yeah, we all do, but how do you feel about it?" he asked, hoping to gain more clarity on her take on Priest's decision.

"It's a lot to take in," she admitted. "But I'm proud of him. He's doing something for himself for once."

J'Ru nodded his head, agreeing with her. She was handling the situation at hand with a level of maturity that he didn't even think he had. "He's been my brother since we were six. You would think at 28 years old I could deal with him washing his hands clean of this city, but it's hard. Kinda feels like he's washing his hands of me too."

Immediately feeling a tug on her heart, Britain sympathized with him. "He's not," she assured him. "Priest likes to give a piece of himself to everyone he comes in contact with. He's just realizing that he no longer has any pieces to give, so he needs to restore himself," she explained to him, hoping it would clarify Priest's decision.

"Since we met, Priest and I have never been more than a phone call away," J'Ru stressed with a deep sigh. "I want him to go out there and restore himself, but what if he gets lost in the process? I'm usually always there to snap him back into reality or help him out of any bind. How am I gonna do that after this weekend?" J'Ru continued expressing his concerns. Priest was his brother, and there wasn't anything he wouldn't do for him. He just didn't think things would be the same once Priest began establishing himself in Italy. Quite frankly, he was planning to be forgotten.

"You know Priest just as well as I know him, maybe even better. If he had intentions of burning bridges with you, he wouldn't have told you his plans, nor would you be standing here today." J'Ru eyed Britain, agreeing with her. Each time he and Britain had a conversation, he got some insight into why Priestchose her over Paula. Britain had no motives. She simply just lived, and her ways of living had finally rubbed off on Priest.

He was finally living life in the grey.

Eventually, the courtroom doors opened, allowing everyone to enter. Britain took her seat right behind Priest, alongside Kaymen and J'Ru. This was her first time sitting on this side of the trial. She would usually be on the opposing side, typing away on her laptop with herNew York Timespress pass on. Today was different.

Britain’s eyes scoped the courtroom. Her sight immediately landed on Frankie, who now occupied the seat she used to fill. Frankie was old school. She kept her outdated recorder in hand instead of a fancy laptop. She wanted to hear every word and all the different inflections the voices sounded off back and forth. She needed that much control to make her story perfect for publishing.Priest looked over his shoulder, realizing that Britain was staring aimlessly at Frankie.

"Hey," he quietly called to her. Britain turned her head in his direction. "Don't let her psych you out," he said with a light smile on his face.

Britain mirrored his smile before nodding her head. Glancing over at Frankie once more, she watched as she hit Record on her recorder as the bailiff called for everyone to rise for the entry of the judge.

SAPPHIRE NIGHTCLUB

HARLEM, NEW YORK

Jazzy shifted the Porsche into park right at the front of the club. Due to it being early morning, the parking lot was pretty much empty, but tonight, the Sapphire was where everyone was going to be. It was Taylor's last night dancing, so it was only right to seeher off with a huge event that she would be headlining. Taylor was Sapphire's top dancer, so of course Cameron was trying to swoon her with last minute perks in order to convince her to stay; however, Taylor was ready to go.

She called Jazzy this morning for assistance with her outfit for the night, and to keep her company while she practiced her routine. Even though Jazzy groaned and moaned about being at a club so early, she was actually glad that Taylor was saving her from staying in the penthouse all day.

Things were on the rocks between her and Priest after dinner the night before. Jazzy wasn't necessarily upset about the fact that Priest was leaving for Italy. She just wished she had gotten an earlier warning than being told a few days before he left. However, what more could she possibly expect from him? He was known to pull sporadic schemes like this all the time.

Once they got home from dinner, he talked more about his decision, hoping his sister would understand, and she did. Her lack of response was simply her preparing herself for the great amount of distance that would be between them again, especially since he planned on relocating to Italy forever.

Priest knew it would take her a while to come around, so he invited her to his final court date in hopes of making amends. What he thought would bring her back around just didn't work. Jazzy opted out of going, but she didn't make her decision solely because of how she felt about him going to Italy. She had a different reason, a reason that Priest didn't know of.

Jazzy sat in the car with her phone grasping her attention. Even though she couldn’t show up to his trial physically, she still watched it just like she usually would. On her screen was the live feed streaming from the courthouse. Due to the courtroom being full to capacity already, the stream was being taken from outside and showed the reporter, who was getting live updates about what went on inside.

It had been a solid hour since the last update, and Jazzy was beginning to grow restless. Instead of lingering around, she shut her phone off and proceeded to step out of the vehicle. With her Saint Laurent tote in hand and her Cartier tinted glasses shading her eyes, she entered the club.

The loud music projected from the speakers and into her ears upon her entrance. Looking around the empty club, she spotted Taylor hoisting herself up on the pole in the midst of one of her stunts. A light smirk sprawled onto Jazzy's face as she grabbed a seat right below the stage.

She watched as Taylor gracefully glided down the pole, landing in a full split just as the music cut off. "Okay, I'm glad you’re over stripping and all, but I'm gonna miss seeing that," Jazzy cheered as she clapped her hands for her.

Taylor laughed between her heavy breathing from all the dancing she had done. "I'm good at it, ain't I?" she asked, smiling proudly.

Jazzy nodded her head. "The best hoe there is," she teased, causing her and Taylor to laugh as they high fived each other.

Taking a seat next to her, Taylor downed some water to ease her breathing. "Thank you for coming," she expressed her gratitude to Jazzy.

Jazzy waved her off as she took off her Cartier shades. "Who else would come? None of these bitches like you."

Taylor side-eyed Jazzy before convulsing into laughter since she had a point. "They really don't." An arrogant shrug rolled from her shoulders. "Not my fault they’re ugly and have no sex appeal."

"No, they don't like you because trifling shit like that constantly comes out of your mouth," she pointed out in full amusement.