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Seven drew out a light sigh, followed by a light laugh. She found him amusing. "I'm happily married with three children. You think I would trade that to rekindle what we had when we were in our twenties?" she asked him with her brow hiked up questioningly. Lifting the mug to his lips, Jeremy took a sip of his coffee.

"Seven, we always find our way back to each other." A smirk spread across his face as he peered down at her.

Seven reached up, taking ahold of his handsome face. "Jeremy, it will never work," she spoke clear and concisely as if he was hard of hearing and understanding.

"Doesn't sound like you're opposed to it," he taunted her with his charming, porcelain white smile.

Seven removed her hand from his face with a defeated sigh. Jeremy was so stubborn and persistent. "Goodbye, Jeremy," she said to him while picking up her mug of coffee along with her purse.

"You're taking my mug?" he called after her as she began walking away from him.

"You won't miss it!”

"I only got two mugs!" he called after her as she neared the door.

Seven shrugged, still not bothering to turn around to respond to him. "Now you have one!" She proceeded to open the door to leave.

"Love you, Sev!" He grinned.

Absentmindedly, Seven replied, "Love you t—" Catching herself, she whipped around and narrowed her eyes at him. "Screw you, Jeremy." She shut the door behind her.

In laughter, Jeremy leaned against the counter, entertained by her response. "We always make our way back to each other," he repeated to himself with a light shake of his head.

Chapter Three

Priest pushed the door open, stepping aside to let Tasha and her sons through. "How you feeling it?" he asked with a light smile as they took a full look around the furnished condo.

Tasha walked further into the condo, slowly turning around so she could take in everything. Priest decided to temporarily move Tasha and Jamari's brothers into a condo in his building due to the events that had transpired between him and Leonard. The fact that Tasha and her sons were just across the street when Remy and J'Ru got shot didn't sit right with him. He felt guilty and knew that in order to clear his conscience, he had to do something about it.

Tasha was reluctant to move at first, but she couldn't deny the fact that hearing those gunshots that night reminded her so much of losing Jamari. It had only been a month since she had officially said goodbye to her son. Now, the once familiar gunshots she would hear on any ordinary day struck deep fear in her, enough to bring tears to her eyes.

"It's nice." She nodded her head in a satisfied manner. "Pretty big." A tight-lipped smile formed on her face.

Priest let out a sigh. He could hear the uncertainty in her voice, which led him to feel defeated once more. For the pastthree days, he'd been showing Tasha option after option. Britain had given him the idea to move Tasha into his building, and he liked it because he felt like Tasha and her boys would be a lot more secure. "You don't like it?" he asked.

Tasha let out a deep breath as she flipped her dreads over her shoulder. "It's not that, Priest," she assured him. "The place is lovely. I just don't want them getting used to it." She pointed her thumb in the direction of King and Jaden, who were already sprinting around the condo in full excitement. "A temporary place should make them miss home, not never want to go back."

Priest shrugged. "This is only temporary if you want it to be. If you like it enough, it's yours," he offered.

"Priest, I can't do that to you. You've done enough as is," she declined.

"I want to," he asserted. "This is my way of looking out. Just let me do as I promised."

Tasha turned around to look at King and Jaden. They seemed happy and thrilled about the place. The two boys currently had their faces planted against the big fish tank that decorated the condo. The fish swam in circles in the water, entertaining them. "Hey, you two! Back up before you break something I can't afford," she chuckled with a light shake of her head.

Priest laughed a bit as he hooked his arm around Tasha's shoulder. "At least check out the kitchen and the view," he tried his hand at persuading her. Although he didn't want to come off as biased, he actually wanted Tasha to take the condo in his building. It was just far more convenient.

Tasha side-eyed him. "You want me to move my bad kids from Harlem to a prestigious condo in TriBeCa?"

Priest grinned. "Yeah. They seem to like it." He pointed to King and Jaden, who were now toying with the light settings for the fish tank.

"They're kids, Priest. They liked the seven other places you showed us too."

"I know that," Priest chuckled. "But this one feels like home away from home, don't it? Plus, I'm like twelve floors up, so there wouldn't be any issues." He pointed up to the ceiling, insinuating that his penthouse was just a few floors above them.

"What about school, Priest?" She eyed him.

"Twenty minutes out at the most," he shrugged."That's not bad."