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They continued the tour of the home, and Britain gawked at all the extravagant pieces that decorated the walls. Matteo made everything so comfortable for her. The conversation came easy, and they never had an awkward moment of silence, mostly because they were both chatterboxes who could go on for hours.

The home had two wings to it that were separated by a gorgeous garden full of blossoming ruby red roses. The view was similar to the views that would be depicted on television. With a fountain set right in the center of garden, the view was cinematic.

"So, you know how Priest and I met, but you haven't told me how you and your wife met him," Britain inquired as she turned to Matteo with a light smile. Britain knew Priest never lied to her, but he did like keeping her out of things. If he thought something wasn't worth knowing, Britain was left completely unaware of it. It drove Britain up the wall that he left her out of so many things but always had her in the midst of situations that she could have been prepared for if she knew all the details. It was a fault of his, but she chalked it up by considering it his way of protecting who he loved the most.

A light laugh filtered out of Matteo as he and Britain continued to saunter through the garden. "Before I knew him, I heard a lot about him. He was someone who had a lot of eyes on him far before all the attention he has now. Everyone really wanted to know what path he would take because he's the kin of Leonard Justice. I know they both like to deny the fact that they are family, but it's the truth," Matteo shrugged. "Leonard had many connections. Most of them turned sour, as did the one he shared with my wife and I, but I never stopped watching. Priest, however, was always the piece of the puzzle that never fit intoLeonard's whole life. He stood out, so I kept my eye on him. He was no stranger to trouble, so when he got himself locked up for a few months, I realized that bail hadn't been posted as quickly as it usually would, and my wife and I bailed him out."

"You were the one who bailed him out when all the allegations first came out?" Britain asked, trying to make sense of the timeline of Priest's life.

Matteo nodded his head in confirmation. "Yeah, no one really wanted to post his bail, afraid that the Feds would look into who had that type of money and why were they interested in bailing him out. It was just too much of a risk, but Nonna and I took the risk."

"So, you and your wife weren’t the start of everything changing for him," Britain let out, trying her best to figure things out. The one thing Priest never told her was how he went from landscaping one day to living in a high-rise penthouse the next. It was a secret he didn't divulge to anyone.

Matteo shook his head. "He made his way on his own. With his work ethic, I'm not surprised. We came in after he was established. We just helped him expand."

Britain nodded, retaining all the newfound information. After the tour of the garden, she and Matteo returned inside the home where Suzette and Priest were still conversing. Upon Matteo and Britain's entrance into the room, their conversation came to an abrupt halt. "How was the tour?" Suzette averted her attention to Britain.

A smile plastered Britain's face. "It was wonderful. The garden is to die for."

"Thank you," Suzette replied, mirroring Britain's smile. "Dinner will just take a moment longer?—"

"Actually, we can't stay," Priest cut in as he glanced down to the Richard Millie that laced his wrist.

A disappointed look masked both Matteo's and Suzette's faces. "You two just got here. I barely got the chance to get to know Britain," Suzette told Priest, hoping to get him to reconsider.

Priest stood up from the couch, his mind already fixed on leaving. "I apologize for that, but something came up. Maybe some other time?" Priest suggested.

Suzette sighed before nodding her head, agreeing to meet again some other time. They shared goodbyes with each other before Matteo and Suzette walked Britain and Priest to the door. Britain was pretty oblivious about why Priest wanted to leave so abruptly, but she could tell something was up.

He assisted her into the car before getting in himself. As he circled the fountain to exit the lengthy driveway, Britain let out a sigh. "What was that about?" she asked, unable to go without knowing the reason why they rushed out of Suzette and Matteo's home.

Priest pursed his lips momentarily as he kept his attention fixed on the road. "There's just shit I would rather you hear from me than them. Nonna could've aired me out during that dinner. It was too much of a risk," Priest explained as he shook his head.

Britain furrowed her brows in confusion. "Air you out? About what exactly?"

A deep sigh aired out of him. He shifted his eyes from the road to her briefly. She was awaiting a response, and he knew she wasn't going to let up until she got one. Licking his lips nervously, he decided to just let it out instead of holding back like he really wanted to. "Nonna just put me at the head of business," he stated. "It's a clean slate with different people. She wants to see how I can run it."

Britain screwed up her face. "When you say business, you mean legal business… right?" she asked for clarification.

She eyed Priest as he pursed his lips once more before deciding to respond. "C'mon,Gioia. It's not necessarily all legal, but the numbers add up like it is," he explained, hoping she would take it better than him flat out saying he had returned to selling drugs.

Britain brushed Priest's hand off her thigh, making it clear that she was brewing in fury. "Absolutely not," Britain sternly stated as she shook her head in denial. "The Priest I know would not have moved himself along with me to an entirely different country to do the same shit he was fleeing back in The States."

"Gioia,it's just temporary," he attempted to plead.

"Bullshit! You and I both know this isn't temporary. You can't just start and stop whenever you feel like it. You just tied yourself into the same mess. The only difference now is that we're in a completely different time zone," Britain scoffed angrily.

Priest decided to remain silent since he knew she had a lot more to say. She was worked up and angry, and that meant she was about to say her piece before finally settling in her anger. "You had me so fucking fooled, Priest. I'm so in love with you and so fucking gullible that I believed everything that came out of your mouth," she frustratedly vented, not caring whether Priest got offended or not.

"I believed that you were really looking forward to changing and becoming the person I see you to be. You agreeing to run this fucking business is a slap in the face. Do you not understand what I left for you? How big of a change I committed myself to? Here I am in a fucking country I know nothing about, praying every day to remain open and optimistic so you can be happy and finally do something for yourself," Britain fussed while shaking her head. "You played your front well. I give you that."

"It ain't no front, Brit. This shit is complicated, and I can understand why you're angry, but I couldn't just say no." Hesighed deeply. "This business is how money gets made back home in New York. If shit isn't moving smoothly on this side, then we dry up back home, and I lose everything. I couldn't say no, Brit."

"But you expected me to just say yes so willingly?" She cocked her eyebrow up. "Britain, I'm moving to Italy to better myself and leave my bad dealings in the past, and you're coming with me because you keep me grounded,"she mocked him, hoping he would recall when he stirred her simple life up with the bomb he dropped about moving to Italy.

"I'm not falling back on my promise, Brit," he asserted.

Britain smacked her lips while folding her arms across her chest. "This is a repeat of everything I was afraid of happening," she muttered to herself with a shake of her head. "You promised me this would be a good thing. A whole new life that would bring you peace. God, I should have listened to Seven. She caught your bluff way before I did." Britain frustratedly raked her fingers through her hair, guilting herself for making the mistake of moving across the world solely off Priest's word.