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Priest kept silent. Disappointing Britain always pained him because she thought so highly of him. He loved her with everything in him, and he hated that he had done this to her, but he felt like his back was against the wall. Saying yes to Suzette didn't come easy, but the thought of the supply to New York stopping shook Priest. He couldn't leave Kaymen and J'Ru with that big of a mess to clean up on their own while he was on a spiritual retreat out in Italy.

He offered Britain no response. She was in a combative state at the moment, and the conversation would’ve just brewed into a big blow up if he matched her energy. Arriving at their estate, he parked the car. With swiftness, she stepped out of the vehicle without his assistance, which caused his jaw to clench. She madeher way toward the door, using her key to gain entrance into the home.

Britain was met with the staff of housekeepers who showed up biweekly. To save face, she wore a light smile as she waved hello to the cleaning staff who was taking care of the home. She made her way directly up the spiral staircase, heading straight to their bedroom closet so she could pull her luggage.

It didn't take long to hear Priest enter right behind her. She overheard him speaking Italian downstairs for a brief moment before he began his way up the stairs. Upon entrance into the bedroom, he sighed heavily at the sight of her luggage sprawled upon the floor, waiting to be filled with her belongings.

He took a seat on the chaise lounge that decorated their bedroom, watching as she pulled clothing from the closet, stuffing items inside of the suitcases. "Britain, you're upset. Can we just talk about this?" he spoke to her lightly, not wanting to set off the wrong fuse that would prompt her to blow up.

Britain dabbed the tears that coursed down her face that was once flawless with her makeup application. She shook her head in response to Priest. "We've only been here for three weeks, and you went back on your word already," she accused as she continued to throw things into her suitcases.

Priest stood up from the couch, heading over to the luggage that had clothing tossed into it randomly. Reaching down, he grabbed a great handful of the hangers, taking the clothing out of the suitcase. "You made promises too, Brit. You promised that if shit went bad, you wouldn't resort to just packing up like you always do," he reminded her as he began hanging the clothes back up on the closet racks.

"I think it's fair for me to break my promise being that you've broken yours," Britain retorted, trying her best not to let all her emotions overcome her.

Priest could see the tears staining her face, which ultimately caused him to let out a deep sigh. His hands took ahold of the clothes she was desperately trying to toss into her luggage. He pulled them out of her hands, sitting them aside. "I'm sorry."

"That's not enough," she said as she frowned and shook her head.

"I know," Priest acknowledged, hanging his head in shame.

"Don't try to make this seem like it's harder for you than it is for me," Britain gritted. "You spoon fed me this fucking facade about you trying to be a better person, and I fell for it."

"There's no façade, Brit. I'm trying. I want to be the man you see me to be and so much more. This is just temporary," he tried to reason with her once more.

Britain wiped her face of the tears with a shake of her head. "How long is temporary, Priest? Three months? A year? Five years? When will you realize you can't keep making these temporary fucking fixes to a lifestyle as consuming as this one?! You lied to me, and that's something you said you would never do."

"I didn't lie to you, Britain! I'm fucking trying, alright?! You expect me to just drop all the responsibilities I have because I made a promise to you?! I have people at my table that I need to take care of! If I have to sacrifice some time of my healing to do that, then that’s what the fuck it’s gonna be, Britain! You gotta see shit for the bigger picture, yo!"

Priest quickly grew frustrated. He took full accountability for what he did; however, he felt like Britain was discrediting him in a sense, and that didn't sit well with him. He knew taking on the business out in Italy was a smack to the face, but this was what had to be done in order to keep shit afloat. Priest wasn't the type of man to just stand by and let everyone fix a mess he started. Leaving J'Ru and Kaymen to deal with a drought while he was away would’ve just been fucked up. They weren't equippedenough and didn't have it in them to survive a recession without him present.

Britain frustratedly smacked her lips, a menacing scowl etching her face. "I'm so fucking sick of this fuckingtable,Priest!" Britain pointed her finger in his face. "When will you fucking realize that these people are more than capable of taking care of them-fucking-selves?! You’re not a fucking superhero who can save everyone! Let all that responsibility and shit go!Youhave to see the bigger picture, Priest!" she jeered.

"Word?" Priest folded his arms across his chest, clearly offended.

"You keep fucking burning yourself out to appease everyone else! You've played this role already, Priest! Give it a rest!" Britain stressed. "None of these people are asking you to put your life on the line for them! You have done enough!"

Priest shook his head, disagreeing with her. "You don't understand, Britain."

"No, you don't get to pull that on me again!" she refused. "I completely understand everything, Priest! You played me out! You got me all the way out here just so you could do the same shit again! Then what?! After a few years, you're going to have another trial, get extradited to The States, and then we're going to be in an even bigger mess that I'm going to have to stick beside you through while you clean up?! Save me the damn headache, Priest. I'm exhausted at this point!" she expressed her feelings blatantly and truthfully. Priest was creating a cycle for himself, and now it had taken over her entire life.

Britain felt so naive and silly for even thinking this move to Italy would have changed everything for Priest. She was sold a good story by him, and she ate it all up simply because she trusted him. At this point, she wished she had listened to her mother and trusted her intuition about staying back homeinstead of following Priest to Italy. She had done this same thing before, and here she was repeating the same mistake with another man she had fallen blindly for.

"Britain, could you just please—" Priest pleaded, while grabbing another set of clothes from her hands.

"No, Priest! I want to go back home. I can't stand to even look at you right now," she said through her tears. She sounded broken and disappointed.

"Britain, I don't want you to leave," he said to her.

"Well, Priest, you made your decision knowing you were breaking a promise to me. Just let me figure things out for myself," she responded, trying her best to wipe the ongoing tears that were cascading down her face.

In defeat, he retracted his hold from Britain's clothing, stuffing his hands deep into his pockets. He exited the closet, leaving Britain to pack up her clothes. It wouldn't be the best idea for him to fight her on the matter right now. She was very upset, and things could go from bad to worse if he continued to plead with her while her mind was clouded. He knew that him accepting the new role from Suzette wasn't what he sold Britain when he asked her to come live in Italy. She felt betrayed, and rightfully so. However, he wished she could just overlook this one mistake because he wasn't about to let his new position cloud the true reason why he made the move to Italy in the first place.

Healing himself and finding peace was still a main priority.

Chapter Fifteen

Priest held the lighter to the end of his blunt, watching as it scorched in redness before emitting a nice stream of smoke. Holding it to his lips, he took a long pull from it before letting the smoke flow out of his nostrils. From his seat in the backyard of the home, he could watch Britain's shadow pace the bedroom as she went back and forth between the closet and her luggage, stuffing her belongings inside of it.