Page 117 of The Love of Priest 2

Kaymen massaged his temples, gearing himself for yet another feud between Priest and Kaymen.

"Yo, can we not do this? It's getting fucking old.

At the end of the day, business is handled, and we have weight to move.

Y'all are brothers. Have been since before I got into this shit.

Let it go. We family that just happen to do business with each other.

If our family unit not right, we might as well dead the business too.

I don't have time to be mediating dumb-ass arguments because we have money to make, and we won't be making any if y'all steady acting like some hoes," Kaymen chastised both men with a grimace on his face.

He was sick of the constant feuding and bickering and he knew if the men parted ways in this state, things wouldn't be good.

"Y'all figure this shit out," he ordered as he took the path out of the kitchen, leaving Priest and J'Ru to settle their issues.

As they watched Kaymen storm away, J'Ru let out a heavy breath. "You wrong and you know it," he stated, switching his attention to Priest, who was taken aback.

"Nigga, I'm wrong?" Priest raised his brows, completely perplexed.

"You agreed to have my baby sister touching dirty money because you were in a small bind that you could've gotten out of if you just picked up the phone and fucking called me!

You and Kaymen dropped the ball when it came to this situation! "

"Aight, so if it was me and Kay, why the fuck am I catching all the heat for it?!" J'Ru asked.

"Because I expect more from you! You was there from the very beginning, son!

You know how much I mean it when I say I do this shit so Jazzy don't have to!

You thought this would force my hand so I would head back to the city!

You did this shit to spite me because I'm not moving how you want me to, and that's fucked up, Ru! "

This had been weighing heavy on Priest's heart for a while and being open and transparent about it now felt liberating.

They had been dealing with the stress of not having product, so the majority of the conversations they had just reverted to business.

Now that everything had panned out successfully with the product, they could finally get down to the nitty gritty of why they were at odds in the first place.

"Nah, you wanna know what's fucked up?! Hearing that you were sitting on all that paper from Leonard when you know I was going through it with my moms and her health at the time!

You wanna know what else is fucked up?! I got popped by Leonard and June ‘cause I'm riding for you even though you kept me in the fucking dark all these years!

Then, a few months down the line, you spring it on me that you moving back to Italy, and you expect me to hold shit down for you back in The States, but I can't move how I need to move ‘cause you ain't there off the account of your own decision making!

I specifically told you and Kay that offing Leila and putting it on June and Leonard was a bad fucking plan!

But of course, Priest is gonna move however the fuck he wants to move and expect everybody else to just follow suit!

" J'Ru stood up from his seat, firing off at Priest with the same aggression.

The tension was through the roof at this point.

It was common for J'Ru and Priest to get into quarrels, but this sounded like it was escalating too quickly.

Now that J'Ru was expressing his truth, it was evident that both men were feeling the same things. Priest felt like all his work and sacrifice was overlooked and undervalued, while J'Ru felt like all his loyalty and devotion to their brotherhood was overlooked and undervalued.

"Everything gotta go your way, Priest! We could have used that paper as a steppingstone a long fucking time ago.

We ended up suffering the consequences from it anyway!

" J'Ru jeered as he lifted his shirt to showcase the scars that marked his body from the bullets from the guns of Leonard and June.

"If you would have just heard me out when I told you that putting Leila down was a bad idea, you wouldn't even have to be out here in Italy living your life in the dark!

So, miss me with all that shit about me spiting you ‘cause you ain't move how I wanted you to!

You been making permanent and executive decisions, and no matter how crazy it gets, I ride with you no questions asked! "

"I respect and appreciate you for always riding it out with me, and I've always showed love for that.

Every decision I make and every plan I execute, I make sure I look out for everybody, including you.

So, check this out. I ain't in the business of keeping people where they don't wanna be kept.

If you ain't rocking with me no more because of how you feel, we can dead this shit right now," Priest shrugged his broad shoulders.

His jaws were clenched in anger as he withstood all the things J'Ru said about him.

The distance had built so much friction between the two men that they didn't even realize that this was something they could smooth over if they just compromised with each other.

Instead, they both wanted to point the finger and play the blame game, which was costing them not only one hell of a business dynamic, but a lifelong brotherhood as well.

A bitter chuckle seeped out of J'Ru as he eyed Priest through his umber orbs, shaking his head in a shaming manner. "Heard'ju, Priest," J'Ru settled as he stood up from his seat and exited the kitchen, leaving Priest to sit in his actions alone.

HARLEM, NEW YORK

Upon landing back in the city, things felt like they had gone astray to Jazzy.

J'Ru had come to terms with his final conversation with Priest and decided that it would be best if he kept his distance for a while. He still showed up to handle the weight that had been imported from Italy for Kaymen’s sake, but aside from that, no one really heard from him.

Jazzy knew the trip to Italy was pretty bad, but she didn't expect it to put this much of a strain on everyone.

She prayed J'Ru and Priest would eventually find their way back to their brotherhood.

Quite frankly, neither of the men really knew how to function with the status of their friendship in the air, but ego and pride made it difficult for either of them to make amends.

Rolling over in bed, Jazzy was met with Taylor, who was still sound asleep.

The penthouse was far too quiet for Jazzy to go back to after spending a week in Italy with everyone under one roof.

Although those days were filled with nothing but stress and turmoil, she preferred that over the tormenting silence and isolation the penthouse offered.

She attempted to sit up in Taylor's bed, but she was restricted from doing by Taylor’s leg that was tossed over her. This caused her to smack her lips as she reached over and shook Taylor awake.

"Bitch, what happened to the pillow I put between us?" Jazzy asked her once she saw Taylor’s eyes flutter open.

Taylor groaned as she was awakened out of her sleep earlier than she anticipated. "Girl, I moved it. If you're in my bed, you're getting spooned. I like skin to skin," Taylor muttered as she turned onto her other side so she could go back to sleep.

Jazzlyn couldn't help but laugh at Taylor's response.

She shook her head as she got out of the bed.

"Taylor, we're friends. I will never bump pussies with you," she teased Taylor.

Jazzy was sure Taylor didn't see her in that way, but compared to her, Taylor was the much more affectionate friend, hence them sharing the bed when Jazzy actually wanted to sleep on the couch.

With her eyes still shuttered with hopes of falling back into her deep sleep, Taylor replied to her. "Jaz, we are two bottoms. It wouldn't work anyway. I like being fucked," she waved her off.

Jazzy convulsed into more laughter. This was the reason her and Taylor's friendship worked. Their humor was the same: crude and unfiltered. Jazzy decided to let Taylor sleep and headed to the bathroom to start her day.

Gazing at her reflection in the mirror, she ran her hands through her untamed hair.

She let out a deep breath, attempting to assure herself that things would eventually fall back into place and be better.

She went through the process of getting ready for her day, handling her hygiene and then getting her look together.

She had packed a few options to wear from the penthouse, finding it difficult to decide on one.

Letting out a groan of frustration, she carried the hangers from Taylor's closet, trekking over to wake her.

"Tay, which one should I wear?" she asked her.

A heavy groan poured out of Taylor as she opened her eyes to assist Jazzy. "Does it really matter? You're about to go link up with the bitch who’s married to the nigga you've been fucking," she scoffed.

Not liking Taylor's response, Jazzy smacked her lips. "Yes, it does matter," she asserted. "Now help."

Jazzy caught Taylor up on everything pertaining Cameron when she made it back from Italy.

She made sure not to tell details about the business, nor did she divulge Britain's situation with Cameron during her tea spilling session; however, she remained transparent about everything else.

When Taylor heard how long she and Cameron had been sneaking around, it was a shock for her, and hearing that Cameron was married was a double whammy.

Hearing these different versions of Cameron honestly made Taylor sick to her stomach as well. During the years she had worked at his club, she never would have expected him to be as sleazy as Jazzy described. He treated all the dancers with nothing but respect.