Page 3 of The Love of Priest 2

Priest looked over his shoulder, seeing Paula for himself. Paula always knew how to make things worse. As crazy as it looked right now, Priest could explain, truthfully. "It's nothing like that. It's just business," he attempted to explain to Britain.

Britain pursed her lips while nodding her head. "I understand," she replied, her light voice drenched in disappointment.

"Look, just go back to the penthouse. I'll be there once I wrap this up," Priest assured her with a look of genuine sincerity in his dark orbs. He truly did want to talk to Britain, but right now would’ve just been an awful time.

He knew things looked really bad; however, he was being honest. This meeting with Paula was strictly business. That's all it was.

"No need. I'll see you when I see you, Priest," Britain retorted while shrugging her shoulders.

Priest's shoulders dropped. "Don't do that," he said as he shook his head. "It's just business, Brit."

"You said you would have Kaymen handle it. Now she's trotting after you like you left her at the table right in the middle of your damn date," Britain gritted lowly as her eyes seared into Paula, who was smirking at her in amusement.

Priest ran his hand down his face in distress. "Kaymen's inside," he claimed. "I'm not gonna play you out like that, good terms or not," he sternly assured her, hoping she would understand.

Priest took ahold of Britain's face, steering her attention from Paula onto him. Their eyes met, causing Britain's scowl to soften. "You've got my word, aight?" he asserted as he leaned down, meeting her lips for a light kiss.

Britain nodded. "Okay. See you at your place."

"I love you, aight? I'll get to you as soon as I wrap this up," he promised her.

"Love you too," she professed back to him.

He pecked her lips with another kiss before signaling for Cyro to pull off. As the tinted window rolled back up, Britain let out a heavy breath as she leaned back in her seat. She trusted him. At least that was what she thought it was: trust.

Priest watched the car leave, making sure it was out of sight before turning around to face Paula.

His jaws were clenched, and his eyes had darkened.

"You’re getting up there in age. It's time to mature and let the petty shit go," Priest scoffed as he bypassed her.

He knew Paula had only left her seat at the table to make it seem like their meeting was something that it wasn't. He could understand why Britain would feel like he was doing something that he shouldn't have been.

If the shoe was on the other foot, Priest was sure he would have reacted a lot worse than she did.

Paula's heels clicked behind him as a smirk panned her face. "C'mon, Priest. She's clearly insecure," she retorted as she shrugged in amusement.

Priest abruptly stopped walking, turning around to face her. His cold glare burned down at her. "You don't know shit about anything," he seethed through clenched teeth. "Don't ever fix your fucking mouth to speak on her again. Remember, she's where you wanna be."

The smirk on Paula's face fell flat as she pursed her lips. When they were together, their arguments would be lethal. Priest knew exactly what to say to tear her down without being the aggressor, while she was the volatile and excessive one. She knew this wasn’t the time or the place to return to that behavior, so she recanted what she so badly wanted to let out to him.

Priest walked away from her, heading back to the table where Kaymen and the governor's daughter, Olivia Fields, sat. "Sorry for that," he apologized for his sudden departure while he and Paula reclaimed their seats. "You were saying?"

Prior to Britain popping up, Priest was actually interested in what Olivia was saying, hoping to try to get close to her father for his own personal favors. Now, all he could think about was wrapping up lunch so he could get to Britain and explain.

Upon arriving at the penthouse, Britain thanked Cyro for all he had done.

He assisted her out of the car so she could head upstairs.

She bypassed the security measures with ease, and the elevator took her up swiftly.

The doors slid open, allowing her to step into the tidy and spotless penthouse.

Surprisingly, Jazzy was sitting on the living room floor with a slew of papers ripped out of her sketchbook, along with a few samples of fabric.

At the sound of Britain coming in, she cast her attention onto her.

"Britain!" She smiled, a bit surprised to see her. "I haven't seen you all week."

Britain sighed. "Yeah, sorry about that," she apologized with a faint smile. "It's just been hectic this week."

Jazzy nodded in understanding. "That or you and PJ were on the outs," she pointed out, letting Britain know that she was aware.

Britain let out a light sigh. "He told you?"

Jazzy nodded her head with a light smile. "Yeah, he said you lit his ass up pretty bad, which he deserved. I would have been heated too."

Britain claimed a seat on the plush couch before putting her fist underneath her chin, a light frown stretching across her face. "I was pretty harsh."

Jazzy chuckled. "Luckily, you're dealing with my brother and not some other sensitive guy.

Priest knows right from wrong, and he believes your reaction was warranted, but that's just what I'm getting from what he told me.

" She shrugged as she picked up her pencil and sketchbook to resume designing the outfit she was working on.

"I don't know whether that's good news or bad news." Britain’s head hung low.

Jazzy could sense that Britain needed to unload, so she sat her sketchbook back down, sticking the pencil through the spirals. "What happened?" she asked.

Britain lifted her head, meeting Jazzy's soft and welcoming eyes. She exhaled a sigh before responding. "I uh—" she paused. "I showed up at La Lealtá to talk to him, and Paula strutted out behind him like they were on a date." She rolled her eyes at her own mention of Paula.

"And what did Priest say?" Jazzy raised a brow.

Britain shrugged. "He said it was business."

"Then believe him," Jazzy settled. "Priest is a lot of things, but he's not a liar. I can attest to that.”

"It's not him I'm worried about. It's Paula," Britain openly admitted. She didn't want to bug Priest about it anymore, nor did she want to come off as insecure. She just wanted Paula to understand her boundaries. Paula was clearly trying to intimidate her, and unfortunately, it was working.

She was the older woman, beautiful, wiser, and had a lot more going for herself.

Paula was definitely competition, and she knew that, which was why she made her presence known.

Jazzy understood Britain's concerns. Seeing another woman around her man was naturally a red flag, no matter how secure the relationship seemed.

"What do you know about her?" Britain asked Jazzy.

"Usually, me and my brother's girlfriends don't get along, but I like you," Jazzy stated truthfully. "So, what I tell you stays between us. Understand?"

Britain swiftly nodded her head. "You have my word," she promised.

Seeing that Britain was genuine, Jazzy let out a light sigh.

"They met through a mutual friend at the time, and they hit it off.

He didn't start bringing her around until they were about a year in.

I guess that's when they realized that feelings were involved, and they weren't just fucking.

He devoted a lot to her, and she took that for granted.

Her vibe was always off to me. She always had to fit him into her schedule like she was oh so busy, but in reality, she had a lot of fucking free time.

“I think Priest saw the signs. He had to.

Hell, everyone did, but he was too in love.

She caused a lot of chaos in his life. She came in between friendships that will never be salvaged.

He missed out on big opportunities for her, and she liked planting bugs in his ear.

He began distancing himself from her for a short while after she tried to accuse J'Ru of trying to play him out.

She would trash their friendship then smile ear to ear in J'Ru's face as if she had said nothing.

It's kinda psychotic if you ask me," Jazzy concluded as she shrugged before shaking her head.

"She ended up swindling herself back in with Priest and basically separated him from everyone.

He wouldn't answer any calls, wouldn't show up for any dinners or events, and just completely isolated himself.

Around that time, I had just gotten to Paris.

Priest promised to call at least once a week.

I started to worry when he missed a week, then he missed another, and after that, he missed another week.

I always had J'Ru fill me in on what was going on since I was all the way in Paris, but even J'Ru was oblivious.

J'Ru finally got a call from him, explaining that he had gotten picked up and needed to be bailed out.

I flew back as soon as I could, ready to blow my top at him, but once I saw him, I just felt bad.

He looked pained and empty. I'm not sure what exactly went down between the two, but he never spoke of her or mentioned her again, and whenever we mentioned her, he just grew enraged, so we just left it alone. "

Britain was aware of what happened between the two. It was clear that Priest had never opened up about Paula's betrayal. Even after she robbed him and left him when he needed her the most, he still protected her from scrutiny.

"Paula's manipulating. She knows all of Priest's triggers and soft spots. I know this may sound crazy, but your best bet is to stay out of it and let Priest handle it all. If she knows she's gotten under your skin, she'll try her best to stay there," Jazzlyn advised Britain.