Page 70 of The Love of Priest 2

"You've turned this relationship into the ones you have tried to part ways with for so many years.

And this is not necessarily your fault. You've been conditioned into thinking this way.

She sounds like the first person to ever give you her all without asking for anything in exchange.

You're usually the person who does all the giving, so naturally, when the roles are reversed, you tend to mimic what everyone else has done to you.

I have no idea whether she will be willing to compromise with you, but what I do know is that a compromise isn't always the resolution.

If she gives in to this compromise, it could be for many reasons, and some of those reasons could just be hurting her and only benefitting you in the end," Havani preached to him.

Priest had always been the giving one, but with Britain, it was like she devoted so much to him that he almost forgot how it felt to be in her position. With Havani putting things into perspective for him, he felt extremely selfish.

Havani could see that Priest had reached the point of realization yet another time, and it caused an accomplished smile to plaster her face. "It's okay. We learn as we go. You just have to do better," she encouraged him.

After an hour of sorting through his issues with Havani, Priest changed back into his clothes and headed to his car to get home to Britain.

He knew there was no way in hell he was going to be able to convince her to stick it out with him, but he was for damn sure going to try.

Arriving at the estate, he parked the vehicle in the driveway before exiting to make his way into the home. His key allowed him access to step in.

Priest's eyes scanned the front room in search of her."Yo,Gioia!"

"In the office!" she shouted back to him, causing a sense of relief to wash over him.

He made his way toward her office area, being sure to knock before entering. Once she granted him permission to come in, his eyes landed on her sitting behind the desk with her hair tied up in a relaxed bun and wearing one of his shirts.

"I'm sorry," was the first thing that spilled out of his mouth.

Britain furrowed her brows as she glanced away from the computer screen. "Priest, could you stop apologizing? We went over this already."

He stepped further into the office while nodding his head. "We did, Brit, but at the time, I ain't really understand what exactly I should have been apologizing for. Now I know," he explained.

"What are you sorry for, P?" she asked.

He grabbed a seat across from her, his dark orbs peering into her soft ones.

"I apologize for taking more than I gave," he expressed with deep regret.

Britain pursed her lips as she tilted her head to the side, waiting for him to proceed.

"I realized that you moving out here is giving more than I have ever given you in the span of our whole relationship.

The shit I pulled was selfish and mad inconsiderate. " He shook his head, shaming himself.

"You know how I am when it comes to you, P.

I'll back you through anything, but I really feel like you’re moving for you and solely you.

How do you expect me to take vows and marry you if you have selfish moments like that?

Before we came to Italy, we were here." She motioned her fingers between his eyes and hers, alluding that they used to always be on the same accord, always see eye to eye.

"Partly because I wasn't in tune with everything and because we actually talked more.

We've built this entire relationship on communication, and you couldn't even pull me to the side to discuss a decision that impacts both of our lives? "

"You're right," he assured her. "I violated what we had, and it ain't never gonna happen again.

At the end of the day, when shit go bad, you're the first person I run to, so I should always let you have a say in major decisions like that.

This is a learning experience for me, and I'm still trying to make sense of it all," he explained to her.

Priest never made the same mistake twice, and he didn't plan on pulling the same shit on her again.

Britain eyed him with her lips pursed as she nodded her head. He could tell that despite him realizing the principle of the situation and why he really needed to be apologizing, Britain was still unsatisfied. "Is that all?" she asked as she glanced away, returning her attention to her computer.

He cleared his throat sheepishly. He didn't expect her to just fall back into his arms after his entire spill, but he was definitely expecting more than this. "Yeah," he nodded defeatedly. "My fault for interrupting.”

"You're fine. Can you make sure to shut the door on your way out?" she requested.

A bleak look panned out on Priest's face as his orbs seared into hers. Going against the urge to say what was on his mind, he decided to nod his head. "Yeah, I got you," he said as he rose to his feet.

Britain bit down on her lip lightly as her orbs hawked over him, watching him stride out of the office with his shoulders slouched.

It was evident that the two were suppressing how they both felt because they knew if they decided to take it there with one another, it would just open up a can of worms. Britain was sure that Priest had questions about her return to New York.

He wanted to know where she would be staying, who was aware of her return, and when she planned on coming back to Italy.

As bad as it sounded, Britain hadn't decided on any of those things. She was at a point where all those concerns didn't even matter to her. She just wanted to be back home and away from Priest and his justifications for why he decided to do what he did for as long as she needed to be.

His apology was very nice, and it would have been fulfilling if Britain hadn't sacrificed everything she had to be with him in Italy.

To her, she had endured far too much of a loss just for it to amount to a winded apology.

Whether he was taking accountability for his decision or not, he was still going to put himself front and center of Matteo and Suzette's business.

There was no apology long or winded enough for Britain to look past that.

Priest made his bed, and now he had to lay in it.

LATER THAT NIGHT

Britain stood in the foyer of the home making sure she had all the bags she packed for New York.

She had gone through the list of things she packed a multitude of times, yet she still felt as though she was forgetting something.

Full of frustration, a sigh drifted out of her as she tried to rack her mind for what she could have been forgetting.

It didn't dawn on her until Priest entered the foyer with her laptop sleeve in hand.

"Oh my God! Thank you for remembering my laptop. " She extended her hand out for it.

Priest handed it over to her with a light nod. "I figured you would want to work while you're out in New York." He shrugged his shoulders. "Everything else good? You ready?" He glanced around, catching sight of her bags.

Britain cleared her throat before nodding her head. "Yup, I'm ready," she confirmed.

"Bet." He nodded as he grabbed all the bags so she wouldn’t have to lift them. She led the way out of the home, lifting the trunk of the vehicle so he could toss her bags into it. "You sure this is everything?"

"Yeah. If I run out of things, I guess that'll be my cue to come back." Britain chuckled lightly.

He didn’t find a damn thing funny, so all he did was nod his head before reaching up to shut the trunk.

He made his way around, assisting her into the vehicle.

There was a thick silence circling the car.

Neither knew what to say to the other. Priest knew whatever conversation they had would lead to him telling her that he didn't want her to leave and her going against his wishes anyway.

"You gonna be okay without me for a little while?" She suddenly broke the silence as she placed her hand over his.

Priest glanced away from the road briefly, setting his eyes onto her. His shoulders motioned in a light shrug. "I got to, right?" He chuckled bitterly.

Britain nodded her head. "Yeah."

"I didn't expect you to make your first trip back home while the media was still hot, so I arranged some things for you," he informed her.

"Like what?"

Priest let out a short sigh as he kept his attention on the road.

"I don't feel comfortable with a lot of people knowing you touching down besides family. Security will be on you around the clock. The shit will be annoying at first, but you’ll get used to it.

I can't risk you being out there with all this shit going on.

I want you to stay at the penthouse with Jazzy?—"

"I already had plans on staying at Rem's house," Britain interjected.

He shook his head. "Nah, that's dead. Having security in Rem's hood would be a dead giveaway that you touched down. I don't have a problem with you stopping by, but as for you staying, that won't be good. I need you at the penthouse."

Britain decided not to fight him on his orders since he was just looking out for her safety.

“And I need you to answer my calls. I know you want space, but for my sanity, I need to hear from you every day," Priest added.

He wasn't about to give her the option of not calling.

Whether she wanted to have a conversation was up to her, but a call was to be made or answered just to assure him that she was okay.

He was very uneasy about her heading to New York so soon with the city still buzzing about him, but he couldn't necessarily hold her back.

She was an adult, and he vowed to never confine her to Italy.

"Got it," Britain confirmed.