Page 37

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Britain batted her eyelashes as she watched Priest stand awkwardly in the kitchen. She was a bit arrogant since she knew he would call for her help eventually, but of course, his pride wanted to prove a point.

"You need help?" Britain asked with a smirk.

Priest shook his head. "I got this," he asserted as he pinched the plastic off the lamb chops they had just purchased. "Wait. I'm supposed to touch this with my hands?" He gave her a crazed look before glancing back down at the raw meat.

Britain laughed as she nodded her head. "Yes. Just let me help with this part. I do not want to nibble on dirty lamb chops."

Priest smacked his lips. "Sit down. I got this," he asserted as he grabbed a pair of tongs from the kitchen counter.

Britain couldn't help but laugh at how ill he was about touching the raw lamb chop with his hands. She instructed him on how to thoroughly clean the lamb chops so they would be safe to eat.

As he continued to prepare the meal, Britain was at his heels supervising him. She had her arms wrapped around his torso, and every so often, her hands caressed his chest to encourage him. "Who used this kitchen ‘cause it's evident that you didn't?" Britain asked him.

Priest chuckled, finding her little sly jab amusing. "My chef, Talia. She went hard for this kitchen." He smiled lightly. "And Paula," he eased out.

In the midst of her running her hand down his chest soothingly, Britain halted. "Who's Paula?" she asked. Her tone wasn't much of a defensive one, but she was curious, nonetheless. He had never mentioned the name once before, so she was wondering why he had brought it up now.

"A woman I used to kick it with." He shrugged his shoulders, being as vague as possible. It wasn't a thing Priest wanted to hide, but he wasn't sure how well Britain would take him speaking of another woman. Because of her prior situation, Priest believed these types of things had to be eased in with care so she wouldn't feel threatened.

"Kick it with or in a relationship with?" Britain squinted her eyes while tilting her head in a questioning manner.

Priest shrugged. "We were in a relationship," he admitted, remaining honest.

Britain nodded. She didn't want to seem invasive, but again, she was curious to know more. Priest never left her questions unanswered, so being the aspiring journalist she was, her mind began to flood with questions about Paula.

"Was she nice?" Britain asked, mentally face palming herself while thinking the question was completely infantile.

Priest chuckled at how childlike she sounded. "Yeah." He nodded. "She was nice," he answered.

"Was she pretty?" Britain continued with her questions.

Priest chortled another light laugh while nodding. "She was pretty. She's actually a model," he enlightened her.

"Oof," Britain breathed in an animated manner. "I guess I have some big shoes to fill."

"Nah, not at all. She was then, and you're now." He shook his head. "Feel free to make your shoes as big or as small as you need to," he told her, causing both of them to laugh.

"Why didn't you guys work?" Britain asked now that she had bypassed all the childish questions her mind was urging her to ask for her own well-being.

Priest let out a short sigh. "For starters, she was an older woman?—"

Britain eyes widened a bit. "How much older?"

"Ten years," Priest replied. "I was 25, and she was 35."

"You were being a little sugar baby, Priest?"

Britain raised her brows, kind of alarmed that he was willing to be involved with a woman ten years his senior. Britain couldn't help but to think how off she would feel if she was Paula. Britain thought her and Kobe's four-year age difference was just unreasonable, so she couldn't even fathom a ten-year age difference. She knew if she was much older than her partner, it would give her some sort of sense of entitlement over him while at the same time making her feel insecure that he would play her for some other woman who was closer to him in age. All women were built differently, though, and Paula was one hell of a woman.

Priest laughed with a shake of his head, denying that he was ever a sugar baby. "I was on the come up around that time, so I had my own. She treated me, and I treated her."

"Oh, that's nice." Britain nodded. "So, the age difference strained you guys?" Britain continued to dig into the story of his ex-girlfriend.

Priest shook his head. "Not quite. She was actually married with a seventeen-year-old son." Priest let out with a sigh. "I wasn't really down with going in on someone else's wife after they had been unified before God, so I put an end to it."

"Now, that's just trifling." Britain screwed her face up in disgust with a shake of her head.

Priest chuckled while agreeing. "Yeah, it is. To add insult to injury, this was around the time I first got wrapped up in a legal situation. I got arrested, and she told me over the phone while I was trying to get her to contact my lawyer for me." He chuckled in a bitter manner. Britain assumed that he was just trying to suppress the pain that Paula had inflicted on him. "I trusted her with a lot, so she had access to my spot. She pretty much dipped on me after cleaning me out for everything I had," Priest shrugged.

Britain's face churned into one of anger. How could Paula find it rational to do something like that while he was trying to get himself out of a bad situation? She took advantage of his weakness at that moment, which was pretty fucked up. "What?! What sick person does that to someone who's in need?!" Britain aired in frustration. "And you consider her nice ?!"

Amused by her reaction to it all, he laughed. "I mean, she was at first," he shrugged.

"That's not nice, P. That's her assessing the situation so she could snap your neck. She's manipulative," Britain seethed with a scowl on her face.

Priest laughed at how angry Britain was getting about his situation. She did that often, but she could never understand how he could just let so many people slide after they did him so wrong. "Don't trip. I got out, recovered from the loss, and ain't looked back since," Priest shrugged, figuring he got the better end of it all.

"How much did she steal?" Britain asked.

"A couple thousand out my safe and some jewelry. I'm not tripping off it. Not to sound arrogant or vain, but what she stole is nothing to me now. It was pretty much a handout," he shrugged nonchalantly.

Britain sighed. "That's cool and all, and I'm so proud that you've evolved, but did she ever even apologize?"

Priest nodded in confirmation. "She ended up a widow, and her son started working for me." He chuckled. "She came around and apologized. I had sex with her just because, and I never spoke to her again."

Priest wasn't always against getting revenge instead of letting God handle people. He was angry that Paula did him dirty and took advantage of him the way she did, so, of course, he handled her. Priest never got around to telling anyone he was close to exactly why he and Paula called it quits, which was why J'Ru believed it was okay to chop it up with her at La Lealtá. Once Priest got out, he made sure to give Paula what she deserved. He offed her husband and recruited her son as a corner boy. He took away the two people who meant the most to her. Her son Kaleb was still pushing his weight to that day. As spiteful as it was, Priest knew Kaleb had proven his loyalty to be elevated to a much higher position in the spectrum of his business, but Paula had him paying the cost of her fucking him over. It was pretty malicious, but Priest felt like Paula deserved it. She was less a husband, and less a son who would never find it rational to leave the street life alone. They were even now.

“Well, when you put it like that, I guess she got what was coming to her,” Britain shrugged as her face softened from the scowl she once sported.

Priest laughed as he agreed with her. "You can say that.”

After a while, Priest did end up giving up putting his own expertise into the lamb chop meal, and, like anyone else with a private chef, dialed Talia's number. "You must be having a food emergency," Talia laughed as she answered the phone call.

"Yo, how do you cook lamb chops?" Priest asked as Britain stood behind him in hysterics. He was so stubborn that he refused to ask her for any help, although she knew exactly how to make the dish.

Talia laughed. "Well, for starters, what are you pairing it with?"

Priest huffed out a breath of frustration as he grabbed the package of mashed potatoes. "Instant mash potatoes,” he replied, only for Talia to laugh harder. With Britain laughing at one end of the call and Talia laughing on the other, Priest was on the verge of saying screw the whole meal and taking Britain out to dinner.

After laughing her ass off along with Britain, Talia walked Priest through the cooking process for the lamb chops, and they turned out excellent. Although he cheated with the help of a personal chef, Britain gave him props. "Thanks, T," Priest thanked Talia.

"I'm just saving one dish at a time. You two enjoy." Talia smiled before she said her goodbyes.

"She's nice," Britain said as she stood at the sink washing her hands before she sat down to eat.

Priest nodded. "Yeah, she's cool people. I try to keep good vibes around at all times."

Priest made sure everyone around him had a purpose he could help with. Talia was a single mom who really had no interest in the culinary field, but she had the talent. She was initially hired to work in La Lealtá as a line cook, but Priest hired her to be his personal chef because she couldn't deal with the fast-paced work environment. It was honestly one of the best decisions he had ever made. Jazzy and Talia had grown close and become friends since Talia was always around. Talia kept Jazzy company while Priest was gone throughout the day and sometimes at night, all the while remaining professional and never overstepping.

Britain set the table for them, and Priest served her. "Thank you. I never had a man cook for me before and look so good while doing it," she mocked him, repeating his taunt from the first time she had ever cooked a meal for him.

Priest took his seat opposite her while chuckling. "I never had a woman who looks so good enjoy my cooking," Priest recalled her response with a smirk while extending his hand across the table for her to hold. " I gotta feed your body, mind, and soul. "

Britain stared at him in awe. He was effortlessly captivating. "That sounded so much better coming from you," Britain said adoringly as she gazed at him.

Priest laughed. "Go ahead and lead the prayer,Gioia."

Britain licked her lips before nodding. In unison, the two bowed their heads before shuttering their eyes shut. Britain led the prayer, thanking The Man Above not only for the food that was about to nourish their bodies, but also for Priest. He couldn't help but to lift his head and eye her once he heard her thank God for allowing him to love her wholeheartedly. It was sweet to hear, and he couldn't help but love her even more.

Once they closed the prayer with an amen, Britain lifted her head and fluttered her feline-like eyes open. She was shocked to see Priest’s dark orbs already searing into her. "What? Did I say something wrong?" Britain asked with a raise of her brow.

Priest shook his head. "Nah." He raised her hand to his lips to kiss it lightly.

Britain decided not to probe him with any more questions. Together, they dug into their lamb chops, savoring the delicious taste of the dinner. "What was all that you were saying about only trusting me to boil water?" Priest leaned back in his seat in an arrogant manner as he watched Britain indulge in both the lamb chops and the roasted potatoes Talia convinced him to make instead of the bland instant mashed potatoes.

Britain wiped the corner of her mouth before responding to him. "You cheated." She narrowed her eyes playfully at him.

Priest waved her off as if she were completely wrong. "I ain't cheat. I just used my resources." He shrugged as he cut into one of his lamb chops.

"Not everyone has a private chef on speed-dial," Britain pointed out, causing Priest to laugh.

He agreed with a nod. "Fair enough," he shrugged. Over dinner, the two enjoyed light, thoroughly amusing conversation. The scenery was perfect. The tall pane windows gave them a perfect view of the beach. With the time closing in at seven in the evening, the sun was beginning to set in pink and yellow tinted hues within the sky. It was gorgeous, and Britain often caught herself too engulfed in the beauty of the view to pay attention to her food or even Priest.

"You wanna go out there?" Priest asked before taking a drink from his glass.

Britain snapped out of her trance, glancing in his direction with a sheepish look on her face. "We're having dinner. I don't wanna ruin it," she said as her face warmed.

Priest smiled lightly as he pushed his plate away from him, indicating that he no longer had the will to eat. "If you're finished, then I am," he shrugged, causing a light laugh to filter out of Britain. Sure enough, Britain pushed her plate away from her as well.

Together, they rose from their seats at the table. Priest made sure to grab two beach towels so their clothes wouldn’t be covered in sand. As they walked hand in hand with each other, Britain let Priest lead the way to the beach.

Their feet sank into the grainy sand that had cooled down at the setting of the sun. Priest couldn't help but find Britain's excitement about having sand between her toes funny. She exaggerated everything, but not in a bad way. "Pick a spot," Priest told her.

Britain grinned up at him in excitement before pointing out a spot that wasn't too close to the shoreline but was still close enough for them to take in the aroma of the fresh salt water. With Priest’s help, Britain laid down the towels in the sand for them to sit.

"You turning me into such a fucking simp," Priest laughed with a shake of his head at the realization that J'Ru had been right to an extent.

Britain leaned her head against his shoulder before applying a kiss to the side of his face. "Now I just have to work on you not taking your piece to public places." She grinned, hoping she could get him to decide it was no longer necessary to carry his gun everywhere with him.

Priest eyed her as if she were crazy. "It's gonna be a cold day in hell before I do that." Priest shook his head, not even giving the suggestion a chance.

"You think you can cheat death?" Britain asked him, touching base on a much more serious matter.

Priest glanced down at her before pulling her closer into his arms. "Uh." He stretched out as his eyes averted to the sight of the endless water crashing against the shoreline. "Sometimes, I do. I can't even lie," he shrugged. "But I live everyday like it’s my last. I wake up, and I have no intentions of seeing tomorrow so I won't face disappointment if my life really does end," Priest admitted.

His words were chilling and frightening to Britain, but she couldn't dismiss them because that was his mentality. "I don't want to lose you," Britain mumbled.

Priest applied a soft kiss to the back of her hand. "Even when I'm not around, I'll still be around," he said.

"It won't be the same," Britain swiftly let out, not allowing him to convince her that things would be okay if he weren't around.

Priest let out a sigh. "You're right, but life is what you make it. Whether I'm in a cell or in a casket, you'll be fine. I'll make sure of it."

Since dealing with Priest, Britain had learned how to gamble. One thing he made sure to preach to her was that she should never gamble her own life to conform to his lifestyle. He protected her way of life at all costs.

"When did you realize that you loved me?" Britain glanced over at him while pulling her knees to her chest.

Priest sighed before chuckling. "The day you told me you prayed for my wellbeing," he admitted with a light smile. "You gave me that sense of care and love that I've never gotten from my mother. Old heads in the hood always used to tell me to find a woman who reminds me of my mama. I never got the chance to get that stand-up type of mom to love me and put me first, but I get that from you, even though I want you to put yourself first?—"

Britain couldn't help but laugh. She recalled Priest having to remind her to do things for herself first before doing things for him. "I love that you think of me," Priest continued. "You nurture me and assure me of myself. I never knew how receiving love unconditionally felt until I met you, and I'm so grateful for that."

Britain’s eyes bore into him before she leaned in and kissed his lips. A smile emerged on both of their faces as they kissed. "Stop living your days like they're your last," Britain whispered in the midst of the kiss. Priest pulled away and gazed at her. "Please," she croaked with her orbs full of hope.

Priest took his bottom lip between his perfectly aligned teeth. With some hesitation, he nodded his head. "Okay." He wrapped his arms around her. "You got my word."