Page 51

With Britain’s help, Priest fastened the brooch against the breast pallet of his suit. Peering down at it, a small smile tugged at his lips, reflecting the caged smile Jamari was sporting with his mouth full of braces.

As a group, they plunged themselves into the madness of the media. Priest kept Britain’s hand in his as he led the way further down the line of awaiting cameras.

Britain did as Priest advised her to do. She kept her eye contact above the head of anyone who had a flashing camera. Photos of her on Priest’s arm were being taken from various angles. She mentally encouraged herself to ease her breathing so it wouldn't be so apparent that she was nervous as hell.

After the high demand for photo content, Priest was finally able to lead Britain inside where they would be arranged for seating. "You did good," he praised her as he spoke close to her ear.

Britain let out a shaky breath as she nodded her head. "I'm used to being on the other side of the action."

Priest smirked smugly. "Welcome to my world, Gioia."

They were all seated at a round table. Priest had managed to pull a few strings to sit at the exact same table with mayor,Leila Jenkins. She was surprised to see Priest and his entourage were her and her husband's table mates, but she saved face. Leila definitely wasn't a fan of Priest, especially with all the charges pending against him.

He left a horrible taste in many politicians’ mouths after the number he did on the late mayor, Bill Cunnings. Their ties were eerie to anyone with their right mind, but Bill welcomed Priest with open arms, unknowingly welcoming the end of himself and his career. Priest fucked him over hard, but in a sense, he did the right thing.

Easing into his seat, a smug smirk framed Priest's face as he eyed Mayor Jenkins. "Leila," he said to her, his tone heavy with ill amusement. Just by the way Mayor Jenkins’ face was screwed up, Britain knew it was about to be one hell of a night. Here she was, seated across from the mayor while her boyfriend sat to the left of her, teasing the mayor. Life couldn't get any crazier.

"Mayor," Leila sharply corrected Priest for the way he addressed her.

Priest let out a chuckle that was followed by a scoff. "Well, if you're mayor, then I gotta be governor or something, since I've been doing more for the community than you have."

Leila slit her eyes at Priest with a glare. Who would have thought her biggest opposition was the ally of Bill? When she met Priest prior to Bill taking his own life a result of him not being able to take the heat and ridicule of the media, she thought Priest was some sweet, saved kid that had a troubled past and wanted to get cleaned up. Others called him Bill's charity case, but Leila saw something different. He had motives, motives that she used to think were innocent and good. Now, that was completely out the window. Priest Justice was bad news, and she would be damned if she fell for his facade like Bill had.

"With a reputation like yours, you wouldn’t even qualify," Leila waved him off.

Priest shrugged his shoulders with another light laugh. "Check my stats, Leila. With a reputation like mine, I still manage to do your job without the title or the authority. I might as well be up there in office."

Leila rolled her eyes, not finding anything he was saying convincing. "What is this to you, a game?"

Priest tilted his head to the side, his eyes glimmering in amusement. "If it were, you wouldn’t be on the scoreboard.”

"Excuse me?" she snarled, clearly offended by Priest's sly remark.

"Let's be realistic here" Priest sat up and cleared his throat.

By now, tension had risen around the table, leaving everyone but Priest, Kaymen, and J'Ru uncomfortable. They knew the plan, and Priest was executing it perfectly.

"Everything you have in motion for the community right now is what Bill had already set in stone, and you're doing a half-ass job of continuing it. And let me not forget to remind you that everything that Bill started came from me. I was his community outsourcer, sort of like a liaison between him and the community. No one knows those streets, that neighborhood, or those people like I do, not even you. Plus, if you really want me to hit you where it hurts, you're a poor excuse of a black woman since you really lean toward the culture you married into." Priest glanced from Leila to her Caucasian husband who was growing redder by the second.

Britain wanted to cut in and just stop Priest from continuing any further. How could he just be so comfortable talking to the mayor in that way? Britain wasn't sure what was going on, and at the moment, she was afraid to find out.

Priest shifted his attention to his Piguet watch that was nestled cozily in his wrest. "We got about three hours left here. If you're ready, I can give you a play by play of what I've been doing for my community while you've been busy going around the city leaching off every successful person with nothing else better to do besides fund your upcoming campaign." Priest spoke with so much authority that Mayor Jenkins couldn't help but feel shallow in her seat.

Her hazel brown eyes glanced around the table, seeing everyone's eyes on her, awaiting her response to Priest.

"What are you doing that I'm not already doing?" Lelia smacked her lips before taking a sip of her champagne.

Priest let out a hearty laugh while nodding his head in satisfaction. "Now we're having a conversation!" Leila was coming to her senses.

Priest averted his attention to Kaymen who was now invited into the conversation. If there was one thing Kaymen could do, it was speak facts, numbers, and ethics. He paid attention, even when others thought he wasn't.

"With elections coming up in a few months, you've been using your time wisely to get out in the community to speak and gain support. Sadly, you've been focusing on the wrong part of the community—" Before Kaymen could continue, Leila lifted her hand, interrupting him.

"I'm sorry. Who are you again?" She furrowed her brows in question.

Kaymen flashed her a light smile. "I'm someone you should wish you had on your team instead of against you." He shrugged his shoulders. "If you want to continue to be mayor for the next four years, I suggest you don't interrupt me."

J'Ru couldn't contain the laugh that exploded out of him. Kaymen was the quiet one, but when he spoke, everyone’s best bet was to listen.

"Back to what I was saying. I checked your supporters' demographics, and did you know you lacked the black vote more than all the other potential candidates running for your spot?" Kaymen raised a brow at Leila who shifted in her seat in embarrassment. She was the only black politician in the race for heaven's sake. Everyone assumed she was getting the black vote, but she wasn't.

Leila cleared her throat. "Yes, but that's only because those people aren't interested in voting," she scoffed.

J'Ru sat up, his face contorted into a mean mug. " Those people?" he asked her, offended by how she was referring to her own kind. "Last time I checked, you were one of those people. Don't let the fact that you’re getting bent over by that cracker next to you whitewash you into thinking your negro ass ain't one of us."

Leila clenched her jaws. "Excuse me!"

J'Ru was on the verge of finishing her deranged ass off with more insults, but Kaymen stopped him. "You don't even gotta do all that, bro. Let me educate her," Kaymen assured J'Ru before averting his attention back to Leila.

"The reason you're not getting the black vote isn't because we aren't going out to vote. It's because you don't care to get us to vote for you. You don’t host any events in the community. You don’t visit any schools. Hell, you don’t even have any posters set up with your face on them to encourage them to vote for you. You’re sitting high in a seat that was handed to you because that sick bastard Billy pulled the trigger on himself. You think you have this shit in the bag when really those same black people you’ve been avoiding make or breaks whether or not you’ll get to sit your coon ass behind that desk once votes are in. You’re neglecting a demographic that makes up the majority of the very city you wish to win over," Kaymen explained to her, causing a look of surprise to mask Leila’s face. She had gotten arrogant and thought she had a good chance of being reelected since she had done such great damage control after Bill’s suicide. She didn’t care to realize that the people were looking for more than her cleaning up a scandal. They wanted to know how she would be beneficial to their day-to-day lives.

"The city has a 53 percent majority of black people, and instead of trying to convince them you would be the best mayor, you spent your time, effort, and campaign dollars on white motherfuckas who will barely remember your name when they see it on the ballot," Kaymen chuckled, pitying Leila for the loss she was about to take in the upcoming election. “Have you even checked your opponent, Dante Lakes' numbers? He's having a field day with your ass. You wanna know why?" Leila swallowed down sharply, too embarrassed to cave in and ask Kaymen why.

Kaymen picked up on the shame that filled her eyes, prompting a smirk to grace his face as he enlightened Leila tauntingly with the reason. "Because he has the black vote.”

Leila cut her eyes in Priest’s direction. "What do you want?" she asked him. Priest had her back against the wall with all these facts. It only meant that he had a way to trick the system and get her what she wanted: a win.

"I like to win, so having me on your side is your best bet." Priest shrugged his shoulders suggestively. "Like I was for Bill, I would be your community outsource. I'll handle the school improvements, transportation funding, housing assistance, police defunding and everything else that can serve as aid to the community," Priest proposed to Leila.

"Police defunding? You can't be serious?" She shook her head.

Priest scoffed. "You really think a man like myself would fund the police? You have a crooked-ass department on your hands. I'd be a fool to sell out for your sake."

Priest had received nothing but bad treatment by the police. When he was coming up, he had it worse. He got treated like he was less than just because of his race. Now that he was in a position of power, he vowed to do whatever he could to prevent young boys who were just like him from having to deal with the discriminatory treatment of the police.

Leila sat in silence briefly, thinking over the proposition Priest had just laid out for her. She cleared her throat before leaning in closer to the table. "What do you want?" she asked in a hushed tone so no one could hear that she was actually going with this plan. Priest had proven how cutthroat he was with Bill. Leila didn't want to be on the receiving end of his wrath.

"For now, a shopping plaza." He shrugged his shoulders, not finding his request to be too much.

Leila heaved out a sigh of frustration as she took a look around to ensure that she wasn't being listened to. "I can't get you a whole shopping plaza, Priest. That's crazy," she gritted in distress.

Priest shrugged his shoulder, unwilling to hear her excuses. "Make it happen. I'll give you a week before I put all my money behind Dante Lakes and get you the fuck out of that office." He knew his power and ability to destroy anything in his path was intimidating to Leila, so he wasn’t up to negotiating the terms he already had set in his mind.

Leila glared at Priest. She hated how much he knew the system and used it to his advantage. Bill had really fucked up when he took Priest's conniving ass under his wing. "We have a deal," she agreed.

Beside her, Leila's husband Walter let out a loud scoff of disbelief. "Leila, you can't possibly agree to this," he finally spoke up in hopes of having his wife back out of the agreement.

"Shut the hell up," J'Ru spat at Walter. "We just sat here and bitched your wife for a whole hour, and your scary ass ain't say not a word. Now, all of a sudden, you got something to say?" J'Ru shamed Walter for his lack of defense for his wife.

"Should've just sat there and ate your food," Jazzy mumbled with a shake of her head, causing Priest, Kaymen, J'Ru and Britain to laugh.

Now that the deal with Leila was set in stone, Priest advised her that she would be receiving a contract so there wouldn't be any discrepancies between them. If she delivered, then he would deliver. Simple as that.

The program for the gala ran smoothly. There were a few performances and lengthy speeches that bored Priest to death. Leila had taken up a great amount of time on stage simply talking about how she planned to better the community as if she hadn't been given more than enough time to set her plan in motion. Priest really let everything go through one ear and out the other.

"Everything you ever imagined?" Priest asked Britain before applying a light kiss onto her cheek. They were currently standing on the dance floor in each other's arms, sharing a slow dance.

Britain shrugged her shoulders. "I didn't expect for my man to be in an intense business deal with the mayor." She side-eyed him.

Priest chuckled. "I know. I should have warned you. Sorry," he apologized as he peered down at her.

"It's fine. I like seeing that side of you." She smirked up at him as she readjusted her arms around his neck while his massive hands gripped her sides.

A smile graced Priest’s face. "I turned you on, didn't I?" he heckled her, causing Britain to suppress her laughter with a roll of her eyes.

"Get over yourself." Britain hit his chest lightly.The music came to an end, and so did their dance. As Priest was ushering Britain back to the table, he kept his arms wrapped around her from behind.

"You looking really good right now," he whispered into her ear before kissing her on the cheek.

Britain beamed with a smile. "Thank you, P. You made this happen," she praised him.

Priest shook his head. "Give yourself credit. I just saw your potential," he claimed, causing Britain's heart to warm at his truth. Priest loved her exactly how she wanted to be loved. He encouraged her, stood by her, and reminded her of her beauty. The little things he said made her fall more and more in love with him by the day.

As they neared the table, Priest halted at the sight of Paula standing at the table having conversation with Leila, J'Ru and Jazzy.

"That's Paula, isn't it?" Britain asked. Her eyes graced over the woman who had a gorgeous smile that complimented her dimple-indented face. Priest really wasn't kidding when he told her that Paula was beautiful. Her bronze skin radiated in the lighting of the gala. Her classic black gown fit her slim frame perfectly. Paula’s look was sleek and minimal, but it still grabbed the attention of others. She was an absolute beauty.

"We don't have to go over there if you don't want to," he offered Britain.

Britain cleared her throat, ridding any nerves that arose at the sight of Priest's past. "No, I'm fine," she assured Priest. "We can go have a seat.”

"You sure? I don't want you feeling uncomfortable." Paula had a way of being overbearing. The last thing he wanted was for Britain to feel as though Paula was overstepping.

Britain nodded her head in clarification, confirming that she was fine, and they continued to the table. Priest pulled the seat out for Britain before taking his seat next to her.

"Priest." Paula smiled at him.

He shifted his eyes from Britain and set them onto Paula. He simply motioned his head toward her, not speaking a word. Paula let out a light laugh since she knew Priest wouldn't greet her. He knew how to hold a grudge when he wanted to, and the grudge against her was definitely still there.

"It's nice to see you again," she continued speaking to him.

He paid her no mind. He simply averted his attention to Britain, holding her hand in his. "C'mon, Paula. Don't do this here." He shook his head, his face etched with annoyance. He didn't want to have a conversation with Paula in front of everyone. She didn't even deserve a conversation from him, so he wasn't even going to entertain her.

Paula eyed Priest. A part of her missed him, but she knew there was just far too much damage to ever get him back. What she did was truly unforgivable, and now she was paying the price for it.

"I'm Paula. You are…?" She dismissed Priest and held her hand out to Britain.

Priest scoffed as he used his hand to push her extended hand away from Britain. "Like I said, Paula, I'm not about to do this with you. You like to put on a show, and I'm not rocking with that. Go about your business," he dismissed her.

Britain attempted to call him out with a sigh. "P?—"

Jazzy interjected her. "Pick your battles wisely," she advised Britain with a warning in her eye.

Britain glanced at Priest, who had his jaws clenched and his nostrils flared. She realized she really did have to pick her battles wisely when it came to this. She immediately retracted herself from easing Priest and just remained quiet.

"Priest, we really should talk about?—"

"Nothing, Paula. We don’t have shit to talk about. Don't worry about me and mines," he spat as he pulled Britain closer. "And I'm for damn sure not worried about you and what you have left." Priest shrugged his shoulders, dismissing Paula entirely.

Paula took in a curt breath. He had hit her deep, but she deserved it. Paula nodded her head, and moments later, she was being called on stage to speak her piece about gun violence within the community. She shot Priest a light smile, masking her guilt and pain before heading off toward the stage.

Priest leaned back in his seat, letting out a heavy sigh. "You still feel for her," Britain whispered to him with slight disappointment weighing down her voice.

Priest’s dark orbs bore into her feline ones. He wasn't going to lie to her, nor did he want to. Instead, he simply opted out of responding to her and fixed his eyes onto the stage that Paula had taken.