Page 122 of The Love of Priest

Kaymen rose from his slouched position on the couch, eying Priest with the same look J'Ru was giving. "You're wilding right now. Do you understand the amount of fucking bloodshed that would come from this?" Kaymen asked.

Priest nodded his head. Things would indeed get messy, but he was willing to do what he needed to do. After many years of acclaiming and solidifying their territory in New York, June had become less of an issue for them. They were all on one accord. June had his side, and Priest had his. There weren’t any misconceptions about anything, but Priest was tired of putting a ceiling above him when he knew he could reign supreme if he wanted to. Priest was hated, and he understood why. He was the same nigga doing everything everyone else was doing, and probably worse, but he was being celebrated.

Priest was the one who played golf with the mayor. He was the one who got invited to the fancy and luxurious city balls. He was the one who worked alongside the town’s commissioners. He was the one who had his own day in honor of himself. He played the game so fucking well that it pissed off anyone who wasn't a part of his winning team.

The only reason Priest's trial was going so messy was because the State wanted to use him to set an example. No matter how established and prestigious anyone was, they were willing to crucify them if it got to that point. June was one of the many who just didn't like the way Priest moved. He felt like Priest was too flashy and just too shoved up the asses of the diplomatic people of New York. He was an old school type of guy who was against any alliances with anyone who had the potential of putting him behind bars.Priest wasn't playing the game to prove how tough he was and how independent he was. He was doing it to showcase his intelligence. He had all these high-powered people wrapped around his finger and groveling at his feet by doing the very thing they claimed to be so against: selling drugs. The difference between Priest and everyone else who was doing what he did was that everything Priest did was calculated and big.By Priest bulldozing June off the map, there would be more room for him to expand and make his revenue twice as fast. Priest was going to fuck over anyone he needed to fuck over and build alliances with anyone who could help him paint his picture the way he envisioned it.

J'Ru released a sigh. "I feel like this is personal," he let out as his eyes bore into Priest. J'Ru knew there was no convincing Priest otherwise. He already had that look in his eye that let him know he was locked into tunnel vision.

Priest smacked his lips at J’Ru in annoyance. "Ain't shit personal, nigga. I'm just doing what I gotta do," he shrugged.

"June's your fucking uncle, Priest. That's personal," J'Ru reminded him of the hard truth.

"Listen, he's not my fucking uncle, yo," Priest denied defensively with a scowl on his face.

"Do you hear yourself? June is Leonard's brother, which makes him your fucking uncle. You really want to sit here and be in denial about being related to him?" J'Ru shook his head, shaming Priest.

"Leonard ain’t my fucking father!" Priest spat. "There's no blood between me and June! A'ight? Just let me know: y’all with me or against me?"

Across from Priest, J'Ru sat with a mean glare webbing his orbs while he eyed Priest. He got on J'Ru's last fucking nerve with his diabolical plans, especially this one. "You my fucking brother, man," J'Ru gave in.

"I need to hear you say it," Priest insisted.

"I'm with you. A'ight?" J'Ru asserted with a look of frustration etched on his face, causing Priest to chuckle.

Priest then turned to Kaymen and awaited his response. "What about you?" Priest raised a brow at him.

Kaymen cracked a smirk. "Nigga, you had me atup our supply," he admitted as he and Priest dapped each other up in laughter. "We brothers. I'm with whatever when it comes to y’all," he shrugged.

The amount of loyalty the three shared with one another was just beautiful. No matter how ugly shit got or was set to get, they were going to ride with each other. J'Ru was Priest’s day one. He had witnessed the throes of life Priest had endured and stuck them out with him. Kaymen came in when Priest and J'Ru were getting established, and he had stayed down ever since. He had proven his loyalty as a business partner and as a brother all at once. Priest was exceptionally grateful for the two.

"So, what's the plan?" J'Ru asked, prepared to hear the details.

Priest took a quick glance around the showroom that was cluttered with untouched furniture and home décor items. "We're going big, and we need places to store everything. We start off here. Then we buy out the whole strip mall," Priest explained the first portion of their plan.

Kaymen interjected. "The city will never let you buy out this much property. You saw how fucking hard it was to get the Thanksgiving meal kit event approved," he reminded Priest. He was the more technical one. He did the paperwork, whether it was contracts or accounting. Kaymen knew how to swim with the sharks? the government and state officials.He made everything squeaky clean and legit.

"I thought it through," Priest enlightened them both with a smirk. "With that bitch-ass nigga Mayor Cunnings offing himself, Leila Jenkins is now in power," Priest stated.

They had yet to build any alliances with the interim mayor after Bill Cunnings took his own life because he couldn't handle the pressure of his dirty laundry being aired out. Priest played a huge role in the media finding out Cunnings had his fair share of ownerships in sensual, yet illegal Asian massage parlors dubbed as spas throughout the day but brothels at night. Priest discovered that not only was Cunnings making a hefty penny off those Asian massage parlors that held girls as young as twelve against their will, but he was also one of the regulars. It disgusted Priest, so he did what any law-abiding citizen would, and played Cunnings like a fiddle.

"Well, you definitely can't go to strip clubs and play golf with Leila Jenkins," J'Ru pointed out Priest's old tactics at establishing a bond with the mayor wouldn't work this go around.

Priest nodded, agreeing with J'Ru. "Right, but the Gala is coming up in a few weeks. She'll be there. I made sure of it."

"And how the fuck did you do that?" Kaymen asked with his face screwed up.

Priest chuckled at the confusion that was etched on Kaymen's and J'Ru's faces. "She's speaking this year. I had Erick send her the special invite," Priest explained.

Erick Knight was the lead director of one of the prestigious galas that all the top tier officials of New York attended to showcase how rich and powerful they were. Priest had managed to sit at enough tables to secure a yearly invite to the galas. As much as he hated to admit it, he kind of enjoyed them. They were the easiest places to spot anyone he needed to be close to. The richer, the more powerful, the better.

"It'll be quick. We go in without knowing her, and we leave with invites to her next town luncheon or some shit like that."

"You buying me my suit?” Kaymen raised a brow at Priest.

Priest shook his head in laughter. "Whatever, man," he agreed.

"Shit, if that's the case, me too," J'Ru added in.

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