Page 137 of The Love of Priest

"P, just let him lead the conversation," Britain coached him.

Priest chuckled as he got out the car and made his way around to assist Britain out. "I got this, Gioia. Quit tripping," he assured her.

Hand in hand, they made their way toward the entrance of Remy's house. Britain was as nervous as ever. Priest, on the other hand, was relaxed and prepared. Priest took a step back, allowing Britain to stand before him to knock. He watched her lift her fist, on the verge of knocking, before halting to swing herself around to face him.

"Priest, don't screw this up," Britain gritted at him, imploring him not to rub her father the wrong way.

Priest chuckled before reaching over her and knocking on the door himself. It didn't take long for the door to open. To their surprise, it was Mirsad who answered. "Well, well, well! If it ain't my big cousin who left me for dead with a maniac of an old man." Mirsad cut his eyes at Priest.

"Shut the fuck up. You're better here than anywhere else." Priest mushed Mirsad's face, causing Britain to laugh a bit.

Mirsad swatted Priest’s hand out of his face, averting his attention to Britain. "You Mr. Demings daughter?" Mirsad raised a brow at her.

Britain looked over her shoulder and up at Priest. They eyed each other briefly before laughing together. "He really called him Mr. Demings," Britain continued to laugh as she and Priest stepped into the home. It was evident that Remy had Mirsad on the straight and narrow.

Mirsad closed the door behind them with an annoyed look etched on his face. He was counting the days until he left Remy's spot. Everything was either a chore or a lesson while he was there. Mirsad kept in contact with his mother, and to his dismay, she found it a wonderful thing that Remy was working him like a dog. He attempted to defy Remy once, but that ended up with him being roughed up, put outside and locked out without any shoes or his phone until he apologized. Mirsad didn't really think Remy forcing him to do a whole bunch of things he didn't want to do was making him change, but for the sake of not being shot at by the opps who were out for his head, he was going to stay low and abide by Remy's so-called "rules."

"Where's Rem?" Priest asked Mirsad as he took a look around.

"Tryna be the hood Bob the Builder," Mirsad scoffed. "He's laying down new tiles in the downstairs bathroom." He pointed toward the hall that led to the washroom Remy was currently working on.

"I heard that." Remy appeared in the hall while wiping his hands on a hand towel. Streaks of white mortar marked his clothing, evidence of all the work he had done. He shot Mirsad a mean mug as Mirsad simply shrugged. "Go on in there and finish up," Remy directed Mirsad as he tossed him the filthy towel containing the residue of the mortar he used to lay the tiles.

Mirsad screwed his face up, starting to refute. “I don't know how to?—"

"Learn," Remy beat him to the punch.

Mirsad muttered a few things underneath his breath before going to do the appointed task. Remy averted his attention to Priest and Britain. He hadn’t expected Priest to bring Britain along with him, but her presence wasn't going to deter him from saying what he had to say.

"What's up, Rem?" Priest greeted.

Remy’s orbs shifted from Britain to Priest. "You two show up as package deal now?"

Remy raised a brow at them before leading the way to the couches in the living room so they could have a seat and talk.Britain and Priest glanced at each other and shrugged their shoulders. They couldn't really gauge whether Remy was upset. He wasn't giving many signs of any of his feelings. His tone was flat, and so were his facial expressions.

"Is that a trick question?" Britain side-eyed her father as she took a seat next to Priest. Self-conscious about being too open with her relationship with Priest in front of her father, she scooted over, putting some space between them. Both Priest and Remy chuckled at her actions.

"No trick questions around here, baby girl," Remy assured her as he took a seat opposite them on the La-Z-Boy. "I didn't ask you to come here so I could scare you two out of whatever you guys have going on. I just wanted to lay things out on the table, especially when it comes to my daughter," Remy clarified as he spoke directly to Priest.

Priest nodded in understanding as he wrapped his arm around Britain's shoulders, pulling her back to the spot she had just moved from. "I'm listening," Priest told him.

"Britain is oblivious to everything that comes with you, which is both a good thing and a bad thing," Remy began. "She's definitely a grown woman, but I wouldn't be doing my job as a father if I didn't highlight certain things for her. Priest, you live a fast life that can get dangerous. I don't need Britain caught in the crossfire of anything. I just want your word that you will keep her safe and out the way. Truthfully, she's all I got, really, and I don't want anything happening to her," Remy explained.

Britain stuck her bottom lip out, sympathizing with her father. Although he was concerned about her safety while dealing with Priest, Britain couldn't help but to think about how lonely life had been for him before she came around.

Priest cleared his throat. "I care for Britain. If I didn’t, I wouldn't be sitting here. I would never put her in the line of danger. My life outside of what we have going on has no room to spill into our situation. I make sure of it," Priest asserted with a high level of confidence. Britain sat beside him nodding her head in a proud manner.

"Me and Britain's mother, Seven, had a similar situation, and I would hate for history to repeat itself. With you being who you are, Priest, I need you to be open with Brit about everything. The worst thing you can do is hide skeletons in the closet."

Remy had made the awful mistake of not being completely upfront with Seven when they were together. He fucked up and led her to believe he led a completely falsified life that blew up right in his face. He would’ve hated to see Priest do the same to his daughter.

Priest nodded, taking his advice to account. "Heard’ju."

"And you," Remy continued, shifting his attention to Britain. She pursed her lips, slightly nervous about what he was going to tell her. "Play your role, nothing less and for damn sure nothing more," he advised Britain with a stern eye.

Britain screwed her face up. "Can I get some elaboration, please?"

Priest chuckled silently at Britain while shaking his head at her. "Don't over-fantasize about a future that could be taken at any given moment," Remy told his daughter in all seriousness.

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