Page 194 of The Love of Priest

"I like what you did to the place. Very feminine." He nodded his head in satisfaction.

Leila scoffed lightly. "City Hall is no longer a boy's club, but that's beside the point. Priest, what do you want?" she cut straight to the chase, disregarding the small talk.

Priest took a seat across from Leila with a small smirk embedded on his lips. He knew there was no one Leila hated more than him, but she had no choice but to give him whatever he asked for. He basically handed her the position as mayor with a bow wrapped around it. All the work was done for her. All she had to do was sustain it.

"A favor," Priest proposed as he leaned back in his seat.

Leila shook her head. "Absolutely not. I'm done doing favors for you," she refused with a scowl spread across her face.

Priest chuckled as he leaned forward. "Let me correct you. You're not done doing favors for me until I say so."

"Excuse me?" She churned her face up at him crudely.

"C'mon, Jenkins. You heard what I said. You owe me.”

"I don't owe you anything,” she spewed at him indignantly. "You asked for the strip mall, and I delivered. I owe you nothing else."

Priest sighed in deep disappointment before shaking his head at her. "Obviously, you can't handle me being nice to you and not being demanding."

Leila continued to serve him a harsh glare full of glint, but that didn't faze Priest a bit.

"Look, let me explain some shit to you. When I ask for something, it's really in your best interest to deliver, unless you have some heavy shit to fuck me over with, but we both know that's not something you have." Priest could see the fury broiling through Leila's body. It was going to take a lot more than her being the mayor to fuck Priest over, and even she knew that.

"What do you want?" she seethed through gritted teeth.

Priest chuckled while nodding his head in a satisfied manner once more. "I appreciate the cooperation," he tauntingly praised her. Priest reached into his pocket, retracting his phone. Kaymen had just shot him a text alerting him that he had arrived."Homicide that happened a few weeks ago, Jamari Haines. Open the case back up," Priest requested of Leila.

Hearing that Jamari's homicide investigation got shackled shut wasn't surprising to Priest. Everything played out just like he expected. Jamari died, and the Feds sympathized with them for a few before flipping the narrative to make it seem as though Jamari's death was warranted because he fucked with the wrong crowd. It had been this continuous cycle for God knew how long.As selfish as it sounded, Priest didn't care much about this cycle prior to it hitting close to home.

Leila leaned back in her seat. "I have no say in any of that.”

Priest smacked his lips crudely. "C'mon, Leila. Don't forget I used to be in this office way more than you before that ugly-ass family portrait of yours went up." Priest pointed at the wall to the left of them where Leila had a portrait of herself, her husband, and a golden retriever hanging.

Leila’s eyes glanced over at the family portrait before angrily shifting over to Priest. "So what?"

"I know the fucking ins and outs of all this shit. If you can have everybody in those precincts wearing mandatory “Vote for Leila Jenkins” pins, then you can reopen a fucking case," Priest scoffed.

"We have no substantial evidence," she shrugged dismissively.

At the sound of a knock on the door, Priest's face masked with a daunting smirk. "Come in!" he called out as he arrogantly leaned back in his seat.Leila felt disrespected by Priest allowing someone to enter her office. She stood up to confront him. Before she could spew any lethal words to Priest, in came Kaymen, followed by none other than Paula.

Personally, Priest couldn't even stand the sight of Paula, but right now, it was business. She was his power play in getting justice for Jamari, so he was going to use his resources wisely, no matter how much Paula made his skin crawl.

"Mayor Jenkins." Paula smiled while extending her hand for a polite greeting.

Priest’s dark orbs scanned over Paula. She looked good. She was fitted in a cool gray pant suit that complimented her radiant skin, which resembled brown sugar.

Familiar with Paula and her work, Leila loosened up and sported a light smile. "Paula, nice to see you again." The two shook hands.

"You not gonna greet my boy?" Priest’s brow rose as he gestured toward Kaymen.

Kaymen chuckled as he shrugged his shoulders, not caring much about a greeting from Leila. "I think she's intimidated." A smirk plastered his face. Leila shifted her eyes toward Kaymen, shooting him a dismissive look before averting her attention back to Paula.

"So, what brings you by, Paula?" Leila asked, completely disregarding Priest and Kaymen's presence.

"Priest and I actually teamed up to shed some light on Jamari Haines’ passing. With me being so involved in activism to stop gun violence, I feel like it's only right for me to jump on board."

Paula’s smooth voice invaded Priest's ears. He wasn't fawning over her or even gazing at her. He was just giving her a cold stare with an unmoved expression. He could see right through her and her eloquent words. She showed him her true colors once. He didn't need or want a repeat.

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