Page 200 of The Love of Priest

"It’s not that big of a deal," Priest scoffed.

"Then lay that shit out for me," J'Ru shrugged.

Priest sighed before running his hand down his face. "I found that money Leonard kept hidden."

"Recently?" Kaymen asked.

Priest shook his head. "Nah, man. Years ago.”

J'Ru screwed up his face as he turned to face Priest. "How long is fucking years ago?" J'Ru asked for more clarification.

"Seven years ago," Remy cut in.

J'Ru’s eyes widened. "Nigga, what?! You mean to tell me you knew where that cash was stashed the whole fucking time, and you ain't say shit?! Nigga, we were piss fucking broke around that time!" J'Ru reminded him. He definitely wasn't pressed about the money now since they were all well off, but he just couldn't understand how and why Priest didn't make use of the cash then. He preferred to struggle over using his resources.

"You don't think I knew that? I was fucking there, J’Ru!” Priest scoffed through clenched teeth. "But we ain't need nothing from that nigga! We good now, ain't we?!"

J'Ru nodded his head, confirming that Priest had a point before he went ahead with his rebuttal. "Yeah, but we could've been good seven fucking years ago! It's money!"

Priest cut his eyes at J'Ru. They had been brothers for a long time, but sometimes they just could never see eye to eye. J’Ru thought Priest's pride would kill him, while Priest thought J'Ru's impulsive reactions would kill him. Ethically, they were structured differently, and although they would get into aggressive spats about it, they understood that not everything could come to an equal understanding.

"Yeah, but all money ain't good money!" Priest spewed toward J’Ru.

"Can y'all chop up the fucking differences and realize that shit doesn't matter anymore?" Kaymen cut in, diffusing the bickering between Priest and J'Ru. "Remy, why they roll up on you?" Kaymen averted the attention back to Remy.

"Apparently, we owe him a mil." Remy motioned his hand between himself and Priest.

"You don't owe him shit," Priest spat, clearing Remy of the debt.

Remy chuckled. "Oh, I know that." He nodded in amusement.

"So, you coming off that?" Kaymen asked, wondering whether Priest was really going to hand over a million dollars to Leonard.

Priest screwed up his face. "Fuck no," he uttered sharply. "He took the fucking bait. Now we dead all this shit.”

"So, what we do now?" J'Ru asked as he extracted his piece from the waistband of his jeans, sitting it on the table before taking a seat.

Priest did the same, copping a seat next to him. "We wait.”

ChapterFifty-One

MOUNT SINAI HOSPITAL

Seven smoothed her hands down her scrubs with a light sigh. It was her first shift back, and she couldn't contain her nerves. She felt new, and she hated that feeling. It had been a year since the last time she worked a long, straining shift at the hospital, but she knew this was what she asked for.

Seven glanced down at her work phone that was clipped to her waist. Hours had passed, and it had yet to light up with an alert indicating that she was needed. Seeing her husband and everyone else scurrying around to treat their patients while she was just lingering definitely bothered her. She was starting to regret even coming back in the first place. It seemed as if she wasn't needed.

"Sev," her husband’s smooth voice nestled into her ears.

Turning on the heels of her running sneakers, Seven faced her husband with a tight-lipped smile. "Hey." She waved at Henderson awkwardly. "Where did you just come from?"

Henderson chuckled lightly while questioningly raising his brow at her. "Surgery.”

"Good." She smiled. "How was it?"

"Successful." Henderson nodded with a proud smile etched on his face. "What have you been doing?"

Seven exhaled a deep breath before shrugging her shoulders. "Uh, I moved some stuff back into my locker, and I gave one patient some medicine for a cold." She smiled up at him. "I think I'm getting back into the swing of all this."

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