Page 27 of The Love of Priest

Standing up to his full height, Priest glanced over his shoulder at Britain who hadn't taken her eyes off him once. "Last night, I enjoyed myself. Thank you for letting me take you out," he expressed his gratitude.

A light smile flashed on her face as her eyes glazed in contentment. "I enjoyed myself too."

"Walk me out?" He lifted a brow.

Britain nodded, getting out of the bed. She slipped into her slippers and made her way around the bed. She nestled her hand into Priest's so she could walk him out as requested. Of course, hand in hand didn't suffice for him, so he transitioned to having her walk in front of him while his arms wrapped around her waist.

Once they got to the door, Britain turned on her heels to face him. Her arms opened, engulfing him in an embrace. Her head laid lightly on his chest, causing Priest's steady and strong heartbeat to wave into her ears. Priest wrapped her in his muscular arms, slightly swaying side to side with her.

"I'll see you, okay?" He guided her head up to look up at him.

Britain nodded. "Yeah," she then confirmed.

He caressed her face gently for a moment before cutting into their goodbye by opening the door. They shared one more goodbye before Priest made his way to his vehicle to set out for his penthouse.

Upon arrival, he made his way straight up, passing through security with ease.

"Y’all niggas don't have y'all own homes? It's like nine in the morning." Priest shook his head at the sight of J'Ru and Kaymen seated in his kitchen with hefty plates of breakfast Talia had prepared.

"We should be asking you that. What you tiptoeing in for, nigga?" Kaymen smirked, playfully teasing Priest. Priest laughed a bit since J'Ru and Kaymen both had suspicious looks on their faces.

"Ya mother ever told you not to question a man in his own home?" Priest bypassed them and headed straight into his bedroom so he could clean himself up.

In the distance, he could hear both Kaymen and J'Ru exclaiming behind him, celebrating the fact that he may have gotten some pussy the night before, which had him dragging himself into his penthouse so early in the morning. Priest shook his head, not paying his friends any mind. They liked to troll when they weren't so focused on keeping shit intact. Clearly, they were both oblivious to Priest’s actual personal dealings, and he wasn't going to share too much with them. What he had with Britain was exactly that: what he had with Britain. The guys could clown and poke all they wanted, but Priest wasn't going to say a word.

Once he was finished, Priest changed into some gym shorts and busted open a fresh pack of white tees. Upon re-entering his kitchen, he saw Talia had already plated his breakfast and was serving it to him with a mug of coffee. Priest sat alongside his two friends, praying over his meal and theirs since he knew they were too negligent to do it themselves.

"I got them permits for you. We good to have the event at St. Nicholas," Kaymen assured Priest with a nod of his head.

Priest reached out and slapped hands with Kaymen. "Good looks."

Each year for the beginning of the school year, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, Priest did what he could to ensure families in Harlem would have what they needed, even if they didn't have things in order financially. Usually, things would go smoothly, and all Priest had to do was plan and deliver, but with his trial being a burden on his public image, the State of New York was trying to do everything in their power to tie him down, even if it meant depriving hundreds of families of the blessings Priest was trying to give out.

Kaymen decided to take on the task of making sure everything was official so no blue collar, white-washed-ass cop could roll up and try to shut shit down if they didn't have the right paperwork. Priest took the backseat since he knew if his name popped up on those permit registry papers, they would ultimately get denied.

Now that everything was smoothed over, Priest and the guys were suiting up to give out turkeys and a few other things for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday to ensure the families had a fulfilling meal, just as they would. Everything was set to happen by the end of the week, and Priest was more than prepared.

"Nothing too big or too small," Kaymen shrugged, alluding to the fact that he was willing to do whatever it took.

"You got the streets talking, man." J'Ru smirked over at Priest who was overindulging in his breakfast.

Priest shrugged. This was nothing new. "Don't I always?"

Since the news had released the fact that Priest may have had ties to the murder of Tony and the five on-duty officers assigned to watch the safe house Tony was in, Priest had the streets at a standstill. He was dangerous to fuck with, and he was making that very clear. There was no actual evidence to tie Priest to it, but he was sure the prosecuting team was going to dangle it over his head.

"Shit different now, P. You on the news every hour of the day," J'Ru reminded him. Priest tried hard not to think about the media tarnishing his name and dragging him through filth. Although Priest never cared how others viewed him, he didn't like the fact that the constant media attention was causing people to view him as a monster.

I’m not that at all.

Priest was tired of being hounded about the same situation. If the media wanted a reaction, they could have one.

"You don't think I know that? I been moving differently, and you see that. Just chill out." Priest remained at bay, not letting his constant issues get the best of him. Priest had too much faith in God to ever think about buckling under pressure over some unwanted attention. Shit was still going to run exactly how it was before: smoothly.

"In other issues," Kaymen announced. "Your little cousin out here making a fool out of you, P," he directed toward Priest.

Priest screwed his face up. "A fool out of me? Fuck no!" He shook his head, denying the fact that his blood would find it acceptable to do some embarrassing shit in public that Priest could be penalized for later.

Seventeen-year-old Mirsad Landris was Priest's younger second cousin who was mothered by his cousin Nia. The young boy was always getting into something different when it came to the streets simply because he could never fucking listen. He was hardheaded like Priest, which was why Priest kept him so close. He wanted Mirsad to avoid all the adversities he had to face in his own life, but Mirsad seemed to let Priest's advice and lessons go through one ear and out the other. He'd recently dropped out of school, claiming school simply wasn't for him.

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