Page 151 of The Love of Priest

"Britain, I can’t do this shit right now," he seethed with his jaws clenched. "Fuck am I supposed to do, sit here and fucking mope when I can be finding these niggas who killed Jamari?! That's an innocent fucking life they claimed! They would've been better off aiming for me!" he jeered down at Britain in frustration.

"But they weren't!" Britain combatted. "It's life, Priest. This is how the cards were dealt for you to play! You going out there with a heavy heart and an angry mind full of rage won't solve a thing! Jamari doesn't need that right now!" She roughly pushed Priest's chest, trying desperately to get through to him. "His mother doesn't need that right now!"

Her roughness with him shocked him. He didn't expect that out of Britain, but he would’ve been lying if he said it wasn't needed. She had to match his energy and how he was coming to get through to him, and it worked.

"Priest, sit here, cry, weep, scream, do whatever you need to do to alleviate that burden of pain and grief from your heart, but as for going back out there to spill your anger elsewhere, that's not the way to go," she asserted sternly with a shake of her head.

Peering down at her, Priest could feel his heart loosen from the tense and tight feeling he had felt since holding Jamari in his arms. Britain could see his dark orbs shift into a much lighter color. She had gotten through to him. Priest took a seat. He seemed to be in a daze. Things were beginning to register.

Britain stood between his legs, cupping his face in her soft hands. "That anger could kill you and me both. I can't lose you," she confessed to him in a light voice.

With her standing over him, Priest pulled her close, nestling his head deeply into her chest. He had made his decision.

He wept.

ChapterThirty-Eight

THE NEXT DAY

Priest was truckingthrough the day with a heavy feeling of grief pressing down on him. Together, he, J'Ru, Kaymen, Jazzy, and Britain were set to appear at the Liberty Gala in a few hours.

Their preparations for the gala had been stalled by Priest's emotions. He truly had no energy to be around or speak to anyone besides Britain. She had convinced him to find the strength to get up this morning. Priest had no idea how he was going to keep face today after losing Jamari in his arms just a few hours before.

He let out a groan as he grabbed his phone from the cup holder of his vehicle to answer the call that was coming in. "I know shit is hard right now, but you need to get to the penthouse to get ready. You and Britain only got four hours," Kaymen spoke to him on the other end of the call.

Glancing at Britain who sat to the right of him in the car, Priest nodded. "We're on the way," he told Kaymen before ending the call.

As he let out a sigh, Britain reached over, lacing her hand within his. "You sure you're okay to do this today?" Britain asked in a light voice, her tone full of concern.

Priest cleared his throat before nodding. "Got no choice." He shrugged his shoulders. "Life goes on, right?"

A light smile masked Britain's face. "Right. Life goes on," she agreed.

Moments later, Priest and Britain were pulling into the parking garage of his penthouse. Once he parked the car, he got out and made his way around to help Britain out. Hand in hand, they made their way toward the elevator where Priest bypassed the security measures, and they were lifted to the top floor.

As the thick elevator door glided open, Priest and Britain set their eyes upon the many people in the living room. Britain was shocked to see that there was actually some sort of production put together to get them ready and out the door to the Gala. Things were finally beginning to set in that this was real, and she was about to be attending the Liberty Gala.

"Finally!" J'Ru clapped, glad that Priest and Britain had shown up.

He was currently seated in a chair with a cape around him, getting a fresh and sharp hair cut from a barber. Priest chuckled lightly. "We made it. No need to trip," he assured as he led Britain further inside the penthouse.

Britain greeted both J'Ru and Kaymen as Priest figured out where he and Britain needed to begin. "Where does she need to be?" Priest asked Kaymen as he got settled into a seat to begin his haircut.

"Kenya has Jazzy getting her hair done right now, so I'm guessing she starts there." Britain immediately felt a ton of nerves take over her body at the mention of Jazzy. She didn't expect to meet her in this way. The men noticed the flushed look that developed on her face.

They chuckled, aware of how overbearing and intimidating they made Jazzy sound when either of them described her.

"C'mon." Priest halted his haircut, standing up to usher Britain toward the back where Jazzy was getting ready with the styling of Kenya and her team.

"I'm nervous," Britain whispered to Priest as they continued down the hallway.

"I know, but my sister isn't anything you can't handle. You handled Sylvia, so you can handle Jazzy," he told her with an encouraging tone. Timing honestly couldn't have been any worse on his part. Due to his negligence, Jazzy was already feeling some type of way that Britain took up all his time as it was. There really was no telling how Jazzy would react to finally meeting her in such an impromptu manner.What Priest used to consider his man cave had been turned into a hair and makeup station for Jazzy and Britain.

Entering the room, he immediately caught sight of Jazzy. "Hey, PJ," Jazzy beamed. She knew things were hard for him at the moment, so she was putting her bratty attitude aside to be the best sister she could be during these trying times.

"What's up, Jazzy-Fae?" He gave her a quick side hug so he wouldn't interrupt the process of her getting her hair done.

"Could be better. You?" Jazzy stated honestly with a shrug.

---