𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞 ³ ᵃⁿᵈ ⁴

twelve.

CHAPTER TWELVE
two new artists

Lucious

next day

Damon took Lucious' children out to eat yesterday, and when they returned home, they were grumpy. That worried Lucious because they wouldn't be in a foul mood unless Damon had done something to them.

Lucious had demanded answers, but the kids wouldn't budge. However, Hakeem made it clear that he didn't use the gun Lucious had given him. Lucious assumed Damon didn't try to hurt them because Hakeem would've shot his ass.

Lucious would've asked Cookie what happened, but he knew she wouldn't answer his calls. As a result, he let it go. But he couldn't concentrate on Damon right now. He had to concentrate on Empire, and he hoped Giuliana didn't show up again.

Giuliana didn't appear. Becky did. "Lucious! I have something to tell you!"

"What?"

Becky inhaled deeply. "I know you've been a busy man lately, so I did you a favor."

"What kind of favor?"

"I'll tell you, but Cookie needs to be here."

That irritated Lucious slightly. "No, she doesn't. I'm the boss around here."

"I understand that, but I think she deserves to know. So...where is she?"

That was exactly what Lucious wanted to know, because Cookie hadn't given a damn about their company since she met Damon—the company she had sacrificed seventeen years for. That was insane to Lucious.

"I don't know where she is, Becky. I never know where she is anymore."

"Wait, did y'all break up or something?"

"Can't you tell? We haven't been anywhere near each other."

Becky frowned. "Oh man. What'd you do now?"

"I did nothing but save my son's life."

"You mean Hakeem?"

He gave a nod. "Yeah. He was arrested, and I had to do something crazy to get the charges dropped."

Becky was intrigued. "Something crazy like what?"

"Sleep with a cop."

Becky was displeased. "Oh, Lucious..."

Lucious went on. "Her name is Giuliana, and she keeps showing up at Empire as if we're dating or something. Cookie couldn't handle it anymore and left me. Then she met a new man, and all she does now is ignore Empire. So, like I said, I have no idea where she is."

"Can you call her? She needs to be here for this."

Lucious took out his phone. "I'll try, but that woman never answers my calls." He was correct. He called her again, but she didn't answer. Lucious wasn't going to bother trying again. He was going to leave her a voicemail.

"You need to get to Empire, Cookie. Where you should be. Becky has something to tell us."

Lucious hoped she cared enough.

Cookie

Cookie sat on Candace's couch, confused, because she hadn't heard from Damon at all yesterday. How did the outing go?

She called Damon several times yesterday, but he ignored her for some reason. Maybe he was upset with her? But why should he be upset? She didn't do anything. Unless her children did something...