LUCIOUS & COOKIE: TUG OF WAR II (REMASTERED)

FOOL ME TWICE

Lucious

I slid deeper into the soft black leather of my chair while seated behind my desk in my now-ransacked office. Today is the first day the fucking feds let us back into Empire, and things are a complete mess. Pictures cracked, pillows sliced, trophies smashed, and all at the hands of this stupid bitch plastered all over the flat-screen television adorning the wall in front of me.

Twirling the small metal stress balls Cooks talked me into using a few years back for when I get upset instead of me losing my temper or killing somebody, within my palm, my temples throbbed. The longer I sit here listening to Roxanne Ford slander my name the more anger mounts within me.

PRESS CONFERENCE

"Lucious Lyon is an ego maniacal, self-centered, sociopath that has lied and deceived the American public for far too long. He thinks that he's above the law and doesn't have to be held responsible for his actions, but I can assure you that myself, and every member of my staff at the Federal Prosecutors office will not rest until the truth is exposed and justice is served. Now, I can't go into the specific details surrounding this situation at this time, but my office along with the FBI, will be working closely with the SEC as they conduct their investigation into the validity of Empire Enterprise's seat on the New York Stock Exchange."

"The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will have each and every federal resource available at their disposal as they investigate if Lucious Lyon lied to his shareholders about the origins of the initial financial investment used to start Empire Enterprise and all of its various other business entities." She continued as reporters started shooting questions towards her in rapid secession.

"Ol rat faced, two cent hoe!" I howled, while flicking off the plasma screen.

My jaw twitched, my nerves are on twenty-five right now because not only had they torn my business apart piece by piece, smeared the hell outta my name, but they invaded my home which is something that's been pestering me since they barged through the front doors of the mansion.

Caleb and Colin have both gotten into a couple of fights at school because of kids talkin' shit and Netflix opted to push back the release date for Laylah's show until things blow over. This shit is affecting my kids and I'm beyond pissed.

The muscles in my jaw flinched once more as I slowly stood to my feet, ran my hand over my freshly cut hair, then tossed the damn stress balls across the room. The shit just isn't working today my mind screamed, the thudding of metal sounding off as I make my way towards the mini bar.

"Whoa..." Vernon's husky voice sung, ducking to the side, he strolled into the office. "Damn, bruh you almost took my head off with those things." He professed.

Casting him a frustrated look from the corner of my eye, I took a sip from my glass then headed towards the couches in the center of the room.

"My bad bruh, all this bullshit just got me so heated. Folks been talkin' bout me all my life so I can handle that shit, but now all this trash is starting to mess with the kids and I'm ready to ride out and merk me a couple niggas. You know? Nevertheless, what's up?" I beseeched once he sat across from me.

"The crew just got done sweeping the building for bugs and everything has turned up clean so far. You know they swept the restaurant, Genesis, and the house yesterday, so they're heading up the street to take care of Leviticus right now." My boy explained.

I took another sip from my glass then spoke up, "Good." I replied, exhaling deeply then trailing my hand over my forehead and continuing.

"Man, how the hell did this happen V. I mean damn, shit was finally going good, and you know that's saying a lot for this family, now this. I don't even understand why the money thing's coming up after all this fucking time." I hissed, then briefly paused while shaking my head, cause shit isn't adding up.