Defending Our Empire

Anymore Secrets?

A Couple Months Later

Empire

Lucious sat in his office, going through the mountains of paperwork that he had yet to finish. Since Dre didn't want to kill Giselle or keep her away from Kendrick, the entire little family moved into the mansion. Every night has been nothing but endless crying. It had gotten so bad lately that Haven asked Jamal if she could stay with him until the baby leaves. The Lyons were exhausted beyond words. Lu looked up from the stack, rubbing his hands over his face.

"Cook, how did this shit get this behind?" He complained, expecting an answer. He stood up seeing Cookie laid out on the couch, little snores leaving her. Lucious shook his head, knowing that she needed that nap. Everybody needed a nap honestly, but he went back to his work. Going through hell, pain, and exhaustion so his family didn't have to. "Sir, you can't just go in his office! He's a very busy man!" The newest receptionist yelled out. Lucious groaned, taking a guess that it was Joe barging in.

Ever since Leah told him that the test results were positive, Joe had been popping up everywhere at any time. Cookie realized that the stubborn "I do what I want. When I want" attitude that Lucious had, came from Joe. In her mind, the only thing that he got from Leah was her crazy abrupt mindset. "He doesn't look busy to me. Come up with another lie next time," Joe said as he shut the door in her face. "I understand it's been a few centuries since you been alive, but common courtesy is to call before stopping by," Lu said, not looking up from the contract he was going over.

"I'm your father. I don't have to call to do a damn thing," Joe spat. Looking at the couch, he saw Cookie sound asleep. The urge to mess with her bubbling forward. He grabbed a sucker out of the candy bowl, rolling the wrapper into a stick. He stuck it in her ear, getting a head twitch. He did it again when she stopped moving. "When she hit you don't say shit. And don't touch her either. I will kill you," Lucious warned. "Boy, you not finna do anything," Joe hissed, rolling up another wrapper and sticking it up her nose.

Reflex taking over, Cookie swung before opening her eyes, connecting with Joe's jaw. Lucious watched his father's reaction, a hand on the pistol under his desk. "God damn!" He groaned, holding his jaw. "Stop fucking with me," Cookie snapped. She sat up, looking around as if she didn't remember walking into the office. "I can't do that. The day I stop bothering you is the day I die. Even then I might use my last breath to see your sour face," Joe chuckled. "What are you doing here?" Lu spat, wanting to get away from him.

"I'm ready to talk about everything. You up for it yet?" Joe sat down in front of Lucious. "I'm busy," Lu huffed. He didn't have the desire to learn about why his father left for over 40 years. It was enough damage with him being gone. He didn't want things to get bad again should the key details that Joe had to share, not be enough to remove the hate and frustration that was buried deep in his soul. "Look not right now. I told you I'll let you know," Lucious said, Cookie looked back at Joe then at Lu. She was tired of this back and forth with them. Joe was the definition of an invasion of privacy.

He managed to get Leah to let him in the house at the worst times, leaving Cookie without some of Lu's dick game in a while. "Can you just listen to him so he can stop popping up everywhere?" Cookie complained, getting up to go to the bathroom. Lucious sighed heavily. If Cookie was asking him to listen to Joe then it really must've been taking a toll on her. "Fine. Tomorrow morning at the mansion. After that you need to learn some boundaries," he said, finally looking at his father. Joe gave a grin, the same evil grin Lu inherited. "We'll discuss that tomorrow," Joe said, walking out the office.

Becky walked in, looking for Cookie. "What do you need Becky?" Lucious asked, going back to his paperwork. "There's something that the two of you need to see. From my understanding, Skye hadn't announced to the world that she had a son. Or that she had a son by Jamal. Look at these headlines," Becky handed him the tabloids, showing a photo of Aden and Skye with a headliner reading SKYE SUMMERS AND JAMAL LYON LOVE CHILD? Cookie came out the bathroom, seeing the frustrated look on Lu's face. "What's going on?" Lucious showed her the photo. She shook her head, knowing that Jamal was going to be livid.