Page 47

“The List of Sins”

Istood in front of the glass wall in my Downtown LA office with my hands in my pockets, watching traffic move along the 110 Freeway under the gray morning sky while I waited for breakfast. I had only been back in Los Angeles for two days, but I already gave myself a deadline.

Seven days.

One week to handle my business in the city, shut down whatever problems needed my attention, and make sure nothing required me to turn around once I left. Then I was flying back to France to deal with the mess both of our families dropped in my lap.

Azaria.

I hadn’t said her name to anybody in my circle. Nobody needed to know about my situation yet, but she stayed in the back of my mind anyway.

Seven days later, I was going back because I decided to. Not because of Marcel.

My office door opened behind me.

“Morning, boss,” Darius. said

I kept looking out the window. “What’s on fire?”

“Nothing yet, but we got a couple sparks.”

I turned from the window and walked back to my desk before pouring myself a small espresso from the machine on the credenza.

Darius put a tablet in front of me. “Lawyers called about Bianca. She officially filed, and Lyric is part of it too.”

I took a sip of my espresso. “How? They don’t even fuck with each other.”

“I guess they opping up for the money. I’m sure they’ll fall out when it’s over.”

“Okay. What they want?”

“Eight million to split between them to keep the NDAs going.”

I scrolled through the documents.

Breach of contract. Unfair compensation. Emotional damages.

“Emotional damages,” I read aloud.

Darius rested against the edge of the desk. “Their lawyers are trying to make the NDAs look predatory.”

“They are.”

“You’re not denying it?”

“Why would I?”

He shrugged. “Most niggas with your kind of money pretend they’re saints.”

“I’m not most niggas.”

I closed the file and put the tablet down.

Bianca and Lyric weren’t stupid. They were petty as fuck, but neither one of them was stupid enough to suddenly link up without somebody putting something in their ears.

Laurent was the first person who came to mind.

That fool had always wanted something he couldn’t take from me directly. If he was behind this, he was trying to move pieces around without putting his own name on anything.