The Kingdom

Chapter 18

"What's going on baby?" She asked softly touching Kalia's forehead for a temp.

"Nice of you to join us Hakeem." Laura's father spat.

"Look dude, I got 3 kids now. I'm coping, that's why I asked my parents to do this. So hop off my back!" Hakeem growled looking exhausted.

"This meeting is done. If you guys need anything or wanna see Rose give us a call." Lucious spoke, Laura's parents nodded. Casting a single glance they exited with Xavier in tow.

"She might he coming down with a cold." Cookie stated getting up once she had calmed the fussy child. Hakeem nodded as his mother passed his child back.

"Try putting her in the baby rocker, I'm sure she'll fall asleep." She added, he nodded heading back to the guest house.

"That boy needs to learn, stop babying him." Lucious spoke standing up. Cookie hummed raising a brow.

"Miss me Lucious, you could barely change a diaper when Jamal was born." She laughed, he cut his eyes at her a smile on his face.

"We not talking about me." He chuckled pecking her lips. His phone dinged snatching his attention. Reading the text he pulled away.

"I'm gonna head out for a minute baby." He stated sliding his phone into his pocket.

She frowned narrowing her eyes at him. Since he explained the Angel situation to her she was worried about his mental stability. Yes she was hurt, and angry. Yet she still had a clear head, his thirst for blood was gonna be the death of her. The thought was nice, it made her feel just the slight bit better. Killing him didn't rewrite time though.

"Don't worry, I'll be back." He added heading for the door before she could stop him. She rolled her eyes watching his form retreat, she knew he was up to something.

A few days later.....

Cookie sat in her office at Empire. Scanning through paperwork and listening to aspiring artists that want to join Lyon Dynasty. She had to admit Lucious was into something about the bridge between the companies. She wasn't necessarily in the best mood with him, especially since he kept sneaking off at random points in the day.

She wasn't one to chase you down to get answers, she expected them. He was so use to working by hiself that he often forgot he had his right hand back. Though she was proud of him in some aspects, he was having Andre shadow him for a month before they switched positions. Just doing a test run to see if Lucious truly felt like Andre can run the company.

She was supposed to be negotiating a deal for a new rapper that had potential but the thought of the future was on her mind. A new Lyon cub would be here soon, she was 47 going on 48 and running not one but two companies. She wasn't ready to give up full control, this made her happy. Yet with a baby, did she need to sacrifice all she worked for? Or could she do it all? For the first time in her life she was willingly thinking about giving up something, not because she was forced to or had to but because she wanted to. It was something new to her, and honestly that free will to choose for herself was liberating. There was no pending trial for her, no ear with Lucious, no family war. Just her making her own choice.

Reading through the contract she signed off on the bottom, then left the packet there for Lucious to look at. Grabbing her purse she moved to call it a day. Looking down at her phone she sent Angel a reply. Her heart still skipped beats whenever she was around Angel, she melted into the family so easily.

Yet lately she was keeping her distance. They had sat down and she asked questions. They answered them truthfully, and bluntly. Cookie wondered if they should have eased their past on to her instead of just putting it all on the table.