Asao’s expression turned cold. He understood but didn’t like the idea of being on the outside of necessities to make Samari feel complete. He barely knew her but he would put it all on the line, every penny he had along with every ounce of confidence he held onto, just to see her come out to the good.
“You’re gonna sing and the peace I put in your life is gonna be your inspiration behind the lyrics. Them shits gonna have every woman in the city trying to lock down a hitta.”
She smiled, rolling her eyes. “That ego is hella big.”
“Big promises come from big egos, Mari. Nobody is gonna tell me no.”
“Nobody?” She arched a brow and he smiled sexily.
“Nah, nobody. Not even your pretty ass but I’m cool with that ’cause I’m damn sure about to be your yes man. You ask, you got it.”
His words were inked in diamonds and could cut through any doubt that existed in her life, whether she believed them or not. Asao was also willing to put actions behind his words until she was confident in trusting he was gonna hold her down.
“We’ll see,” she said with a smile in her voice. Asao dug his phone from his pocket and glanced at the screen.
B-Syde: Pull up. Got a situation.
The text had his brows pinched before he schooled his expression to respond to Samari.
“Yeah you will, but let’s go. I have some shit I need to handle tonight.”
“We have to leave?”
“You gonna cry if I say yes?” He smirked at the way she rolled her shoulders back but still pouted and nodded. Amused by how quickly she’d fallen in love with his spot, Asao made a promise.
“I’ll bring you back and we’ll stay for a weekend. You can chill and do whatever you want. We’ve got business to handle first, then you can play.” He lifted a hand and gently nudged the side of her chin with his fist before she lifted from the chair. Asao could have easily chilled with Samari for the rest of the night, but until he had her onboard with all his life plans, the grind was his priority. Regardless, his goal was to make sure she reaped the benefits so all that pouting she was currently doing would not be in vain.
11
“What’s good, family?”Asao was greeted by his boy as soon as he entered The Spot. He took a seat across from B-Syde who occupied one of the four horseshoe booths in the main area near the DJ. The visual made Asao laugh because the booth seated up to ten people and his boy was the only body present.
“Ain’t shit. You being selfish or expecting company?”
B-Syde grinned lazily at the comment. His mind was hazy from the new strain he’d picked up from Kush Krazy earlier that day. One blunt in and B-Syde was sitting nice.
“I’m chillin. Vibin’ and shit. You know how I do.”
With a nod, Asao got to the point. Time was a commodity and he had very little to waste.
“What you got for me?”
“Your girl is on ice with Cobra. They shelved all her shit. His focus is on the new bitch he’s fucking.”
Newbitch could be misconstrued. Samari said she’d never opened her legs to Cobra but that didn’t mean she hadn’t lied to save face.
“New?”
“Yeah, the little young chick he put on to replace your girl. Took all her songs too. Samari had like twenty songs she wrote which she isn’t getting a dime from. Shit is fucked up.”
“So he fucked her and moved on…” Asao said casually, but his thoughts were loud as hell and easily read because his boy called him on it.
“Be cool, killer. Cobra never hit that, which is part of the problem. Your girl got an ultimatum. Pussy or no second album. She shot him down on the humble and walked away. He fucked her over with the contract though. Made a mint on that tour. Pocketed half and dumped the rest into that young chick. She can’t sing for shit though so he had to pay to play with airtime for her.”
The tension in Asao’s shoulders relaxed after receiving confirmation Samari hadn’t compromised her morals for fame. Now that he was on the job, she would never have to.
“All this came from ol’ girl?”
“Kolby, yeah. She was too fucking eager to talk too because shit is bad over there right now.”
