Page 69 of Disrespectfully, Relic

“This edited mic checks video of Aura that Treasure sent me to go over.”

Relic darted his eyes toward the folder he was positive belonged to him before he cut into his French toast for a bite. He’d been ducked off while she and Savvy had held down the fort, keeping his businesses in the green like he paid them handsomely to do. There wasn’t any telling what Kennedy had run across during his absence.

“Have you seen the video?” she asked, but he kept his head down and attention on his plate. “I watched it this morning while I was getting dressed and found out some very heavy shit about her. Bible thumper. That’s what people used to call her when she was younger because she was heavily into the church. Did you know that?”

Relic pushed out a breath before setting down his fork and leaning back in his seat. “I did.”

“So, I’m sure you know that she was raped by her friend’s uncle on a goddamn church van, and that she’s run into one trifling nigga after the next since. This isn’t new information to you, correct?”

“I’d like to finish my fucking food in peace, Kennedy. Get to where you’re going with this drawn-out speech.”

“Where I’m going is, why the hell are you adding your name to that long list of shitty ass men like you don’t know what she’s gone through? What the hell is this?” She grabbed the folder, opened it, and slammed it in front of him. “Why is Aura’s contract twice the length of the other artists?”

“Because I run a business, which means I don’t give one fuck about their private lives if it doesn’t affect me. Did you see her advance, Kennedy? None of my artists got nearly as much as her.”

That pulled a sardonic chuckle from her. “I’m sure Aura paid for that advance in pussy well before she signed that damn contract, Relic.”

“And if it were good enough, we wouldn’t be having this fucking conversation.”

His comeback gagged Kennedy, causing her to gawk while he picked up his fork and resumed eating like he hadn’t just claimed Aura’s pussy was weak. Before all else, Kennedy was a woman, so his slight rubbed her wrong for numerous reasons. Her head shook as she leaned on the counter with a lick of her lips.

“I’ll pay it.” She tossed out that offer, causing his eyes to lift as he bit into a slice of bacon. “Use the bonus you’re giving me from my contract. I don’t need it.”

“So, you’re willing to give up your money for a bitch you don’t know and who probably doesn’t like your ass, Kennedy?”

She nodded. “Like you said, this is business, and I’m putting the business first. I want to be fair because the number one downfall of these recording labels is their artists feeling gypped. Once she realizes this shit, which I doubt she’s aware of, she will take it to the internet. She will blast you and the fact that y’all had sex, which I told you was a bad fucking move. Nothing is worse than a scorned bitch, Relic. We don’t need anyone giving us a bad name.”

“Us?”

“Yes, us, nigga! As long as my name is attached, I’m not going for this bullshit, especially if it’s avoidable. You made that move to prove a point. Not because you need or even care to be locked in with Aura this long. You said to run what I don’t agree with past you, and that’s what I’m doing. Can you change it?”

Her request was a simple one that Relic could’ve accepted with ease since he’d make his money back off Aura one way or another. He didn’t tell Kennedy that as he took his time with finishing his food while she waited, anticipating an answer he didn’t care to give her. Kennedy was doing too much shifting and arranging like she ran shit while failing to address the biggest issue at hand. The same topic she’d glossed over in her office was the very one that’d seal her fate of where she stood with Relic. He dusted off his hands and looked her dead in the eyes.

“You know what I find funny, Kennedy? You’re making requests and putting up money that you don’t even have because where isyourcontract?” He flipped through the stack of papers in the folder before sliding it across the counter. Kennedy caught it before it hit the floor. “I don’t see your name on shit in there. You’re claiming a title that ain’t yours because you aren’t ready for it. You’re avoiding it. You’re wasting my goddamn money and time, calling shots and invading my fucking life to bow out the minute you get spooked! If I don’t ask you for fucking advice, don’t give it. I’ll let Savvy know to keep you out of my files, too.”

He stood to reach across the counter for his folder, but Kennedy was swifter. She scooped it up and then yanked open the drawer in front of her, shuffling through it before producing papers that she smacked on the counter. Relic glared at her before he picked it up, scanning the contract that finally held her John Handcock on those once empty lines. A smirk tried to break free, but he contained it.

“Now, what does your rude ass have to say?” She snatched it out of his hand to tuck into the folder with the rest of his contracts and ordered, “Give me your card.”

“For fucking what?”

“Because you know how to piss a bitch off, and you owe me a damn mirror!”

His nose flared at her shouting, but the urge to crack her jaw didn’t creep to the surface like it had the day prior at her salon. Relic realized the physical approach he’d seen from his father didn’t work on Kennedy because she was different. She was pure fire and fight. His threats didn’t rattle her, but Relic noted she responded to the illusion of him sharing his power. He huffed a breath and pulled out his wallet, flicking through his cards before tossing one in particular on the counter. The thick metal clanging sent her eyes shooting to it, and he laughed aloud.

“You would’ve been had that if you’d signed your contract from the jump. Now, stop all that yapping you’ve been doing, Larenn, and talk to me fucking nice.”

For once, Kennedy didn’t have a lick of backtalk to give him as she stared at the card with the record label’s name on it and her government named embossed beneath it. Her lips pursed as she swiped up the black card to shove inside her pocket.

“So, this is how I get you to shut the fuck up. Noted.”

“Don’t push it, Relic,” she warned, rolling her eyes while grabbing his plate that he’d devoured.

She scraped the leftover residue in the trash before washing it because she hated leaving dishes in the sink. Her eyes cut to Relic, catching him studying her every move as she retrieved a bleach wipe to scrub down her counter before her eyes lowered to the floor.

“Kennedy, if you pull out a broom to sweep up imaginary crumbs, I will leave your ass here,” he threatened with his brows pinching at her cleaning obsession. “Why do you clean so much?”

“It’s like you said. You do certain things because they were taught to you, and so do I. Do we have to leave right now? I had one more thing I needed to take care of.”

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