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“Come on, man. You’re not?—”

“You ever been treated like packaging for someone else’s purpose?” I asked. “Like your talent is decoration instead of the reason we’re even here?”

His mouth opened. Closed again.

“I wroteDangerous Love.That’s my story in those bars. My blood in those lyrics.” My voice tightened. “And I wasnearly killedbehind another deal where people decided my value for me.”

Jalen froze—not flinching, but definitely clocking the weight behind the words.

“I’ve played this game quiet. Humble. Patient. Let the music speak.” I leaned in, my voice low and steady. “But don’t confuse that with being passive. Youknowwho my father is.”

The room held still. No raised voices. No threats. Just the sharp shift in air when somebody remembers who they’re sitting across from.

“I don’t want problems,” I continued, “but I’m not abovesolving them—permanently—if it comes to that. I’ve had to once before.”

Jalen swallowed. The flicker in his eyes wasn’t fear—it was recognition. A recalibration.

Because for the first time, he saw it. Not just the legacy.The bloodline.But what it meant when itlived in me too.

“You’re right,” he said, his voice lower now. “I should’ve looped you in sooner. That’s on me.”

I didn’t blink. Just sat back, let the silence stretch, my pulse steady.

Now here we were. I’d said my piece. And I was still on the outside.

When my dad asked how shit was going and my silence became the answer, he started talking about getting with Eli and I regretted not filling that space in with something. No one wanted Eli to becomeMaestro. All of a sudden, the label would be asking me where Jalen had disappeared to, and I would know Jalen wasn’t ever going to turn up. Nah.

So I told him I had it handled and the truth was, I felt close to that point where I’d leave all this good boy shit alone and show them who the fuck I could be, but Sienna’s smile filled my mind and that wasn’t the man I wanted to be for her.

Speaking of her…I knew what this was. The whole pairing—this moment, this rollout—sparked offNight Things.My shit. My sound. But Sienna? She was the headline. The return. The golden voice they were betting on.

And I didn’t mind that. But I wasn’t about to be the background beat in someone else’s ballad.

“Yo,” Amir said, tugging the mic closer. “She told the execs no fake chemistry. Said if they want magic, they gotta let it breathe. No script.”

That didn’t surprise me.

Itsoundedlike her. Unbothered. Unmoved. Uncompromising.

Still, it hit me sideways because honesty’s a bitch when you’re not sure where you stand in it.

“She’s cool with recording the engagement track too,” Amir added. “I asked her myself. She said yeah.”

My chest went tight.

He’d asked if I could write something for him and Amaya—something true. Something lasting. Of course I’d said yes.

I just didn’t know she’d be singing on it.

Another duet.

Another song that wasn’tours—but might still split me open.

“She say anything else?” I asked.

“Just that she’d be here around five. Coming alone.”

That’s how she’d been moving.