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Priya looked like she could fall apart, but she didn’t. Her eyes glinted with thanks, but her mouth threw Rocko off the scent. “Fuck off me, bitch.”

Eden held her hands up and backed away. When Rocko and Priya were out of sight, she looked up at Max.

“Before my mom dropped me and Staysha off at Poppi’s, she was tricking.

She took us with her. My job was to stay in the car and watch after Staysha.

One night, this lady came by the car after my mom finished with her clients , as she called them, and gave her that card.

I’ve been holding on to it for nothing more than a reminder.

I faithfully donate to that mission. They couldn’t save us, but they’ve saved a lot of women.

Seeing Priya drag her kids into that life tugged at me.

I couldn’t just let her leave without knowing she could leave that behind. ”

Maximus sighed and swiped a lone tear from her cheek. “You are good, E. You got more goodness in you than you know.”

She offered him a faint smile. “Just life. It can swallow you or you can fight for the light.”

“You look nice,” Eden complimented, walking into the bedroom. Maximus wore a pair of tailored pants and a button-up. “Where are you going?”

“We have a team meeting,” he stated. “I got you something to wear.”

Eden’s brows met. “I thought Staysha and Keon...”

“A week ago, you asked me to include you. I’m including you, and all your questions will be answered. I promise. I’ll even take you out for lunch.”

Eden groaned. “You mean you don’t want to stand over me and make me cook?”

“To be honest, baby, I don’t have any more patience for it,” Maximus said in a joking tone, but the sentiment was shared. Eden just didn’t have the gene needed to cook. Nor the patience. “Where do you want to eat? As a group.”

“Like with Staysha?”

“Baby, it’s been almost two weeks, and you haven’t said a word to your sister.”

Eden blew a raspberry. “So this is a setup?”

“No, it’s a business meeting. Your sister is going to be there, and I really want you two back on the same page. You know you ain’t right without her either.”

Eden cut him a weary look.

“But I’m not standing in the way.” He studied her and scoffed. “Damn, the idea looks like it’s making you sick.”

Eden muttered as she walked into the closet, “That’s not what’s making me sick.”

“What you say?”

“I said sometimes Staysha makes me sick. I’ll talk to her.” Eden offered him a fake smile only so she could end the conversation.

“Good. I’ll be downstairs waiting for you,” Maximus shared.

“Who is going to zip me into this thing?”

“I’ll do it when you come downstairs because if I do it up here, I’m bending you over the dresser.”

“I mean, I'm okay with that. We can meet up with them later and figure things out then,” Eden posed with a shrug.

Maximus swayed his braided head. “The issue with that is I can’t reschedule a meeting with Jay Lucci and Daysha. This is some real shit, baby. Being inside you is my favorite place, my second favorite place is not being on the street.”

Eden threw her hands up. “I get it. Should’ve led with that. I’ll be good.”

She blew him a kiss and wiggled her spreading body into the dress he bought for her.

Made up and ready to go, Eden fell into her role as his support.

The hour drive downtown to what was formerly known as Urban View Entertainment was full of Brody and Maximus talking about upcoming shows, and Eden poring over her script, hoping to keep the queasiness at bay.

When they arrived, the office building was empty and prepped for something new. In the conference room sat Daysha, Rolani, Julius, Staysha, and Keon. They were all engaged in conversation that only paused to greet them as they strolled in.

“MB, how you feeling?” Julius greeted with a gentle brotherly hug.

Rolani followed suit. “What’s going on?”

Everyone greeted each other but Eden and Staysha. They were in an awkward standoff before Eden found a seat in the corner, leaving the actual team to discuss what was going to happen moving forward.

“I’m aight, ready to get back in the studio. Mine won’t be ready for a couple weeks. And the laptop and mic by the pool ain’t cutting it,” Maximus shared.

“Well,” Daysha started. “You can get back in the studio as early as tonight. El Jefe Records has acquired UVE as an umbrella company. JoyMusic will be our only distributor as well as exclusive streaming for all new albums. We’ll start the rollout for your album.

Photoshoot, listening party, radio interviews.

Online media outlets. All of that. That’s the basic stuff. ”

Maximus nodded. “So what’s the heavy lifting?”

“UVE was initially acquired under a namesake we don’t want to tarnish or erase. We understand fully what Poppi meant to Eden and Staysha and to the community. We are looking forward to ownership returning to her lineage. But that comes with the diversification of your portfolio,” Daysha continued.

“And what does that mean for him?” Keon quizzed.

“Opening businesses. The burger joint, the dispensary, the clothing line. Investing. Getting investors. Which isn’t an issue,” Rolani shared.

“How is that not an issue? We don’t-”

“Consider JoyCloud your initial investor. Your job is to make every stream of your brand pop off, which shouldn’t be hard because you’re in the company of two women who can make nothing into something.”

“So, how does this work when we generate an ROI?” Eden asked from the corner.

“Whatever you all choose to name this label is transferred to you and your sister. You place executives where you see fit, and we’ll stay on for accounting, marketing, and distribution purposes,” Daysha shared. “Any idea of what you want to name it?”

Maximus looked over at his lady and then at Staysha. “Poppi’s Girl.”

Lowly, Staysha flashed Eden a faint smile.

Daysha smirked. “Alright. So, the agreements of the contract are highlighted. You keep one hundred percent of your tour earnings. Whatever you got in advance from UVE is yours to keep. We will only recoup what we spend from this point moving forward.”

“Wait,” Maximus muttered. “Y’all for real?”

“Dead ass serious, nigga,” Julius spoke up.

“I told you when we were in OC, you the truth. I know what it’s like to be pigeonholed in some bad ass deal and being dropped and scraping to figure out what to do next.

I also know that the streets don’t stop knocking, nigga and you answer only when you feel like your back is against the wall.

The hell you fall into after you answer that call not only fucks with you, it fucks with her and your whole team.

It affects her and your whole team. You mean too fuckin’ much to the world, let alone your lady, to answer that call.

So, as your brothers, we’re going to stand by you, behind you, in front of you and guide you through the shit. ”

Maximus licked his lips and schooled his emotions. He caught Eden’s eyes, and she mouthed, “Jeremiah 29:11.”

He swiped his face free of any tears that could’ve dropped and cleared his throat. “Preciate that. Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me. I need you to go out and do everything they said you couldn’t do.”

Hands were shaken, contracts were signed, Clicquot was poured, and photos were taken. Maximus was finally seeing the light, and the hard work behind him was setting him up for the hard work ahead of him.