Chapter 15 #3
She didn’t bother looking at Niles when she responded. There was no way she would allow him to steal her high, and make no mistake about it, after the interview with Beauty and the Beats, her head was in the clouds something terrible. “These comments are crazy.”
“You thought they wouldn’t be?”
One shoulder lifted in a noncommittal shrug. “I didn’t expect anything, so it’s wild to see all these people showing love.”
“You’re dope as fuck, Mari. You have the type of voice that has men ready to put on capes,” he teased and she cut her eyes in his direction, catching the rare smile on his face. After a minute of being in her head, she fully turned her attention to him.
“Wanting this so bad, having it, then losing it was hard. It’s just, I don’t know…”
“Feels good. You can say it. Claim that shit because that…” He pointed to her phone. “It's just the beginning. Get used to the feeling so when you really see how heavy the city is fucking with you, your damn head doesn’t get any bigger than it already is ’cause that muthafucker is massive.”
“My head isn’t big.” She mindlessly raked her fingers through the sprouting curls on the formerly shaved side of her head.
He smirked. “Nah, it’s not, but I had your ass second guessing though.”
She shot him a bird and Niles tapped on the display in his car, changing the music. When her song began playing, she smiled his way and he winked. “Shit is dope as fuck and I know you wrote that song about my boy after y’all was fucking in the booth.”
Her eyes went wide. “He told you that?”
“Nah, he didn’t but Dom had to mix it and Sao left the original version in the system.”
Samari’s face blazed and her mouth dropped open. Although not the same as the situation that stained her past, she was still uncomfortable knowing there was a recording of an intimate moment she hadn’t been aware of. Her reaction was misread and had Niles speaking again.
“You don’t have to be embarrassed. It was just sounds. We didn’t put cameras in there. Just be glad I didn’t put your ass on blast with Beauty and Dayton. In there talking about your fingers were the inspiration.”
She quickly turned her face toward the passenger window, hiding the embarrassment and unease that twisted in her gut barely, processing his words as he continued talking. “It’s all good though. But ay, let me ask you something.”
She pushed past the sick feeling that bottomed out in the pit of her stomach and muttered, “If it’s about my inspiration, please don’t.”
Niles chuckled. “Nah, it’s not about that. It’s about my boy.”
She turned toward Niles. “What about him?”
“He’s doing a lot…”
“I didn’t ask him to,” she quickly defended and Niles nodded.
“I know but that still doesn’t mean that he’s not putting a lot on the line. Sao is built different. When he fucks with you, it’s with every part of himself.”
Niles’s brows pinched, trying to explain himself without giving away things that needed to come from Asao.
His past wasn’t Niles’s story to tell but seeing how he was moving with Samari was an eerie reflection of how Asao used to be with Na’Mya.
If shit went bad, Niles wasn’t sure how that would play out.
An unstable muthafucker was a problem. An unstable man with a broken heart was lethal.
The way the three of them had painted the city crimson wasn’t anything nice but the problem was no matter how many bodies they dropped, the result was the same.
She wasn’t coming back and seeing his boy in that space had been hard.
It had taken years for Asao to get those demons off his back and they couldn’t afford for him to find residence in that space again.
“I’m not using him,” she stated firmly.
Niles laughed arrogantly. “You couldn’t even if you wanted to. Asao isn’t the type of man who will ever be anyone’s fool.”
“Then I don’t get what you’re saying.”
“I’m saying he’s giving freely because he fucks with you. If this is just about the music, then make that clear. Otherwise shit can get fucked up and you don’t want that.”
“This is bullshit,” Cobra growled, slinging the stack of papers across the table.
“And this is a crime,” Raaj Armond stated coolly.
With clients who filled his roster, mostly artists and athletes, Raaj had pretty much experienced every possible legal dilemma that existed.
Scandals were his forte but the current situation he was handling for Asao had Raaj making Cobra’s take down his personal mission.
After reading through the contracts his artists were being held hostage by, Raaj wanted to ensure they were no longer legally bound to the shady label just as much as Asao.
“Crime?” Cobra’s eyes darted between Asao and Raaj before he smiled smugly. “We agreed to the terms. He signed it. The contract is binding. I’m not delivering the masters until I receive my payout from the sale of the VIP tickets. I’m not understanding what the issue is.”
Asao hadn’t said much since Cobra walked in the door. The meeting was set up at Raaj’s office and Cobra walked in with his ego on display, feeling as if he had the upper hand. Unfortunately his ego would be the least of his worries by the time they were done.
“My client has proof of funds for the ticket sales. We can have the money released immediately. You were supposed to deliver Ms. Sellers’s masters within twenty-four hours of finalizing the contract.
Your signature is on it as well as my clients.
My office has no documentation for delivery of the masters.
Is there a problem?” Raaj stated smoothly, already knowing there was.
Asao watched Cobra, taking in the increased labor of his breathing, the twitch of his jaw muscles, and the way he began nervously bouncing his legs.
“I can call and have them sent over…”
“I don’t want a copy. I want the original project files.
Your label used the process of cataloging them analog, so I want all the hard copies.
I also need the written contracts from anyone who touched the project.
Producers, engineers, hell, the gotdamn bank you used when your team purchased the samples to make the tracks.
The contract says I own the masters, but if you can’t produce a chain of title, there is no deal.
I want every fucking detail in place down to the invoices and receipts for studio time and production along with the split sheets that clearly outline any previous ownership between you and the creators. ”
Cobra’s nostrils flared and his hands balled into fists. “You think I don’t know how to do business?”
Asao smiled cockily. “What I think is irrelevant. What I know is what you need to focus on.”
“What I know is I want my money or you can see me in court,” Cobra sneered.
A large tatted hand lifted and smoothly brushed over Asao’s freshly cut waves before he dropped it into his lap and his expression turned deadly.
He removed the gun from his side and placed it on the table.
Raaj groaned but didn’t say anything because he knew his client.
Cobra’s eyes dropped to the gun and he tried his best to keep his cool.
“This isn’t hood shit.” Cobra glanced at Raaj who didn’t speak.
“You said I don’t want to meet you in court. I’m just letting you know I don’t have a problem with that. I’m the muthafuckin’ judge and jury. Here’s my gavel, muthafucker.” Asao’s tatted hand covered the gun. “You want to toss out threats? I’m game. Court is in session.”
Asao stood from his chair, lifted the gun, and chambered it as he rounded the table. Cobra shuffled his feet clumsily, attempting to make a run for it, but the barrel of the Glock pressed into his forehead before he was able to stand.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Cobra rushed out.
“We’re having court. Isn’t that what you wanted?”
“Do something?” Cobra cut his eyes at Raaj but he stood and adjusted his coat.
“I’m going to step out and let you gentlemen handle this. Let me know when you’re ready to continue.”
Sweat misted Cobra’s forehead when Raaj reached the door. “Wait, hold on. I need more time.”
“Time?” Raaj said smoothly, focusing on Cobra like his client didn’t have a gun pressed to a man’s head.
“Yeah, time. The documentation you’re asking for is going to take some time…”
“Aight, let me get the masters then.”
“Okay, but…”
“But what? ’Cause the next words out of your mouth better be by the end of the day or I’m gonna owe Raaj for having to replace the carpet in this bitch.”
“I can’t promise the end of the day.”
Asao smirked and stepped back. “Nah you can’t because you don’t own them shits, do you?”
Cobra’s eyes quickly darted toward Raaj before they were back on Asao. He wasn’t crazy enough to think he was safe and prayed Raaj wouldn’t leave him unprotected with a killer.
“Of course I own them.” The words fumbled out of Cobra’s mouth with no confidence.
Raaj moved back to the conference table and pushed the phone across the table so it was within Cobra’s reach.
“Then contact whoever you need to in order to get them delivered. We’ll wait.”
Panic rushed through Cobra which had Asao backing up and dropping back into his seat.
“I’m done playing with this simp ass muthafucker. Handle your shit, Raaj,” Asao stated with irritation.
Raaj returned to his seat as well before he spoke. “You willingly entered into a contract knowing you no longer had ownership of Ms. Sellers’s masters.”
“I own them-—”
“Do you?” Raaj asked, leaning back in his chair.
“Because according to this you don’t.” He shuffled through the stack of papers Asao had received from Kolby.
Raaj had also reached out to Saxton Legal and requested copies directly from them, which he handed over to Cobra.
They had been all too happy to cooperate considering the lawsuit currently pending because Mase Davidson had yet to pay royalties to those who rightly earned them.
Anything to get them out of the middle of the situation was an asset.
Another round of sweat misted Cobra’s forehead before he tried to present as unbothered. “This doesn’t mean shit. You never gave me the money, so there’s not a damn thing you can do.”
Raaj smiled arrogantly. “Unfortunately for you, there is. The contract you engaged in is fraudulent. We’re prepared to sue and I’m thinking three point four million sounds like a good number for punitive damages. You good with that, Asao?”
“Nah, I want more. I want the label.”
Raaj glanced at Cobra. “I would advise against that. Taking the label means acquiring debt. One point eight million, to be exact.”
Cobra’s eyes darted between Asao and Raaj as his nostrils flared again. “I’m leaving.”
Asao chuckled and placed his hand over the Glock in front of him. Cobra followed the motion and nervously looked at Raaj.
“What do you want?” Cobra could argue his point but the number they’d handed over was a clear indication that they knew enough to ruin him. His best option was to play ball.
“You currently have twenty-two active contracts with artists under your label. I have drafted contractual release forms which will supersede any contract you have with them currently. The terms not only include their ability to completely walk away from Cobra Records but also guarantees them ownership of their masters.”
“You’re joking, right?” Cobra gritted through a locked jaw, knowing they weren’t. When neither Asao or Raaj spoke, Cobra had his answer. “I need my attorney. You can’t expect me to sign anything without having it reviewed.”
“You have two options, Mr. Denton. Sign whatever we give you or we take you to court.” Cobra’s eyes immediately went to Asao but Raaj smirked.
“Actual court,” Raaj assured Cobra before standing and reaching for the phone. Once he moved it back to the center of the table ,he pressed the intercom button and a woman’s voice danced around them.
“Yes, sir.”
“Please get Judge Crawford on the line.”
After a moment, she was back. “I have Crawford for you, Mr. Armond.”
“Gary. This is Raaj.”
“Should I be worried?”
Raaj smiled, knowing his friend was expecting the worst. The two had a history of exchanging favors but Raaj always seemed to request the impossible.
“No, this one is easy. The case I mentioned with Cobra Records. Looks like we might have to move forward. Just wanted to make sure you’re still on board to rule in our favor when it lands in front of you.”
“Send over what you need and I’ll make sure it happens but this one is going to cost you.”
Raaj grinned. “I’m well aware. I’ll be in touch.”
After ending the call, Raaj handed his attention to Cobra whose rage was palpable.
“The decision is yours. I have a judge willing to rule however I need him to. I’m also well aware that you don’t have the money to fight this, and based on the information I’ve sent out already about your business practices, I don’t think you could get Legal Aid to represent you nor do you have the money to fight this legally.
The offer expires when you walk out that door. Now what are we doing?”
Asao felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and leaned back to remove it. The text from Niles put a smile on his face.
Niles: About to pull up.
He glanced at Raaj. “I’m heading out. You good with this?”
“Are we?” Raaj said to Cobra, who locked his jaw.
“Yeah, we’re good.”
“Aight, bet. Hit my line when you have everything finalized.”
Asao left Raaj to handle the legalities with Cobra and shifted his thoughts to the woman he planned on focusing on for the remainder of the day.