Page 70 of Brown Sugar
I push it down for the moment and haul Hal’s ass outside where numerous squad cars are parked. Kiana and the others follow in my wake.
I shove Hal toward them and stand back as he claims responsibility for today’s explosive.
The police quickly slap handcuffs on him and read him his Miranda Rights. He’s walked toward their squad car, his head bowed as they slide him into the back row.
A beat of satisfaction pulses through me at the sight of him seated in the back of a police car.
Kiana throws her arms around me and stands on tiptoe just to kiss the underside of my jaw.
“You saved me… and all of us.”
I hold her at my side and allow for the reality of that statement to sink in.
It’s true. The plot that Hal had tried to carry out has been foiled and he’s in handcuffs in the back of a police squad car.
“Get away from her!” Tommy growls out of nowhere. “Didn’t I make it clear the two of you aren’t to go around each other!? Did you think that was null and void ’cuz Hal proved to be nuts?”
Kiana lets go of me and turns to face Tommy.
Just when I consider she might actually apologize, she steps toward him and slaps him across the face.
I’m not the only one taken aback. Amari and the rest of her team look like they’ve seen a ghost materialize out of thin air.
But Kiana stands her ground. She glares at Tommy as he touches his hand to the red imprint she’s left on his cheek.
“How dare you?” she says. “How dare you think you’re going to tell me what to do after everything that’s happened! I don’t care if you and the label try to take me to court for breach of contract, I’ll fight it! We’re done here. The tour. The album. Thebrand. I want out.”
“Kiana, doll, you can’t?—”
“I just did,” she interrupts. “You’ve had control of my life for how many years? You’ve worked me to the point of exhaustion. You’ve taken away any creative input from me. You entered me into a PR relationship without my knowledge. Now you think you’re going to force me to go on another world tour and to deny the one man who really cares about me? You must be joking. I choose freedom over fame and fortune.”
Tommy’s nostrils flare. “We’ll see if you’ll be saying that in court.”
“Take her to court and I leak what we’ve got on you,” I say. “Trust me, Tommy. You don’t want these kinds of problems. You or the label. You want the public to find out about how you’ve been embezzling money? Or how about how you entered Kiana—and many other stars under your management—into contracts like that PR relationship without their consent?”
“And I’ve got videos on you,” Amari pipes up. “All the nasty times you’ve yelled and screamed at us. I think I’ll leak them to social media.”
“You come for Kiana, we come for you,” I finish. “What’s more important? Trying to keep your hold on her or protecting your reputation and the label?”
Tommy glares at us for a long moment, a vein pulsing in the side of his neck like he’s about to explode any second. Then he thinks better of it. He takes another look at everybody and realizes he’s not only outnumbered, he’s outmatched.
Teeth gritted and fists balled, he concedes. “Fine,” he says tightly. “We’ll part ways here. But don’t think you’re coming out of this unscathed, Kiana. This entire fumbled tour and album? Tab’s on you, not us.”
“I’ll gladly pay for this stupid album and tour just to be rid of you,” Kiana scoffs with a wave. “Bye, Tommy!”
Her team breaks out in laughter as he’s forced to turn away and do the walk of shame.
I scoop up her hand in my own. “Good job, princess. You won your freedom.”
“You helped me.”
“You know what this means, don’t you?”
She smiles. “I do. Want to get out of here?”
“Best idea you’ve ever had. My place or yours?”
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