Page 120 of Love U Down II

He pulled the door behind us and tried it to make sure it was locked securely. We turned toward the elevator and I took a deepbreath. Then I reached for Drix’s hand and linked our fingers. He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed it.

He still had dried blood on his knuckles.

I smiled up at him.

CHAPTER 27

DRIX

Iglanced back at the door of the studio as it opened and smiled as Myome walked in.

“Wrap it up,” she instructed.

“I am. I promise. Five more minutes.”

“Berlin.”

“Baby?” I countered.

She cut her eyes at me but leaned down so we could kiss before she took a seat in the vacant chair beside me.

She looked the fuck good. She wore a white, knee-length dress with black lace trim and pretty tall black heels with flowers covering the strap that wrapped around her ankle.

I currently had the girl group Allison had pitched to me in the booth. We were hoping to cut a demo and see how it went. We’d split the profits fifty-fifty since there was no guarantee I’d get my money back. If it did well, we’d talk about a short term contract for an album or two. They were pretty good. I was almost positive Allison had another hit on her hands sonically. However, I wasn’t sold on her team building after seeing how Myome, Charm, and Retta had turned out. Even if this group sounded good, if they couldn’t work together, they were a waste of an investment.

“How are they doing?” Myome asked.

“So far, so good,” I admitted. “But I mean, we already knew Allison had one hell of an ear, so that’s not surprising to me.”

“Valid.” Myome looked through the glass while I slightly adjusted the sound.

“Did they pitch a name?”

“New Stage.”

“And do you like it?”

“Not really.” I chuckled. “I mean it’s their brand and they’re the ones who have to like it but I’m probably going to throw something else out for them.” A look of sheer disgust crossed my face as a note was missed. I cut the track and backed it up. “Look, it’s getting late and I’ve got date night with my wife, so we’re going to have to call it. I don’t have time to do another take.”

“Fuck,” one of the women mumbled. “Are you sure we can’t just get like one more take?”

I glanced at Myome and she exhaled but shrugged.

“Go for it.”

“You sure?”

“Yep.”

“Nah.” I leaned into the mic. “We can pick up tomorrow, but I made a commitment to my wife that I need to keep. We’re more than halfway done anyway. Come on out.” I hit the microphone.

“You could have gotten one more take done.” Myome blinked up at me.

“Nah. It’s a’ight. We’ll get it done tomorrow afternoon. I had an opening anyway.”

“Thank you.” Myome leaned in and I pecked her as the door to the booth opened and the three women walked out.

“This is Honey, Balee, and Darlene, Allison’s new passion project. Ladies, this is my wife and CEO of the record label, Myome.”