Page 94 of The Coldest: Stay Dangerous Part 2

Sheisty begins to smirk, but he catches himself, coughing instead.

“How do I know you gon’ stay clean? How do I know you not finna not only let my niggas down, Shotta and apparently Red, too, but also cost me more than the two mill bill you’ve already racked up?”

“Two million American dollars?!” My eyes stretch.

“Yep. Counted it up on ya birthday. Between cancelled studio sessions, countless rideshares, paying off blogs and paparazzis and shit, and you and Pandora getting high off her allowance, it’s a little under two mill. That’s how much you’ve cost Get Money Records, Freckles. Now, as ya homie, I can’t tell you how proud I am of you. You look good, girl, fasho. And I’m happy I don’t have to ban you from Dori, ‘cause frivolous spending habits aside, you the only female I really trust with her. But as the CEO of Get Money Records, you are the biggest liability I fuckin’ have, and that lil’ nigga in there is wanted by the Russian mafia. So if you wanna still be First Lady, you gon’ have to prove it.”

My shoulders drop. When Cochise told Sheisty he was gonna take rap seriously, they made him “prove it” by going four rounds in the ring. His task for me could be anything.

“Plan and execute a comeback show. Shotta did it in twenty-four hours. I’ll give you a week. That’ll show me that you serious, and the public still fuck witchu.”

The beginning of a headache begins to throb behind my eyes. “A show?” I repeat to myself, my fingers running the length of my forehead, edges be damned.

“Yup. I don’t care how you do it, but I’m fasho not helping. None of G$. It’s all on you and yo resources. We have more than shown you that we gon’ support you through whatever. You need to show us we ain’t waste all these fuckin’ years on yo ass.”

I meet his gaze again, refusing to blink away the tears gathering.

But he just peers back at me. If I look hard enough, I know I’ll find disappointment, so I don’t. PC, Grime, and Tripp have all sat me down over the years, but never Sheisty. He’ll drill into me about work ethic, but never my personal shit. Not even when I was out getting into shit with Pandora.

So fuck it. I can put on a show. And if I can’t, Shad will help. He’s not a part of G$.

Squaring my shoulders, I nod. “One show, coming right up.”

Sheisty finally cracks a smile, socking his palm. “Fasho. The guys all think you can do it, so prove they ass right. Red wants you on his first single.”

He starts walking toward the door, so I turn and go out first. “So, y’all missed me so bad, you signed a male version of me?”

Sheisty knocks his arm into mine. “Now you gon’ see why Tripp puts up with yo ass. Then when he gets around Trell it’s like the dumbass becomes airborne or some shit. I don’t know how the fuck he done racked up all the allegations he got.”

“How old is he?”

“A fresh, stupid ass twenty-one,” Sheisty sighs. At forty, Sheisty has been loud and proud about never wanting kids. Trell has always been the one exception to his no-kids around him rule, so hearing his speak about Red tracks.

And based on the energy Tripp’s little brother is giving, I know he does, indeed, get on everyone’s nerves in the studio.

Sheisty opens the door for me, and the idle chatter ceases immediately. Right away, I see why.

Grimey and Cochise are standing in the middle of the room, almost like they were waiting on me to come back.

Welp. I guess I’ll get all the talks out of the way, now.

Wyn

This time, the studio cleared out with the excuse of going to smoke, leaving only me, Grime, and Cochise.

There’s a small patch of gray in Grime’s beard that makes him look seasoned, but other than that, he looks the same. Still wearing a wife beater as a shirt. Still keeps his hair in four silky cornrows.

He’s sitting on the dashboard, only because Trippy isn’t here to berate him about it.

“You ready to work?” he asks before throwing some sunflower seeds in his mouth.

“Yup,” I smile.

He stands, nodding, before leaving the room. On his way out, he squeezes Cochise’s shoulder.

And then, there were two.

Before our accident, the guys didn’t want him anywhere near me. I knew he had a crush on me, but I also knew that being a First Nation Prince meant like arranged marriages and birthrights and shit I’d seen in fairytales. And yeah, I’m an Ice Princess, but that's very different from a First Nation one.