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“It’s gonna take some time,” Cartier expressed quietly. “Saint is… not the kind of man to express himself. He does it with you, but that’s not common practice for him. It’s easy for him to express his anger, but other than that, he shuts down. Once he processes everything, he’ll be able to detach. Slowly, he’ll come back to himself. It’s just going to take him some time.”
Harmony nodded, grateful Cartier had agreed to meet her for dinner. “I know this is a big deal. I can’t imagine the hurt he feels. And I know he needs time to grieve the loss of his baby, but I’m just really worried about him. On top of everything with his music, I don’t want this to be the thing that breaks him beyond repair.”
Cartier smiled. “Trust me, you have just cause to be concerned. Losing what Saint has lost would cause any person to lose their damn minds, but amid all that he’s lost, he’s found you too. He’s found new purpose, and he’s found fulfillment, and happiness, and love back home again. He’s going to be okay. Just keep doing what you’re doing.”
All Harmony could do was pray that Cartier was right. She’d finally released the need to control and go with the flow—a flow that she hoped led to forever with Saint—and she refused to let Tristan ruin that.
* * *
Ten days later,Harmony had finally gotten a meeting with Tristan secured. Though things were going great for Saint with his endeavors, there was still the matter of his distribution and masters. He’d settled for joining a group to be able to do what he loved, but the more Harmony’s love bloomed for him, the more she wanted him to have the freedom to do what he wanted, how he wanted.
That was the bare minimum of what he deserved.
Though he still had his sad moments over the baby, Saint had finally started to leave the house again and try to return to a normal routine. He was focusing on the community center, which gave the positive distraction he needed. There would be times where he’d completely shut down and lose time while in his thoughts, but he was able to process them and not be consumed by his grief, and that was a damn good start. Saint had no idea what Harmony was up to with Tristan, and because she wasn’t sure if Tristan would agree, Harmony wanted to keep it that way.
The first few times Harmony reached out to Tristan, she rejected the offer to sit down and talk. It wasn’t until she told her it was about a multi-million-dollar payout that Tristan agreed. On the entire flight to Los Angeles, Harmony prayed over what she was getting ready to do.
No matter how content Saint was with his community center, the work he was doing for other artists at the firm, his alcohol line, or a group, she knew his heart wouldn’t be at peace until he had complete control of his music and career again. If anyone knew about the anxiety that came over a lack of control, it was Harmony. She admired how gracefully Saint had handled the situation with Tristan, and that made her want to help him even more.
As she walked through the halls of Saint Records, Harmony’s mood shifted from pride and awe to frustration. Several photos, awards, and plaques lined the white walls memorializing Saint’s career, and the fact that Tristan was the one who’d been benefiting from his talent, dedication, and work ethic most had her wanting to fight her more than anything else. But Harmony reminded herself that this meeting needed to be handled delicately and in peace. The last thing she wanted to do was irritate Tristan and make things even worse for Saint.
At the sight of boardroom D, Harmony knocked before letting herself in. A long rectangular table was centered in the bare room. On the left were windows that gave a view of the L.A. traffic several hundred feet below. On the right were more pictures of Saint along with other artists on the label. Tristan was seated at the head of the table, and Harmony couldn’t deny how beautiful she was.
Her skin was the same light shade as Saint’s and her thick, natural hair came down to her back in tight curls. Big, expressive eyes were accentuated by false eyelashes, and she had the prettiest round lips Harmony had seen in a while. She couldn’t help but chuckle as she thought over how the prettiest people could sometimes act so ugly. With her looks, there was no doubt in Harmony’s mind that Tristan could have just about any man she wanted. Maybe that was why she was obsessed over keeping Saint—because he was the one she couldn’t fully have.
“Make this quick,” Tristan demanded. “I have no desire to waste my time talking to my ex-husband’s new bitch.”
Harmony found Tristan amusing, but she wouldn’t let her know that.
“I know you’re hurt over losing him, so I’m going to let that slide, but let me make this real clear…” Harmony paused, giving Tristan time to look from the papers that were on the table to her. “If you call me out my name or disrespect me in any way again, I’m going to beat your ass. I swear to God, they willnotbe able to pull me off you.”
Tristan scoffed and stood with a shake of her head. “I don’t know why I even agreed to see you.”
“Because you’re money hungry and your plan to bleed Saint dry because he divorced you backfired.” Their eyes remained locked for a few seconds, so Harmony continued. “You thought you could keep him with those contracts, and if you couldn’t, stealing his music and money would be your revenge. But it didn’t work out that way because Saint and your other artists have exposed you for who you are. No one is listening to their music, so you aren’t making any money. Your plan failed, Tristan.”
“As long as Saint isn’t happy and doing what he loves, my plan very much succeeded, sis.”
Harmony smiled with the left side of her mouth. “I can assure you that Saint is happy… and loved.” The smug expression Tristan wore wavered. Harmony refused to allow Tristan to believe she’d finally hit Saint where it would hurt because of the baby. She refused to give her that power over him. “Sure, he’s not recording and performing, but he’s finding passion and purpose in other things. With that being said, he still deserves his distribution rights and the masters for his entire catalogue. I’m here to get that back for him.”
Tristan sneered. “How exactly do you plan on doing that?”
Harmony had thought about that long and hard. There was no point in trying to appeal to her heart—it appeared it didn’t work properly. Instead, Harmony decided to appeal to her wallet. She’d already gotten Kahlil’s approval to make the offer, and all she could do was hope God answered her prayers in the form of Tristan agreeing. Harmony pulled a manilla folder out of her tote bag and slid it across the table in Tristan’s direction.
“Like I said, I know you aren’t making money anymore. You can hold Saint to this bullshit ass agreement based on these contracts, or you can release him. If you release him, not only will you appear to be a decent person to the world again by doing the right thing, but I will also make you extremely rich.” Tristan opened the folder. “Those are the stats for five vintage, high value books in various genres, totaling just over one hundred million dollars.”
“Wow,” Tristan mumbled to herself as she carefully looked the pages over.
“These are extremely rare, historical books. From celebrity diaries to handwritten bibles to government charters and extremely limited fiction titles that are hundreds of years old.” Tristan pushed the folder away, almost as if it was too much to even touch. “Those are in my possession, and I have permission from the owner to give them to you. What you do with them is up to you. You can keep them and let their worth build, or you can start a bid and sell them immediately when you get them. That part is up to you. All I ask for in exchange is that Saint and the rest of the artists here be released from every contract you have that binds them to you in any way.”
Tristan’s head shook slowly as she stared from the papers to Harmony.
“These can’t be real.”
“They are. You can look them up yourself, and I can also call the owner, Kahlil, for you.”
When Harmony originally went to Kahlil with the idea, she expected him to say no. Like a true friend and brother, Kahlil was willing to do whatever it took to help her help Saint. For men like them, money was never an issue. If he had the power and resources to help Saint get out of his situation, Kahlil was more than willing to do it. Plus, with his connections, he was sure he’d be able to connect Harmony with people who could help them replace the books in no time.
“I don’t understand.” Tristan’s head shook and voice was low. “If these are worth what you say they are worth, why are you giving them to me?”
