Six days after Lucious had dropped by Cookie's apartment, Bunkie's body was discovered. The authorities had yet to make the identification, but as Lucious sat at his desk silently reading a New York Daily News article titled "Body Found Floating in Hudson River," he knew without a doubt that it was Bunkie.

A badly decomposed body was pulled out of the Hudson River Thursday morning, authorities said. The remains were discovered around 10:30 am in the water near West 132nd Street and Hudson River Parkway.

The NYPD responded to the scene and divers from Emergency Services Unit fished the body out of the water.

Police said it's not clear how the person died, or whether the corpse was a man or woman due to the state of decomposition.

The unidentified body will be turned over to the Medical Examiner's Office to determine the cause of death.

Lucious sighed after he finished reading the article and pushed his iPad away from him. He had been keeping an eye out for any news of discovery, and nearly a month after he had murdered his long time friend, he'd received it. Lucious had hoped it would have taken longer for Bunkie's body to be discovered because he didn't like the idea of a homicide investigation occurring so close to Empire's stock market launch date. He knew it was standard procedure for detectives leading the case to speak to family members, friends, and anyone who may be able to give them information relating to the last time Bunkie was seen alive, but he wished it could have been avoided. Lucious had always disliked communicating with law enforcement, and he had a nagging feeling in his gut that Bunkie's homicide investigation wouldn't be something that went away easily.

Lucious stroked his chin thoughtfully before standing up and making his way down to the studio to see Hakeem. He figured if Bunkie's body was as badly decomposed as the article suggested, it would take a while for him to be positively identified; so in the meantime; Lucious intended to carry out his days as he normally would. He'd play the part of the bereaved friend seeking justice when the time came; until then, it was business as usual.

When Lucious entered the studio, he sat in a chair at the back of the room and watched Hakeem, who was in the booth recording "Cop Out". When Hakeem had told him that he wanted to make a few changes to the track, Lucious had been opposed to it because he thought the version Hakeem had recorded earlier that week was a sure hit. But as he watched his son, Lucious couldn't deny that Hakeem had taken the song to another level.

"That boy wants to be like you so bad." Cookie said, alerting him to her presence. Lucious responded before looking up to greet her. "Hell, if I was him, I'd wanna be like me, too." He grinned. "Half the damn time the boy don't know his ass from a hole in the ground."

"Shut up, stupid." Cookie said, her grin matching his. She sauntered further into the room and stood beside him, her eyes watching Hakeem in the booth. "Ain't nothin' wrong with my baby." She added.

"Keep tellin' yo'self that." Lucious joked. Cookie rolled her eyes at him then returned her gaze to her son. As Lucious watched both Cookie and Hakeem, thoughts of how the news of Bunkie's death would affect them filled his mind. Lucious knew how close Bunkie and Hakeem were; Bunkie was like a second father to Hakeem. Out of all his sons, Lucious knew that Hakeem would have the hardest time dealing with Bunkie's death. And Cookie, well Bunkie was one of few family members she ever had a relationship with, and although they hadn't been in contact for the past two decades; Lucious was aware of just how much she loved her cousin.

When Hakeem was finished, Lucious instructed the sound engineer to leave and took his place in the seat behind the soundboard. Lucious turned on the microphone and addressed his son. "That was great, Keem." Lucious complimented, his face beaming with pride. "You keep rolling out tracks like that and you gon' be a huge star in no time." He added. Hakeem made his way out of the booth and stood in front of his father. "You really think so, dad?" He asked, his face glowing with excitement. "Man, I know so. I told you you had it." Lucious declared, pulling his son into a hug.

Cookie remained at the back of the studio for a moment, a smile on her face as she watched Lucious interact with Hakeem. She wanted Jamal to have a relationship with Lucious the way Hakeem did, which was why she was there to talk to her ex-husband about spending time with Jamal. She had noticed the intense longing in Jamal's eyes when he watched his father and brother together, and it tugged at her heart. She didn't want Jamal to feel like his father didn't love him, or like he didn't have a place in Lucious' life.

Cookie ambled towards the soundboard and positioned herself in front of Lucious and Hakeem. "Ya father's right, Keem. That was amazing. A definite hit." Cookie said, a proud smile lighting up her face. Hakeem removed his phone from his pocket and began to fiddle with it, and when Cookie asked him about his album, he didn't respond. Cookie and Lucious shared a look before Lucious walked closer to Hakeem and swatted the phone out of his hand. "I know yo ass hear your mama talkin' to you!" Lucious said gruffly. Hakeem looked up and grudgingly responded to his mother before picking up his phone and making his way out of the studio.

"Your son better thank God I don't feel like causing no scene today." Cookie said as she and Lucious stared after their son as he left. "I'll talk to him." Lucious offered, and when she turned to face him, he gently brushed her hair out of her face. Cookie's eyes remained fixed on his for a moment before she went on, "I actually came to see you about a similar situation." She began, and Lucious quirked his eyebrows in response. "You need to spend some time with your son, you know....the one you seem to have forgotten about."

Lucious folded his arms across his chest before responding, "You know me and Mal ain't got nothin' in common."

"And you know that's a damn lie." She countered. "You and Jamal have a lot in common, much more than you'd like to admit. He's more like you than you even notice, and all he's ever wanted is your love."

"I ain't never told that boy that I don't love him." He uttered, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

"Yeah well, you sho have a funny way of showin' it." Cookie replied, then looked down at the phone in her hand and checked the time. "Look," She sighed. "I have a meeting to get to. Just make an effort to spend some time with your son....I shouldn't even have to be tellin' you this."

"If Mal wants to spend time with me, all he has to do is ask." Lucious stated, a smile tugging on his lips.

Cookie rolled her eyes at the smug look on his face. "I'm not playin' with you, Lucious." Cookie said. She sauntered towards the chairs at the back of the studio, and Lucious intently watched her every move. "Jamal and I won't be in the studio this afternoon, so there's your opening." She added, leaning slightly towards the chair in the corner as she removed her bag from it; and Lucious' eyes hungrily took in the view of her ass, the skin tight fabric of her dress hugging it perfectly.

"Get to know your son, Lucious." Cookie urged as she made her way to the door, but before she got out of his reach, Lucious latched is hand onto hers and turned her to face him. "What?" She questioned, her eyes locking with his. "Just stand there for a minute let me look at you, baby." Lucious said, and his smile widened when she didn't correct him for calling her baby. "This dress you got on don't leave much to the imagination; and I ain't got no complaints about it." He said, his eyes drinking in the way the indigo fabric clung to every curve, the mid-thigh length putting her legs on full display. Lucious returned his gaze to Cookie's, his sultry green eyes intensely focused on hers as he slowly ran a hand along her side. "Stop." Cookie grinned, when his hand began to creep lower. She wiggled her arm free and tossed him a triumphant smirk before continuing her walk to the door.

"Oh, and Lucious," Cookie said, stopping in the doorway and looking at him over her shoulder. "I ain't ya damn baby." But the smile on Cookie's face didn't make her declaration very convincing.

As Lucious watched her walk away, hips swinging with every step, his mind replayed a part of the conversation they'd had on her couch nearly a week ago:

"You know I never stopped loving you, right?" Lucious said, taking her hand in his and slowly rubbing his thumb over the top of it.

"Why are you doing this, Lucious?" Cookie sighed, studying his face.

"Doing what?" Lucious asked, tightening his hold on her hand. "All I'm doing is being honest."

Cookie sat silently for a few seconds before giving him a simple response. "Don't you have someone at home waiting for you?" She said, as more of a statement than a question.

Lucious had read between the lines of Cookie's response.

When he had left Cookie's apartment that night, Lucious knew, more than ever, that he had to make a decision, and no matter what it was, someone was going to get hurt.

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I just want to take a moment to say that I really appreciate all the support that you guys have given me so far. It means a lot that people are actually enjoying what I write.