Lucious Lyon likes to act like he’s a ladies man on Empire, when really he’s only loved — I’m not talking about the physical act; more like the feelings — a few women. The first is, obviously, Cookie, who is the mother of his kids; the second is Anika, who has shown she's loyal to him; and the third, possibly, is Giuliana (Nia Long)). Oh, yes — Andre’s newest business partner had a relationship with Lucious of the romantic kind. In fact, Giuliana double-crossed Lucious on Empire, and there is no way in heck that he is letting her get close to him now.
Empire has been setting the stage for a big reveal between Lucious and Giuliana for a while now, and the April 26 episode brings it. After Lucious divorced Cookie (when she was in jail for him, because of him, due to him, can I stress this enough…), Lucious met Giuliana in Las Vegas and the two quickly hit it off. She had connections, he was Lucious Lyon, and the plans for world domination soon set in. Some odd years ago, Giuliana helped Lucious plan an Empire club in Las Vegas — much like Andre is trying to do right now — and everything was going well… until Giuliana’s now-dead husband Raphael and his crew wandered in, guns drawn, to shake Lucious down. Giuliana set Lucious up, making her possibly the only person that we’ve met on Empire so far that had the power to surprise Lucious Lyon on his own turf.
That’s why when Giuliana, Andre, and Lucious finally have the conversation of why Lucious and "Juicy" (as her friends call her) know each other, Lucious is surprised to learn that Raphael is dead as a doornail. Her husband may have been a bad man, but Giuliana was the one who snuffed him out.
Giuliana eventually tries to half-apologize to Andre's father, but Lucious says that she cost him $10 million (which, yikes), and Andre still wants to go through with these crazy plans for a Vegas expansion. One-track-mind, party of one, Andre! Giuliana is bad news bears, but Andre has a Pinky And The Brain kind of obsession with taking over Empire Enterprises (and the world), so he’s still in.
This is the part where no Empire fan will be surprised when I say that Lucious has a plan too. He’s going to enter the Vegas market like he should have all those years ago, but he’s doing it on his own terms, and more importantly, he’s doing it so that Giuliana can’t screw him again.
Lucious Lyon trusts no one, and in this case, I’m inclined to agree with him. Shyne doesn't like her either. So what could go wrong if Lucious and Guiliana go to war? Everything, most likely.
