Chapter Eleven
Drew
The text stabbed him through the heart. The look in Alana’s beautiful eyes, the blood caking her forehead.
Attached was the message: You know where to meet us.
Come now. I’m not a patient man. He dropped everything he was doing, pocketing his gun and hailing a cab.
The driver must have thought he was insane, sweating and yelling at him to drive faster.
He practically threw money at the driver, a couple of hundreds to hopefully make up for his shitty behavior. He ran as fast as his feet would carry him into the bar, slamming through the door.
His eyes found Alana. She was tied to a chair. She mouthed his name, and the mere sight was enough to have his blood boiling.
“I’m okay,” she mouthed. “I promise.”
He gave her a small nod and tried his best to put his mask back on. The best chance they’d have of getting out of here was taking Max by surprise.
The man himself grinned up at him. He sat next to Alana. Too close. He was far too close. “Right on time. Take a seat.”
When Drew didn’t move, he said in a firmer voice, “Take a seat or I’ll take her life.”
Max was adept at that. Friendly, caring even, and then with the click of a finger, a cold-hearted killer. It would be impressive if he weren’t holding his beating heart in the palm of his hand.
“Message received loud and clear,” he told Max.
Why had he waited? He should’ve known the time limit was a test, he’d never intended on giving him a full week to get his life in order.
A phone ringing cut off Max’s reply. “Do excuse me, business calls,” he said, leaving to answer it. Harry and another man followed him, leaving Curly and Eric in the room with him.
He laughed, bitterly, with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Boss man sure has lost his touch, don’t you think?”
Curly growled. “Watch your mouth.”
The other men came back into the room, clearly having been dismissed by Max.
“I mean, letting me escape for years, letting Eric here betray him, costing him, you all, millions. It’s only downhill from here.
” He sat down near Alana, should he need to protect her.
He placed his legs up lazily on the table, letting them see him in Max’s place.
Letting them see that the gang needed fresh leadership, new blood.
He smiled lazily. “He’s an old dog now, you can’t teach him new tricks.
You know it’s only a matter of time.” He looked at them all in the eye, slowly tracing his gaze around the room.
He wasn’t met with any resistance; he knew he wouldn’t be.
This was how things worked. This was how Max took his position as leader back in the day.
He’d heard the story so many times it was like a legend in itself.
He started a mutiny and made them all watch as he took out the leader and took his so-called rightful place.
“What, and you would lead us? You’re nothing but a stray dog,” Harry spat.
Despite being Max’s second in command, there was no love lost there. Harry had endured his fair share of punishments from Max over the years. No, Harry was just loyal to whoever gave him money. And that could be him, if he played this right.
“Stray dog I may be, but I’ve found my way home, haven’t I?
It doesn’t matter how it happened, it just matters that it has.
And this stray dog can make you more money than you know what to do with.
I’m a fucking billionaire, haven’t you heard?
” He took out his gun. He saw Alana’s body stiffen.
He couldn’t look at her. Not now. “I just need to know if I’ll be met with any resistance. ”
He looked around the room again.
“I’ll take your silence as a no.” He smirked.
Max slammed out of the kitchen so fast that Drew didn’t know what had happened, and he flinched backwards instinctively. Max barreled toward him, eyes wild, before turning toward Alana.
No.
“Turns out someone has ratted us out to the cops. Can’t have that. I’ll fucking stamp that rat out.”
With a breath, Alana rose from her seat, breaking her bindings, and raced behind him. He could feel the cool steel at his throat.
What? What was she doing?
“Play along,” she said under her breath, so featherlight that there was no chance anyone would hear.
So, he would. He would do anything she asked.
The steel was drawing blood. He could feel the heat of it, the sting.
Max froze in his tracks like a deer in headlights.
“We can all be bought, isn’t that right, Max? It’s just about finding what that person’s weak point is and pressing on it. Turns out, I’m pressing on yours. Who knew that our weaknesses would be the same?”
The tone of her voice was like nothing he’d ever heard before. And he knew he never wanted to hear it again, for as long as he lived. It was ice, pure ice, no blood in her veins, strong and indestructible.
“You love Drew like a son.” She chuckled, the sound devoid of any joy, any life.
“Well, whatever you think love means because you don’t know the true meaning of it .
.. and you’d go to the ends of the earth to get him back, to have him kneel to you again, but I can’t have that, and I’d sooner kill him than see him kneeling to you. ”
Pure venom spread across Max’s face, and he shook, like his whole body was vibrating with hatred. “Well, well, Alana, you really are a special woman. I can see why Drew likes you.”
She ignored him. Max hated that.
“Kneel,” she commanded. “Or I’ll kill him.”
That was too far for Max. “You little—” But he didn’t get to finish his sentence. Eric buried a knife deep into his stomach, tears streaming down his face. He let it clatter to the floor. Nobody moved as Max fell, too, hands clutching at his spilling insides.
He laughed. He actually laughed. “Well done. Well done, little one.” His breath gurgled as he looked at Eric, then at Drew.
Drew blinked, like he wasn’t really sure this was happening. But he couldn’t look away, he wouldn’t, it was like he needed to see him bleed out to believe it was true. He lowered the knife from his own neck and Alana let it clatter to the ground. He pulled her close to him.
“Don’t look,” he murmured into her hair. “Don’t look.”
“What a fearless leader you’ll make,” Max spurted out, before his eyes became glassy and a smile died on his mouth.
No one moved, no one spoke. He had to, now, if he had any hope of gaining control.
“From this day on, there is no Lion Crew. You’re all loyal to me now. I’ll take care of you. Give you jobs, houses, anything you need, if you agree, if you pledge your loyalty to me right here, right now.”
The men exchanged glances, before they began to kneel.
“No,” Drew said, his voice coming out louder than intended. “We don’t kneel. Not anymore.” He made eye contact with Eric, who was shaking. Alana moved from his arms and took Eric’s hand, murmuring something to him that no one else could hear.
“Fine,” said Curly. “Have it your way. You have my loyalty, but you better hold up your promises.”
“I will. Spread the word to the other members, the ones in Atlanta. Let them know what will happen if they disobey.”
Harry and the other men murmured their loyalty.
He nodded at them, before walking over to Alana and Eric.
He put his hand on his shoulder. “Thank you. I’ll take care of you, whatever you need.
You want to go home? Done. You want to work for me in a legit job?
Done. You won’t go down for this. I promise. ”
Eric’s broken gaze met his own. He signed, “Thank you.”
Cars pulled up outside.
Three cops came barging in, guns drawn. One of them whistled at the scene.
“Josh called, said you might need us. Seems you do,” said one of them, clearly in charge.
“And an ex-colleague of mine let me know where you were. Handy little things, these tracking devices. No fucking clue how it works myself,” he admitted.
“Well, I’d advise you to get this mess cleared up,” he said, gesturing to Max, and then he turned to the gang members.
“And then I suggest you get the fuck out of my city.”
They looked at Drew and he nodded at them. They got to work.
“Burn him,” he told them, taking Alana’s hand. She was so cold, but she kept her head high. She squeezed his hand back. Just that one simple gesture and everything was worth it.
The cop came up beside him. “We were never here, okay? Seems like you’ve got rid of some serious rubbish. We should be thanking you.” With that, he clapped him on the back. “Right boys, let’s move out.”
Fuck. He always knew Josh had connections, but he didn’t realize it pertained to cops. He reminded himself never to cross his friend.
“It was Lily,” Alana said, her voice shaking. “She tried to do the right thing in the end, even if it cost her everything she loves.”
He tilted her head up to his. “Are you okay? Please tell me you’re okay.” His voice cracked.
“No. But I will be.” She sounded determined. That was his Alana. She cupped his face. “Are you okay?”
“No,” he whispered, dropping his forehead to hers. “But I will be,” he echoed.
“We won’t let him break us. We will live the rest of our lives for us, in spite of him, in spite of everything, and soon this will become a distant memory.”
That day couldn’t come soon enough.
“I almost believe you.”
“You should. I’m always right.”
With that, he dropped a featherlight kiss on her lips. A silent promise, a silent vow, that they would heal, together.