James’ POV

Several days went by and with every hour that passed without Drake showing his face, the worst I began to feel. I knew Drake wouldn’t over look this, I wasn’t stupid enough to entertain that idea for even a second which made me more anxious. 

If he was waiting several days to deal with this issue there was no telling what he had planned. 

Joshua had been given his punishment the second he woke up according to Peter. He had all but shoved Dev and me out of the house, making sure we were well into our run before calling Drake. According to him, Drake was at the house to pick up Joshua within 10 minutes; piling his unconscious body into his car before driving off. 

No one has seen Joshua since then. I had gone as far as to pull his friends aside, despite the death glares they threw at me when I stopped them. I thought they were going to start a whole other fight over it but I must have made a pretty convincing concerned face because they had only sighed.

“We haven’t heard anything since before he left for his run,” Bill sighed. 

“It’s normal though,” Tyler said, though even he didn’t seem all that convinced of his own words. “Drake takes his punishments seriously. His worst one lasted a week before we were able to see him again. If it lasts longer than that, I’ll start getting worried.”

“If he survives that long,” Bill scoffed. “He couldn’t fucking stand after that week. Drake will kill him. Joshua would have already been weak after the beating you gave him,” he said with a small glare at me. “If Drake goes all out, Joshua will be dead in a few days.”

It didn’t make me feel any better.

I didn’t mean to get him in that much trouble. I may not have liked him and the fact that he threatened Dev was unacceptable but he didn’t deserve death.

Tyler and Bill were good people, if they were willing to stick around an ass like Crow, he must not be a prick all of the time. 

By the time a week passed, the concerned look on their faces turned grim. When I passed them on my way to the drug house that afternoon they both had tear-stained cheeks and their shoulders had sagged. They had given up on seeing Joshua again and it only made the pit in my stomach worse. 

“Tell anyone I told you this and you’re dead,” Peter seethed the second I stepped through the door with Dev. He was panicked. His hair was a complete mess and the dark circle under his eyes made it clear he hadn’t slept at all last night. “Drake announced last night that Joshua isn’t taking over anymore.” My blood ran cold as he looked at me.

“Is he dead,” I asked even though I didn’t want to know the answer. I didn’t want to have his blood on my hands. Sure, I hated him but I never wanted this to happen. He was a prick but death over a fight seemed a bit extreme.

“He didn’t say,” Peter sighed. “I was told not to expect him back here but he didn’t say anything other than that.”

“Would he have been jumped out without you,” Dev asked as he played with his hands beside me. “I mean, don’t you have to be there for jump-ins and outs since you’re a lead?”

“I don’t have to be,” Peter shrugged. “If Drake thinks he can beat them bad enough by himself then he won’t call us in. Jump-ins are just for intimidation and I think we all know Drake can be plenty intimidating without the help of others.”

“But it’s more likely that he’s dead,” I said. Peter shrugged again. He looked completely defeated, not knowing what to do or how to make any of this go away. He looked young now. He wasn’t the 27-year-old drug lead in the biggest gang in the area, he looked more like a 19-year-old kid who just failed his second year of math and didn’t want to have to tell his parents about it. 

“There are worse things than death when it comes to Drake,” Peter said after a while of us staring at him. “I won’t go into detail; I don’t want to scare you and I’m not even supposed to know about it but I’ll simply say that we should pray that he’s dead.” My blood ran cold as I forced myself to look away from that haunted look in his eyes.

“What does that mean for James,” Dev asked after a minute of us staring at the floor in silence.

“I don’t know. I tried. I swear I tried to make it seem like it was all Joshua but Drake isn’t going to let you go unpunished. He just had to dispose of years of hard work because of you. It’s not going to go over well.”

“He wants me as his successor though. Surely he won’t kill me.”

“I said he was thinking about you as a backup,” Peter corrected. “And that was before all of this shit. I don’t know what to expect from him anymore.”

“So we skip town then,” Dev said with a shrug.

“He’d find you,” Peter sighed. “Drake has friends all over, one word out of him and there would be a manhunt for both of you. As much as I hate to say it, as of right now only James’ life is on the table. If you two leave now neither of you will live.”

“I’m not letting him kill James without fighting it,” Dev spat.

“If he comes after me, keep Dev safe,” I said as I turned to look at the drugs on the table in front of the couch before putting shit into my pockets.

“I will,” Peter said with a nod. Dev tensed beside me.

“We are not just accepting this,” Dev scoffed. “We need to get out of here and lay low. We can go back home. My dad will let me go back home. I can sneak you into my room. We can forget this.”

“You haven’t spoken to him in 4 months Dev, he’s not going to just forget that. And I’m not some cat you found on the way home, he’s going to figure out I’m there and kick me out.”

“Not to mention the running from Drake thing,” Peter said as he sat down on the couch tiredly. “I don’t care what kind of prissy security team you had before you left, they will have nothing on Drake. Right now James is the only one in danger and that’s not even set in stone yet. If you leave both of you will die. Let me talk to Drake. I’ll try and see what he’s thinking. If it’s just a beating we can forget this whole thing ever happened in a few months. If he’s talking about taking James’ life, we’ll talk about exploring other options.” 

I didn’t like the plan. We had been sitting and waiting for days already and the suspense was going to kill me but since we didn’t have any other option, I nodded and nudged Dev to the table.

“Let’s get this run over with. Maybe if we try and upsell a few people Drake will remember that we are of use to him.” Dev glared at me but did what he was told regardless.

The run was done in silence and despite needing to prove we were helpful, it was the longest run we had done since getting this new route.

When we got back to the house that night, a car was parked in the driveway.

Peter had a car but never drove it here. He said that the house needed to look all but abandoned and having a car parked here all the time didn’t help that. 

I didn’t recognize the car but given everything that happened, it wasn’t hard to put the peices together that it was Drake’s and whatever punishment he had been planning was about to take place.

“Stay here,” I said as I dug through my pockets, pulling out drugs and money at random before handing it to him. “Give all of this to Peter after we leave then go home. Make friends with Tyler and Bill, they’re good people. They’d protect their friends as long as you stay out of Drake’s way.”

“I’m not just going to hand you over to that asshole,” Dev hissed as he grabbed my hand as I went to pull away.

“I love you,” I told him as I forced my hand away from his. “I love you more than anything and I’m so sorry I dragged you into all of this. Listen to Peter, and see if he can get you jumped out. If he can then go home. If he can’t then stick to him and listen to what he tells you.”

“James,” Dev said but it came out more like a sob as I took a step away from him. He thankfully didn’t follow.

“I love you, Devon Harris. Please don’t ever forget that.” I turned my back the second his tears began to fall.

My heart was beating out of my chest with every step I took and by the time I opened the door, I was sure I was about to have a heart attack.

Drake was sitting on the couch, looking like he had nowhere else to be. As if waiting around to kill a child was nothing special to him. Peter stood by the table, his arms crossed and a pissed-off expression coated his face. It was a mask though. I could see the worry in his eyes and the tears that made his eyes more glassy than usual.

I stared at my friend before letting my eyes shift to the door for a split second. He gave the barest nod. He would look out for Dev for me, whether that was a few hours or even days for this punishment to be over or for longer if the end result was death.

“Is it fair for me to assume you know why I’m here,” Drake asked as he stood from the couch.

“I have a pretty good idea.”

“Good,” he said with a small smile that I wanted to slap off of his face. “That saves time for me then.” He stood up from the couch and in only a few steps was at my side. “Let’s go then.” His hand cupped around the back of my neck as he led me to the door. 

I looked back at Peter as Drake dragged me through the house. The tears he had managed to hold back now fell down his face with a sad smile aimed at me.

“Fight it,” he mouthed simply just as the door shut behind me.