Jem's POV
I was on cloud nine to say the absolute least. Our drugs guys sold us weed and crack at a price no one could beat since they needed to get rid of it quickly, apparently they had cops sniffing around where they shouldn't be and that put them in a bind, meaning we would have almost pure profit coming out of this next shipment.
On top of that, a few rival gangs disbanded a few days ago. They were in a war with each other and in stand off one of the leaders were killed. Apparently he didn't trust any of his members enough to make them leader if something ever happened to him and without a leader no one knew how to run a gang and they all but fell apart.
One of the hit men from the gang wasn't about to let the other guys off that easily even if the gang was no more though. He killed the other leader with a second gunshot wound to the head from several yards away and by the time his body hit the ground; the hit man was already gone.
With them being weakened, another gang I had no quarrel with attacked them and took over their remaining land. Meaning I now had to only compete with one gang in the area instead of three.
Something this good hadn't happened in a while so needless to say, I was all but bursting at the seams. If I could manage to keep in good faith with this new gang I could try to get them to help me deal with this Elijah Down situation.
On top of all of this though, I had one more great reason to be excited; I had a surprise.
I could tell Andrew was suspicious of my smile as we sat on the couch, letting some anime that he picked out playing in the background but he didn't say a word for a while. His eyes constantly shifted from me to the TV as if waiting for me to just spontaneously combust. It wasn't until Patrick and Dev walked through the door when I caved.
"Should I be worried that you aren't you aren't cooking," Patrick asked as he began taking off his shoes. The look on Dev's face said he was asking the same question until he saw the smile.
"Don't even take those off," I said as I leaned over the back of the couch and pointed to his shoes. "And you go get ready," I looked back over to Andrew. "And be fast about it, we have places to be."
Both of them frowned, the conversation we had a few days ago about leaving the house was already forgotten but I had been planning and thinking of worse case scenarios since the words left Andrew's mouth.
"What exactly should I be dressing for?"
"A surprise," I said, not being able to keep the excitement from my tone. Andrew's skepticism didn't fade but I could see him slowly feeding off my emotions.
"What's the dress code? Like is this not formal enough?" The second he got home he was all but stripping as he walked down the hall towards his room. I didn't want him to get suspicious so early to instead of making him wait to undress I let him go, knowing that if I told him he would only bug me until Patrick got back. Now he sat here in sweat pants and a clearly well loved shirt.
"You can wear what ever you want. You'll look hot in anything you put on anyway," I teased while ushering him to his room to jump into anything he thought was good enough.
He huffed but didn't say anything else before closing the door behind him.
"Where exactly are we going," Patrick asked while coming around to sit on the couch while I stood by the door, ready to push both of them out the door the second Andrew was ready.
"Were you not listening? It's a surprise," I said with a forced eye roll.
"And what happened to not going out because it wasn't safe?"
"I happened," I said a bit too proudly. "There are very few things that I can't fix with a little time and man power."
Patrick only hummed as he puled his phone from his back pocket while Dev disappeared down the hall, knowing he wouldn't be needed for the night.
"It won't take that long for Andrew to get dressed," I said with a small glare at Patrick, who was only making himself more comfortable on the couch by the second while I was all but buzzing by the door. "There's no need to just sit there. Get over here."
Patrick threw his head back and laughed.
"I've had a wife before," he said when his laughter died down. "I know how this usually goes. He'll change his clothes three or four times before he's satisfied. No point in standing for all three outfits."
"Good things Andrew's not your ex wife then. He'll be ready soon, just you wait."
"Believe that all you want but I still think I'd rather sit and wait than sit and be wrong," he said with a smile as I glared back at Andrew's door.
Realistically I knew only a few minutes had passed but it felt like so much longer.
I forced myself to wait for a few more minutes before my patience crumbled. I had been waiting for this all day; picturing exactly how Andrew and Patrick would react so any more waiting was a form of pure torture.
"Andrew I said anything would be fine," I yelled without moving from my place at the door. "That didn't mean try everything on and pick the most normal thing you have! That meant pick something quickly and let's go."
I heard him faintly yell 'shut up' but only a few minutes later the door opened and Andrew came out wearing a normal pair of pants and a nicer shirt.
"You shouldn't rush perfection," he muttered under his breath but I didn't care enough to say anything back. My hand on the door tightened before opening it and moving them outside.
My usual, unmarked car sat in my usual parking spot.
"We aren't waiting for anyone else," Andrew asked as he looked over his shoulder for Dev and Barrett.
"Nope," was all I said as I slid into the drivers seat, letting them fight over who would have the remaining spots.
"Is that really safe," Andrew asked as he and Patrick both piled into the back seat.
"I wouldn't be letting you do it if it weren't."
"Then what changed from a few nights ago when you said it was too dangerous?"
"I had time," I said with a shrug before turning on the car and taking the all too familiar trip into the maze of driveways. "Like I told Patrick, give me a little bit of time and there's not much I can't pull off. Just because I said no one day doesn't mean I won't say yes if you give me time to arrange a few things."
Patrick hummed and through the review mirror I could see a smile stretching across his face.
"Does that mean if I really want something and you say no I should just keep bugging you until you give in," he teased.
"Depends on the thing I guess. Read the room and we'll go from there," I said as I turned onto the main road.
Soft music played from the radio as we drove through the city. Andrew hummed softly to the tune while Patrick looked out the window to gain any hints about where we were going.
My eyes shifted from the road in front of me to the mirror showing everything behind me. My mind mentally called out every car that I saw and committed it to memory in order to call out any patterns I might see.
This might be a night out but that didn't mean I could slack off.
Though they weren't in the car with us, a few of my men followed behind us and would follow us wherever we went, invisible to anyone other than me.
The car remained mostly silent but the air was light and I'm sure my own excitement could still be felt and was rubbing off on the other two.
"Close your eyes," I said as we got closer to my surprise for the night.
"Closing my eyes around you seems like a terrible idea," Patrick said as he raised an eyebrow at me through the review mirror while Andrew happily closed his eyes with a second thought, a smile etched onto his face.
"Just do it," Andrew sighed. "It's not like he's going to do anything too bad while we're in a car."
Patrick looked like he wanted to argue some more but thought against it and closed his eyes anyway and a few second later the three of us pulled into a parking lot.
"Can we look yet," Andrew asked as soon as I shut the car off.
"If you must," I sighed but I kept a smile anyway.
His door opened before his eyes. It wasn't until he was standing at his full height outside the car when he fully acknowledged what he was looking at
"I know it's not much but you said just being out of the house would make you feel better," I said as I got out of the car to join him.
It really wasn't anything too fancy. The three of us stood in front some high-class restaurant that was about to make me waste a bunch of money on small portions but the look in Andrew's eye was worth it.
His eyes were glowing with the streetlights around us while a smile took over his face.
Patrick looked impressed but I knew this didn't really seem like the kind of place he would enjoy; we were both here for Andrew's sake and we knew it, I just hoped he would be able to have a decent time too.
"So are we just going to stand here all day or are we going to go in," I asked after a while of Andrew taking in nothing but the shape of the building and the little bit of décor you could see from the windows.
The line was long, forcing some of the more unfortunate people to wait outside but I showed dates to the front of line, causing a bit of fuss from the people we cut in front of.
"I am so under dressed," Andrew mumbled to himself as his eyes moved across the room.
Chandeliers sat above every table, giving off plenty of light in the somehow still dim restaurant. Expensive wines covered every table while gold plated spoons clattered against plates left and right.
Everyone here, except my party, dressed for the occasion; showing off their most expensive dresses and suits while jewelry hung from every inch of their bodies. In comparison we looked like a bunch of street rats crawling in with comfortable shirts and reasonably feeling pants.
"If anyone bats an eye just flip them off, the gesture will surly kill the if the shock doesn't get to them first," I said, still cutting through some of the crowed. "You're the best looking thing here even in street clothes." The comment had his cheeks heat up just the way I liked it.
"Do you have a reservation," the receptionist asked when he finally cut to the front. His eyes looked all of us up and down before allowing his face to show the disapprovement he must have felt.
"I believe it should be under Jem King," I said boredly though my eyes glared at him.
I took genuine pleasure in the way his eyes widened and shock crossed his face. His hands shook a bit as he gathered up a few menus for us.
"Of course sir, I'm sorry I didn't recognize you," he said as he began taking us through the dining area.
I allowed Andrew and Patrick in front of me and as they walked their eyes scanned every thing that looked remotely interesting before moving onto the next thing in fear of missing something.
The receptionist walked us to a heavy looking door at the back of the restaurant and the second it was opened, Andrew let out a quite gasp.
The room was as dim as the dining room but lit candles on the table helped light up the room a bit more. The carpet was a deep red and chairs and tables were a dark stain color. I knew when we got closer Andrew and Patrick's eyes would both be glued to the table, which had gold flakes scattered around the inside of the glass table top, but for now, they seemed to be impressed enough.
Both of them walked to the table and took seats around the circular table while I hung back for a second.
"If you ever turn your nose up at someone here again, I will have your head. Do you understand me," I whispered to man beside me.
"Of course sir. I didn't realize who I was speaking to before," he said as his shaking got worse.
"I don't care if you knew or not. Do it again and I'll have your head, simple as that. Now give me those menus and have a bottle of wine brought to us when the waiter comes, I don't care what kind. Then get out of my sight."
The boy said nothing else and the second I held my hand out the menus were in my hand and he was gone.
I forced my glare away as I sat down with Andrew and Patrick, who were staring at the table like I thought they would be.
"This place is too fancy," Andrew whispered as I tried to shove the menu into his hands but he refused to take it. "We should go somewhere else and save some money."
"I wouldn't have bought you here I didn't have the money," I said as I moved onto Patrick, who took the menu with a shrug.
"Just because you have it doesn't mean you have to spend it all in one place," he whispered again.
"Andrew pick up the menu and get ready to order something. Eating here won't put a dent in my savings." Andrew huffed but did as he was told anyway until he scanned over the first page.
"They don't even list the prices. Do you know how pricey something has to be for the price to be unlisted?"
"I don't understand why you're whispering. We're in a private room for a reason," I sighed but a smile covered my face anyway as I purposefully left his statement ignored.
"What do you think the most expensive thing on here is," Patrick asked, going the exact opposite direction of Andrew, making the latter glare at him. "I'll probably never have the chance to eat at a place like this again, I plan on taking advantage of Jem's money while I can."
"Probably the stake or some kind of sea food," I said as I looked over my own menu but Patrick made an ugly face at the last option I gave him.
"Fish is one of the worst tasting things on this earth," he decided.
"I'm getting fish just spite of you," Andrew said with a small glare.
"Even if it's the most expensive thing here," I asked with a smirk I couldn't hide. Andrew's face immediately fell at that.
"Maybe they have a kids portion."
"I hate to say it but this whole thing is going to a kids portion. I suggest you get more than one order if you actually want to get full," I said honestly.
Andrew pouted at that as he groaned. I couldn't help but laugh at him as I took the menu from his hands and placed it in front of me.
"How about I order for you?"
"Will you ordering affect the price?''
"Nope."
"I hate this place," he declared but the gleam in his eyes said otherwise.
Our banter was cut off by the waitress walking through into our private room, a bottle of wine already in her hands and a smile on her face.
She took our orders quickly and was out of sight within seconds of writing down the last request.
"Do you think this is real gold or just painted gold," Patrick asked one the door was closed. He'd picked up a butter knife and was now twirling it around in his hand.
"It's real but only plated, the inside is just regular metal." He frowned at that and placed it back on the table now that it wasn't as expensive as he thought and wasn't worth his time anymore.
"Andrew, truth or dare," I asked when no one else's voice filled the air after a while.
"I don't think these are the kind of conversations you have in places like this," he pointed out but I didn't really care.
"Truth or dare."
"I'm not playing this game here."
"So you'd rather sit in a dim room and do nothing but wait for your food? That sounds incredibly boring. We could have done that at home."
"We could play this at your house too."
"But we haven't."
"We haven't eaten in the dark there either."
"Patrick, truth or dare," I said as I turned my attention to him. A smile was on his face while he watched us but now that we were watching him, he tried to hide it.
"Truth."
"How boring," I teased, making his face flush the slightest bit. "How old were you when you had your first real kiss? And I'm not talking about a little peak, I'm talking about nearly a make out session."
"I'm gonna pass on this one," he said as he leaned back in his chair, His face slowly turning more red by the second.
"You can't just pass," Andrew scoffed, completely forgetting that he didn't even want to play this to begin with. "This is probably the most tame question he's going to ask anyway."
"I'm still going to pass."
"Are you embarrassed of your answer," I asked, not being able to keep the smirk out of my voice.
"You're going to make fun of me for it," he mumbled under his breath.
"I promise the answer I come up with to fill in the blanks will be much more humiliating than the actual answer."
"I was 19," he whispered after a few seconds of Andrew staring at him, his cheeks stained red as he stared at the gold flakes in the table.
Andrew's mouth fell open in shock before he stifled a small chuckle.
"You married Mary when you were 19," he pointed out, still trying to hide his smile.
"I did."
"Are you seriously telling me that you didn't make out with anyone before you got married?" Patrick shrugged a bit.
"I had only ever dated Mary. We had been together since we were 15 and she wanted to remain celibate until we she was married so to be a good boyfriend I didn't beg her to do anything, I wasn't really into doing anything either for some reason so it worked."
I could think of a reason or two for him not wanting to be sexual with a girl, starting with the fact that I'm positive my teasing made him cum harder than he ever had with his wife.
"I have to say you've improved quite a bit despite your late start," I said while shooting him a wink but he only heated up more.
Still Andrew was having a hard time wrapping his head around it and was still giggling a bit behind his wine glass.
"Fine asshole, how old were you when you made out with someone?"
"I was 16, thank you very much," Andrew said with an almost too proud smile.
Patrick mumbled something that sounded like 'bullshit' under his breath as he took another sip of wine before looking over to me.
"Me," I asked with feign shock before either of them had a chance to ask. "I was 12." Tension filled the air and I didn't understand why until I saw the pity in Andrew's eyes, clearly thinking someone older stole my first make out from me.
"It was nothing like that," I scoffed, making his eyes soften. "My parent's never cared about me so when I started questioning I didn't have to hide it so I decided I was going to get to the bottom of it quickly."
"Was it everything you dreamed and more," Andrew teased, the tension thankfully long gone.
"It was actually," I said with a smile on my own. "I was playing with my best friend at the time and the thought occurred to me that I should try it so I did. Dev seemed to enjoy it just as much as I did."
Their eyes widened at the same time as their jaws dropped. I laughed at the shock written across their faces.
"You had your first make out with Devon? Like the same Devon as now," Patrick asked, his mind clearly going back to the words I had told him not too long ago about how Dev has done far worse things than read porn in front of me.
"You made out with him at 12," Andrew said at the same time. "Where were your parents?!"
"Mine were snorting whatever they could touch and his were out day drinking," I dismissed with a wave of my hand.
He scoffed at my answer while Patrick was still stuck on the Dev part of the conversation.
"Did you ever do anything else with him," he asked hesitantly.
"You mean did I fuck him? No," I said allowing a small pause giving Patrick time to show relief before continuing, "he fucked me a few times though."
Both of their faces turned red again as they thought over everything I had told them.
"I thought you liked doing it," Andrew whispered, carefully dancing around the word 'topping'.
"Oh I do very much," I moaned dramatically just spite of them. "But receiving can be just as likeable." A whine leaving my lips as the sentence ended.
"I hate you," Andrew said I had saw the way his eyes went wide at the moan.
"You're a terrible person," Patrick agreed but he had loved the whine just as much as Andrew loved the moan.
A laugh escaped me before I had the chance to stop it but the waitress came back with our food before I had a chance to tease them anymore.
"I have a question now," Patrick stated after we began eating. "There is no way something as cheesy as Jem King is your real name."
"That sounds more like a statement than a question."
"Is Jem King your real name?"
"Of course it's not. What parent would name a child something that like?"
"Then what's your real name," he sighed with a small eye roll.
I forced myself to not show the frown that usually came with this question.
I had hated my name, even when I was younger I despised it. It had been the name my father cursed since the day I was born and the name my mother was constantly blaming things on.
Nearly everyone was calling me Jem by the time I was in middle school and not long after that I joined the gang as dealer and that was the only name anyone used for me.
Still, I could see the curiosity dripping off Patrick and Andrew wasn't hiding it much better. I knew if I didn't tell them now they would only keep asking until I was too aggravated to tell them no.
"James Pierce," I sighed after a while of thinking it over.
"I like it," Andrew said before letting the name roll over his tongue. "It sounds grown up."
"It's definitely better than Jem King." Patrick said with a smirk of his own.
"I was 16, okay? I thought it sounded cool at the time and by the time I realized how stupid it sounded everyone was already calling me by it and it was too late to correct everyone," I sighed before finishing off my wine and pouring another glass full.
"Why did you stop using your real name," Andrew pried in his classic therapist way but he was still focused on the food in front of him, only half paying attention to the conversation. It honestly made me wonder if he meant to ask or if it was just so natural for him too so he did.
"Well it's harder to catch someone who doesn't exist," I admit, silently praying Patrick wouldn't take advantage of this information. "Every witness will be saying Jem King and Jem doesn't have a drivers license, or a birth certificate, or tax returns so they'll immediately run into a dead end."
"And what if someone still remembers you as James Pierce," Patrick asked with a raised brow.
"Lucky for me, James Pierce has been dead for about 8 years now."
I didn't bother keeping the bitterness from my voice. I wanted nothing more than for this conversation to be put back onto one of them but when I heard Andrew's fork drop onto his plate in shock, I knew I wouldn't be that lucky.
"What do you mean he's dead?"
"He was in a terrible car accident, couldn't be saved. He died on the way to the hospital and from that night on no one called me by that name anymore." Well, except Dev. He'd known me as James since we were 9, it can be hard to not slip up every now and then.
"You faked your own death," Patrick asked, looking slightly impressed at that.
"A few times now actually," I admit; absolutely loving the way Andrew's eyes bulge.
"So if James is dead and Jem doesn't have a tax return, how do own clubs?"
"That would be with the help of my good friend, Jesse Hayes."
"Another fake name?"
"Of course," I said, not having the heart to tell Andrew he was a real guy who died a while back. He had been a good man and happened to a pretty good businessman I went college with. I was friends with him but when he over dosed I couldn't let the opportunity pass me by and I ended up taking everything I could from him.
"I never had a chance to book you did I," Patrick sighed.
"No you didn't. You would have been better off trying to catch Jack the Ripper."
"I have never been more confused in my life," Andrew sighed but thankfully didn't ask any more questions and the night was allowed to turn casual once again.
When everyone was finished eating I stood up from the table to leave but Patrick and Andrew didn't follow.
"What about the check," Patrick asked as he looked around for it. "Or is this place so expensive you have to give them you credit card information just to get a table?"
I chuckled a bit as I laid a hundred down on the table as a tip.
"I know the owner very well, he's waving our bill for the night. You thought I was getting us a reservation at a place like this on such short notice without help?"
"And does this very good friend have a name by chance," Patrick teased but I could tell he already knew the answer.
"He does actually. Jesse Hayes is a wonderful man."
I don't bother sparing either of them another glance as I turned back to our private door and began to leave with the two of them on my hot on my heels.
This was a long ass chapter. Last updated Feb. 13, 2022