Insta Empire

Then Kevin turned to walk out. Lily stared at Kevin. She didn't know what to think. It was like he'd become a completely different person, a complete stranger to her. Everyone stood there in shocked silence. As Kevin walked toward the door, Jason shouted, "Stop him. Don't let him leave!" But no one moved. They all wanted Kevin to leave and for this horrible scene to be over. Jason saw that no one was helping him and ran over to grab Kevin by the shoulder. "Didn't you hear what I just said? You can't leave!" Right then, a white van stopped abruptly outside the restaurant's entrance. Then, multiple powerfully built men jumped out of the van, holding baseball bats and armed to the teeth. It looked like the party was about to get even worse! Grandma Jones's birthday party had just been completely ruined by the fight between Jason and Kevin. It started when Bradley asked for grandma's blessing to marry Lily, who is obviously already married to Kevin. Unfortunately for Jason, Kevin kicked his butt in the fight, so Jason called up a friend to help. Jason was relieved to see his friend, who showed up pretty quickly with a few of his toughest bodyguards. "Drake! Thanks for getting here so fast." The man gave a slight nod. "What's going on, Jason?" He pointed at Kevin and said, "Drake, this is the piece of crap I told you about." One of the Joneses recognized Jason's friend. "Drake? That's one of the toughest crime lords in the city." "Wow!" someone else said. "Jason sure has friends in low places. Look how fast he got over here with just one phone call." Lily heard this and got scared for Kevin's safety. "Kevin, run!" she shouted. Lily knew that if Drake got his hands on her husband, he'd end up dead, or worse. But Kevin didn't budge. This made Lily even more desperate to help him. She stood up and started to move toward him. Before she got two steps, Bradley stopped her. "Lily, what are you doing? Drake's a very dangerous man." Everyone was afraid to interfere because of Drake's vicious reputation. Drake took a drag from his cigarette and casually threw it on the floor. "Who's the bastard who did this to my buddy Jason?" When Jason heard this, he walked over towards Kevin. He could feel the eyes on him and knew that everyone was impressed that he had such a powerful ally on his speed dial. He'd be bragging about this for years. But no one could imagine how Jason and Drake ever got to know each other. It was simple. The first time they met, Drake almost beat Jason to death in a sparring match at the gym. That set the tone for their relationship. Ever since then, Jason tried his best to make friends with the man. He figured it was better to have him as a friend than an enemy. So every month, he would give Drake a wad of cash to keep him on his good side. As long as Jason kept this up, they'd still be friends. "Quick! Get out, Kevin!" Lily shouted. But Bradley stopped her again. By now, Drake was standing face to face with Kevin. "So, you're the one who hurt my friend?" Drake snarled. "You've made a huge mistake" "So, are you his friend or just his guard dog?" Kevin said coldly. "Do you know how long it's been since someone talked to me like that?" Drake put his hand on Kevin's shoulder and leaned closer. "A long time." Kevin didn't even flinch and replied, "I don't care how anyone talks to you. This is between me and Jason." Jason was happy to see this. He was sure that Drake would finally get Kevin out of the way for good and things could get back to normal. He knew that Drake was a man who feared nothing and no one. "This is gonna be good," he thought to himself. "Man, you've got cojones," Drake said as he narrowed his eyes. As he looked at Kevin, he got the feeling that he looked familiar, but he just couldn't remember where he'd seen him before. "It doesn't take cojones to know who's not a threat." Kevin replied coldly. This really got everyone's attention. How could Kevin talk to such a dangerous man like this? Grandma Jones scowled, but didn't say anything. She wasn't used to dealing directly with people like Drake. Jason clenched his fists like he wanted to take a swing at Kevin. " This guy obviously hasn't heard that you just don't mess around with Drake Cook. Let me teach him a lesson for you." Kevin glared at Jason, then turned back to Drake. "Your last name is Cook?" Kevin slowly took his phone out of his pocket. "Do you happen to know Mitch Cook?" Drake's face froze when he heard this question. He gave Kevin a puzzled look. Most people didn't know just how well Drake knew Kevin's friend. Kevin spoke into his phone "It's me, Mitch. I'm here with a mutual acquaintance. Drake is standing right in front of me." Kevin then handed his phone to the man. Drake hesitated a moment and took the phone. While he talked, his expression changed from anger to confusion to worry. Drake hung up the phone and reached out to hand it back to Kevin. As usual, the Joneses began whispering to each other, trying to figure out what they had just witnessed. "I can't believe my eyes" What's wrong with Drake? Who did Kevin call?" Kevin looked the man dead in the eye and asked, "Are you sorry now?" "Yes, Mr. Williams. I'm very sorry." Drake's forehead had started to bead with sweat. Of course, Kevin had just called his friend Mitch to set Drake straight. The message he gave him was short and sweet. If he touched a hair on Kevin's head, he would lose his own head. Jason was confused. "Drake, what are you waiting for? " Seeing that Drake still wasn't giving Kevin a beating, Jason couldn't hold back any longer. He decided to take another swing at Kevin. But, before his fist even made contact with Kevin's face, Drake grabbed Jason and threw him to the ground. Then Drake picked Jason up by his tie and slapped him in the face. "What kind of mess have you gotten me into?" Drake kept cursing while he slapped Jason over and over. "But…Drake…what did I do wrong?" Jason asked, holding back the pain. "You really screwed up this time." Drake spat on the floor. Then he turned to the men who had come with him and gave them an order. "See if you can knock a little sense into him." They immediately surrounded Jason and started dragging him toward the side exit. Grandma Jones was distraught at the sight of this happening to her favorite grandson. She looked over at the other family members for help. A few of them started to move hesitantly toward Jason. They weren't really sure what they could do, they just knew they had to obey Grandma Jones. But they stopped dead in their tracks when they saw Drake pull a knife out of his jacket and say, " If anyone lifts a hand to help him, he'll answer to me!" The few young Jones men who had stepped forward immediately took a few steps back after hearing Drake's threat. Talk about a rock and a hard place. They didn't want to disappoint their grandmother, but they also were powerless against this man. Then Drake turned back toward Kevin and spoke calmly. "Mr. Williams, again, please accept my apologies." Everyone was stunned to hear this. When they saw Drake apologizing to Kevin, they were very confused. Was this real?. Kevin didn't reply. He just gave Drake a deadpan stare. "I'm very sorry to have bothered you, Mr. Williams," Drake apologized once more. "My phone, please." Kevin said. Drake handed him his phone and began to speak. "Sir." But Kevin cut him off. "Yeah. Whatever." Then he impatiently took his phone back, turned around, and left the restaurant. When Kevin was gone, Drake let out a long breath and told his men to stop slapping Jason around . Then he walked over and spoke to Jason, who was lying on the floor in a daze. "Don't ever use me like that again or you'll regret it for whatever remains of your useless life." Then he took his men and left. When the van had driven away, the Joneses slowly walked over and surrounded Jason. "Jason? Are you all right?" Grandma Jones asked him. Her voice was filled with concern. Suddenly, one of her other grandsons rushed into the room. "Grandma, Mr. Cook is pulling up outside!" They looked out the front window and saw two black SUVs and a Maybach limousine stop at the curb. A young man in a suit quickly hopped out and opened the passenger door of the sleek limo. A man in a nicely tailored Armani suit stepped out and calmly walked toward the door. The Joneses were surprised, and not for the first time that day. "Grandma Jones really is important. Even someone as powerful as Mitchell Cook has come to see her on her birthday." Grandma Jones didn't know what to think at this point. She had only met Cook once before, at the Witsler Hotel. They didn't have any relationship to speak of. She just knew him by his reputation. Plus, she knew that she hadn't invited him. So, what did he want? As he walked up to her, his bodyguards stood back at a respectful distance. With a smile on his face, he inquired. "Mrs. Jones, may I ask if Kevin is here?" As soon as he said that, the crowd fell silent. "I'm sorry, Mr. Cook. Kevin has already left," she replied in a very embarrassed tone. "Oh. Well, since Kevin isn't here I won't take much of your time. I understand that today is your birthday. Please accept this small gift." Cook snapped his fingers and one of his bodyguards walked up and placed the gift on the table. After Cook and his men left, the Joneses sat there in silence. Some of them had turned pale. At the moment, nobody was very happy about how the party had turned out. And no one was in the mood to open the box to see what the gift was. They filed out and headed to their cars to return to the Jones family mansion. Everyone was still thinking about what Kevin had said before he left. And they were very worried about what might happen next.