Page 32 of Liberator

“What is his punishment, boss? Banishment?” Sweet asked hesitantly.

“I don’t know. There are circumstances you don’t know about I must consider. Just get him the fuck out of my sight!”

Sweet allowed my feet to touch the floor, but he twisted my arm behind my back in a way that made it seem the shoulder would pop out of its socket. Then, he marched me to the infirmary while mumbling things under his breath.

“Stupid, raging, asshole. Dumb as fuck fool. I knew your rage would destroy you someday.”

Doc’s eyes widened in disbelief when I was unceremoniously shoved into the infirmary. His mouth set in a grim line when I stumbled and fell across the examining table.

“Have mercy! What happened? Was Rage stupid enough to get into a fight with you?” he asked Sweet.

“He was dumber than that, Doc. His ass can wait for help, though. Prime needs your assistance first. This asshole attacked him. Don’t ask me why because I have no idea. He’s bat shit crazy. Prime’s going to need some stitches. You better hurry,” Sweet said.

Doc hurriedly gathered supplies while giving me a sorrowful look. He was just as aware of what my punishment could be, andhe assumed this would be the last time he’d see me before it was enacted.

As the anger seeped away I began to feel something quite different. I was humiliated by my actions, sick to my stomach, and devastated by what it all meant. Heavy depression hit me hard. I crawled onto the examination table and curled into a fetal position. Because of my stupidity and the rage I’d never learned to control I was now going to lose the only family and home I had. Vikki was gone along with my future. I was broken.

“Shit Rage! What the hell was that? Why would you screw yourself over like that? I can’t help you out of this mess. It’s not like when you lose it and beat the shit out of someone we’re questioning. This is Prime, for fuck’s sake,” Sweet stated.

“I know, but it’s his fault. I don’t care if she volunteered. He could have said no. He could have locked her up to keep her here. Vikki’s not ready for this.”

“Ready for what?” Sweet asked with a growing frown.

“Prime and the mafia are using her as a spy against the damn cartel. She’s gone undercover with the same assholes that took her the first time. She’s going to be caught. They’ll rape her repeatedly before they kill her. He didn’t even warn me so I could change her mind or go with her. It’s fucked up, Sweet! He’s killed her. Maybe not with his own hands but it amounts to the same thing,” I moaned.

“Shit! I don’t get it. If we didn’t know about this plan, then why did she? You said she volunteered. How?”

“I don’t know. Her note said she was assigned to do this, but I was reading between the lines when I said she volunteered. She says it’s her duty to do this because she was the reason we owe a debt to the mafia. That’s not true. We were rescuing Jackson. We chose to save the others. She’s mine, dammit! I just found her and now I’m going to lose her.”

Sweet appeared horrified. He of all people understood that Vikki was paying a debt that was partially his. Jackson was his stepson. He’d taken the child as his own when he’d married Jemma. The kid had been kidnapped and the Sinners had gone into debt with the mafia to save him. I’d paid most of the debt with drug shipments, but the final one had been blown to smithereens before delivery.

“She had nothing to do with the debt. I’m sorry she felt she owed anyone. I knew Petrov would ask something else of us when his product went up in flames, but not this. Vikki’s a prospect. She’s barely learned to fight and shoot a gun. Prime must have been cornered and had no other choice. You know he wouldn’t have risked her if there was anything else he could have done,” Sweet answered.

“There’s always another way. Doesn’t he say that all the time?” I asked.

“Not this time,” Prime announced as he entered with Doc. His face was clean. In fact, his hair was still damp where he’d washed out the blood. His face was bruised and swollen, and there was a butterfly bandage over his eyebrow. He hadn’t required stitches after all.

“I don’t blame him for freaking out, boss. If my woman had gone undercover with the damn cartel I’d have done the same. Your pretty face would be pulp now,” Sweet admitted.

“Which is why I didn’t pass a sentence on him while I was enraged,” Prime stated.

“Why did you do it? Why wasn’t there another choice?” I demanded though I knew I had no right.

He stared at me for a moment, reminding me that he didn’t have to answer. He owed me no explanation. He was the President, and his word was law without question.

“Clean him up and straighten his nose,” he ordered Doc.

To me he said, “She busted in on a private meeting. She’d been listening at the door, which she’d been warned about before. Petrov was livid. He’d have had her beaten right then if he could have. She faced him down and volunteered for the mission. I argued and Petrov wanted no part of it until she and Zoe joined forces and explained that she was the only one who could do it. She knew how things worked in that organization. She’d lived it. She isn’t marked as a Sinner and she wouldn’t gain suspicion as she’s a young, beautiful woman and the idiots won’t look past that. It wasn’t what I wished for her, but as I said there wasn’t another choice.”

“You’ve sentenced her to death which will be proceeded by rape!” I yelled as Doc popped my nose back in place.

“She’s under the protection of the MC and the mafia. We’ve made her as safe as possible. It’s a fact-finding mission. She won’t see Aguilar or the man who bought her. Her task only takes her into the bottom of the barrel. She’s to photograph and video proof that they are now taking children to prostitute and use as slave labor. That’s what made her volunteer, the children were her concern. If she dumps the phone after sending us what’s on it, we go in after her because that’s the signal we decided on for trouble,” Prime explained.

“But she will be touched, used, and raped. That’s all part of being undercover. She won’t be believed unless she’s a prostitute. Isn’t that true?” I stated with horror.

“I’m hoping she can avoid as much of that as possible, but yes she will suffer that. I hate it as much as you. She’s a brave woman to volunteer to go back. I imagine she’s had nightmares about it, yet she had the courage to step up. Be proud of her, Rage,” Prime commanded.

“She’s the only one I’m proud of at the moment. Right now, you make me sick,” I dared to reply.

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