Page 22 of Liberator (Serpent Sinners MC #2)

Chapter 22

My entire body was limp, warm, and deliciously aware of how I’d spent the night. For once my cock didn’t rise the instant I woke up. It had been sated three times and was willing to rest. My sweet, argumentative Vikki had finally stopped fighting her feelings and come to concede the victory to me. I’d made headway in the matter of making her mine. She may have stated her views before I took her, but I was certain I’d changed some of them during her multiple orgasms.

Smiling broadly, I rolled over to take her in my arms and wake her with kisses. Her place on the bed was empty and cold. My little bird had flown before sunrise. No doubt she was thinking up ways to get out of the words she’d said when she’d come to me. She’d most likely try to keep me at arm’s length again and pretend she’d never admitted needing me.

Her arguments wouldn’t stand up this time. I knew I could overcome them easily after her confession. Once she was completely mine we’d negotiate the protection issues to my satisfaction.

I paused in dressing when I noticed a piece of paper underneath my wallet on the side table. I hadn’t put it there. I suspected Vikki had left a message that either cemented our relationship or argued her rejection of it. Or it could be something as simple as where I could find her doing her tasks as a prospect that day.

I warily picked it up and began to read. My stomach plummeted as I began to understand what she was saying.

Rage,

Thank you for giving me memories to sustain me. As I write this you continue to fill my head with wonderful thoughts. I wanted to explain why I felt the need to be with you, but I couldn’t. I made a vow to keep my silence for the good of the club and the safety of all of you.

Since I am gone and out of your reach now, I’m able to confess. I’ve been given an assignment that only I can fulfill. It comes from Prime and the mafia. I must be the one to finish paying the Sinner’s debt. I need to do this to feel equal and no longer indebted for my rescue.

Don’t look for me or you may end up causing my death. I don’t want to die. I’m going undercover as a spy, back into the hands of the cartel. I have to save the children they are exploiting, or I can’t live with myself. I chose this assignment, so don’t blame anyone for it except me.

I’ll see you on the other side of this if I survive and you don’t find me too soiled for your taste.

Forgive me, Vikki

Pain and fear in amounts I’d never dreamt of filled my soul. The roar that escaped me shook the walls of my room. Even the floor trembled. I ripped the note to pieces and broke everything within reach. Nothing was safe from my rage. I shattered the window and burst the pillow I yanked from the bed. The floor became a minefield of broken glass and torn cloth. My heart tried to explode from my heaving chest. I couldn’t think clearly. Everything in front of my eyes was colored red with anger. I wanted someone’s blood for this, and I went looking for it.

I ripped the door to Prime’s office off its hinges. The doorframe splintered, raining sharp pieces of wood down on me and bringing drops of blood to my skin. Prime spun around from behind his desk, rising quickly and ready to fight the intruder.

When he saw it was me, he paused. It was a mistake to hesitate. I leaped across the room and over the desk. My fist was in his face before he could blink or raise an arm to protect himself. My fist slammed into his nose as I shouted, “What the fuck made you think Vikki was expendable?”

He swung out an arm and connected with the side of my head, but I was too far gone to notice the pain. I saw stars before my eyes, yet that didn’t stop my fury. I hit him again and blood sprouted from above his eye. In seconds we were on the floor pounding on each other. I took a fist to my own nose and heard it crunch as it broke. Blood ran from it and the scent caused me to go insane. I started to put my hands around Prime’s throat but was startled by sounds from outside the room.

I heard fast pounding footfalls on the hallway floor. Large, meaty hands grabbed me around the neck, choking me as I was yanked off my Prez. A fist slammed into my head making me dizzy. I fought against my captor, but I was quickly raised in the air and subdued by strong relentless arms. They squeezed the breath from my lungs until I was forced to calm or die from asphyxiation.

“Are you fucking bat shit crazy?!” Sweet demanded loudly in my ear. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“He sentenced her to death!” I shouted.

Prime was breathing hard, and blood gushed from his face, yet his eyes burned into mine and I could feel his wrath in my bones. I was certain he would demand my dismissal from the Sinners and more than likely have my back lashed to a bloody pulp before I was dumped in a ditch far away. I’d broken oaths and promises by attacking my President. I was doomed. I didn’t care. If Vikki was going to die, then I’d be willing to die too.

“Get him out of my office! Take him to the infirmary where he can wait under your guard until Doc can come to set his damn nose to rights. I get Doc’s help first. I think I’ve damn well earned that right,” Prime said through the swelling.

“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, and he 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.

He nodded and said, “Me too. But be that as it may, you broke your vows to the club and must be punished. Due to the circumstances, you won’t be banished. I need all of my men, and Vikki will need you once she’s back. Banishing you would be punishing her, which I refuse to do. I could have you lashed until you were close to death, but that wouldn’t really serve any purpose.

I think it’s time you learned some humility, maybe even anger management. Therefore, you are sentenced to the life of a prospect, one that has shown too much defiance for authority. You will be treated with all the disdain, disrespect, and contempt the Sinners can come up with. Anger will get you treated worse. For now, you are nothing in the eyes of your brothers. When you think they are being too harsh and begin to show rage, think of Vikki and what she is enduring. Nothing you receive will top that.”