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It was all I could do to hold in my rage as I drove Haven home. Her shivering made me want to stop the vehicles, drag Rick out, and beat him along the road. I kept thinking what would’ve happened if Astrid hadn’t heard her. It didn’t bear thinking.

The reason I came to the studio early and a few of my brothers came with me was because of Spawn. He’d called me to let me know that Rick was near Bristol. Unbeknownst to us, Spawn was keeping tabs on Haven’s fucked-up family’s credit cards and such. He did it after releasing the information to the authorities and the colleges. Since we’d talked about releasing the incriminating information and agreed, he didn’t bother to wait to do it.

I happened to be talking with Ink and the others at Iron’s Rehab when Spawn called. They dropped in to see how it was going. I think they were checking to see if Haven and I were alright. So they heard what Spawn said, and they offered to go along. I intended to warn her and then ensure she wasn’t left alone. Walking in and not seeing her and then finding her the way we had, terrified and enraged me.

I’d been willing to let him walk after the meeting we had with her family. After finding out he was in town, I decided to reinforce why it was bad for his health to ever come near us again with a beating. His attempt to rape and, most likely, murder her sealed his fate. Warrick Yates would disappear. And I would enjoy putting him in the ground.

Once we arrived at the compound, I was at a loss. I knew we had to take care of Rick, but I didn’t want to leave Haven alone. I automatically went to our house. Getting out of the truck, while the others stopped with us, I cradled Haven to me. My uncertainty must’ve shown on my face. Ink was the one to solve my dilemma.

“The old ladies are at work, but I can ask if any of them can come home to stay with her. I know you’re anxious to talk with that animal. I know I would be. Astrid, would you mind staying with her? As Mayhem said, we’ll want to talk to you as soon as we’re done. Please, you’re not in trouble. If you need anything, you can ask one of those two. They’re prospects. They’re like gophers.”

“I know what a prospect is and what they do. I don’t see what you need from me, but I’ll stay with Haven. She needs a woman right now, considering what happened. Just promise me something,” she paused after saying that.

“What?” Mayhem asked.

Her expression changed to one of contempt. “Make sure that son of a bitch suffers. Men like him deserve no mercy,” she hissed.

There was something in the way she said it that made me wonder if she had firsthand knowledge of what Haven almost went through. I wasn’t about to ask, but I wondered.

“I swear he’ll wish he never laid eyes on her,” I said.

“Promise,” was all Mayhem said.

Astrid gave a nod and a tiny smile. “Good. Okay, where should we wait? Is this your house?” she asked me.

Becoming a host, I escorted her inside as I carried Haven. I didn’t want her walking. The guys gave us privacy and stayed outside, all but Mayhem. He came inside with us. I gave Astrid a brief tour of where things were in the kitchen and pointed to our bedroom. While I talked to Haven and got her arranged, Mayhem was trying to ask Astrid questions, which she kept dodging. I didn’t get the vibe she was a threat to Haven, but she did have secrets she didn’t want to share.

It was a half hour before I felt I could leave Haven to take care of Rick. Kissing her one more time and thanking Astrid, Mayhem and I exited the house. The others were gone, but I knew where they were. I took my bike rather than my truck. Mayhem was with me as we rode to the rear of the compound.

This had been an old military installation. When the club bought it, they found two storage buildings on the property, and below them were hidden bunkers. They were perfect for safe rooms as well as an interrogation room. That was where I’d find Rick and the others. I saw the SUV and the bikes when we pulled up to the one with our interrogation space. There were a couple more than before, so more of my brothers were here. Not everyone might be able to join us due to work obligations, but that was alright. This couldn’t wait.

Marching inside, we went to the door leading into the bunker. It had an electronic digital code lock. Once it scanned me and unlocked, we entered and traipsed to the door to the interrogation room. It had the same kind of lock. Entering, we found several of our brothers gathered around in casual conversation with each other. They pretended they had no worries.

I had eyes only for Rick. He was no longer roped like a steer. Instead, they’d untied his legs and suspended him on one of the hooks hanging from a track that ran the length of the room. There were several hooks that were attached to wheels, which allowed us to move them wherever we wanted. In addition, the hooks could be lowered to whatever height we wanted. Hanging off the hooks were sets of manacles. It was a great setup. It was largely due to the genius of Mayhem and Crusher. In addition to those, we had a variety of implements we could use to persuade or kill someone.

We were no longer the outlaws we’d once been, but we still took out those who were menaces to society and the innocent. Rick had stepped over the line into the category of a predator. We were the extermination team. I had no moral dilemma about it, and neither did my brothers.

Rick was awake. He was frantically scanning the area. If he hoped to find an ally, he was going to be disappointed. His left eye was bruised, and there was a cut on his forehead. He hadn’t had those back at the studio. Over his mouth was a piece of duct tape. I inched up an eyebrow at my brothers. They knew what I was silently asking.

Diesel shrugged. “He must’ve bumped his head in the SUV.”

The others all snickered. In addition to me, Mayhem, Ink, Diesel and Gravel, Riot, Crusher, and Reaper had joined us. I gave them chin lifts.

“I think it’s time to get this party started. I assume you’ve all been told what happened,” I asked gruffly.

“We have. The filthy motherfucker deserves what he’s about to get. The rest of our brothers said to tell you they’re sorry they can’t be here, but they’re here in spirit, and they wholeheartedly agree with what you’re doing,” Reaper informed me.

“Thank you. I knew it would be hard for everyone to get away. I appreciate those of you who could. I know Crusher and Mayhem are aching to get a workout. However, since it was my old lady who was harmed, I feel it’s my duty to take care of this. I appreciate any ideas you might have, but I want to do them.”

Both held up their hands. “He’s all yours, brother,” Crusher stated.

“As long as he bleeds and suffers, I’m good,” was Mayhem’s comment.

I saw as we talked that Rick’s fear was growing. He wasn’t so full of himself now. But I didn’t think he truly understood how serious this was. He soon would. Striding over to where he hung, I ripped the duct tape off his mouth. He winced and moaned. I felt satisfaction when I saw the tape had ripped some facial hair out. Good.

“You don’t want to do this. I was just trying to scare her,” he said.

“Like hell, you only wanted to scare her. You were pissed that she upset your plans. She told me what you said. How you thought I wouldn’t want her after you were done. But I know the truth. In order to stay out of prison, you would’ve killed her and tried to hide that it was you. But I have news for you. We’re not that stupid. If you’d done that, you would be the first one I came hunting,” I snarled.

“If you hurt me, what’s to prevent me from telling the cops, and you going to prison?” He asked a tad smugly. He really was stupid.

“Nothing if I only hurt you. But I’m gonna do far worse than that. Dead men can tell no tales. Isn’t that the saying,” I smiled evilly.

His face paled, and sweat popped out on his forehead. “Y-you can’t do t-that. If you do, Judd, Ursula, and the others will know it was you. They’ll tell. And when the police find my body, it’ll be you and these bastards who rot in prison. I’ll tell you what. Let me go, and we can forget this ever happened. I’ll leave you and her alone. You’ll never hear from me again.”

I laughed, and so did my brothers. We did it long and hard. When we finished, I shook my head. “Your stupidity is deeper than I thought. Listen very carefully. There’s nothing you can say or do that’ll spare your life. You’re going to die today. And I made a promise to my woman and the one who knocked your ass out that you’d suffer. I can’t let them down.”

He tried more begging and even threats, which I ignored. It was time to get to work. I looked at Mayhem and Crusher. “Any requests or recommendations?”

“Well, it never hurts to start out with a nice beating, but you need to do it so you save your hands from wear and tear. Why don’t you use this?” Crusher said hopefully.

He handed me a ball-peen hammer. Hefting the weight in my hand, it felt good. I took an experimental swing with it. My brothers cheered. Moving closer to Rick, I eyed him. I was debating where to hit first.

“No, no, please, don’t,” he pleaded.

Making my choice, I pulled my arm back as far as it would go and let it fly. I landed exactly on the pointy end of his elbow. He screamed in agony. Not letting him get a chance to catch his breath, I did the same to the other elbow and then moved down to his knees. His hollering was deafening, but it was like sweet music to me. All I had to do was picture Haven as I found her and what it was he would’ve done, and it fueled me.

After breaking those four spots, I gave back the hammer. Wordlessly, Mayhem handed me a huge pair of pliers. “He shouldn’t touch what isn’t his,” he said.

Understanding what he meant, I returned to a sobbing Rick. I was taller than him, so I had no trouble reaching his bound hands. He had his fingers curled into fists. Yanking on his pinky, I straightened it, then clamped down on it with the plier until the bone audibly cracked and gave. As he shrieked, I did the same to the nine remaining ones, taking my sweet time.

When I was finished, I said, “That’ll teach you not to touch what’s not yours.”

The smell of urine suddenly permeated the air. I wrinkled my nose in disgust. There was a huge wet stain on his pants. Shit, at this rate, he’d shit himself real soon. I continued to break bones, cut up his body, and shock him. Eventually, I grew weary. I wanted him dead so I could go back and take care of Haven. I knew it was too soon, but I needed to be with her.

Facing my silent brothers, I sighed. “It’s time to end this. I don’t want it to end in seconds. Ideas?”

The idea came from Mayhem. He handed me a metal device. I tried to figure out what it was. It looked medieval.

“If I may? Let me show you,” he said.

Nodding in agreement, I watched him slip on a pair of gloves. I understood why when he picked up the knife I used to cut Rick and went to him. I’d shredded his shirt, but he still had on pants. Swiftly and expertly, Mayhem cut away Rick’s pants and underwear, leaving him naked and exposed. His pathetic cock lay against his thigh like a useless slug.

Staring him in the eyes, Mayhem roughly grabbed his cock and slipped the device over it. Then he began to press down on it, and Rick began to scream. Mayhem kept going until there was blood seeping from several punctures. Crouching closer despite not wanting to be that close to another guy’s cock, I saw why when Mayhem let go. Inside the device were sharp metal teeth. They were tightened down to puncture his cock. I winced.

As my other brothers checked it out, I had to ask. “What the fuck is that? Where did you get it?”

Mayhem grinned. “It’s a male chastity cage, but I had this one special made to have extra sharp tines. This isn’t exactly the way it’s supposed to work. A cage can hurt but shouldn’t maim or make you bleed to death slowly. You have a choice. We can let him continue to bleed for hours, or you can finish it more quickly by amputating.”

Our brothers were mumbling how wicked and sick it was. Rick was moaning and hanging like a side of beef. Blood was coming from the cuts I’d made and the cage. Deciding to let him wallow a tad longer, I approached my club and started chatting about work. It was just to show Rick how inconsequential he was. After a good fifteen minutes, I’d waited long enough. He was senseless. Putting on a pair of gloves and returning to him, I slapped his face until he roused and looked at me.

“Where you’re going, I don’t have to worry you’ll use this to hurt someone,” I growled.

His eyes widened in terror as I grabbed the cage and stretched his cock out until I could get to the base. Then, I sawed it off with a serrated knife. His screams made my ears ring. Abruptly, he fell silent as he passed out. I left him there to bleed to death. While he did, I helped Mayhem and Crusher clean the tools used. There would be a more in-depth cleaning with bleach later when we had to scrub down the room. Luckily, there were drains in the floor. They made us wonder what the military actually did in here. As soon as Rick breathed his last, I was off. I could go back to Haven and assure her that he’d never harm her or anyone else again.