Page 141 of Mafie Queen

But I don’t let him speak, I just bat my lashes up at him. “Let’s go and get cleaned up, Daddy.”

Alexi’s pupils dilate and I grin in victory. He pulls me out the door while Damien whines, leaving Lev to deal with that situation. As we leave, I quickly fill the others in on the plan before fully appreciating that Alexi made sure we all had our own very large bathrooms.

???

After being fucked against the shower wall until my voice was well and truly gone, Alexi told me it was time. Logically, I know this needs to happen. It will keep me safe if anything were to go wrong with the plan.

I also agreed to it. So no matter how much I dread this, I know it’s the right thing to do.

Alexi escorts me to the medical bunker Lev helped set up. When we walk in, my eyes don’t go to the tracker gun placed on the table in front of Lev, but instead, they land on the full tattoo gun set up beside it.

“What’s this?” I ask. My voice shakes, all of my terror is surely displayed all over my face for them to see. But when Damien walks in behind us, some of the anxiety calms.

They are all here, and I’m safe.

Dr. K walks in next and goes directly to the chair beside Lev. “Hello, everyone.”

We greet her as Alexi encourages me to the table. “Dr. K talked with me about a few ways we can make this less traumatic for you. She agreed to come and tell you her story today, and once I’ve placed the tracker, we designed another tattoo for you to go over it.”

I give him a shaky smile, thankful for all they do to help me with my trauma. “Can I see the tattoo?”

Lev pulls out a much larger than expected stencil of a tiger whose teeth are snapping through chains that bind him.

“You’re so much stronger than you think, Lucky Charm.”

“I thought you didn’t want to do realism anymore,” I say as my fingers skim the perfect outline.

“I don’t want to do people. Animals are different. They don’t hide who they are. A tiger won’t hesitate to rip out your throat no matter who you are. Your pockets could be lined with money and your phone could contain contacts from around the world, he will still go in for his meal.”

My brows pinch. “Why does that remind you of me?”

He chuckles as he begins to clean my wrist. “Because you don’t care who the target is. If they have wronged the world or your family, you attack. No matter how many chains they try to use to bind you, you come back fighting.”

My heart melts at the sentiment. They all have put a lot of thought and effort into this. Damien comes to my side, holding my free hand, and Dr. K scoots in close beside Lev. Alexi is at my back as if he is standing guard against my demons.

The whole thing has me able to take a deep breath that releases the tension in my bones.

We talked about where the tracker would be placed. Dr. K was worried if it was a place I could easily see or focus on that it would be triggering. However, after a very long therapy session, we decided where I could see it was best because that meant I had control over the situation. It was something I controlled.

Lev is also planning on not planting it too deep, so that if it were to ever trigger me too much, or it was something I couldn’t move past, it wouldn’t be too difficult to remove. He’s also putting it to the side and away from any main arteries in case it triggers an episode that has me trying to cut it out myself.

While I don’t see any of those things happening, it’s always best to plan for the worst when it comes to PTSD. But I refuse to let it control me. I want this tracker because they all have it too. We can utilize this to make sure we are all safe.

Lev begins to inject the numbing medication right as Dr. K speaks up.

“I know Alexi knows my story, but you don’t. I would like to share it with you if that is okay?”

“Of course,” I say, focusing on her and not the mini operation Lev is performing on my arm.

“About thirteen years ago, I was working with a family in Poland. They were very kind at first, the type of people you are wary of because the kindness felt fake. But it was my first real job and I needed to make it work.”

I nod, knowing exactly what she’s talking about.

“I was working with their children when it became apparent to me that a family member was abusing one of the children. Ibrought it up with the parents and they threatened me. They told me to find a way to work around it and get the child to accept the abuse.”

Her expression shifts to one of grief.

“Obviously, I said no. They pushed me out of their lives with threats and I left. When I tried to make contact with the boy, the abusive family member killed him.”

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