Hey guys! Here you go with another installment. I hope you enjoy! Stay blessed and safe!

Mercedes stared at herself in the mirror, looking over her shoulder, the wings on her back, and the EFM on it. She smiled, thinking back to how everyone accepted her. She really loved it, and they made her feel like she had made the right decision.

Tonight was the celebration of her and Quinn joining, and she was going out with Santana to find a dress to wear.

"Just when I didn't think you couldn't get sexier, I stand here and see that tattoo," Sam said, walking into the room.

She turned towards him. "I still can't believe that this is happening, and I can't believe that Quinn and I are here."

"Well, believe it." He said, kissing her neck as his hands wrapped around her.

"Wait, what are you doing here? Don't you have a meeting?" She questioned.

"I do, but…something has come to my attention, and I need your help."

Sam led her to the chase in the room. "Puck spoke to Quinn and came to me. We need to know what happened with Quinn's father."

Mercedes frowned. "Why?"

Sam sighed. "We just want to know."

Mercedes looked away from him. "It's not something I want to talk about."

Sam took her hand. "I know, but we need to know the details."

Mercedes shook her head and stood. "Then go ask Quinn. I don't want to talk about it!"

Sam moved towards her. "We asked Quinn, and she told us to ask you. Mercedes, you told me he hurt you, but you left out the details. How did he hurt you?"

"Why is it important?"

Sam pulled her back to him. "Merce, in order for you and Quinn to thrive here, we need to know everything about your past to make sure no one will cause any issues. He seems like an issue."

Mercedes looked at him, and his heart broke at the tears in her eyes. "He assaulted me at gunpoint and made Quinn watch. There are you happy!"

"Of course not, Mercedes! Why would that make me happy!"

"It was heartbreaking and humiliating for both of us. And we just never talked about it after, and we buried it."

"How bad was it, Mercedes?"

She looked at him and blinked away a few tears. "Bad."

Mercedes sat at the bar, blinking in shock. "Wait…he said he would cut you off just like that?"

Quinn nodded. "He called me, asked me to meet him, he said if I didn't, he would cut me off."

"You do realize he just wants you to come over, right? I don't like it."

Quinn frowned. "Merce, I hate him for what he did to me, but I need that money, and he knows it. I have to go and talk to him."

Mercedes sighed. "Fine, then I am coming with you."

"Merce, I can't ask you to do that."

"Good thing you aren't asking me. I am not going to let you go alone; I remember how intense your father is and how he always made you feel. How abusive he was." She said, standing. "Let me grab my bag. Where does he want to meet you?"

"At his place. Let's go."

As they made their way to Russell Fabray's home, Mercedes got a bad feeling about meeting him, but she knew that Quinn needed this closure, her relationship with her father had been a big sore spot.

As they stepped out of the car, Mercedes linked her arms with Quinn's and exhaled. "Just be honest and straightforward."

"Okay. I will." Quinn said.

Russell opened the door, and his eyes landed on Mercedes. "Quinn, I didn't know you were bringing Ms. Jones."

"Hello, Mr. Fabray."

Russell glanced over at her, eyes roaming her body, and she frowned. Quinn stepped forward. "You wanted to talk, Father?"

"Yes, come in." He said, ushering them inside and locking the door. As he led them to the sitting room, Mercedes could feel him leering at her.

"So you wanted to see me, dad?" Quinn asked, sitting down.

"I have arranged for you to get married. Isn't that wonderful?"

Mercedes looked at Quinn and then at Russell. "You are kidding, right?"

"Did I ask your opinion, Ms. Jones?"

"No." She said, sitting up. "But you are gonna get it. Quinn left your house years ago because you got trigger-happy and started putting your hands on her, and now you are selling her off to the highest bidder? What is wrong with you?"

Russell laughed. "Quinn, tell your friend to shut up before I shut her up."

"Shut me up then? I am not Quinn, and I am not scared of you; you put your hands on me, and I will lay your ass out."

Russell stood, and Mercedes did the same. "Little girl, shut your mouth before I find better ways for you to use it."

"Dad!" Quinn said, standing. "Mercedes is right, and I am not getting married."

"Yes, you are, or you are cut off. I promise I won't give you another dime." He snapped his head towards her. "See if you can survive without me."

"She can! Lucky for her, she has a best friend who wants nothing from her and will help her get back on her feet. She doesn't need you. Let's go, Quinn."

"I am not finished speaking to you, Quinn." He said as Quinn threw her hands up.

"Well, I am done speaking to you!" She said.

Russell rushed over to them, walking in front of Mercedes; he pulled her back to him. "I said you aren't going anywhere."

"And I said don't touch me!" She said as she grabbed his hand, flipping him on his back. "Don't ever touch me again! You are pathetic, and I am not some little girl you can scare or bully." She spat. "Come on, Q."

Mercedes walked towards the door, and that's when she heard the click. "Open that door, and I will kill Quinn here and now."

Mercedes turned to see Russell had his gun pointed at Quinn's head. "Go ahead, make me shoot her; she's worth the same to me, dead or alive."

"Mercedes, you keep walking now."

"Yes, Ms. Jones, keep walking," Russell said, pushing the gun into her skull.

"Don't hurt her," Mercedes said through gritted teeth.

"Go sit back down, Ms. Jones. Now!"

Quinn's eyes begged her to keep moving, but Mercedes couldn't leave her. She walked towards the living room, and Russell shoved Quinn into the room, and he forced her to sit down, grabbing a zip tie and tying her to the arms of the chair.

"What the hell were you planning to do to your daughter? You had a gun and zip ties ready? I should have never let her come here." Mercedes said as Russell turned on her.

"But you did, and now we are gonna have some fun. You know I have always found you… intriguing Ms. Jones." Russell smiled. "The way you took up for Quinn, the way you took up for yourself. And you have blossomed into a very beautiful woman."

"And I have always found you deplorable, disgusting, a bastard." She spat.

Russell stalked to her and slapped her as Quinn cried out. "Please leave her alone!"

"Shut up, Quinn, you have always been weak! Unlike you, I am sure Mercedes likes it…rough." He said, slapping her again.

Mercedes stood tall, not letting that man know she was affected. "You are pathetic."

Russell smiled. "Quinn, why can't you be like Ms. Jones here? So strong, so…oh so beautiful." He ran the gun down her arm as he leaned into her, taking in her scent. "So so beautiful."

Mercedes jerked away from him.

"And those lips…." His finger caressed her bottom lip. "Oh, I can think of plenty of things I want to do with those lips."

"You are pathetic and gross." She spat.

Russell nodded and smirked, moving away from her and walking towards Quinn. He put the gun to her forehead and smiled. "Take off your clothes."

"You are crazy," Mercedes said, shaking her head.

Quinn closed her eyes. "Mercedes, just go, please."

"Shut up!" he said, hitting Quinn over the head with the butt of the gun. "Now you have two options. You can leave, and I will kill Quinn." He clicked the gun and pressed it against her head again, and Mercedes balled her hands in fists. "Or you can take your clothes off now."

"You are gonna have to kill me!" Mercedes said as Quinn whimpered in pain.

"No, I will kill her in front of you, then frame you for her murder. I am a prominent man in this town; I can say that Quinn moved home, and since you are in love with her, you came to force her back. You will spend the rest of your life in jail."

Mercedes shook her head, staring at Quinn.

"Now I said remove your clothes, Ms. Jones. We are gonna have some fun."

Mercedes sighed with her eyes closed, relieved that moment once again. "I had put it behind me, but every time I think about it..."

Sam hadn't said a word, and when she looked at him, he seemed so angry.

"I'm sorry. I know I should have told you the extent of what he did, but…you don't hate me, do you?"

"Mercedes did he…did he force…did he.."

"Force himself on me while Quinn watched, tied to a chair? Yes. I just disassociated myself and tried my best to pretend like it never happened, and Quinn, she just ran away from me. I tried to tell her it wasn't her fault, but she said if I didn't love her, and want to protect her, then her father wouldn't have done that. Because, come to find out, he set it all up."

"He what?"

Mercedes sighed. "Her father told us after he was done that he knew Quinn would bring me; he knew that I wouldn't let her come alone; it's why he had the zip ties and gun. Please don't hate me, Sam."

"Hate you? Mercedes, I am pissed and enraged, but I am not mad at you, baby. I want to kill that man. What he did to you…."

Mercedes took Sam's hand in hers, but Sam pulled away, standing. "When Quinn said she couldn't tell me, I get why now."

"Sam?"

He looked at her and frowned. "It's okay, Merce I asked, and now I know. I do wish you trusted me enough to tell me the whole truth."

"Sam, it wasn't about trust, and it wasn't about you. Some things I pushed away because if I had to think about them on a daily basis, I would want to die. What he did to me, it almost broke me, Sam." She sighed, checking her watch. "Santana is taking me shopping for the Ceremony tonight, but please, can we not talk about it? I don't want to upset you or myself."

Sam hugged her, kissing her forehead. "We are okay, Merce; I am not angry at you at all; I am angry at what happened, angry that you were hurt. He threatened to frame you for murdering your best friend; it was an impossible situation."

There was a knock on the door, and Sam stood. "You go find something beautiful to wear; I will see you later."

Mercedes sighed, standing and pulling him back to her. "Are we okay?"

Sam nodded, kissing her softly. "Yeah, we are."

Mercedes watched him walk out of the room and followed him seeing him and Puck walk away whispering. She sighed, closing the door and blinking back tears as the same fear and heartbreak she felt that night came rushing back. His hands, hot breath, and disgusting words caused her to rush to the bathroom, expelling her lunch.

As she let the tears fall, a pair of hands caressed the back of her head, and she turned to see Stacey, Santana, and Quinn staring at her. Quinn grabbed her a cup of water.

Stacey caressed her back. "We found Quinn in the same state. And after calming her, we figured we should check on you."

Mercedes wiped her eyes. "I…"

Quinn shook her head, tears falling. "Please don't. I know you hate me; you can just say it,"

"Quinn, you are not your father! He hurt me, not you!"

"I wish we could kill him; you know he's running for Mayor again. I hate him so much."

Stacey and Santana shared a look then Stacey helped Mercedes up. "We are going to get you two dressed and get your hair done, and after tonight, you are letting what he did to you go. No one will ever put their hands on you again."

"Fucking coward. We both know if he didn't have that gun, you would have kicked his ass."

Mercedes offered her a small smile and nodded. "I'd like to think that. But I don't know; all I could think of was that I couldn't let him hurt Quinn."

"You didn't, Mercedes; you saved me like you always do."

"Let's get going; we have things to do before tonight. I promise everything will be okay." Stacey said. "I promise."

Mercedes hadn't seen Sam since he showed up in her room to ask about Russell Fabray, the name still making her sick to her stomach. He was such a bastard, an evil man who she prayed one day would get his. Stacey, Quinn, and Santana had all spent the afternoon getting ready, and they did their best to distract her, but the face Sam made before he left was etched in her mind.

Mercedes exhaled as she and the girls climbed into a limo and were taken to one of Sam's resorts in Connecticut. It was beautiful and took a lot of the sadness away. Mercedes and the girls were led to a big ballroom and smiled softly, seeing everyone there dressed up and mingling. Stacey had told her that in ceremonies like this, sometimes the other families joined.

And with the Russians coming to collect Seth, they stayed for the Ceremony, and Mercedes wanted to impress them. She realized the moment she joined that everyone was going to look at her now because she didn't just commit to the Family; she committed to Sam and to be his.

As they stepped into the ballroom, her eyes immediately found Sam's. He looked ever the Kingpin in his three-piece striped suit. His hair slicked back, and his laugh melted her heart.

"You really love him, don't you?" Stacey asked.

"I do." Mercedes said… "Can I ask you a question?"

Stacey nodded. "Sure."

"Why are you all so nice to me? Why accept me when you know nothing about me?"

"Do you know what it is to be a family, a Mafia family?" Stacey asked. Mercedes shook her head, and Stacey continued. "My dad was a deadbeat when it came to being a father but being the Don…the Godfather…the Boss. He shined. We had nothing when that man came into our lives, and he manipulated Sam into joining at 15 by threatening to kill our mom. He needed an heir, and I guess we all knew Seth wasn't it."

Stacey sighed. "From the moment Sam joined, he became obsessed with protecting his Family, and as his Family grew, so did his protection. He didn't date or date to where he cared enough to introduce her to us. Hell, we didn't know about his history with Quinn until she agreed to go undercover. But you, Sam, couldn't stop bragging about how beautiful or smart you are or how you kicked Puck's ass. He was in love for the first time ever, and I knew you would be Family. A few believe he is being rash, and they will test that. But in the Family, what Sam says goes. Period. And Sam says you are amazing, and he wants you to stay. So you shall."

Mercedes smiled as Sam nodded her over. "I promise not to hurt him, not to break him. Not to stop loving him. I couldn't if I tried."

"Well then, go get him; he has a surprise for you."

Mercedes hugged her and walked over to Sam; he pulled her close and kissed her. "You look beautiful."

"I don't hold a candle to you, Sam; you look…wow."

"I'm nothing compared to you; I love you in red. It's taking all I have not to touch you." He said, leaning in and kissing her neck. "The things I would do to you if we had time."

Mercedes smiled. "We can always sneak away."

"Maybe later; first, I need you to come with me." Sam pulled her out of the ballroom and down the narrow hall, and she stopped seeing two men guarding a door.

"Sam, what are we doing here? What's happening."

Sam sighed, opened the door, and walked in; Mercedes followed. Mercedes saw a man tied to a chair with a hood over his face and a tall man sitting on the edge of a desk. "Mercedes, I would like you to meet Sergei . Sergei , this is Mercedes."

The Russian man stood and smiled. "She is just as breathtaking as you said and reminds me of my Anya." He took Mercedes's hand. "I heard you gave the orders to hand the betrayer over. Bold move."

"It was the right move. He deserves what he gets and who better to do that than the one he tried to play." She said calmly, though her nerves were getting the better of her.

The door opened again, and Quinn walked in with Puck.

"Okay, what is going on, Sam?" Mercedes questioned, and he gently ran his hand over her face.

"The final step of becoming a member of the Family is that you are to confront someone who wronged you. At first, I thought it would be that man who attacked you, but he is currently in jail for assault, and from what I learned, padded charges?"

Mercedes shrugged. "I may have a best friend who is dating a DA and asked for a meeting. Once she heard what happened and learned I wasn't the only one, she added charges…I am sorry I didn't tell you that part; I was sworn to secrecy she could lose her job."

Sam nodded. "I know. After I learned about that, I thought your dad or your father, but then when I learned of you and Quinn being connected, and after hearing what happened, there is only one person who can be here right now."

Mercedes stared at him. "Sam no…tell me that's not…"

Quinn rushed over and removed the hood from his face, and Mercedes froze seeing Russell Fabray staring at Quinn first, then looking around, and his eyes caught hers.

"Mercedes." He breathed.

Quinn stepped back. "Bastard. Even now."

"Sam, what is the meaning of all this?"

Sam pulled Mercedes towards Russell. "Mercedes, it's time that you earn your wings for real. It's time you made him pay for what he did to you."

"And what exactly did I do, Mercedes? Give you the best night of your life. Did you tell lover boy how I had you? Took you for myself? Is that why I am here? Jealous? Or am I here because of you?" He asked, looking at Quinn. "Poor, pathetic Quinn, who hurts everyone she meets."

Sam reached behind him and handed Mercedes a gun. "He destroyed something in you; return the favor."

Mercedes looked at Sam. "And do what? Kill him?"

"Do what you need to do to get your freedom from his horribleness and make him pay, but in truth, if he did that to you, think about what he has done to someone else."

Mercedes looked over to Quinn. "Quinn?"

"Yeah, Quinn, tell her to let me go. We both know you are too weak to do anything else." Russell spat, and Mercedes gripped the gun, moving towards him.

"You shut up!" She said, hitting him across the face with the gun. "You raped me! You forced your pathetic self onto me!" She said, hitting him again. Mercedes let her rage flow, and she hit him repeatedly, unleashing a rage she never knew she had until Quinn grabbed the gun.

"Mercedes, wait! I want at him." Quinn hit him with the gun. "You spent my who life telling me I was worthless, and Mercedes was the only person who didn't want me for anything other than a friend, and you made me watch you hurt her!" She hit him again. Letting years of pent-up anger fuel her. After she was done, Russell's bloody face was bruised and battered, and Mercedes stood next to her.

"He won't stop Mercedes. We both know he won't; men like him don't stop. We have to end this."

Mercedes understood Quinn needed to do this, but she didn't think it was that simple. "I know you want him dead, Quinn, I do too...but...if we kill him, then that's it; he won't have to pay for what he did, but if we... expose him, make him pay."

"How! How many women did he abuse like he did you? How many women sat back like I did, crying over how they were tortured. And yet he is roaming free."

Mercedes held Quinn's hand, lowering the gun. "We fight. We search, we call Artie, and send his ass to jail. We do whatever we have to do to make sure the women he hurt, even the ones scared to come forward, know Justice is served." She turned Quinn towards her. "That is how we move on, how we move forward. We don't kill him unless we have to."

Sam stepped towards them and smiled. "Here." He said, handing Mercedes a manilla folder.

Mercedes looked at him, confused. "What is this?"

He shrugged. "I knew you wouldn't want to just kill him, and you would want him to suffer."

"Why is that a good thing?" She asked.

"Because as the Boss, I have to make these choices, Kill or torment. Hurt or be hurt. He is a monster and has to pay; killing him doesn't help the women he hurt."

Mercedes looked at the folder. "These are all women he has hurt?"

Sam nodded. "We found that in a day. Can you imagine what we would find if we kept looking?"

Quinn frowned. "It's my fault, and I should have stopped him long ago."

Puck pulled her close. "No, it's not, and it's his fault."

Mercedes opened the folder, heartbreaking at all the women who claimed he hurt them, some of their stories sounding similar to hers. "I say we gather all the information we can and put his has away."

"I knew you were just as pathetic as my stupid daughter." Russell spat weakly. "I knew you couldn't kill me."

Mercedes gripped the gun. "I can; I just won't'. But that doesn't mean I can't make you hurt." She said, lifting the gun and shooting him in the leg.

Russell screamed out, and Mercedes looked at her hand; she felt powerful and in charge; she looked at Sma and smiled. "Let them handle him; you and I need to talk." She looked at Quinn. "Are you okay?"

"I am; let's go; he doesn't deserve any more of our time."

Sergei smiled, looking at Sam. "For what it's worth, you chose well. She's smart, empathetic, bold, and fearless. The perfect match for you."

"Sergei, you are sweet; I am really glad I met you." Mercedes said softly.

"Ms. Mercedes I believe you are going to do big things here. Now I should get back to my wife before she misses me too much." He laughed.

Mercedes nodded and watched as Russell was gagged and hooded again. She pulled Sma out the door and smiled. "Take me someone quiet so I can get loud."

Sam raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

She nodded. "I can't explain it but shooting him, taking my power back has me wanting to give some of that power away...to you."

She kissed him softly. "I want you, now."

Sam smirked. "Then take me."