Page 13 of Saving Helena

I took a sip, watching Helena from across the room."Yeah, but at the end of the day,she belongs here. We stick together no matter what. Roscoe believed thatandso do I.”

“You’re not wrong, boy-o,” Whitney agreed.

AfterRoscoe’sdeath, I had navigated treacherous waters in the club even though he’dbeen clear about his wishes for me to succeed him.I’dbeen his right hand for years, but the title needed tobe earned.

Some of the brothers felt thatI’dcozied up to Roscoe too much, that the club needed a rebranding with his passing, and that the old guard should be revamped.I’dhad to fight hard to rebuild as some left the club, andwe patched in new members.

Dimitri was on that list of brotherswhowerere-patched after Roscoe’s death. He’dbeen kickedto the curb years ago, a casualty ofRoscoe’sfickle nature and hot temper. He was one of the members, though, thatI’dwelcomed back. Although, with Helena back, I was a little concerned about his reaction to her presence.

As the hours passed, I caught glimpses of her sharing stories, laughing with old friends, and finally relaxing. Eventually, Whitney handed me a drink and gave me a knowing look.

Watching her golden sparkle across the room with my brothers, Icouldn’thelp but feel the truth and the lie. Whitneywasn’twrong. I had my work cut out for me. Her eyes turned towards me for a moment, andthe punch to the gut I felt was sostrongthat I was glad that I was sitting down. My future was right there, finally in my grasp.

“What’sthe news about the Cobras?”The censure was there inWhitney’svoice as he leaned against the bar.

“Not much,”I bit back.We’restill talking about agreeing—aligning some interests just like we voted on.”Dismissing theconversation, I pushed away from the bar and headed back towards the club, away from Whitney’s judgment.

Hedisapprovedof our potential arrangement with the rival Cobra MC. The Iron Brotherhood and the Cobras had been competing for territory and business for years. Roscoe had never trusted the leadership or their choices, sogetting the club to the point whereany agreement or alliance might be considered was a rocky road. Whitney was not in favor.

When Pike had approached me a few years back,I’dbeen surprised.He’dbeen wearing a Cobra cut – looking slick. There was no surprise on his face at seeing me or that I was riding for the Brotherhood.He’dknown whereI’dbeen and whoI’dbeen riding with.

Evennow,the fact that hehadn’treached out before that momentdidn’tsit right with me. I reminded myself that Ihadn’tlooked for him either, but thenagain,wasn’tthat what I had been doing whileriding around that year?Looking in corners for my old friend?He’dknown where I was and never knocked until he needed something.

That was old history, though—now, it just made sense for the clubs to align together, like Pike and I did in the old days when we were boys. Of course, that meant that I would need to forgive (or at least forget) what had happened years ago when he deserted me in that dusty parking lot. I honestlywasn’tsure I could do that.

I wished I could sayI’dconfronted him about the incident as a teenager, but I never got up the nerve.Mainly because Ididn’tthinkI’dlike the answer. He never made any reference to what had happened or any apologies for me getting pinched.I’m notgoing to lie – it still burned.

The futuredidn’tcare so much about the past, though.That’swhat I told myself. An agreement between the Cobras and the Brotherhood was beneficial to us both. Pike and I agreed on this. We could have eachother’sbacks like old times, and inbusiness, we could merge some of our interests. It was a good thing.

It’s too bad my gut squirmed just thinking about it. As the president of the Iron Brotherhood, it was my duty to ensure that the club’s dynamics remained steady, even withtheunexpected arrivalof Helena, which seemed like itwouldbemore complicatedthan ever.Itwasn’tlike I could have turned her away or that I wanted to, forthat matter. Fuck, I was ecstatic that she had finally landed preciselywhere I wanted her to be.

Roscoe was probably rolling over in his grave right now. He had always wanted her away from here and the life. Thought she was too clean to be sullied by the men here, the business, the whoring. Too bad for him that her pathwas alwaysdestined to lead to me.

Heading towards thebooth,Istrodeoff to the side that I favored. That way, Icould see the whole floor, keeping me out of the center of the action. I slid in and tried to let the night unfold, not blinking when Dimitri flopped across from me, angrier than a pissed-on chicken.

“What the fuck is your problem?”I asked, even though I knew the answer as I took him in. Dimitri was a tattooed monster of a biker, perfect for dealing with some of our heavier runs when dealing with weapons buys. I would have loved to have had him in my unit when I was in the service, but he was a perfect Sergeant at Arms for me here in the club.Hewasintelligent, capable, and an excellent fighter.He was loyalto a fault, but he had a temper that was a liability even during the bestoftimes.One morething:he had a small blind spot when it came to the Marshes.

“Why is she back here?”He ground out, his knuckles knocking on the tabletop. Dimitri had always had beef with the Marshes, and it began, and I knew it ended with the stunning blonde that currently held court with the club bunnies, chatting as if it were fucking high tea. Instead of blowing some brother like they were supposed to, they were over there having circle time.

“She’sRoscoe’sdaughter, andsheneeded a place to hang out for a bit,”I tell him likehe’san idiot. The eye roll he delivers tells me that hedoesn’tappreciate my tone.“Shewon’tbe here long.”I kept it vague and a total lie. Helena would be here as long as I wanted her to be,meaningshewouldn’tbe leaving.

“Be cool, man; itwasn’ther fault,”I added the last part because Icouldn’thelp it. We had hashed this out before, but Ishouldn’thave tacked on that last part. Dimitri only agreed toreturnafter Roscoe died because the Marshes would be gone.

His eyes glinted at me, coal black, his neck tattoos flexing with his throat. “She shouldn’tbe here. Roscoedidn’twant her here, and she never wanted to be part of the life. You know that,”hesnarled, downing his drink and pouring another like itwouldsolve the problem.

“Ido know that. What did you want me to do? Tell her no? Turn her away when she had nowhere else to go?”I asked.“Toss her in the streets? I would never do that.”

“Yes.That’swhat you should have done. Tell the fucking princess no. That’s exactly what she needed to hear.”He stabbed his finger in my direction.“And prez, it was her fault,”he ground out and tore from the booth with a brutal shove, rocking the table.

“Dimitri,”I called out and then got up to follow.

Forfuck’ssake, I rubbed my hand over my face as he stormed off, pushing chairs as he stomped through the club, drawing everybrother’seye as he did. It was no secret from the club that Dimitri was kicked from the Iron Brotherhood during Roscoe’s time for an interaction with Helena when she was just barely a teenager. He earned his way back to the brothers on a road thatwasn’teasy and was only mademore challengingby Roscoe being a total dick. Unnecessarily harder.

I found him leaning against theclub’s back wallnear the trash cans, chest heaving. “Youdon’tget the shit I had to do to crawl back into the Brotherhood, man.”He ran his hand over his shorn head. “It had been my haven here at the club. She took that from me.”

“No, Dimitri, Idon’tknow,”I said carefully.“I do know some things, though.”I paused and considered my words, hoping to find the right thing to say.“Helena was young. She was trying to spread her wings, you know. She never knew what Roscoe did to you.I neverheard about it. She was just a kid.It’snot fair to blame her for that.”Dimitri’sjaw flexed, and I could seeI’dsaid the wrong thing again.

“Ididn’tfucking touch her. Roscoe claimed that I was some pervert touching his daughter,”his voice was coloredwith shame as he kicked the trash can nearest, sending it rattling into the alleyway. “He spread rumors around, you know.” He looked away. “Almost folded in the towel then and went home, but you know what that would have meant.”

---