Page 20 of Saving Helena

“I realize.Thatyou’re trained,” I qualified, punctuatingthe statement with another nibble at her neck, rocking my dick up against her at the same time.“Actually, yeah. Rabbit could use some extra hands going over the books. If you're up for it, that’d be great. I’d love another person’s eyes on it. Someone not in the club, but someone I trust." Keeping my gaze onher,I got serious for a moment. “This is completely between us, though. I don’t want anyone else to know about it. I’m not sure Rabbit knows what he’s doing.”

"Of course, Maddox. I’m happy to help. I understand how rumors like thatstart,so I’ll keep my mouth shut.”

“Ok,” I nodded. It made me feel better thatshe’dbe looking overthem. If thereweresomething to find,she’d be another set of eyes looking for it. If someone was stealing from the club, I wanted them found so I could concentrate on more important things.

“Let’s see that flash drive you brought me. I’d like to see what we’re dealing with.” Maybeit wasn’t as bad as she thought, but that was probablywishful thinking. Helena had never been stupid. It was probably worse than I had imagined.

“Alright. Yeah, let me show you what I have.Thisis a copy, but before you open it, let memake sureyour IP is bouncing.” Climbing off my lap, which was a shame, she moved to the computer.

It all sounded like Greek to me. I had no idea what the fuck she was talking about. It must have shown because she laughed and pushed me away from my desk. We had a pretty simple setup at the club, but we did have the security set up with camera systems that I could view from the office.Luckily, thevideo feed to her apartment had been closed, sothat window wasn’t open.That would have been awkward.

Cocking my head at her inpuzzlement,I watched as she did some random crap in the settings that were well beyond me. She whipped through window after window, closing and opening setting after setting, mouse clicking a mile a minute.

“It’s just so ifthey havesomeone on their teamwhocan hack.”She shrugged, the hair from her ponytail falling over her shoulder as she finally plugged in the drive and opened it. “I made copies of the spreadsheets and screenshots of the auction sites, but if you click the active links, it might ping an alert. This way, youractual IP will be masked. I’ve got you set up on a VPN. You should have been already anyway.” She scrunched her nose while she thought about it.

“Let’s see what you’ve got.” I waved for her to proceed, bracing myself.

My blood chilled as she showed me the files. Holy shit. Clickingthrough the spreadsheets,she reviewed the connections she had highlighted, the accounts she’d tagged, and the screenshots. Swallowing, Iran my hand over my beard.

“I didn’t know what it was when I clicked the link. I wasn’t as careful as I should have been,”sheconfessed. “They’ll figure it out. I only used cash when I left, but there shouldn’t be a paper trail.”

“Good girl. You did the right thing,” I assured her. Already, just thinking of those haunted faces made my skin crawl. The fact that she was so close to Makarovich and others that were capable of this level of atrocity scared the ever-living shit out of me. I should have been more careful about who she was working with – kept her away from it. Swallowing, Itried to breathe in her coconut scent to calm myself.

“The guy, Sergei … he knew I found something,” she adds. “I’m pretty sure they’ll be suspicious when I don’t show up forwork, but I just couldn’t go back after finding this.” She chews on her lips for a minute, worrying it back and forth.

“Of course, you couldn’t princess. You did the right thing. If you had gone back, they’dhave killed you – or worse.” I doubt I need to tell her that she could have ended up on one of these pages, her face one of thehollow,haunted women for sale by these sick fucks.

“I need to call Church. Talk to the boys. There were children there too. I can call insome favors.”

The sex trade wasn’t new to the Bratva or the criminal world, but there was an order to everything that involved it. There hadn’t been a peep about the Bratva being engaged in the flesh trade on the West Coast. That was the domain of the cartels, a murky business that we intervened in when we could, but the cartels were tricky—knowing who was who was difficult. But this? I was prettyconfidentMakarovich was operating completely rogue, and that was how I’d bury him. If the Iron Brotherhood had any chance, we’d need to use all our tricks.

“Are you sure it’s okay for me to stay here? I don’t want to endanger anyone.” She hesitated as she pushed away from the computer. Hervoice was quiet. “If someone got hurt because ofme, I’m not sure I’d forgive myself.”

“Listen, you aren’t going anywhere, princess, andI won’tlet anyone get hurt.As a matter of fact, I already got ahold of my guy for IDs, so that’s already in the works. No sense going anywhere right now. The Brotherhood can keep you safe; don’t doubt it.”

Getting to myfeet,I pushed into her space and peppered kisses along her neck as I settled my racing heartbeat at the mention of her leaving.

“Don’t worry, princess. I’ll protect you,” I reassured her.Tipping back to gaze ather, I sawherlooking over her shoulder at the computer screen.

“What about all those people, Maddox? Can we help them?” Her sad eyes flickered over the images on the screen. It was hard to blame her since they weren’t facesIwas about to forget anytime soon, either.

“I hope so.”What was happening there wasn’t okay with me by any stretch, andif I could stopit, Iwould.“I’m going to try. Help Rabbit today for me.”

“Yeah, all right.” As she leaned forward to kiss me, I closed my eyes and savored the moment as she tilted her mouth to meet mine. Helena tasted like family and hope.

Just before she left theoffice,she stopped, “One more thing.Would it be safe for meto get a job at the Odd Duck? Under the table – just for tips?” She shifted from foot to foot, lookingnervous. “There’s an opening there for a waitress.You wouldn’t need to tell them to hire me, but I thoughtI could call and ask them for some info.”

“I think it should be safe enough.When I talk to the guys,I’ll askthem to keep watch in town.”There wasn’t any way I could intend for her to stay here and be locked up.If I had any chance with Helena Marsh putting down roots again in Haverboro and with the MC, she’d have to feel like she had options. If one of those options were working at the Duck, then that would be fine. I gritted my teeth at the thought of her shlepping plates, but if that’s what she wanted.

“Ask for Daisy or Vito.”The club owned the little dineronly as an investment in Haverboro.The town had begun to decline about ten years ago, so the club had picked up a few businesses to help keep it going. Roscoe had called it a win-win as an investment opportunity. He got a fewbusinessesto launder cash throughandtownspeople got jobs.

There was also the bonus that places we liked in town stayed open, like the Duck. There shouldn’t be any issue with her working there if she wanted to pad her nest egg, not that I wouldn’t give it to her. Somehow, I didn’t think that’d be welcome right now. Helena didn’t know it yet, but she wasn’t going anywhere.

“Thanks,” she said, clearing her throat and gesturing towards the door. “I’ll go find the books. Rabbit, right?”

"Right. Thanks, Helena. The club’ll pay you,” I added in the last part, thinking about her worrying about money.

She crossed her arms over her chest, her mouth in a mulish line. “Consider it a trade. For the IDs. It’s only right.”

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