Page 3 of Saving Helena

The Brotherhood hada toughline regarding girls in the clubs, and some bikers didn’t appreciate that. They wanted an MC that let them go wild with the girls. Roscoe wasn’t down with that. He was disciplined and expected the rules to be followed. It was his way or no way.

The Iron Brotherhood owned a strip club in town where girls worked for cash, andmembers could go there if they wanted that sort of environment. It wasn’t strictly for the MC, though– it was open to outsiders too. We allowed a few girls at the clubs, but theywere always treatedwell. Whatever happened was consented to by the women who worked in either place, which I appreciated. I think a lot of it changed for Roscoe once his daughter was born, but if a member wasn’t on board with the concept,they were weeded out of the club.

“I’d appreciate that,” Roscoe’s reply was careful. “Thanks for having Helena’s back on this.”

“Not a problem. I’m happy to do it.”

Maybe it should bother me, knowing that Roscoe was going to kill the prospect and dump him in a cistern. It didn’t, though.

Later, Ileaned against the wall and watched the dancers twirl and gyrate on stage while the MC members relaxed. The Open Road was attached to the living quarters — a bar and club lit up tonight with neon stage lights and dancers on the pole.The whole area was filledwith tables and booths that fit between the long bar and the stage in the back. When we did have entertainment,the stage was lit, andmusic was pumpedfrom the speakers.

Typically,the tables and bar were so crowded that even standing room was scarce.Roscoewouldn’t let the stagebe occupiedtoo often—parties got pretty rowdy, but they were a good way for the brothers to let off steam.

I’d only recently been patched into the Iron Brotherhood and was stilllearninghow their inner circle worked, but hopefully, soon, I’d find a room here onsite. It seemed like the place to be. It’d only been a few years since my discharge from the army, but it felt right.

My eyes caught Helena in the doorway. She pausedmomentarilyas she peered in, obviously looking for someone. Myguess was her father. She darted to him for a second,utterlyoblivious to the attention she brought. It looked like tiny fluorescent origami birds were swinging from her ears. The girl had a crazy taste in earrings.

She was just barely over sixteen years old right now and beyond beautiful. I’d never seen hair that color of blonde before, golden, thecolor of wheat fields in the summertime, andcornflower blue eyes. She sparkled with such light. One day, shewould be a woman, but not yet.

Those blue eyes slid over to memomentarilyas she kissed her father’s cheek before bolting out of the club area, but I carefully looked away.

CHAPTER FIVE

Helena - 17 3/4

Today should have been a happy day, but for some reason, my dad looked like he was going to vomit. I tried to find a time to talk and check in on him, but he was busy with club business.

After seeing that I had everything I needed for my ceremony, I touched up my makeupagain, startled when I saw Maddox Bishop in the reflection behind me.

I kept fluffing my hair, pretendingitdidn’t bother me that he was standing there with his mouth all turned down in a frown. I wondered if he liked what he saw. I had grown up a little now since he’d been here. In a few weeks, I would be eighteen, legal.

Not that my dad would ever allow a relationship between me and an MC member, so Ishould stamp down any fantasies I had about the sexy Maddox Bishop, but that would be a nearly impossible thing to ask of me. He was all I thought about, all grumpy and moody.

Since joining the motorcycle club, he had worn a perpetual scowl. You’d think the man never smiled. He wouldn’t talk to me about anything, andanytime I tried, hegot up and practically ran in the other direction.

Well, that was an exaggeration; therewas no running. There was just strolling, swaggering, or ambling involved.He was always getting up and moving away from me likeI was diseased.

“Can I help you with something?” I couldn’t help but ask since he hadn’t moved, which was weird.

“Has your dad seen what you’re wearing?” he finally asked, practically snarling.

Spinning on my stilettos to face him, I glared at him. Maddox was smoking hot, with over six feet four of golden hairand motorcyclegodliness. Think Thor with slightly longer hair and tattoos—thatwas Maddox.

He had never once commented on what I was wearing. Or what I looked like. Ever.

“What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”I asked, looking down at the cute little miniI had pickedfor the ceremony.It was light blue with the cutest cap sleeves. I even found tiny pterodactyl earrings that were in the same shade.

The dress wasshortbut nothing like what the club girls wore.My ass was covered, and my nipples weren’t showing. Iwouldbe wearing my graduation gown in a bit anyway, but there were parties afterward.

“You look like a club whore in that dress,” he sneered. “Did you borrow it from Christi or Barb? Wear some pants or something,” his response was scathing.

“You can’t be serious?” I asked, incredulous. I wasn’t even sure what I was asking. Was he seriously asking me to put on pants? That was ridiculous. Or was he seriously talking derogatory about the women at the club? If I was honest with myself, that surprised me the most. Maddox had always seemed respectful of women.

“What’s your problem? We don’t even have women that work at the club with those names.” Christi? Barb? What was he talking about?

His face set in mulish lines. Now that he had gone down this road, he was too stubborn to back down.

“Dead serious. Don’t think you’re all grown up now just because you’re done with high school,”hislips twisted,hiswords harsh and mean. “You have alongway to go.”

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