Page 22 of Double the Redemption

“And you don’t have to worry about doing it during the day. We can give you the books and materials at night,” Rogue offered. “Or you can use the office space after hours if you want to use the computer there. That’ll keep you out of the public eye.”

“And you won’t have to worry about Asher that way,” Ink added. “And obviously, you don’t have to come to the shop to pick up the books there; I’ll bring them to you every night or once a week or whatever.”

That was not what she’d expected. “Wait, you want me to work for you? Is this your idea so I can earn my keep while I’m here?”

“You’re not earning anything,” Savage corrected. “Naomi, we’re not asking you this because we think you owe us anything. You have every right to say no. We’re at the point where Ice is overwhelmed with trying to do everything. Since you’re a whiz with numbers, this seemed like something you might be interested in doing so you’re not bored.”

She stared at him, then slowly let her gaze sweep around the table to the others. It wasn’t flattering that they were asking her to do this. The little voice in the back of her head was yelling at her to pay attention, that not everything was as it seemed.

Why, after they had their big meeting, did they want her to help? Was she a topic of conversation? Was this a test? See what they could trust her with?

She tried not to resent it, but she understood. Her history with Diego and how well she remembered everything, they hadn’t trusted her brain and what she could recall. What she could tell someone who wanted to know if she was ever asked.

“So you want to test me.”

None of them reacted, but that was an answer in of itself. No surprise, no disagreement. Even Ink had gone surprisingly quiet, but his smile never dimmed.

“How does asking you to work on our books test you?” Rogue asked, leaning forward, blue eyes intense on hers.

She felt a little more on solid ground. Used to being carefully interrogated. It was Diego’s favorite way of trying to trip her up.

“I imagine you want me to get a system in place so that when Esme comes back, she can take over both. This is your way of testing whether it will be easy or complicated.” A simple, truthful answer, but not at all what she meant.

Rogue’s brow arched ever so slightly, as if he were sure she was going to say something else. “It would be helpful, though I don’t know that we thought as far ahead as using the same system.”

The words were so careful, yet clearly untrusting. He probably thought it was her way of keeping all the data in one place so she could memorize it.

“Fine, then, testing out two different systems. I suppose they are two different types of services, so using the same system could cause problems.”

“I need something simple, or else I’ll never convince anyone else to take it on after you leave,” Ink added, giving her a charming smile. “All it is, Naomi, is that I desperately need someone to help me set up a system that makes sense and is easy to follow. You’re brilliant. Rogue is about to lose Esme, and as much as she would probably be willing to go in and do the books, that’s a lot to ask, and Fury will probably murder us for suggesting it. This way, things don’t fall behind, Rogue doesn’t kill someone for entering something wrong, and Ice doesn’t, in turn, try to kill all of us for making him do double the work to fix it all.”

She’d give it to him. He was good at playing all his cards. There was truth to that, but she also knew there was more to it.

Her hands shook, and she stiffened her spine to keep from trembling as she looked at Savage. She slipped back into the persona she used with Diego and her father for years. The one where she could look them in the eye without being scared shitless. She’d break down later.

“You want me to do the books, but you also want to see what I can retain and what I’ll say to the Feds when they ask about the club. Because you think you’re on their radar, which means they want to go through me to find out what illegal shit you’re doing, or what they can get from you as well as the cartel.”

Savage held her gaze, but his eyes hardened and his jaw clenched. “That’s what you think?”

“I think that’s what you’re thinking. You don’t know me. I helped out Ink, and now you see a way to figure out just what I can do. What you can trick me with. What? Are you planning to doctor the books, see if I’ll catch anything? Report it back to my Fed contact?

“Or maybe, you just want to see what I do and whether I’m as smart as I say I am. Maybe find a way to use it for what you want but not actually tell me what that would be, because you can’t risk me spilling it if asked. Am I getting close?”

A tic in his jaw was all the answer she got.

“Naomi, I don’t think⁠—”

She turned her head and looked at Ink. “Don’t. You think I don’t realize that’s how things work in an MC? It’s not all that different from the cartel. You pull rank, you close ranks with each other, but someone has to be the nice one, trying to make me feel at ease.” She looked at Ice. “Someone has to be the voice of reason.” Then to Rogue. “And someone has to be the muscle, the intimidation to make the conversation go their way.” Finally, she looked back at Savage. “And then there’s the one in charge. The one who makes it all happen. Am I close?”

Everything inside her was weak with fear. What kind of idiot was she speaking to these men this way? The men who were responsible for her safety. For Asher’s safety. She should play along and apologize, but the words wouldn’t come, and her gaze stayed on Savage.

Finally, Savage grumbled, “You going to tell the Feds shit if we give you the responsibility with the books?”

“No. I’m only helping the Feds because I have no other choice. I handled the Cartel’s books. I know the secrets they don’t want shared. Telling on you too, would put another target on my back, one that wouldn’t get me out of here alive. I don’t care what you’re doing, what your MC is doing. You want to make sure I have nothing to tell the Feds or the IRS, if they wanted to catch you somehow? Make sure the books you give me are completely legit. Nothing shady. Then they have nothing.”

“Or they have you cooking the books to make it look legit,” Rogue muttered, but his voice was no less intense.

She acknowledged that with a slight incline of her head. “There is no winning. The Feds aren’t looking at you if they figure out this is where the Devil’s Predators have stashed me. The agreement was that they wouldn’t look for me or know where I was. So the safety in that is they won’t have any reason to look into you. They assume I’ve been locked away in a safe house that only the Devil’s Predators know about.”