Page 5 of Nikolai (Kansas City Reapers)

“A lot, kid. As per usual.” Sully clapped his hand on Jax’s back, leaning forward onto the table. “Police safe houses have been compromised. Which means if any new witnesses come forward—”

“We are going to be the new safe house?” Jax all but squeaked out his response. “As in, here?” Gesturing to the room, we all nodded. “Well, fuck.” Jax slumped in his chair, his eyes darting back and forth at nothing at all as his mind worked through the details of the problem I had just laid at their feet.

“There is a lot of work we need to do to this place before we can have someone here, Niko,” Deacon said, his words ringing true. There was a lot of chaos in this house.

“Oh, shit, yeah. We literally have a sex dungeon in the basement. What’s going to happen if this witness goes exploring?” Jax piped up, running a hand through his wavy hair.

“It’s locked behind a secure keypad thatyou installed, Jax. I thought you were the genius of the group.” Sully scoffed loudly, patting Jax on the back with his large hand, hard enough that Jax’s torso bounced off the table.

“Listen, guys,” I shouted as they all started to talk at the same time, voicing plans of what needed to happen in order for a witness to be held here.

“What about turning one of the cabins on the property into a home for this girl?” Sully asked, his voice booming over my own.

“We can’t really protect them if they aren’t here in the house. It would be safer for them to be here. Honestly, the smarter option would be to move the dungeon to another cabin for the time being,” Jax interjected.

“While a kink cabin sounds great on paper, I don’t think that dismantling the playroom is a good option, either. Just keep the room locked up. It’s not like any of us are regularly using it right now, anyway.”

“Carrick is,” Sully chuckled.

“Carrick isn’t here. That poses a good question, though. Niko, did Quinn happen to mention when they think they’ll need us?” Jax asked the question I had been dreading.

“About that, Quinn did mention it. That’s actually why he had just called me. But the problem is —” The grating sound of the house’s proximity alarm cut my words off, alerting us that someone had just come through the front gate.

“Is Carrick back? Usually, he calls first. That’s unlike him.” Jax rose from the table, walking towards the front door to see for himself.

“Guys, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. Quinn called en route, and—” I tried once again.

“Are youfuckingkidding me?” Jax yelled from the front entryway.

Sully and Deacon pushed past me on the way to the front door while Jax moved in the other direction, eyes narrowed and jaw clenched tight. Pushing a finger into my chest, he hit me with a frustrated stare.

“You have some explaining to do.” Jax’s words went unanswered as he made his way back towards the hallway that led to his lair.

The doorbell rang, quieting any further questions Sully or Deacon may have asked, but judging by the lookon their faces, they weren’t happy with me either. Not that I could blame them.

I pushed past them, unlocking the front door and opening it wide.

“Hey, Niko. Long time no see, man.” Quinn reached a hand out for me to shake, which was odd, as we normally greeted each other with a bear hug fight over who could hug the other the tightest. However, he was on the job, and it seemed propriety was the priority.

“Quinn! Nice to see you, brother.” My Russian accent came out in full force as I greeted my brother-in-arms. We had served together for years before ending up stateside and out of the military.

“Thanks for agreeing to this. Nikolai. This is Madison Ayers. Madison, this is Mr. Nikolai Sokolov. This is going to be your safe house while the investigation is ongoing.” The woman to Quinn’s left was young, very young by the looks of it, and none too happy. A scowl marred her pretty face, and she had her arms crossed over her chest in a pose of utter defiance. But I could see beyond that.

Beyond the facade of annoyance and frustration, she was just a girl — a girl who had apparently witnessed something terrible and was obviously frightened.

“Hello, Madison. It’s nice to meet you. Why don’t we all head inside?” With a wave of my arm, I ushered both of them into my home and shut the door firmly behind us. I just prayed that the guys would not be total assholes about this.

We made our way to the living room directly off of the entryway, where Sully, Jax, and Deacon all sat, thankfully without scowls of their own plastered on their faces.

“Hey, guys. This is Madison Ayers,” Quinn announced. Much to my surprise — or perhaps not really — my brothers stood with smiles on their faces and introduced themselves to Madison.

“Could I have a glass of water, please?” The girl’s voice was sweet, like the sound of bells.

“Sure, why don’t I show you the kitchen?” Sully, in all his imposing glory, led her away to the kitchen, his own personal safe haven.

“Niko, can we speak privately?” Quinn whispered to me, a grim look on his face. With a nod of my head, I led him down the hallway to my office, shutting the door behind us for privacy.

“I can’t thank you enough for helping the department this way,” Quinn spoke quietly once we were alone.

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