1. Nikolai

Chapter 1

Nikolai

"Gospodi, eto budet ad," I mumbled under my breath.

"You know it's bad when he breaks out the Russian." Jax chuckled as he leaned in the doorway of my office. No doubt the rest of the team was not far behind him. I'd been going back and forth with the local police department for over half an hour now. Doubtless, they'd all realized that there was some kind of problem brewing.

A problem I had just agreed to help fix.

The issue was that I had made the agreement without talking to any of the rest of our little band of misfits.

This wasn't going to be easy.

Rising from my desk, I made my way out of my office, absolutely not wanting to get into this whole mess right now. Unfortunately, the situation had escalated, and time was of the essence.

"So what's the word, boss man?" Sully called from the kitchen. He stood at the stove, flowery oven mitts on his enormous hands as he waited for whatever heavenly-smelling dish was baking in the oven. Smelled like banana bread, if you asked me. Granted, I was a terrible judge, but I was also an avidly waiting taste tester. Sully, the hulking brute, couldn't make a bad dish if he tried.

"We need to talk." Immediately, groans filled the kitchen.

"That's never a good sign," Deacon, ever the quiet one, muttered under his breath as he took a seat at the table. It tended to be our gathering place to discuss things — that, or over in Jax's surveillance lair. That room was a tech nerd's wet dream, which made sense for Jax.

The lot of us gathered around the table. Our little band of brothers. Minus one. Carrick was away working undercover, for God only knew how long. But the four of us that remained sat around the table, three sets of eyes staring warily back at me.

"We are taking on a job—" I got no further as more groans erupted around the table. Deacon rested his head in his hands, elbows on the table, while Sully merely sat back in the chair that looked almost too small to hold his large frame.

"You've got to be kidding me," Jax grumbled.

"Hear me out, brothers. It's for Quinn."

"Quinn? Didn't he go into police work after leaving the Corps?" Sully asked, leaning forward in his seat.

"Yeah, he did. He graduated top of his class from the police academy and went straight to the detective route. He got with the PD here in Kansas City, actually," Jax prattled off in the way only Jax could. The kid was a tech genius, nearly a savant of his time. And he spoke like one, idly blathering on about this fact or that statistic.

"So, what does Quinn need our help with?" Deacon didn't even bother to lift his head from his hands as he spoke, his words muffled by his position.

"There's been a problem at the police department. Some woman stumbled across a murder that happened the other night, down in the West Bottoms. I don't have all the details, but I guess she's their new star witness, and they need to keep her safe for the time being."

"Sounds like a problem for the police department," Sully all but growled from his seat.

"It would be, but over the past few weeks, several of the PD's safe houses have been systematically compromised, and they don't want this girl to wind up like some of the other people who had been under their protection," I explained.

"Sounds like a leak in the department," Deacon's head finally lifted from his hands, his eyes narrowed towards me as he thought through the logistics of the situation.

"That's exactly what Quinn thought. Unfortunately, right now there's no way to know for sure, much less identify how the information is getting out."

"So how do we fit into this?" Jax asked.

"Well, the last of their safe houses got wiped out a few days ago," I began.

"Oh, Jesus Christ," Deacon muttered. He'd figured out exactly what our role in this would be. "Are you serious, Niko?" I nodded, and Deacon's temper flared. His hand hit the top of the table as he stood, the sound of the chair scraping across the kitchen floor making me wince.

"What did I miss?" Jax asked, looking between Deacon and myself.

"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 that you 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 you fucking kidding 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 look on 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.

"You and I both know I did this for you, not for the department, Quinn." We settled into our seats, me in my desk chair and him across from me.

"I fully briefed Ms. Ayers on safe house etiquette and what to expect," Quinn began.

"I wish I could say the same for the guys." My derisive scoff got a chuckle from him in return.

"I take it you didn't tell them much in advance?"

"I told them about thirty seconds before you came through the gate. They all thought it was Carrick."

"Is he still out and about," he paused, trying to find the right words, "well, doing what Carrick does?"

I simply nodded.

"That man has a death wish, I swear. The rest of us couldn't ditch the adrenaline junkie, warfighter bullshit fast enough. "

"Says the man who went straight to the police academy, and is now a detective." The playful banter felt good. "It's been too long since you've been around, Quinn."

"I guess I can't escape the need to serve. What can I say?" He shrugged nonchalantly. "So, are the guys cool with this? Is it going to be a problem?"

I didn't miss the way he shifted in his seat. The man was obviously under some stress at the station, but I wasn't about to press into matters outside of my purview. I had my own drama to deal with here at home, and I had left the military for that very reason. Too much drama and too many hotheads. I preferred being my own boss.

"You know us, Quinn. It won't be a problem. They're just salty because they didn't get any warning. Which is my fault. I should have brought it up the other day when we first spoke. But like an idiot, I put it off, trying to determine the best way to go about it. Deacon was in a mood, Jax was holed up in his lair doing his nerd thing, and I just put it off. But I promise you, this won't be a problem. The guys will get behind it, like we always do," I reassured him with a smirk.

"You were the first person I thought of when shit went down," Quinn said, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"You had our back time and time again in the field. It would be wrong of us to not support you now."

"Thank you, brother. I need to get back to the station, but Ms. Ayer's got everything she should need for now. She's got a bag, and all her essentials." Quinn stood from his chair, and I followed suit.

As we entered the kitchen, the awkward tension was palpable. Madison sat at the table, her glass of water sitting in front of her while she perched on the edge of her seat, arms still crossed over her chest. Not that I could blame her much. She had just been through hell, from what Quinn had told me, and now she had been uprooted and plopped into the home of a group of strange men. I couldn't blame her one bit.

"Alright, Ms. Ayers. Do you have any questions before I leave?" Quinn asked, rocking back on his heels.

She simply shook her head no.

"Very well. I will leave you all to it. Niko, call me if you need anything. Thank you again." With a clap of his hand against my back, I showed him out. As the door shut firmly behind him, I lingered, watching through the window as he drove back down the long driveway and out of the gate, back up the winding and branching dirt road that led back towards town. Few people knew the correct series of twists and turns to get here, and I had never been more grateful for that fact. If we were going to be babysitting witnesses, the more secluded we were, the better.

Taking a deep breath, I made my way back to the kitchen.

We had a new guest to handle.

The tension in the kitchen had only grown stronger in my absence.

"Welcome to our home, Ms. Ayers. Would you like me to show you to your room?" I asked as politely and kindly as possible. It wasn't always the easiest with my demeanor. I tended to be a burly sort of man to newcomers. It wasn't until you got to know me that I softened a bit… and I do mean a bit.

"Yes, please." Her voice was soft and melodic, but the attitude underneath reigned supreme. I understood where she was coming from. Strange place. Strange men. And a fuck-ton of trauma weighing her down.

"Right this way, if you'll follow me." I waited until she rose from her seat before turning around and heading up the stairs to the long hallway of bedrooms that lay beyond. The spare room we had was in the middle of the hallway, though we had two more down in the basement. I wasn't about to put a witness down in the basement near the dungeon, however.

I opened the door, ushering her into the modest room. It wasn't tiny, but it wasn't as large as the bedrooms we had designed for ourselves, either. Regardless, I felt it would do the trick.

I watched as she walked in a slow circle around the room, taking in her surroundings. Her arms hugged around her body tighter, protection against the unfamiliar. I knew the feeling myself. In an instant, I was transported back to my first flight across the wide ocean to America, of being dropped into the laps of two adults I had never met and being forced to call them parents. Those two human beings loved me more than my own parents ever had… well, more than my father knew how to love me, at least. My mother loved me through her very last dying breath. But those two people who adopted me had become my parents and had raised me in a loving home.

But Madison? She had no idea who we were or how she would get through it. I felt for her. But that didn't change what must be.

"I'll let you take some time to get settled in," I said quietly, my voice brusk. "There is a bathroom down the hall. It's yours, so do with it what you will. If you need anything, we will be downstairs. Do not hesitate to ask."

Awkwardly, I hovered in the open doorway to her room.

I needed to say something more, something kind to put her at ease. I was good at a lot of things, but situations like this were not one of them. Comforting someone I did not know? Yeah, that wasn't my forte whatsoever.

"You're safe here, Ms. Ayers. I can assure you of that. No one will hurt you here." We stared at one another awkwardly for a moment before I nodded, lips pursed, and left her to her own devices, shutting the door firmly behind me.

Time to head back downstairs and face the music. Or face my brothers-in-arms, as the case would have it.

Heaven help me.