Epilogue

Nikolai

Things had died down after the big fight at the compromised safe house. We were working through the kinks of our new relationship — pun intended — as well as developing a more stable dynamic.

Having Carrick back at the house had only made things more complicated, something I was already annoyed with. Maddy seemed to delight in a new person to tease and brat at, and I had to admit, that had been hilarious to watch. Carrick needed someone to keep him on his toes, that was for damn sure.

"Hey, Niko," Deacon pulled me aside as Carrick began cleaning up from yet another delicious dinner, courtesy of Sully. He deserved it, after having missed clean-up duty for so fucking long during his most recent absence. Plus, the fact that the fucker announced his arrival by walking in on Maddy and me — on purpose, I had found out later — guaranteed that I felt no remorse for the man.

"What's up, brother?" I stepped to the side at Deacon's request.

He hesitated for a moment, then took a deep breath and spoke. "Listen, I think you need to make a phone call."

His statement was confusing, to say the least. "You're gonna have to give me more than that, Deacon."

"With everything that happened at that safe house, and with as serious as things are getting between you and Maddy, I really think the time for hidin' things is over." He pinned me with a knowing look, and I suddenly understood exactly what he was getting at.

"You're not wrong, brother," I agreed with a sigh. I'd been putting this off for a while now.

"I rarely am," he shot back with a smile. Deacon didn't often show his humor, but when he did, it came swiftly and completely out of the blue.

"Alright, alright. I'll give Quinn a call tomorrow and fill him in on everything," I conceded. "But right now, I've got a game of Go Fish to win."

"We both know you ain't gonna win. Jax is too good for any of us to win, unless it's just a sheer stroke of luck, like my win the other night."

"I don't really care about winning. I do , however, care about beating Maddy."

"I think you beat Maddy plenty already," he teased me with a wink and a clap of his hand on my shoulder. "But I think you should go ahead and call Quinn now. Just get it over with and have it behind you."

"Ugh, you're right," I groaned, realizing the truth in his words .

"We already established that I'm rarely wrong, buddy ," he teased with a knowing look.

"Did you just call me buddy?" I asked, feigning shock and dismay at his words.

"What can I say? Maddy's rubbing off on me."

"From what I heard last night, she rubs off on Niko all the damn time," Carrick interjected with a cackle, jumping into our conversation uninvited as he passed us on his way to the bathroom. The fucker.

I shook my head at them both, then pulled my phone from my pocket and headed into my office, dialing Quinn as I went.

"Mercado here," Quinn answered on the second ring, sounding mildly distracted.

"Hey, Quinn. It's Niko. Did I catch you at a bad time?" I asked as my old friend hissed and cursed under his breath.

"No, just trying to make dinner."

"And failing, from the sounds of it," I teased.

"I have never been good in the kitchen. Hey, do you think Sully could get over here in the next hour and cook me up something good?" He asked, sighing heavily as the sound of a smoke alarm beeped incessantly in the background.

"Gotta hot date or something?" I razzed the poor man.

"Erm… well…" he muttered awkwardly. My mouth dropped open in shock.

"Quinn Mercado, you sly dog. You do have a date! So.. what's her name?" I asked in a sing-song voice, teasing him mercilessly. After years of serving together in the Corps, he fucking deserved it. In fact, it would be an insult if I didn't razz him — and he knew it, too.

"Shut the fuck up, dude. But seriously, how fast can I get Sully over here?" he whined.

"No such luck, my friend. It's Go Fish night."

"Shit. You're calling me on Go Fish night? What happened? Who died?"

"Come off it, bro. But seriously, I wanted to talk to you about something." Suddenly, words failed me as I struggled to figure out just how to broach the subject.

"I'm all ears."

"Uh…" I faltered. "Well, is there, uh, any new information on the case?" Smacking myself in the forehead with my hand, I plopped down into my office chair, internally chastising myself for my utter ineptitude when it came to discussing relationship things.

"Actually, yes. I wanted to call you, but I was going to wait until tomorrow, if I'm being honest."

"I can call you back then if you'd rather," I offered, suddenly hopeful at the thought of pushing this talk off as long as humanly possible.

"No, no. We're on the phone now, might as well."

"What about your dinner?"

"Meh, I'll order a pizza. Let's be honest… she's not coming over for my cooking," he said with a smirk I could literally hear over the phone. "But anyway… Listen, it's pretty fucking obvious that hit was planned, which proves my suspicions that Maddy is important. She's obviously a threat to them, after what she saw. The issue I'm running into now is that we had only set up her transfer to that safe house less than twenty-four hours prio r to the move. Like I said in the car on the way back to my apartment that day, that can't be a coincidence. Something bigger is going on here."

I listened intently, remembering our tense conversation after the firefight. It made sense. How had the Dom Krovi gotten that information so quickly?

"There's nothing concrete for me to go on yet, but I'm now completely convinced that there is a mole in the department. I just have no idea who," he explained further.

"So, where do we go from here?" My tone had entirely changed, the lightheartedness I had felt having all my brothers home and my woman by my side fading into the background of the clear and present danger that Maddy was truly in.

"I spoke with Chief McCarthy about everything, and he agrees with me. He's made me the sole detective on the case, restricting access to all the files from everyone in the department except him and me. He's aware of you guys and what you're doing for us, but we both agree that it should stay between the two of us until we have more information and more proof to get these fuckers behind bars."

"I couldn't agree more. So, how can we help?"

"The Chief has specifically asked me if the Reapers are willing to provide protection for any future VIP witnesses in this case, should it be necessary."

"I think we can accommodate that," I responded, already thinking through the logistics of how that would work. We had plenty of space, but not exactly plenty of rooms. We'd have to get a move on working on our private cabins. At the moment, Jax was the only one who had even the framework built on his part of the property. But that could be easily remedied with a few tweaks to our work schedule. Especially now that Carrick was back.

"This case is far from over, Niko. And Maddy is the most important asset we have right now. I need you to keep her out of harm's way, no matter what. I hate to do this to you, but it looks like I'm going to need her to stay with you indefinitely until I can nail this fucker and get him behind bars for good. I can't let him slip through on a technicality."

"I completely understand. We're in. We've got your back, brother," I answered without an ounce of hesitation.

"Really?" he asked, obviously surprised at how quickly I'd agreed.

"Yes, really," I reiterated, confused by his surprise.

"Honestly, I thought it would take more groveling and convincing to get you on board."

"Well, I won't stop you from that. You know I like that shit," I chuckled.

"You kinky bastard."

"Shut up. It takes one to know one."

"I guess I just thought you'd be upset. After all, you were pretty hell-bent on getting Maddy out of your place not that long ago."

"Er, well…" I trailed off. This was it. It was now or never. "About that. The reason I wanted you to take Maddy off my hands wasn't at all because of her. It never was. It was about me." I took a deep breath, steadying my self. "I felt I was doing the wrong thing, that I was being unprofessional."

"Niko, I don't think you've been unprofessional a day in your life," he teased with a laugh.

"That's the thing. You're right. I've been professional since the day I was born," I teased. "But then Maddy arrived here. And… well, there's no way to sugarcoat this. Things got heated between us."

"Something tells me you're not talking about arguments," he said, his voice suddenly quiet and serious.

"Oh, no. There were — and are — plenty of arguments," I chuckled.

"Oh, shit."

"Yup. Turns out Maddy is one hell of a brat, and I—"

"You are a natural-born brat handler," he finished the sentence for me.

"Exactly. Things came to a head right before we took her to the safe house. I thought I needed to get her out of here to keep her safe and keep my own professionalism intact. But after the attack, something changed."

Quinn remained silent as I gathered my thoughts, trying to succinctly explain what had happened.

"Oh, fuck it. I fell for her, Quinn. Hook, line, and sinker, fell for her. So, while I am still fully committed to my professionalism and duty to this case, Maddy and I are now in a relationship. I just thought you should know."

"Did you think I was going to be mad?"

"Well, I mean…"

"Look, brother. You're not my employee. And while you are helping out the department by acting as a safe house for Maddy — and others should they need it — it doesn't change the fact that you are both grown-ass adults. What you do behind closed doors is none of my business, as long as it's consensual. And if there is one thing I never ever have to worry about with you, it's your respect for consent. Aside from all that, I just want to say that I'm happy for you."

"Hey, Niko! Get your ass out here or we're dealing without you!" Sully hollered from the kitchen, drawing my attention away from the phone call for a brief moment.

"I've gotta get out there, but I just wanted to let you know," I said, rising from my chair and heading back out towards the kitchen to rejoin the others.

"Absolutely, brother. Thanks for filling — hang on. Hold that thought," Quinn said, soft muttering coming through the phone. "Shit."

"What's up?" I asked as I made my way back into the kitchen to see everyone standing between the table and the high-top bar, chatting away before the game began.

"Is that Quinn?" Sully called, nearly grabbing the phone from my hand. "I miss you, brother. Come play Go Fish with us!"

"Hey, Niko?" Quinn asked, drawing my attention once more. "I just got a text from the Chief. I've got to get down to the station. Apparently, someone just came in seeking protection from the Dom Krovi. I don't know much. Their name is Bellamy, and apparently their brother is involved in the gang, and is in some trouble."

"Was there another murder?" I asked, snapping my fingers at my brothers to get them to pipe down so I could hear better. I could feel everyone's eyes on me as the room grew quiet.

"No…" he trailed off, obviously reading more of what the text contained. "It's way more fucked up than that. This Bellamy person got a package on their doorstep this morning. A package containing their brother's severed finger. I don't know more than that, but it looks like you might be hosting some more company soon."

"Don't worry about a thing, Quinn. We've got your back. We're invested in this now. In it, for better or for worse," I reassured him emphatically.

"Jesus, man," Quinn scoffed with an exhausted sort of chuckle. "I thought you two just started a relationship, but here you are, already writing your damn wedding vows?"

"Fuck off, man. Get your ass to the station where you belong. I've got cards to play. Keep me posted."

We said our goodbyes, and Quinn hung up, leaving me to field the sudden onslaught of questions from my brothers and Maddy. Questions I did not yet have answers for.

"So, we're doing this again?" Deacon said with a frustrated sigh. The man might be a bit of a curmudgeon, but deep down, he cared more than almost anyone I knew.

"Looks like it," I agreed.

"More people to feed! I should start meal planning," Sully muttered to himself, as he sat down at the table, claiming his favorite seat.

"Bellamy, huh? I wonder if he enjoys working on cars," Carrick muttered almost to himself. "Hey, at least we won't have to worry about anybody trying to doink the witness!"

Laughter rang out throughout the kitchen, and I was more than ready to dish it right back.

"Come here," I muttered quietly as I pulled Maddy to me, kissing her soundly on the mouth, and not caring one lick who saw.

I knew that if there was one good thing that came from all of this, it was her.

The End