Over the years, he’d tried to persuade his mother and sister to move to the United States as well, but they insisted they were happy living in their tiny village. His sister had married one of the local farmers, while his mother was content living out her days as a seamstress, mending clothes and caring for the elders in the village who could no longer look after themselves.
So Nikolai stayed alone, joining Marcus and his crew once he moved to New Mexico. They were his family now, living his life in this small and quiet town.
Don’t get him wrong, he loved partying in the city and hitting the clubs every now and then, but he was now in his mid-thirties. He’d done all the wild parties and weekend sex marathons whenhe was younger. It had been fun, it had been wild, but he was at a point in his life where he also appreciated the slower pace of small-town living.
It was here, in this small town, that Marcus and his biker crew, theShadow Vipers, ran their operation.
The legitimate face of their business was a biker bar calledRide ’em Hard, owned by Marcus. Through this establishment, Marcus laundered his money while maintaining a legitimate front.
Everyone in town was aware that the Shadow Vipers weren’t exactly a follow-the-law type of motorcycle gang. While everyone knew they dealt in drugs, weapons, and other illegal goods, most didn’t mind looking the other way. The reality was that Marcus and his crew effectively controlled the town—they protected the community and everyone in it.
If the school needed funding for one of its social programs, Marcus helped organize a fundraiser or street party to raise the money.
If a building needed repairs, Marcus found a construction team willing to fix the issue at a discounted rate. He might have included a favor or two in the contract, but in the end, the building got fixed, the construction crew got paid, and the Shadow Vipers became just a little bit stronger.
That was just how business was done here in the United States. Nothing was free, and everybody was always working an angle.
Stepping into the bathroom, Nikolai turned on the shower and began unbuttoning his shirt. It had been a long ride home, and all he wanted was to shower, crawl into bed, and sleep for days.
He adjusted the temperature before stepping under the scorching hot water.
God, he loved it hot.
He grabbed the soap and began working up a lather, rubbing the bar all over his chest and arms. His muscles ached, and his ass felt like it had been taking a pounding for days. One of the downsides of finishing a long ride was ending up with a sore ass at the end of the trip.
Turning in the shower, he tilted his head back and let the water run down his hair and cascade over his back and shoulders.
Reid.
He still couldn’t believe that Reid was alive. He’d been so sure that the man was dead.
Where had he been all this time? Where did he disappear to?
Reid had been his best friend until he suddenly vanished one night with no explanation.
To be honest, Reid had been more than just his best friend. He had been his…salvation. Hissavior.
Without Reid, who knows where he would have ended up?
His mind wandered back to the early days when they first met.
“No. Wear the black one,” Reid said from where he leaned against the bedroom doorframe.
“But this one feels better,” Nikolai answered, as he stared at himself in the mirror.
“You’re not here to feel good. You’ve been hired to look hot and make these bitches feel amazing. Mikhail doesn’t give a shit about you or what makes you feel better. Your only job is to make women’s fantasies come true and ensure they keep coming back for more.”
Mikhail was their boss or “manager,” if you preferred a more vanilla term. He wasn’t the head boss, but the man below him who ensured that the big boss got paid. Essentially, Mikhail arranged the dates, collected the money, and told them when and where to be.
Reid pushed away from the doorframe and walked into the bedroom, grabbing the black muscle shirt off the bed.
He stepped up behind Nikolai and started helping him remove his shirt before tossing it on the floor with the other ones Niko had already tried on.
Nothing seemed to fit right.
Pulling the new shirt over Nikolai’s head, Reid stared into his eyes and smiled.
“Just relax. I know this is your first time, but trust me, once you get through your first session, the rest will come easier. Plus, you get to have me tag along on your date. You’re lucky. My first time was with an eighty-year-old woman, alone in her penthouse. Talk about being nervous as shit.”
