Dragonfly by Jax Hill 

"That’s not the worst of it,” said Sig. “There was someone else at your party, and she matters a lot more to Nikolai. A lady named Caroline.”

“Was Caroline there?” said Tawny. “I never saw her.”

“Who is it?” Maggie asked.

“You could say, Nikolai’s administrative assistant,” Tawny said.

“She hired me,” Marigold said.

“Administrative assistant!” Sig snorted. “She’s the mother of one of Nikolai’s children, and she manages the talent in his clubs. I don’t know what happened, exactly, between them. But she apparently told Nikolai to let those women go if they wanted to, and not to bother you. They had a pretty vocal dust-up about it.”

Torstein whistled, a sort of speculative two-note tone. “I must have impressed her!” he said, and grinned.

“It’s not funny,” Sig said. “Nikolai doesn’t like being crossed, he doesn’t like losing his girls to you, and he definitely would not like losing Caroline. She started with him years ago as a stripper, and she’s a good businesswoman — and quite a favorite of his, I hear.”

“I thought that sister-in-law was his favorite,” I said, remembering Franz’s story from the shore the day Nikolai killed the Dunker. “And the niece.”

“He has a lot of women,” Sig said. “But Caroline’s the only one who’s also a business partner. I think he loves her, if that guy can love anyone. So it’s not like you’re coming between him and a few strippers. It’s like you’re coming between him and a wife, or close as he has to one. You gotta make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Torstein refused to show the shock Sig had hoped to inspire. Instead he said, “We’ve missed you around here, Sig. Any chance you’ll give up that internal affairs business, and come join us now?”

“I told my wife last night I’d try to get off the booze,” Sig said softly. “I got AA meetings to go to now. She already found me one, for today. I guess alcoholics have it rough on New Year’s Eve. I don’t know if I can do my job and not drink. I don’t know how I can keep it together.”

“We’ll help you,” Jack said. He was such a good kid. And he always had been hoping Sig would get off the sauce. He thought everybody should be a teetotaler and jog. In a lot a ways, he was an idiot. But he always led with his heart. “You just come here after work instead of Sharky’s. We’ll help you.”

“Thanks,” Sig said. “I’ll come when I can. Look, one reason I don’t wanna leave the job right now, I wanna try to keep tabs on what Nikolai’s thinking about you,” he said to Torstein. “Someone has to look after you.”

Torstein laughed. “No, no one has to. It’s not going to make any difference to me what you find out about Nikolai’s plans for me. I’m going to do what I do, regardless. You might as well retire, and do it with me.”

Sig shrugged. He turned to Maggie and said, “If I were you, I wouldn’t take those women in.”

“I hear you,” she said. “But I don’t think anyone should be forced into that kind of life if they don’t want it.”

“Your call,” Sig said. He looked at his watch, whistled for his dog, and said it was getting near time for his meeting.