Absolution (The Titans of Founder's Ridge)

by Nichole Greene

  That is why I have to do a better job of protecting her, along with everyone else I care about. No one else will have so much as a paper cut because of my cowardice. I pull the blanket up and over her shoulders, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. I scrawl out a note on an old receipt telling her where I’ll be.

  I’m a little sweaty from playing a game of basketball against Lev, but I’m not taking a shower for this. They get me the way I am. I pull on a t-shirt and change from basketball shorts to jeans. I give Lily a light forehead kiss before I leave her.

  Claire and I take the back entrance that connects my penthouse to my dad’s via a secret staircase. When get to living room, we find Mom and Dad sitting on the couch talking softly, their heads together. Both Claire and I stand back and watch them for a minute.

  I haven’t seen my mom in person in about a year. Her light brown hair is just starting to show some gray strands near her temples. Her eyes are a pretty, clear blue, almost violet. Her skin is still smooth and pale, barely any wrinkles yet.

  I share a look with Claire. We’re both equally reluctant to let her back into our lives after she left Dad and let us think it was his fault. I’m not even sure why she’s here. This is the first time she’s set foot back in the states since the day she left.

  She glances over Dad’s shoulder and see us. “Connor, Claire.” She jumps up and runs for Claire. “Are you okay?” She pulls her in for a tight hug that Claire doesn’t return.

  “I’m fine. I came out of everything the least injured.” Claire shakes out of our mother’s embrace.

  “Connor, how’s Lilith?” Mom asks as she hugs me.

  “Recovering. She was asleep when we came up, so I decided to let her continue to rest.” I give her a limp one-arm hug.

  “What are you doing here?” Claire asks coldly, drawing a look of condemnation from Dad. She shrugs back at him, completely unaffected.

  “I was worried about my children,” Mom replies with tears in her eyes. “You were abducted, Claire. I wouldn’t be anywhere else.”

  “You didn’t seem to care all that much about your children when you decided to tear apart our family, so you could go to chow town on the help.” Claire delivers the truth cold with an impersonal glance at her nails.

  “Claire Dinara Volkov,” Dad says sternly.

  “Don’t full name me, Dad. I lost years with you and Con. I’m not just going to forget it because she pops in after a near-death experience.”

  The tension between the four of us mounts as we stare each other down. Claire and I on one side, Mom and Dad on the other. I hear a throat clear behind me as Dad moves past me.

  “Hello,” Lily says with a little wave. She gives Dad a grateful smile as he wraps his arm around her shoulders and leads her to the couch.

  “Lilith,” Mom sits beside her while I take the other side. “How are you, sweetie?”

  “I’m okay, Ciara.” Lily leans into me. “I’m still a little sore, but there’s no pain anymore.”

  “I’m so glad you’re okay.” Mom slips her hand over Lily’s and squeezes. “I’m also glad you were able to make it up here. Victor and I have something to tell you kids.”

  I feel Lily stiffen beside me and meet Claire’s eyes from across the room. Mom stands up from the couch and walks over to Dad. He wraps his arm around her shoulders and kisses her temple. Claire’s face is screaming no. I have a feeling I know where this is going and we’re not going to like it.

  “Your mother and I are reconciling,” Dad announces.

  “What in the actual fuck?” Claire roars. “Are you serious? Are. You. Serious?” She shakes her head back and forth. “I’m out. I’m not doing this. I’m not playing happy family.” She stalks gracefully across the living room. “I’m going back to my apartment.”

  We all watch her go.

  “This is really stupid,” I say looking at Dad; I can’t even stand the sight of my mother right now. “Possibly the dumbest thing you’ve ever done.” I stand up to make my own exit from the room. Lily stands and follows me out without saying a word to them.

  It feels indescribably good having her beside me right now. Especially knowing what she’s been through because of my messed-up family and me. We go back downstairs, and as soon as we’re in the hallway, I gently push her against the wall. I rest my forehead against hers, my fingers working under her shirt to find her smooth skin.

  “I love you so much.” My words come out a low whisper.

  “I know.” She cups my face. “I love you, too.”

  This would be the perfect moment to open up to her. To explain the abuse I endured at the hands of my uncle. I just can’t bring myself to say the words out loud, to acknowledge how weak I was. How weak I still am.

  “Fuck’s sake,” Levi says as he steps into the hall, “your room is down the hall.”

  “Yeah, and your apartment is downtown,” Lily quips back with a sassy roll of her eyes.

  “We’re safer together,” Levi says over his shoulder. “You’re too much work for just one of us to handle.”

  “He’s not wrong,” I can’t help the smirk that slips out. “You’re so stubborn.”

  “I’m stubborn?” she asks incredulously. “Look in a mirror.”

  “Mr. Volkov, Lake Herrera is here for you.” Helen, the receptionist I share with Dad, says over the intercom.

  “Thanks, Helen, send him back.”

  Less than a minute later, Lake walks in, a serious look plastered all over his face. We exchange nods of hello before he sits down in one of the chairs in front of my desk. He’s got an almost-full beard going on, impressive seeing as how he was clean shaven just days ago.

  “Well,” he tosses a thumb drive onto the desk. “I have everything you need on there. Your uncle has been working with Owen Energy and double crossing them. That rig explosion a few years back?”

  “Yeah.” Scott Owen ended up transferring to Founders Prep to hassle me all year about it.

  “It was your uncle.” He scrubs a hand over his face. “The assassination attempt on your dad the same year? The one that killed Lilith’s dad?”

  My stomach drops as I wait for him to continue.

  “Your uncle was behind that, too.”

  My vision goes red and then black. I have never felt so much rage running through my veins.

  “He’s involved with some scary people, Con. You cannot do anything on your own here. I had my people in Eastern Europe set up surveillance, and you won’t get out alive if you go off half-cocked. I wouldn’t go in with less than a team of six.”

  I stand up and walk to the window, taking deep breaths and trying to suppress the urge to slam my fist into the window. I let the familiar scene of a hazy August Manhattan morning settle me. Ideas are flying through my mind.

  “Ivan used to abuse me.” I surprise myself by telling him that dark secret. I turn back to Lake, who still sits in the chair, patiently waiting for me to continue. “It started when I was eight. He would drag me out of bed in the middle of the night and force me to fight the young servants. If I didn’t do it, he would. I watched him kill several before I decided a beating from me was better than death at his hands. The next summer got progressively worse, and the next, and the next. I watched him do horrible, disgusting things. I did,” I choke on the words, “I did horrible things.”

  “Listen,” Lake leans forward, elbows on his knees and levels his eyes at me, “I have done horrible things, too. It sucks, but I’m going to guess you didn’t have a choice. Your uncle runs a crime syndicate that extends onto three continents. I will help you take him down. I left your dad the same information on another thumb drive.”

  I look over his shoulder and nod. “Thank you.”

  He stands up and turns to leave but then spins back toward me. “Have you talked to anyone about the abuse? Does anyone know?”

  “Griff found out a long time ago because I had a nightmare once when I was staying at his place. No one else knows.”

 
; “You need to tell your dad and Lilith.” He pulls out his wallet and hands me a worn business card. “That’s my therapist. He’s helped me with my PTSD from everything. Call him and tell him I referred you.”

  “Thanks,” I run my thumb over it, weighing whether or not to call.

  “Con,” Lake stands with his hand on the doorknob, “whatever happened is not your fault. You were a kid. I’ll be in touch.”

  I pick the thumb drive and slide it into my personal laptop. I text Griff that I’m sending the encrypted files to him. The sooner he gets on this, the better. He’ll be able to look at this through a colder, more logical lens than I can. It’s too personal for me.

  I start looking through the files, watching the surveillance footage. Nothing about any of what I see or read surprises me. Even the information about him double-crossing us and Owen Energy. It’s all classic Ivan. He wants to open our Siberian oil field and has promised more than he can deliver to some of the higher ups in Moscow.

  The door to my office swings open, and I know it’s Dad without looking up. I look at him over my laptop’s screen and see the same rage I’m feeling mirrored right back at me. He closes the door and flicks the lock.

  “We have some planning to do, son.”

  “I know.” My jaw clenches as I read through the information Lake got about Lily’s dad. “There’s no mercy for him.”

  “Agreed.” He sits down in the same seat that Lake was just occupying. “I’ve already reached out to those in Russia who are loyal to me. Herrera has a team watching him.”

  “Yeah, I was actually just talking to Lake.”

  “I knew Ivan was doing questionable shit, but I had no idea how far he’d gone.” Dad shoots out of the chair and starts to pace. “Double crossing his own family. Trafficking everything possible. I’m glad we never sent Claire over there like we did you.”

  I think about what Griff said, what Lake said, and decide now’s as good a time as any to unload my darkest secrets on my dad.

  “Actually, I have to tell you something.” I proceed to tell Dad everything, including the women I watched Ivan drug and rape. I watch his face express a whole range of emotions. Rage. Fear. Anguish. Back to anger.

  He walks around my desk and pulls me up by shirt. We’re the same height; I’m bulkier, but he’s still fit and strong. He grabs the back of my head and rests his forehead against mine.

  “I am so sorry that I didn’t protect you,” a tear runs down his cheek. “We will make him pay. For you. For Michael and Lilith. For what he tried to do to the girls. For every-fucking-thing.” He pulls me in for a long, hard hug. “I love you, Connor. I will always have your back.”

  “I love you, too, Dad.” I wipe away a tear that I didn’t even realize had fallen. It feels so good to finally tell people. To ease this lifelong burden. I only have two people left to tell. Lily and Lev. “I think we should sit down with Lake and come up with a solid plan.”

  “Yeah, there’s a big party in St. Petersburg the first week of October. All the main families will be present. It could be our best opportunity to surprise Ivan. I’ll set up another meeting with Lake a couple weeks.”

  5

  CONNOR

  “It feels really weird without Levi at home,” Lily drops between Griff and me on the couch in our Cambridge townhouse.

  “Yeah, I can think, and food stays in the kitchen longer than a day,” Griff quips. Living with Levi was like living with an overgrown puppy. Always making noise. Always eating every-fucking-thing. Barging into our bedroom whenever he felt like it.

  “Well, I miss him,” she pouts.

  “Are we not enough for you, Lilith?” Griff asks with a smirk aimed in my direction.

  “Do we not keep you entertained?” I ask, catching on to what Griff is planning.

  “Do you need more laughter?” he shifts a bit and looks at me.

  With a slight nod from me, we both attack her with tickles.

  “Oh my God!” she yells through laughter. “You guys fucking suck,” she gasps, trying to wiggle off the couch. “I will beat both your asses!”

  We’re all laughing in a pile on the floor a couple minutes later. I’m going to have a bruise on my abs. Griff’s glasses are across the room. Lily is sprawled across us, her head on his chest and her legs tangled with mine.

  There have been moments over the past years where I’ve thought I’ve seen him look at her with something like longing. It only lasts for a second, and then it’s gone. The night her father was murdered, I was willing to do anything to make her feel something beyond her profound grief. Before Lily, Griff, Lev, and I would occasionally share girls. I’ve never shared her, but that night, I would have.

  He’s never dated anyone seriously. He and Grant, a friend who graduated from high school a few years before us, recently opened a dungeon in New York. He’s been spending every weekend since we’ve back in Boston down there, helping out. I’m starting to wonder if he doesn’t have someone he’s seeing down there.

  I disentangle myself from the pile and stand up to see if Lake’s called me yet. I check back with a glance over my shoulder, and they’re still laying on the floor, he’s running his fingers through her hair but looking at the ceiling. Now’s a good time, while they’re both talking about who knows what and distracted.

  I take the stairs two at a time up two floors to the level Lily and I have as our personal space. We have our shared bedroom suite and bathroom, an office, and a living room area. Griff and Lev shared the level above us, but now it all belongs to Griff.

  I gently close the door behind me and pull my phone out. Lake hasn’t called yet, but I decide to call him regardless. He answers on the first ring.

  “Con, I was just getting ready to call you,” he says.

  “Good. I have time and privacy right now, where are we at with the plan?”

  We spend the next forty-five minutes going over the next steps that Dad worked out with him this week. We’re going to Chicago for Lily’s birthday in a few weeks, and then she and the girls are staying back for her bachelorette party. Dad, Lake, and I decided it was the perfect opportunity to sneak away while we know the girls are protected and safe. They’ll be staying with Zion, Lily’s best friend, in his penthouse.

  Lake is already planning on sending a team of his guys to do undercover security for me on the group while they’re in Chicago. I can’t risk anything ever happening to them again. Normally I would use in-house security for VI or from Lily’s company, but she’d know and put up a fight. She doesn’t know all of the guys on Lake’s payroll yet.

  Dad has called Ivan and set up a meeting with him in St. Petersburg under the guise of possibly opening up the oilfield. We know Ivan won’t be able to resist the possibility of that much money lining his greedy pockets. Hopefully he comes alone, but from the surveillance, it seems as though he’s usually surrounded by at least five men, likely security of some sort. It’s not surprising considering how dirty he’s done half the oligarchs and crime lords he associates with.

  I hear a shuffle of feet and quickly end the call with Lake. Lily pokes her head in with a questioning glance at me. She walks in as I set the phone on the desk.

  “Who were you on the phone with?”

  “Just a guy from one of my classes. I’m giving him a copy of my notes for a class.” The lie tastes bitter on my tongue, and I hate myself a little more for how easily it slides from my lips.

  She narrows her gorgeous blue eyes on me, and I can tell she doesn’t believe me. She isn’t one to nag though, and she trusts me, so she drops it. I let my eyes wander down her body; she’s standing in front of me in her tiny pajama shorts and a cropped tank top, no bra or panties.

  My dick immediately stands at attention. Her body is exquisite, a feast for my eyes, lips, and hands. I often think about how lucky I am to have her. There are so many times I fucked up, so many awful things I said to her. I could spend the rest of my life groveling before her and still not feel like I deserve he
r. Not that I will ever let her go, she’s fucking mine, deserved or not. I pull her to me and set her on the edge of the desk.

  “How are you feeling?” I run my hands up her inner thighs. “We didn’t hurt you with tickles, did we?”

  “I’m fine,” she rolls her eyes at my question. “You only ask me a hundred times a day if I’m okay. I haven’t had any pain in weeks.” She runs her fingers through my hair. “I’m not going to break.”

  “What were you and Griff talking about while I was up here?” I ask, switching gears.

  “Levi’s proposal to Ivy this weekend. I’ve got a list of stuff to get for the set up. He and Griff have fixed up the dock and one of the cabins. Ivy’s going to love it.” She slides off the desk and into my lap.

  “We’re all getting engaged.” Her eyes bounce back and forth between mine. “I feel like we should try to set Griff up or something. He needs a person, too.”

  “He would hate that.” I shake my head. “He doesn’t need us messing around in his love life. Plus, he’s so secretive I’m not even sure what type of partner he would want. Gender doesn’t even matter to him.”

  “It’s too bad Z is all settled down,” she says half-jokingly. “Actually, that wouldn’t have worked. Z isn’t submissive enough for Mr. Dominance upstairs.”

  “Truth,” I smile at her, flashing my dimples. “Let’s stop talking about our friends.” I lean forward and kiss her neck while my hand moves under her tank top.

  I love her body, almost as much as I love her soul. I smile against her neck as her head falls back. It doesn’t matter how fucked life is for either of us, our bodies are so connected, so in tune with each other that nothing matters beyond this.

  “Am I eating that delicious pussy here on the desk, or are we going to the bedroom?” I whisper.

  “A working dinner is definitely in order,” she says as she unbuckles my belt.