Cold and Broken (The Titans of Founder's Ridge Book 1)

by Nichole Greene

  “Did you have a good birthday weekend?”

  “I did. I’m going to be a mess in a few hours when Z has to catch his flight. Going back to school tomorrow is going to suck, too.” I feel like I’ve been in my safe cocoon for the past three days where I have not heard a single nasty whisper or felt the sting of a jealous glare. After all the photos Ivy took this weekend and posted on social media I know I’ll be hit hard by Margaux and her drones.

  “We’ve got your back.” Ivy takes a bite of her bagel and thoughtfully chews. “Plus, you and Connor are officially together. That should make you untouchable.”

  I’m not sure at all about that. If anything I think I’ll have an even bigger target on my back now. The simple fact is that my life would be easier if I had never drawn the attention of the Titans. If they had just tolerated my presence on the periphery of their lives, no one would have even noticed me. That said, I’m falling in love with Connor so it’s worth it.

  25

  Connor

  Love.

  I’m not sure I’m worthy of it, at least not from the beautiful girl asleep on my shoulder. Lilith is tucked in tightly between Griff and I on the helicopter back to Founder’s Ridge. Her hand is linked in mine but her other hand is tucked away in Griff’s hand. I reach over and flip her headset off so I can talk to the guys without waking her.

  I point at Lev motioning for him to do the same to Ivy’s headset. She’s sleeping on his shoulder and his hand is braced on the inside of her thigh. It’s decidedly not in a brotherly place but Griff and I learned a long time ago not to inquire about their relationship.

  “I have something that might take care of both the Jameson and Margaux problems,” Griff says looking back and forth between Lev and I. “It’s a video of them in his class room. Margaux is giving him head.” He pulls up a video on his phone and hands it to me.

  Sure enough at around the two minute mark Margaux drops to her knees and starts sucking cock. He’s facing away from the camera but it’s clearly him and there’s no doubt what she’s doing. Putting that camera in the air vent was the best idea I ever had.

  “Good.” I hand the phone to Lev.

  “By the way, I erased the video of what you and Lilith did.” Griff looks at me with an arched eyebrow. “You are lucky I’m the only one with access to that video feed.”

  I smirk shamelessly. That was one of the hottest things I have ever done and I would do it over and over again. “Bet we looked hot as fuck though.”

  “Wait, what?” Lev looks up at us. “What’d you do?”

  “A gentleman never tells,” I grin at him.

  “But he does eat his girlfriend’s pussy on a teacher’s desk in the middle of the day,” Griff deadpans.

  “Fuck yes.” Lev holds out a fist for me to bump.

  “Back to Jameson and Margaux. We’ll need to get the camera out of the vent before we go public with the video. I’m thinking we need to blast it over all social media and on the school list serve and call tree. Go for maximum exposure.” Griff takes his phone back from Lev.

  “Agreed.” I nod.

  “Mason heard a rumor that Margaux slept with admissions supervisors for Columbia and NYU,” Lev adds.

  “Wouldn’t surprise me at all.” Her grades suck and she doesn’t take school seriously at all. Sex is the only way she’ll get in anywhere. “We should make sure the video gets leaked to every school she applied to as well.”

  “Unfortunately Margaux’s already 18 so we can’t get Jameson in legal trouble but with this video it’ll be hard for him to get another teaching job. Hopefully it’ll keep him from preying on other teenage girls,” Griff says pensively.

  “Let’s meet Tuesday night to set everything up for Wednesday,” I say as the pilot brings us to the ground.

  Griff gives Lilith’s hand a squeeze before letting go. For being as possessive and jealous as I am, I’m glad to see that my two best friends, brothers really, care so deeply for my girlfriend. I oddly do not really have any hard lines that they could cross with her as long as their intentions are good.

  I reach over and pull her headset off. I press my lips to hers and revel in the sigh of contentment she makes right as I pull away.

  “Lily, we’re home.” I kiss her again.

  Her eyes flutter open heavily. I unbuckle her straps as she yawns.

  “You’d think someone kept me up all weekend.” She smiles like a cat that got the cream. “Kept me up all weekend doing all sorts of delicious things to my body.”

  My dick twitches at her husky innuendo and I smile back at her as I help her out.

  Lev and Griff already have all the bags in the back of the SUV. Ivy and Lilith go in the third row. Griff and I take the middle two seats and Lev sits in the front. Lev and Ivy are dropped off first, then Griff, then Lilith and I.

  Edward meets us at the door with one of the butler assistants to grab our bags. After a short exchange of pleasantries Lilith goes up to her room to shower and I do the same. I fully intend to have her in my bed tonight so I have some straightening up to do.

  I notice Victor’s bedroom door is open a crack and I hear his raised voice carrying down the hall. He does not raise his voice often so I creep down the hall silently and stand against the wall. I recognize my uncle Ivan’s voice over the speaker phone. They’re speaking in Russian so it has to be something business related.

  “We need to move on this, Ivan,” Victor says.

  “No,” Ivan says. “We need to hold off. Surely they wouldn’t seriously come after you or Connor at a charity gala.”

  “Wouldn’t they? They took out an EU representative in broad daylight last month.”

  “That was different. It’s politics,” Ivan scoffs.

  “I’m not going to take chances with Connor’s life. He might think I’m a shit father but I love him way too much to risk him, especially when he’s all I have left,” Victor says.

  The fuck?

  I might be the only one currently living with him but he definitely still has Claire. Mom hasn’t divorced his sorry, cheating ass yet either.

  “He wouldn’t think you are shit father if you would tell him the truth about his mom.”

  “He’ll find out on his own. You know I don’t defend myself to anyone, especially when I’ve done nothing wrong. I need to go. I want you to look through the files I sent again and tell me after that if you think we should sit and wait.”

  “Fine.” Ivan sighs audibly. “I doubt it will change my mind but I’ll do it.”

  I haul ass down to my room before Victor sees that I was eavesdropping. What the fuck was Ivan talking about? Could I have things wrong in my head about why mom left? Here are the facts that I know. Mom and Victor had a huge ass fight six months ago. Mom moved to Ireland and took Claire. The same day they left one of our younger maids quit suddenly. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out the series of events leading to all this.

  I pulled away from my thoughts by my phone vibrating on the night stand.

  Lilith: I’m going 2 stay in tonight and watch the game w my dad.

  Damn. I was hoping to lure her here for the night. At least we’ll have Tuesday through Thursday nights together.

  Me: Ok. Have fun w ur dad

  Lilith: I’ll b thinking about u tho

  “How was your trip?” Victor asks from the door. He’s holding a manilla envelope in one hand.

  “It was really good. We had a lot of fun.” I point at the envelope, “What is that?”

  “NDA for Lilith.” He starts to walk away. “I’m taking it down to have her sign now.”

  “Is that really necessary?” I catch up to him in the hall. “She and I are together now.”

  He stops and turns to me slowly, a big smile taking over his face. “Really? She’s your girlfriend now?”

  “Yes,” I grunt. “We decided to give it a go this weekend.”

  “Are you having sex?”

  “Jesus, Dad.” I cannot believe he just as
ked that. I’ve been fucking girls since I was 15 and he knows it. “I’m not answering that.”

  “Make sure you’re being safe. I know you have had other partners but just because she’s your first actual girlfriend doesn’t mean you should risk pregnancy.” Then his smiles widens. “You just called me dad.”

  “For fuck’s sake. I don’t need a lesson on safe sex.” My hand swipes over my face. “Lilith doesn’t need to sign an NDA. It feels all sorts of wrong to have my girlfriend do that. I trust her.”

  “I trust her, too, but I value my business more than I trust anyone not named Volkov.” He knocks on their door.

  Michael opens the door and let’s us in. “Vic, Connor. What brings you over?”

  “I have the NDA for Lilith.” Victor walks over to where she’s sitting and eating wings on the couch.

  She licks buffalo sauce off her thumb before taking the envelope from Victor and my cock wakes up at the sight of her pink tongue. My dick needs to calm the fuck down. Her dad is in standing right beside me.

  “Mind if I read it before I sign it?” She lifts an eyebrow at Victor.

  “Of course. Already thinking like a lawyer,” Victor teases.

  She stands up and walks into her room. I follow her while Victor takes a beer from Michael and sits down on the couch. I start to close her bedroom door when I feel resistance from the other side.

  “Door stays open,” Michael growls intimidatingly.

  “Dad, don’t be ridiculous. We’re not going to have sex or something with you guys five feet away,” She says as she pulls the NDA out and sits at her desk.

  “No. You won’t have sex because the door. Stays. Open.” He’s speaking to her but staring me down. I hold my hands up in surrender. I’m not pissing him off. He holds eye contact for a minute and then finally walks away.

  “I would one hundred percent fuck you in here while they were sitting out there,” I whisper in her ear, loving the way goosebumps erupt over her skin at my proximity.

  “Connor,” she whisper yells as she stiff arms me. “Let me read this in peace.”

  I watch her twirl her hair absentmindedly like she does in class while she reads. She’s so beautiful, from the back, from the front, from every fucking direction. It hurts to be beside her and not touch her. She grabs a pen but before she signs it she stands and walks to the door.

  “Hey Victor, this only mentions anything regarding VI.” He nods in confirmation. “So, if Connor starts acting like a little prick again I can tell the whole school whatever I want about him personally?”

  “Hey!” I pull a strand of her hair.

  “Yes, and it would be deserved. He told me you two are together now. Let me know if he does not treat you well.”

  “Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Together?” Michael stands.

  “Yeah, Dad. He finally won me over when he won over Z.” Lilith signs the NDA and hands it back to Victor. Then she wraps her arm around my waist and leans against me. Her rose and strawberry scent filling my veins and lighting me up. “He’s already scared of you so you can sit back down and finish watching the game.”

  * * *

  “Hey,” I say as I walk into Griff’s living room Wednesday morning. “Is everything set for today?”

  We pulled the camera down from Jameson’s room yesterday so we take the video public today. The sooner we get him out of Founders Prep the better. His leering looks in Lilith’s direction have only been increasing. If he’s not gone by the end of the day he’ll end up with my fist in his face.

  “Yes. I have everything ready to be sent out in one coordinated wave.” Griff slides a cup of coffee across the counter to me. “Including the admissions offices of all the schools Margaux applied to.”

  “Good.” I do not feel one bit of guilt over this. If she would have followed directions this would not be happening to her. “I think we should do it right at the start of the day.”

  “Agreed. We’ll be able to see both of their reactions. Did you tell Lilith what we’re doing?”

  “No. I want to keep her out of the loop on this one. Protect her from any blow back.” I’m also not entirely sure she’d be completely on board this. Sure she hates Margaux but she also has a big enough heart that she feels bad hurting other people, even when it is deserved. Another reason I have fallen in love with her, that pure heart.

  “Morning,” Lev flies through the door with glassy, red eyes and his uniform completely disheveled. He sits at the counter beside me and lays his head on the table, clearly hungover.

  “What did you do last night?” Griff asks Lev while he gets a cup of coffee for him.

  “Got in an argument with Ivy,” He answers into his hands. “Maybe the worst one yet. She’s never going to give us a chance but then she gets pissed when I bring girls over to the house. I wish she’d say something to Lilith about it, maybe then she’d see it’s not as torrid as she thinks it is. I mean, fuck, she and I go way back before our parents had to go and get fucking married.” He clenches his fists a few times. “Can we set up some fights at the Abyss tonight? I have to hit this agression out.”

  “Yeah. After we blast the video I’ll spread the word.” Griff says.

  We grab our bags and Griff climbs in my passenger seat. “Fuck, this car is amazing. I surprised my dad hasn’t asked to drive it yet. I saw him salivating over it the other day.”

  “He has.” I smirk. “I’m going to let him take it for a spin this weekend.” Yeah, I’m nicer to my friends’ parents then I am my own. Honestly though, Griff’s parents are way more involved in our lives than my or Lev’s parents ever have been.

  “Make him sit on a towel. He’ll either piss or jizz in his pants with excitement,” Griff says dryly.

  “Noted.” I tap my fingers on the wheel for a few minutes, thinking about what I overheard Sunday night. I haven’t been able to let it go. “Do you think I’m wrong about my dad having an affair and that being why my mom split?”

  “Yes,” Griff says with no hesitation.

  I do a double take at the surety in his voice. “Really? Why?”

  “Victor is not a cheater. He’s not even shady in his business practices. He’s cut throat but you see him coming with the knife. It’s never an attack from behind.”

  This is all true.

  “That doesn’t mean he hasn’t strayed on my mom.”

  “It doesn’t. Have you ever wondered if maybe she was the one who cheated?” I see him steal a glance at me out of the corner of his eye. “You know that maid that quit now lives with her on your family’s estate in Ireland, right?”

  “Maybe mom just wanted to keep her as her employee.”

  “She’s not working.”

  I’m not surprised that Griff has this knowledge, it’s his currency but I wish he’d tell me where it comes from.

  “Are you implying that my mom had and an affair with one of our maids? One of our female maids? My mom is lesbian?” Before the words are even out of my mouth my brain is working over time to find any hints.

  “I’m not implying anything just telling you that the facts that I have.”

  “I’ve been a huge dick to Victor. Why wouldn’t he set me straight if I was so off the mark?”

  “Would you defend yourself against false allegations?” Griff raises an eyebrow at me.

  No.

  I would fucking not.

  “Holy shit.” He could be right. “Can you look into this further? I’m not going to apologize to Victor unless absolutely necessary.” I’m not likely to apologize at all, honestly, but I need to know the truth. It changes things.

  “Apologize?” Griff looks at me skeptically. “When have you ever apologized for anything?”

  “I apologized to Lilith for being a dick.”

  “Good to know you’re capable.”

  Lev pulls into the parking lot right behind me. Ivy and Lilith are disappearing into the building as we get out of our cars. Everyone scatters out of our way as we make our way to class. Lev gets the m
ost furtive glances thrown his way today, his unusual scowl scaring people away. He’s the most approachable of us on a normal day.

  Ivy doesn’t look any better. Her eyes are red and watery and her hair which is usually perfectly styled is thrown back in a loose ponytail. Lilith is leaning over rubbing her back and whispering something that makes her laugh.

  As if sensing my attention she turns her head and makes eye contact with me. Those beautiful blue eyes hypnotize me and a shot of lust travels my body at her slow smile. She waits for me to get to my desk and wraps her arms around me for hug. I’ve never been big on hugs, especially hugs in public but fuck if I’m not happy to be her personal teddy bear.

  “You two are so fucking gross I want to puke,” Lev mumbles despondently.

  “Need a hug, Levi?” Lilith asks sarcastically.

  “Yeah, my dick could use a mouth hug,” He snaps back.

  For a second I think Lilith is going to respond with more snark but she looks at Ivy and then back at Lev. Then bends down and wraps Lev in a hug and gives him a kiss on the cheek. He looks over her shoulder at me, puzzled. I shrug because I’m just as clueless as he is when it comes to Lilith. Maybe she and Ivy talked about whatever went down between Lev and Ivy last night.

  I look over at Griff and nod for him to send the video out right as Jameson walks in the door. I don’t miss his look at Lilith, the way his eyes roam up her legs to her chest to her face. Fuck, I want to put my fist through his face.

  26

  Lilith

  My phone starts vibrating at the same time that everyone else’s does. Even Mr. Jameson’s phone and computer sound alerts. A wave of shocked and amused gasps travel through the room as people watch the video they received.

  I look up at Mr. Jameson and see him visibly pale. He swallows nervously and looks up at the class. Margaux wails and runs out of the room followed closely by Leighton and Darcy. I pull my phone out and click on the link. The video shows Margaux with Mr. Jameson in his class room. I look back up at him and he’s watching me intently, shaking his head back and forth slowly, imploring me not to watch.