Absolution (The Titans of Founder's Ridge) by Nichole Greene (little red riding hood ebook free TXT) 📕

back and forth between us. “They were going to sell us. I heard them talking about meeting up with a larger boat.” Her face goes completely expressionless. “Lilith and I were the targets. They had no clue who Ivy was. They were going to assault and kill her before meeting up with the next boat. Dump her body in the sound.”

I don’t have to mask my reactions around family, sucking air through my teeth. I stand and start pacing while she details the vile threats she heard. Dad stands and pours three tumblers with vodka, handing one to me, one to Claire, and keeping one for himself. He’s as pissed as I am.

“The worst part is,” Claire gulps her vodka like a pro, “I know who was behind it.”

Dad’s eyes close, and he tilts his head back. He has an idea, and I’m guessing it’s the same person I think is behind it.

“Uncle Ivan.”

“Fuck!” I roar, letting my glass fly across the room and shatter against the wall. Claire doesn’t jump at my outburst, just calmly finishes off her vodka.

“Connor,” Dad starts to try to calm me down.

“No!” I point at him. “I’m going to kill him once and for all. He’s gone too fucking far. Selling the girls? To cover his debts, I bet.”

“I agree. He has gone too far.” Dad’s hand lands on my shoulder and squeezes. “I’m on board with taking him out, but we have to be smart. He’s a well-connected criminal. Let’s see what Lake gets out of the guy he’s interrogating at his compound.”

Lake Herrera is the leader of a mercenary group that specializes in hostage extraction. He went to Founder’s Prep a few years before I did, and he and his friends were the leaders of the school, like Levi, Griff, and I were. They all went to Columbia together, and he joined the Marines as an officer but was medically retired after an IED explosion took out almost every guy in his unit. He came home and started rounding up other former military guys and taking on jobs the US government can’t or won’t approach.

He’s currently holding the only guy we were able to catch from the attack on the girls. Lilith managed to knock this guy out right before another coward stabbed her in the back. I’ll be going out to have a chat with him later in the week.

“I won’t wait much longer.”

“I want in,” Claire says from the couch.

“Fuck no,” I say.

“Absolutely not,” Dad says at the same time.

“I was a target.” She stands, letting the blanket fall and stalking gracefully across the room toward us. “I might not have your stature or muscles, but I’m just as scary as either of you.” Her hands land on her hips in a power pose. “I’m just as invested as you.”

Her glare cuts a path back and forth between us. She’s right, she is scary—quite possibly scarier than either of us. She might be a petite ballerina, but she has a fierce personality and the Volkov temperament. It’s a formidable combination.

The three of us stare each other down, at an impasse for now.

“Your mother’s coming into town tomorrow,” Dad says, completely catching both Claire and me off guard.

“Thanks for the heads up. I’ll be sure to avoid her.”

“Same,” the air around Claire drops twenty degrees, “I have nothing to say to her.”

Four years ago, my mother ran off with her lover, one of our maids, to her family estate in Ireland. She dragged Claire with them, but instead of keeping her at the estate, she enrolled Claire in an all-girls Catholic boarding school. Our mother also never told us why she left, allowing us to think it was our father who had the affair and broke the family. Claire and I both haven’t forgiven her, although for some reason, Dad keeps trying to have her back.

“We’re all having dinner as a family as soon as Lilith is released from the hospital and feeling better. It’ll be here at the penthouse,” Dad tells us as he gets up to refill his vodka.

Claire and I share a look, wordlessly communicating out mutual disinterest in a family dinner. She’s three years younger than me, but we’ve always been able to speak to each other with just a look. Even after being separated by an ocean.

“Stop with the looks,” Dad says over his shoulder. “She’s your mother, and she wants to see you both. You will be here.” He turns and points at both us. “You will be pleasant and respectful.”

“Whatever,” Claire mumbles under her breath before grabbing her blanket and walking down the hall toward one of the guest rooms. She pauses and turns, “Tell Lilith that I’ll stop by when she’s back home.”

After she’s disappeared into the room and the door clicks shut behind her, I look to my dad. “How long is she staying here?”

“As long as she wants.” He takes a drink. “I’m tempted to fake an electrical problem or something in her apartment and keep her up here with me for a while.”

“I can go in and mess some shit up if you want.” I’d like her to stay with one of us, too. Levi and Ivy are staying in one of my and Lily’s guest rooms though, so it might be crowded with us. Plus, the tension between Levi and myself is intense right now.

“Do it,” he nods. “I’m going to Lake’s compound tomorrow. I assume you and Levi will be accompanying me?”

“I will be.” I walk over to the bank of floor-to-ceiling windows and look down on midtown. “Lev and I are not in a good place. I know he’ll want to come, but I’m not sure if he’ll want to come with me. Griff can stay with the girls when we get Lilith home in the morning.”

“I’m putting twenty-four-hour security on your floor as well. It’ll upset the girls, but I’m not risking any more abductions. I’m going to reach out to some of my trusted contacts