Page 10 of Cold and Broken (The Titans of Founder's Ridge 1)

A pilot is sitting in the front of the helicopter with a clipboard, poking buttons. Another pilot is standing beside the door. He offers his hand to help me up and I take one of the forward facing seats. Connor sits across from me, dad beside me, and Victor across from him. With his lips in a firm line Connor reaches across and buckles my lap belt. Then he pulls a shoulder belt across my chest and buckles it in place. He runs his hand under it to smooth it back up and his knuckles brush over my breasts. The soft contact hardens my nipples and sends goosebumps racing over my arms. He must notice because his lips tilt up into a smirk while he pulls two headsets off a hook and fiddles with them. He tosses one set in my lap, straps himself in, and puts his headset on.

“They’re on a separate frequency from our dads’ headsets.” He points at his ear. “So we can talk freely.”

“By freely you mean you can be a dick without worrying about either of them hearing you?” I busy myself looking out the window. Getting one last look at the safety of the ground before we’re thousands of feet up in the air in a tin can with blades.

“Exactly,” he nods. “You’re smart for a peasant.”

I start to snark back but we start take off. I grab the seat on either side of me with a white knuckle grip and focus on keeping my breathing even. I’m in a spiral of awful thoughts about how much crashing in this thing would hurt when I feel Connor stretch his leg out and press against mine. It’s subtle enough that it could be completely unintentional or it could be his way of grounding me without being outright kind. Either way it gives me something aside from my doomsday thoughts to focus on.

While I’m trying to figure out Connor, I feel dad’s giant paw squeeze my knee comfortingly. I look over at him and he holds his thumb up asking if I’m okay. I nod and try to smile, although it’s honestly more of a grimace.

Occasionally Connor will say something about what we’re flying over, pointing out landmarks and giving brief facts. He almost acts human but he never smiles. I wonder if he’s even capable, I didn’t even see him smile when I saw him with his friends. When we approach the city I momentarily forget how terrified I am and lose myself in the wonder of seeing NYC for the first time by helicopter. I look over at Connor and he seems completely unaffected, scrolling through his phone. I pull my phone out and take a few pictures of the skyline and send them to Z.

My legs feel wobbly as dad and one of the pilots help me out. We landed on a rooftop so I stare at my feet, trying not to freak out and about the height. Connor stalks to a set of doors and walks through, while we follow.

“This is Volkov Industries global headquarters.” Victor tells us. “It’s mainly offices but there are executive apartments for those of us who commute to NYC. Michael, you’ll have an apartment when you accompany me to the city. You also have an office down on the security floor. I’ll show those to you Tuesday. Tonight we’re going across town to a rooftop restaurant called Apex, great views of the city and the East River.”

Connor chuckles as the elevator descends.

Victor realizes why he’s laughing and looks at me apologetically. “I can get us in somewhere else if you would like to keep your feet on the ground. The city is full of great choices.”

“No, no. It’s fine. I’ll be okay.”

“Excellent.” Victor strides off the elevator and leads us through an opulent lobby. I do my best not to gawk but this place is fancy as fuck. White veined marble floors and walls, with soaring ceilings and hanging metal sculptures decorate the lobby. Waiting at the curb is another black SUV that we crawl back into. It takes about half an hour to get to the restaurant. Connor helps me out of the SUV again, holding onto my hand just a second longer than necessary. On the elevator he stands just close enough to brush against me which is completely unnecessary seeing as how there’s only five of us on the elevator.

He exits first and leans over to speak with the hostess. She giggles at something he says and looks up at him with adoration. You could slap the heart eye emoji on her face and it’d be an accurate depiction of how she’s looking at him. She sends a sultry smile at Victor next.

“Mr. Volkov your table is ready. She leads us through a dark, moody dining room and out onto a patio. Along one side of the seating area are outdoor couches with fire pit tables. The wall running the length of the patio has ivy growing thickly up it. I stop abruptly when she leads us to a corner table, the walls surrounding it are glass. I look up at Connor and see his amused smirk. This is what he was talking to the hostess about.

Devious prick.

I meet his smirk with a sweet smile of my own. I raise my chin and take the offered seat, right next to the glass. He sits across from me again and, while our fathers discuss business and politics, we stare each other down. His cold green eyes against my angry blue. The server comes and interrupts our stare down.

“I’m Mark and I’ll be taking care of you tonight.” He looks around the table and his eyes land on me, twinkling with delight. “And you three gentlemen must be the luckiest men in Manhattan to be dining with this stunning woman.” My face and chest flush because, of course, with my ivory skin my whole body blushes when I’m embarrassed. I smile and glance away, noticing a scowl on Connor’s face directed at someone else for a change. Mark takes our drink orders and leaves the table.

Connor sips his water and then leans over the table toward me. “What do you think of the view?”

“It’s great. I’m glad they gave us such a lovely table.”

“Did you know buildings this tall are built to sway in the wind. Sometimes if you close your eyes you feel them moving beneath your feet.”

“I did know that,” I smirk back at him. “I’m from Chicago, we do have a few tall buildings, you know.”

Victor pulls us into the conversation he’s having with dad. “Connor will be attending Harvard or Yale next year. What are your plans, Lilith?”

“Well, before moving here I was planning on Northwestern but that might be different now.”

“Oh, how so? Northwestern is a good school.”

“My best friend is being scouted for some big D1 schools. He’s a basketball player, Duke and UNC have shown interest. I might try to get accepted to one of those schools.”

“Zion is a giant, six foot seven with a seven foot wingspan. He’s killed it on the court since they were kids,” Dad says proudly. “They’ve been inseparable since their first day of kindergarten.”

“So he’s a friend or a boyfriend?” Victor inquires.

“Just a friend. Lil hasn’t had many boyfriends.” He laughs. “Probably because between her giant athletic best friend and me,” he points to himself, “no one’s brave enough to try anything. One reason I’m fine with her going wherever Z goes to school. They’ll keep each other out of trouble.”

“What are you thinking about majoring in?” Connor asks.

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