Page 105 of Wicked Heiress

He winked. “Bye, princess.”

Chapter Fifty-Eight

GRACE

After Carl adjourned the meeting, Bastian guided me beneath the building. No one was allowed to come with us. Only the Elders could use the key to access the secret door. In typical Founder fashion, we moved through hidden passages until we were directly beneath the ground level.

Bastian stopped in front of an ancient door and removed the skeleton key. He turned it in the old lock and smiled when it clicked into place. “Are you ready to see what kind of power this key holds?”

I nodded. “Open it.”

He pushed on the door. But as I had expected, we needed more than the key to access what was behind it. Before Carl left, he transferred the security access to Bastian. I would only have to intervene if he was unavailable.

My cousin put his hand on the wall scanner and leaned forward to let the computer take a retinal scan.

I laughed. “Why even use the key if no one can get past this door?”

He chuckled, giving me a light shrug. “The Elders keys are symbolic. You have to possess the key to access what lies behind this door.” He tipped his head. “After you.”

“But how did our grandfather get in here without the key?”

He shrugged. “Who knows? The old man had his ways.”

I entered a massive room with dozens of bookshelves and turned to look at Bastian, one eyebrow raised. “Seriously? All of this secrecy for a library?”

“It’s not what you think.” He tapped on my back and followed me inside, shutting the door behind us. “Take a look at the names on the shelves. See if you recognize any of them.”

Despite the age of the exterior, the room looked as if it had been updated in the past ten years. The decor was simple but modern, with paintings and art that looked priceless donning the walls and tables. Of course, The Founders did nothing half-assed. Only the best for the five wealthiest families in the world.

There was a lounge area on the right side of the room. I imagined Carl and the other Elders sitting in the leather armchairs, smoking cigars and drinking scotch from the bar. It looked like an old saloon, reminding me of Fitzy’s office at his home.

After Bastian inherited the mansion, he and Damian burned it to the ground. I was glad that place was ash. It held nothing but nightmares for the three of us.

I took my time inspecting each shelf as Bastian did the same. He seemed to know what he would find here, yet he looked equally surprised.

“Hmmm…” Bastian removed a box from the shelf and set it on a round table to dig through its contents. The exterior said JFK Assassination. He lifted a few photos and showed them to me. “This is interesting.”

I nodded. “How did The Founders get this stuff?”

“Secrets keep us in power,” he explained. “The Founders have collected information on every major world event. They have dirt on every politician. There’s no one they can’t bribe.”

My eyes traced over a few boxes on the shelf, widening at one with the name of the president of the United States. And as I walked each aisle, I saw the names of people I recognized throughout history. No wonder why my grandfather had so much money and control. He only needed to use this information to get ahead.

“Do the other Founders ever get access to this room?”

He shook his head. “No, but my dad would kill to see what’s in here. We have a saying in Devil’s Creek that originated from the Salvatores.”

“Secrets are commodities?” I asked him since I’d heard it plenty of times before.

He bobbed his head to confirm. “If you collect enough secrets, you have more power than money.” A sly grin tugged at his mouth. “Was this what you expected when I handed you the key?”

I shook my head. “Not even close.”

Bastian dumped the photos and papers into the box and returned them to the shelf. “Ready to go? It’s late, and I promised Alex I would give her a tour of the city in the morning. You and Cole should come with us.”

I smiled. “Yeah, we would love that.”

Chapter Fifty-Nine

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