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My pulse quickened as I waited for him to elaborate, and when he didn’t, I said, “How so?”
He blew out a breath of air, shaking his head. And when our eyes met, he smiled as if this wasn’t the worst day of our lives. “You’re the heir to the Adams fortune because Fitzy thinks your dad took the key. Not you. If he thought you had it, he would have tortured you.”
I cocked an eyebrow at him. “How does this help us?”
“Grace, this key is your freedom.” His hands cradled my face. “Do you trust me?”
I nodded. “With my life.”
ChapterThirty-Eight
COLE
We had an Elders key. Our winning ticket. The only thing that could free Grace from a horrible life with a man she hated.
With Grace safe, I headed into my bedroom to hide the key. I had secret hiding spots all over the house. Pull on a candlestick, and you might tumble down a dark staircase. Tap the right button on a fireplace, and you might open a door. If I ever needed to escape quickly, there were trap doors everywhere.
Hidden safes.
Random doors.
Winding staircases.
Families like mine could never be too careful. Not all our money was made legally, and we had to take precautions. When the Founders of Devil’s Creek built the town, our families were bootleggers and gunrunners, anything to make a buck.
Inside my bedroom, I pushed the oak chest away from the wall and felt around for the groove in the wooden panels. Finally, my fingers caught on the latch. I hit the trigger point, and the door creaked open.
I pressed my thumb to the safe and entered the combination. It contained five handguns with ammunition, stacks of cash, jewelry, and random items I didn’t want to leave out for someone to find.
I locked the Elders key inside, still in disbelief that I had the power to crush Fitzy. Grace was only alive because of this key. Without it, her grandfather had no reason to keep her around.
After seeing the tape sent to Drake by Viktor, I knew Grace’s father had something to do with the key. But how did he know Grace had it? Bastian hadn’t been in contact with him. Her cousin was the only other person who knew she had it.
Fitzy undoubtedly questioned Bastian, who would have lied through his teeth. Maybe that was why Fitzy let Bastian run Atlantic Airlines after he graduated from Harvard University.
Did he force Fitzy’s hand?
According to his parents will, Bastian couldn’t access the trust until his twenty-fifth birthday. But he became the CEO at twenty-one. At that point, Fitzy stepped away from the company and only attended board meetings when required.
Bastian could have taken the fortune for himself. But, instead, he gave it to Grace. But why? Out of the kindness of his heart?
I couldn’t ask him over the phone. The Knights only shared information in person. We could never be too careful, even with all of Drake’s safeguards to protect us.
After I slid the panel into the wall and moved the chest back into its proper place, I sat on the bed. I considered all of Grace’s options. She could come clean with Fitzy and barter her freedom for the key. But then, that would leave her vulnerable to her bio dad and The Lucaya Group.
Fitzy and The Devil’s Knights would wash their hands of her. On paper, she wasn’t an Adams anymore. Her grandfather might let her go, but I doubted he would let her live. The old man left no stone unturned and wasn’t above resorting to murder.
I needed to talk.
To tell someone.
With the key secured, I went straight to my father’s office without speaking to anyone. Rhys was talking on the phone outside by the pool, smoking a cigar as if he had something to celebrate. I could see him sitting at the table on the patio through the French doors, thinking about putting a bullet in his traitorous skull.
I moved Rhys to a room on the first floor to keep him away from Grace.
Lying prick.
I was right not to trust him, despite him being a Knight. The piece of shit even had me fooled but not for long. And to think I was stupid enough to share her. Grace hated herself for letting him trick her, but I let him blindside me, too.
