Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 131926 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 660(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131926 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 660(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
I’ve never been so confused by someone in my life.
I shake off the thoughts as Tobias drops down into the driver’s seat. We sit in silence and I look out the window at the happy families playing in their yards and try to remember whose house is whose. Though, it’s not like it’s going to matter. The majority of the men who have been trying to take me out haven’t exactly been showing their faces. They’re keeping a low profile just as I should be doing.
We get to the end of the road, and just as Carver had done the first time he brought me here, Tobias turns right and we take the skinny private road to the concealed car elevator until we’re dropping down into darkness.
Tobias leads me out into the underground world, and we walk through the main entrance. “So, what exactly does this induction thing entail?”
He shrugs his shoulders. “To be completely honest with you, Elodie, I have no idea. I’m making it up as I go. Your father didn’t exactly leave a handbook of how to do things in case he was brutally murdered and his only child would have to rule at a young age. In a perfect world, your father would be here, and he would have taught you everything you needed to know as you grew.”
“Okay,” I say, taking a deep breath. “So, where do we start?”
“I suppose we take you on the grand tour and then we head for your father’s main office.”
“Main office?” I ask, my brows furrowed as Tobias leads me toward the right, far away from the hallway that ends with the holding cells. In fact, I might ask Tobias to leave that part out of my grand tour. I think I’ve seen enough of those cells to last a lifetime.
We take a few steps and stop at a door. Tobias leans in and opens it for me before ushering me in. “Yes, your father had four offices in total, one in your home that I assume you’ve already discovered.”
I nod. “Yeah, I had a peek, but it felt too personal, so I backed out and closed the door before I got the chance to take a proper look.”
“Well, you should,” he tells me. “Knowledge is the key to success. Your father kept a lot of paperwork in his home office. It will do you well to go home tonight and get familiar with the documents he felt important enough to keep. Imagine the wealth of knowledge you could learn about the people around you just from a little light reading.”
“Light?” I scoff. “There’s nothing light about it. There were bookcases upon bookcases in that office.”
“Then I suggest you get started.”
My lips press into a tight line and I drop the conversation. The last thing I want is to spend my time reading over old documents and books, but I can’t deny that he has a very valid point. There could be all sorts of information in those documents about the people I’m supposed to lead, and if it was worthy enough for my father to hold onto, then who the hell knows what kind of advantage I’ll be giving myself in this twisted game.
“Follow me through here,” Tobias says, stepping through to another room.
I go straight after him and pause at the door as I find the wide room covered from wall to wall in the kind of technology that one only sees in movies. “What is this?” I ask, taking in all the screens and monitors.
“This is our state-of-the-art tech room, where all the magic happens,” he says, sounding like a proud father, much prouder than when he was speaking to his son. “Any computer or system can be hacked from this very room. No matter how secure their systems are, Dynasty will always be better. This is how we function, how we thrive. This right here is the heart of Dynasty. Without this, we hold no power. From here, we’re able to control every missile launcher across the globe, we can control governments, the stock market, everything is ours with just the touch of a button. This right here is where your criminal record vanished into thin air.”
I gape at it all, my mind reeling with the information. This room is an accident waiting to happen. More than that, it’s a fucking cyber weapon, and under the control of someone with less than pure intentions, this equipment could mean disaster. “But … why? Why does anybody want that kind of power? What if leadership fell into the wrong hands? The whole world could be destroyed with just the click of a button.”
“That is exactly the reason why we have a council. Your role is not to be taken lightly. There are members of Dynasty who are only looking out for themselves. They want to see their own success, want to see how far they can push the limits—”