"The safe is behind the big portrait he has of himself."Isabella told Tanya. The pair along with Rosalie were in Aro's office. They were there to see what Aro had been spending his time on. Sulpicia had claimed that she had never seen Aro do anything in their wing of the castle and that he barely used their rooms for anything other than to keep clothing and use the private bathroom to bathe. Isabella of course believed the woman as she had no reason to lie. It had taken some convincing but both former queens had come to terms with the fact they were being lied to. Isabella was glad because their mates desperately wanted to meet them. That was set to happen once the two women decided they were ready.
"You would think he would have picked a less obvious place to put it."Rosalie said as she went to Aro's desk and took a seat in his chair after leading Isabella to one of the visitor chairs and helping her sit down."This chair is horribly uncomfortable."
"I don't think the former kings cared about comfort. They cared if they came off as intimidating, powerful and wealthy. All of those things they tried to convey with their choice of furniture."Tanya pulled the painting off the wall exposing a large wall safe. She put the painting on the ground and then spun the dial causing the door to swing open."I got it open."
"What's inside?"Isabella had only gotten the location and the combination for the safe. She wasn't able to find out the contents.
Tanya began looking through everything."Paperwork we will need to examine more closely, a very old expensive looking ring, two external hard drives and a bunch of pictures that taking a look at were probably used for blackmail purposes."
"Do you think the ring was from Marcus?"Rosalie asked.
"Probably and if so I bet we will find another one when we go through his office."Isabella could easily see the pair exchanging rings and hiding them.
"We will need to look at these hard drives."Tanya was glad that Isabella had planned ahead and already acquired secured laptops for them to use to go over any sensitive materials they found.
"I'm surprised Aro even had them as he was very against computers and other forms of modern technology."Isabella had heard the man rant about how much more complicated things were with everything being digital.
"Well he has a computer on his desk."Rosalie turned the computer on surprised when there was no prompt for a password."One he didn't think to protect with a password."
"He probably never thought anyone would be daring enough to break into his office."Isabella didn't think Aro would have even considered someone betraying him.
"I'm not sure what we should do about these pictures."Tanya said.
"What do you mean?"Rosalie asked.
"Some of them are evidence of vampires and humans doing some horrible things. Things I know that not only I but the both of you would not like to let continue happen."Tanya was appalled by what some of the pictures depicted.
"I'm not surprised he was blackmailing humans."Isabella knew that Aro dealt with humans from time to time. It was necessary for keeping vampires from being exposed.
"If they are doing things that need to be stopped then I think we should have some of our people fully investigate them. That way we can get enough evidence for the human criminal systems to convict them."Rosalie suggested.
"Good idea. It would gain us good will with the various figureheads if we help them convict such high profile individuals. Most of the people from these pictures being those that I have no doubt have a lot of power and influence in the world."Tanya thought that Rosalie's idea was perfect. It would show the human authorities that they were willing to let them control their own species.
"What do you both think of having Kate and her team in charge of each investigation?"Isabella asked.
Rosalie appreciated that even though Isabella could have easily used her gift to see how it would work out in the future she asked for their opinion on things."I think that it would be the perfect way for them to train their skills without being put in to much danger."
"I agree. The group will need to have real world experience and I would feel a lot better with them getting it dealing with humans before we send them into more dangerous situations."Tanya was of the same thought as Rosalie. She liked that Isabella didn't try to make all the decisions just because she had a gift. That being something that Alice with the same gift often tried to do.
"The missions will also help Kate decide what she needs to set up some rooms for her team to work out of as I hadn't really planned ahead for her."Isabella figured Kate would want to make the decisions on what she wanted when it came to her team. The only way Isabella would step in is if she was asked to as she didn't want everyone relying on her gift for everything. If they did she would spend all her time looking into the future and after spending most of her existence doing it she deserved the chance to live in the present.
"Speaking of rooms we need to get the architect in here soon."Rosalie wanted to get their private rooms done quickly so they had a place to relax and be able to explore their bond in private. Exploring their bond being something she hoped they could do soon but knew they had to get an overview of everything the kings were up to before they could relax. It wouldn't be good if they were caught up in something that the former kings were in involved in. Case in point the blackmail scheme.
"I'm sure that everyone is itching to get the architect in here."Tanya was expecting a lot of changes to the castle with Isabella allowing the guards and other long term occupants a chance to have their own private spaces. Something that she and Rosalie supported whole heartily after finding out how the kings forced them to live. Tanya was horrified to find out that mated couple were forced to live with unmated vampires and couldn't believe that more deaths didn't occur due to the mated pairs instincts demanding they kill any unmated vampire that was in close vicinity to their mate. They were just lucky that the although the castle was close to the city they owned over a hundred of acres of land on the back side of the building so they would have room to expand. They definitely had the money to cover it so everything would be done properly.
"What have the former queens decided to do about where they live?"Rosalie asked.
"My mothers said that they would prefer to not live in their former rooms and asked that they get new rooms."Isabella told her.
"I feel bad that they have to continue living at the castle but it would be unsafe for them as they could be targets for the former kings' enemies."Tanya wouldn't have wanted to live in the place that she had been kept prisoner for thousands of years.
"They will still be able to travel and see the world if they want to."Isabella said.
"I bet they are excited about that."Rosalie and her mates had also planned to travel in a few decades once they had established their rule. With Isabella's shield and the protection of the guards they would be perfectly safe from attacks. Rosalie already had a list of places she had picked that she wanted to go.
"I think it will be good for them to get out of the castle. That and to finally meet their true mates. It will be good for their recovery."The former queens had a long way to go and Tanya knew it would take some time before they would be ready to move on with their lives.
"I know I couldn't have done anything to help them but I still feel guilty that I allowed the kings to continue the lie for so long."Isabella had accepted the fact that interfering was not a good idea but it was hard not to act when she knew that the the former queens' true mates were out there waiting to be united with them.
"At least the former kings didn't touch them."Rosalie wouldn't have been able to stand by if they did and Isabella wouldn't have either.
"I wish that we had more time to torture Caius before we killed him."Tanya and Isabella had beaten him badly but Tanya would have preferred to have stretched it out over days if not months of torture.
"I do to."Isabella would have loved to let her mothers have a chance at the man but they needed him dead for the plan to work.
"It seems Aro had private bank accounts that I doubt the other kings knew about."Rosalie said as she read through a file on the computer screen.
"He was probably stealing money from the other two."Tanya wouldn't be surprised if Aro hid his secret accounts from his true mate.
"I need to do more research but I think you are right."From what Rosalie could see it seemed that Aro was charging businesses for services she doubted he supplied.
"How much has he got stashed away?"Isabella asked.
"Rough estimate based on the ones I have found converted to American currency about 10 billion dollars."Rosalie told her.
Isabella whistled."The guards are going to be very pleased with the bonus we are going to be giving everyone."
"I think they are going to be pleased to get paid."Tanya didn't understand why the kings thought it was a good idea not to pay the guards and servants in the castle any kind of money. Yes it kept them from leaving as they had no way to support themselves but it also made it so they all were more than willing to betray them for someone who promised that they would treat them better.
"Dimitri mentioned that he was hoping to get enough to buy a formula 1 team. I don't know how much that cost but based on Aro's wealth, the money we are most likely going to find the other two had hidden and their combined wealth I'm sure he will be able to."Isabella had wanted to help the guards earn their own money but it wasn't safe as if the kings found out they would ask questions that would expose Isabella.
"I bet you're right about the other two having hidden assets."Rosalie said.
"I'm most interested in knowing what kind of businesses they ran as I doubt they were all legal."Tanya expected the kings to have been involved in many illegal activities that she and her mates would want to shut down and distance themselves from.
"I have a feeling it's going to take me weeks to trace everything."Rosalie had studied forensic accounting in preparation of taking over from the kings because they didn't want to trust anyone but the three of them to handle not only their own assets but the former kings as well. She was an expert at hiding money and was the reason that the Denali were able to grow their wealth in modern times. Isabella gave her the investment tips and Rosalie arranged a way to legally be involved without the government looking too closely. It hadn't mattered before computers as Tanya could have as many bank accounts and own as many businesses as she wanted but now things needed to be hidden. It made Rosalie feel good knowing that she was contributing to the family in such an important way.
"Don't stress yourself out. We have time."Isabella told her.
"I just hate that we are finally reunited with you and we have to wait until everything is sorted out to be able to spend time together."Now that they were back together Rosalie wanted to just ignore all their responsibilities and spend months on end in the bedroom exploring her mates' bodies.
"We all hate it, love."Tanya said.
"Things won't always be this hectic. I guarantee at times you will actually be bored with being a queen."Isabella didn't have to have a vision to know that things would calm down. She had seen it while living in the castle under the kings' rule. It was sometimes weeks in between when they had an audience in the throne room.
Rosalie doubted that being a queen would ever be boring."What did the kings spend their time doing when they weren't busy?"
"Marcus was big on research. He always had some project or another. Caius was obsessed with the guard. He spent most of his free time training with them. Aro was a mixture of both. He fully supported Marcus' research and was just as obsessed as Caius with the guard. He was very interested in gifted vampires. He had this image of himself being the most powerful being in the world and was trying to do everything he could to achieve that."Isabella had heard the three kings speak about their various passions on many occasions as they didn't censor their conversations when she was in the room.
"It was his want to be the most powerful being that led to his downfall."Tanya knew that if Aro and the other two kings hadn't been obsessed with being in control that they wouldn't have needed to be overthrown.
"I honestly don't believe he would have been happy if he succeeded in ruling the world. Nothing was ever enough for him. He always wanted more of everything. It didn't matter if it was something as simple as him having the nicest, most opulent throne something that he changed dozens of times to make it even more flashy and expensive looking. He was never satisfied even when he got exactly what he asked for."Isabella didn't think Aro would have been happy having every one of his dreams fulfilled.
"Someone that dissatisfied with life would never be able to be a good ruler."Rosalie couldn't imagine anyone who was so unhappy with life able to make good decisions for others.
"That won't be a problem with us because nothing makes me happier than being with the two of you."Tanya was the happiest she had even been in her life now that she was reunited with Isabella and the three mates no longer had to hide their bond from the world. The fact that her family was all safe and happy with their new roles in their regime made everything that much better.
"Me neither."Isabella didn't care what the future held for the three of them. They were together and had a full support system consisting of family and friends that would make sure they were safe and happy.
"I couldn't agree more."Rosalie had lived a good life with Tanya and the Denali but had always felt like something was missing. That thing being Isabella and now that they were together she felt just as happy as her mates.
"I'm going to move on to Aro's file cabinets."Tanya said.
"I'll finish going through Aro's computer."Rosalie wanted to see what other things Aro was hiding from the other two kings.
"I have a few things I want to check up on."Isabella told them.
"We will be quiet."Tanya figured if Isabella was checking on things it was most likely something important.
"Thank you."Isabella leaned back in her seat and relaxed her body. She was wanted to check on a couple issues that had come to her attention the last time she was meditating and had a random vision
"Let us know if you need us for anything."Rosalie said turning her attention back to the computer. She wasn't worried about what Isabella was looking into because whatever it was Isabella would be able to give them the information to stop anything bad from happening. Thinking of the fact that Isabella was such a powerful seer made Rosalie smile. If only the kings had known about Isabella's gift they would have been ecstatic. Aro would have been able to have the power he craved with Isabella on his side. Not that he would have been happy about it. If from what she knew and what Isabella told them it was obvious Aro wouldn't have been happy with anything. That wasn't something that would be a problem for Rosalie and her mates. They didn't care about having power. They cared about being together and keeping those they loved safe. If doing that meant that they had to be queens and take charge of vampire society they would do it. It wasn't that much of hardship anyway. Their subjects were loyal and Isabella had made solid allies out of the rulers of the other vampire territories so they really had nothing to worry about. Rosalie doubted that would change in the future as they weren't planning on expanding their territory or targeting innocent people. Those being the two surefire ways of gaining enemies. Their rule was going based on peace and fairness and that was a surefire way to keep from being overthrown.