Caught in the Trap: A Reverse Harem Academy Bully Romance (Mafia Lords of Knightswood Academy Book 1)

by Ivy Clyde

  “Did Miss Dumas instruct you on what you’re supposed to be doing today?” asked Mal.

  “She asked me to follow you and pretend to be a trainee under you.”

  Mal gave a nod. “I really have no idea what you’ll be doing there and was told not to ask. However, you must stick with me at all times when we’re at Novomedik premises.” She glanced at me for a moment. “No angsty teenage rage while we’re there. Got it?”

  “Don’t worry about me,” I told her. “There are worse threats hanging over my head if I make a mistake.”

  Mal drove through the city streets, groaning each time we were stopped by the traffic lights changing from green to orange. She was an impatient driver, swearing like a sailor as she passed the cars on her way. It was hard to suppress my chuckles.

  She calmed down considerably when we reached the highway. Traffic was lighter here but she was still annoyed by the cars that didn’t go fast enough. I leaned against my seat, ignoring her completely as my mind fell to contemplating what waited for me at the end of the ride.

  My phone buzzed in the pocket of my jeans. Taking it out, I saw Andrei calling me. It was close to nine A.M. By now, he was probably wondering where I’d disappeared to. He’d left calls and messages over the weekend but being inside the underground bunker, I’d missed them all. Guilt washed over me for ignoring his call but there was no way I could tell him what I was up to. Placing the phone back in my pocket, I ignored the vibrations, telling myself it wasn’t the right time to talk to him. Worry about him and everything else after the job, I told myself repeatedly.

  Mal glanced at me from time to time, her curiosity about me clear in her eyes. Still, she managed to keep all questions to herself as she sped toward our destination.

  Novomedik’s headquarters was located in a deserted area, away from the main highway that connected the states. We were met by security guards at the gates to the campus. Mal flashed them her ID card as well as a document that they read carefully before letting us through.

  The campus of Novomedik was stark and bare. Following directions, Mal drove the car to the visitor’s parking lot. Her sunshine yellow Toyota was one of the few cars that were left in the vast space.

  Climbing out, we followed the route leading to the main office building. The weak November sun glinted on the glass panels covering the top floors.

  “This way,” said Mal, hurrying toward a pair of sliding glass doors in the distance. I followed her as she walked through it, taking note of the vast luxurious lobby. Mal moved to speak to one of the ladies who sat at the far counter. “Get over here, Skye,” she called, waving to me.

  “Put this on,” she said, handing me a visitor’s badge. I noticed a similar badge pinned to the front of her suit jacket. With a nod at the ladies at the counter, she walked away, leaving me to hurry after her. Instead of taking the elevators at the end of the hall, she moved toward the emergency exit stairwell.

  “Where are we going?” I asked as Mal descended down the steps.

  “The server room,” she answered without stopping. “That’s where I will be doing my job. In the meantime, you do whatever you need to do. Hopefully, we’ll be the only ones down there.”

  We were probably at an underground level by now. Tinted glass walls stood to one side of the narrow hallway, giving me a glimpse of tall racks that housed the network hardware for Novomedik.

  Mal stopped beside a heavy steel door and took a keycard from the pocket of her jacket. She pressed the card against a lock panel. A tiny beep sounded immediately. “Come on,” she said, pushing the heavy door open.

  Cold, dry air hit my face as soon as I entered the dimly lit room. Pinpricks of light from LED switches glowed and flickered all around the place. Mal walked through the rows of stacked racks, heading toward the empty desk in the corner. She obviously knew her way around this vast underground space. I followed her and sat down opposite to her.

  “Can you get me connected to the network?” I asked her as she opened her laptop.

  She stared at me a moment, hesitating to comply with my request. “I really don’t know what Miss Dumas is thinking,” she muttered, pulling my laptop toward her. Getting to her feet, she moved toward one of the tall racks and brought out a USB cable connected to a thick orange wire. She pushed the head into one of the laptop’s port.

  Her sharp gaze swung back to me. “This is breaching security,” she said with a grim look. “I really hope you know what you’re doing and that Miss Dumas will take all responsibility if you fuck something up.” The warning was clear in her eyes.

  “Everything will be fine,” I said, leaning forward to pull my laptop back toward me.

  Mal watched me. Ignoring her, I opened up the Novomedik portal and typed in Dimitri’s username and password. My heart thudded in my chest as the tiny sand clock icon rotated on my screen. A few seconds later, I exhaled the breath I’d been holding. A welcome page popped up on my screen, giving me full access.

  I glanced over at Mal. She’d gone back to her side of the desk and was looking into the screen of her own laptop. Returning my attention back to my own screen, I opened up the accounting tab and started a search sequence. My goal was to see whether some of the figures and account numbers from Nikolai’s transaction filed matched anything in the Novomedik network.

  I settled back in my chair, watching the progress bar creep forward slowly. It would be a while before the program finished searching through the entirety of the vast network.

  A sudden idea popped into my head. Since all the accounting information was available to me, I decided to look into older files relating to Maria Volkov. Minimizing the search program, I accessed the account holder information of all employees of Novomedik. The list was alphabetized, helping me locate Maria’s name easily.

  Clicking on her name, I opened up the list of transactions that had taken place on that account. A long list appeared on the screen. Leaning forward, I looked into the dates that started since three years ago. Every month, a sum of five thousand dollars was deposited into her account from David Volkov’s account. I guessed him to be someone from Dimitri’s family. Another column showed me the bank account number into which the money was automatically transferred.

  I scrolled down the list, noting that the trend continued for two years. However, at the end of the second year, six-figure amounts began to show up in Maria’s Novomedik account. They weren’t coming from David Volkov though. They were all from an account named ‘Novomedik Master Account’. As always, the money got automatically transferred into Maria’s bank account.

  “What the fuck,” I whispered, staring at the amount that was being drained from the master account. Even if Maria wasn’t responsible for stealing these exorbitant sums of money, she had to notice them accumulating in her bank account. “Why didn’t you tell anyone about this?”

  “What are you mumbling about?” Mal’s loud voice made me jump.

  “Sorry,” I muttered, staring at the information glaring at me from my laptop’s screen.

  It was no wonder everyone thought Maria was stealing from the Volkovs. This master account could have been the one where money from their shady deals accumulated. Some of it had to belong to the other mafia families of the region. There was no way anyone could have missed out on the millions of dollars that got robbed from under their noses.

  From the information before me, I could tell Maria wasn’t innocent. She’d probably hacked into the network to move the money from the master account into her own. Dimitri and Andrei were convinced she was innocent, that someone had planted the evidence on her. Part of me couldn’t understand how a sheltered girl like Maria who wasn’t even allowed to go out of the house without guards escorting her could learn these advanced programming skills that would allow her to hack into the Novomedik portal.

  You were definitely aware of what was going on, I thought, wondering about the girl who had the same face as mine but was a very different person from me. Andrei had said she refus
ed to run away. Maria was willing to die at Dimitri’s hand. Was it out of some kind of loyalty or guilt?

  I glanced back at the eight-figure sum that had been stolen from Novomedik’s ‘master’ account. The money had to have been enough for her to run away and buy a small army to protect her from all threats. Why did you choose to die then? I asked in my mind.

  From what I knew of the matter, the money had never been recovered. Maria had taken out the entire amount from her bank account. I suppose the Volkovs could have held her captive and tortured her until she blurted out the truth but they hadn’t…

  Dimitri’s words crossed my mind. He’d said his family had been merciful toward Maria. They showed their love and affection for her by giving her a quick death. Back then, I didn’t believe him. I really thought Maria had been innocent but the evidence was plain for everyone to see.

  A low beep drew my attention to the laptop. The search program had finished running but it hadn’t found anything related to the transaction file Nikolai was searching for. I typed in the other half search terms and allowed it to run once more.

  Getting to my feet, I walked the rows and columns, my mind firmly fixed on the mystery of Maria’s death. She was definitely protecting the thief who stole the money after using her but for what reason? Andrei was convinced she was loyal to the Volkovs but I doubted that. If she was truly loyal, wouldn’t she give them the name of the person who was responsible for the theft?

  There was a tiny jealous monster inside me that reared its head, agreeing that Maria wasn’t the goody-two-shoes people believed her to be. Suddenly, something else crossed my mind.

  Andrei’s brother, Egor, had been the most enthusiastic about serving justice to Maria. He had been the most vocal about getting her killed. Was he related to the theft somehow? From what I knew of him, he was cruel and sadistic. It wouldn’t be a far-fetched theory to believe he was involved, but then wouldn’t Andrei have known? If Egor really was the mastermind behind everything, why would he end up being a victim of the attack that killed his family?

  My mind churned, weighing all the facts. The true sequence of events and the person behind it all remaining firmly hidden. No wonder, Nikolai and the rest of the mafia families were foaming at the mouth to find out who stole from them and with what intention.

  A heavy hand suddenly came to rest on my shoulder, making me jump.

  “Whoa! Easy!” Mal’s voice sounded from behind me.

  Heart racing in my chest, I turned around to look at the technician.

  “My job is done,” she said. “How long will you take?”

  “Shouldn’t take long,” I said, walking back to our workstation. I leaned down and checked the clock in the screen’s bottom bar. We’d been down in the server room for over two hours now. Opening the search program, I found that it had come up empty. None of the items from Nikolai’s transaction file matched anything in Novomedik’s network.

  A relieved breath escaped me. At least, we could be sure that the Volkovs weren’t involved in stealing it from Nikolai and the other mafia families of their syndicate.

  “So, how long?” Mal asked, her sharp gaze fixed on me.

  “I am done.”

  “Wow,” she said, closing down her laptop. “I thought you’d need the entire day.”

  “Their system is updated and maintained very well. My programs ran quicker than I expected.”

  She suddenly looked uncomfortable. “Don’t tell me anything more. I don’t need to know.”

  “Right.”

  “Let’s pack up and leave, then.”

  “Sure.”

  We began packing our stuff. Mal bent down under the table and checked whether anything was left behind there. Once she was confident, she gave a nod and began walking toward the doorway through which we came.

  We were nearly there when she suddenly came to a halt. Her face had turned pale, her eyes fixed on the glass door ahead. I looked that way too and felt my own blood turn cold in my veins.

  Right outside those doors, stood Dimitri Volkov. Five massive guards flanked his sides.

  “Take my stuff,” I said, quickly shoving the handle of my bag into her free hand.

  “What?”

  “Say they are yours,” I whispered hurriedly as the door opened up.

  Dimitri’s footsteps on the floor of the server room sounded painfully loud in my ears. I dropped my gaze to the ground, unwilling to look into his cold, piercing eyes. My heart thundered in my ears, knowing I was about to be caught red-handed. My mind raced, desperately trying to come up with excuses that would help me get out of there.

  “Hey! Stop!” Mal’s panicked voice made me look up. Two of the five guards had taken hold of her arms. “What do you think you’re doing?” she shouted.

  “Take her away,” said Dimitri in a cold, commanding voice. “Find out if she truly belongs to Dumas Corporation.”

  The men dragged Mal out of the room. A third man moved forward to pick up the bags Mal had dropped and carried them away.

  My gaze swung back to Dimitri. He was staring straight at me.

  “Follow me, Skye.” Turning around, he walked out.

  My feet seemed to be frozen stuck to the ground. Fear flowed through my veins like icy water. One of the remaining men poked me in the back. “Move it, kid.”

  I forced my feet forward, wondering if I could lie my way out of the situation. Deep within, my confidence crumbled, knowing it was one thing to make a random stranger believe I was an intern at Dumas Corporation and quite another to make Dimitri believe that fact.

  You’re so screwed, my mind threw at me as I walked down the hallway toward my doom.

  35

  Dimitri

  I walked down the hallway leading toward the staircase. The sound of slow, timid footsteps followed me.

  An online conference meeting had been scheduled today with our clients in Ukraine this morning but as soon as I reached the office premises, the secretary told me there was some problem with our servers and that maintenance had been called in. The conference had been delayed to the following day. I’d already taken my leave from school today, so there was nothing for me to do other than going back.

  Deciding to look around the premises, I turned my attention to the secretary. “How many people are working in the server room?”

  “Two, Sir.”

  “Let me see.”

  The secretary took me to the surveillance room. This need to “see” was just an excuse to move around the office complex before leaving for home. I had no idea I would find Skye Wilson typing away and focusing on the screen of a laptop with the grimmest expression on her face. The hood of her jacket was pulled over her head but the camera’s position gave me a clear view of her face. Taking a seat, I watched her.

  Skye had no business coming to Novomedik. A quick investigation told me she came with a technician from Dumas Corporation.

  A quarter of an hour later, I watched Skye and the other woman beginning to pack up. There was no way I could let them leave without finding out why they were really here. It wouldn’t be a far-fetched idea to think the technician didn’t belong to Dumas Corporation. She could have been sent by the nameless, faceless enemy that was attacking our business and our people and laying the blame on the other mafia families of our syndicate.

  “Mr. Copen, look into the technician,” I commanded the man beside me. “Find out who she really is.” Walking out of the surveillance room, I gestured for the five guards waiting for me in the corridor. Skye wouldn’t be able to escape me today. She would have to tell me what she was hiding. It was the only way I could protect her in the future. Maria had died from keeping secrets. I couldn’t let it happen to Skye too.

  I caught Skye and the possibly fake technician just as they were coming out of the server room. Three of my men dragged her away, leaving Skye to my mercy.

  Now, she was being forced to follow me as I walked down the hallway. However, my patience was running out. I wanted to know wh
at she was doing here at that very second. Stopping beside a storage room, I turned around to look at Skye. Her eyes widened as soon as they met mine. She stopped in her tracks too. The unwillingness to come near me was clear in her face.

  I smiled inwardly, knowing I’d caught up to her. Ever since the day I found her strolling the campus of Knightswood Academy, I knew she’d been planted there by Nikolai Ivanov for a reason. Skye was tight-lipped and cautious, barely letting me on to her secret. Today would be the day I pried it out of her.

  Turning to my side, I opened the door to the closet room. It was tiny, barely large enough to fit two people inside. A single lamp hung from the ceiling, illuminating the heaps of cardboard boxes stacked against the back wall.

  “Come here, Skye.” My voice was soft but she wouldn’t miss the subtle threat lying underneath it.

  She walked forward and glanced up at me. I gestured for her to enter the room. Her face turned paler and I noticed the way she fisted her hands. These little signs told me Skye was scared. Why did she have to fear me? I’d made it very clear I didn’t want to hurt her. Guilt crossed her expression, taking me by surprise.

  “Go inside,” I told her.

  Taking a deep breath, she obeyed. I followed her and closed the door after me.

  The space between the walls was just enough to allow us to stand without touching each other. Turning toward her, I took a step forward and crowded her against the wall behind her.

  “What do you want?” she asked in a low voice.

  “I want to know why Nikolai Ivanov told the school you were sick and then sent you here of all places. Why are you here, Skye?”

  She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders in a bid to look unnerved. “I am here for a job. Why are you here?”

  “Don’t tell me you didn’t know Novomedik belongs to my family?”

  “No, I didn’t know that.”

  This girl could lie with a straight face. She was daring and not afraid to defy me. The thrill of challenge shot through me. The urge to break her walls until she revealed everything was overpowering. Taking a deep breath, I continued.