6

Oakley.
My nails bite into my palm as I clench my hands tightly, using the dull pain to control myself. There’s a sinister part of me that craves to reach out, snatch Angela by her stupid ponytail, yank her over to me, and wrap my hands around her throat until I crush the life out of her right in front of her daughter.
I close my eyes, drawing in a deep, calming breath. The mental picture of her life slipping from her eyes as I choke her while her daughter watches is satisfying, but it’s not time.
There’s a simmering inferno building under my skin, provoking the beast that lies in wait. Vengeance has never been this close. I can practically taste it on my tongue, but killing her here and now wouldn’t come close to making her suffer enough.
Nothing short of deliberately and painfully torturing her and her husband will suffice. When I’ve had my fun, I’ll delight in obliterating the Carmichael family from the face of this earth.
“If that’s all.” She glances at her daughter. “Eva has a suitcase of belongings the chauffeur will bring in,” Angela says.
I grit my teeth. “Yes, that’s all.” I gesture toward the door. “You may leave.”
Angela’s attention shifts to her daughter. “Behave.” She turns around and strolls out of the office without a goodbye to Eva. Angela Carmichael is a selfish and heartless bitch, and I expect nothing else from a woman like her.
My gaze moves to Eva as her jaw clenches, and I notice a glimmer of anguish in her brilliant hazel eyes as she watches her mother walk away. I’d assumed that she may look like her mother, with those deep soulless brown eyes and jet-black hair, but she is the opposite, with light hazel eyes and golden blonde hair that falls in waves around her shoulders.
The door slams behind Angela, reminding me I’m gawking at my pupil. It feels like talons rake down the inside of my body, trying to burst free as I allow Angela Carmichael to walk off campus alive. Five years I’ve waited to exact my revenge, and it hasn’t been easy, even if I am a patient man.
I’m not surprised that Angela didn’t recognize me. We met on one occasion, and I legally changed my name for the second time when I fled Atlanta five years ago. In the eyes of the law, I’m Oakley James Byrne rather than Brett Oakley Archer.
A name that has become second nature to me. Brett Archer died alone with Jane Williams and the Archer Data corp.
Angela is so self-centered that I never expected her to recognize me. A man she and her husband ruined without a second thought, hell bent on demonstrating the power they held.
My plan is dropping into place as she leaves the campus, leaving behind her sole heir in my hands. The key to everything. They’re so worried about the reputation of their family that they’ve unwittingly delivered their daughter to the devil’s doorstep.
I struck a chord with the superficial Carmichaels, causing them to forget their daughter is squeaky clean. The professionally doctored photo of her with the high-school janitor was all it took for them to move her to my academy in Maine.
Pathetic.
I needed leverage, and their daughter was the perfect target, even if I’ve yet to decide how to utilize her. My sole focus has been bringing her to this academy for the past year. Originally, my target had been her older brother, Karl, until he was murdered two years ago.
I plan to drag the Carmichael’s name through the mud using their daughter before eliminating them.
Archer Daniels, the Syndicate Academy’s gym coach and one of my closest friends, has agreed to have a relationship with her to start it off, but as I look at the innocent little thing standing next to me, she doesn’t strike me as a girl who would fall for his charm.
I glance out of my office window as Angela Carmichael walks down the steps toward the black town car she arrived in.
“I shouldn’t be here,” an angry voice murmurs next to me, drawing my attention back to the daughter of my enemy.
I’m surprised to find her bright hazel eyes fixed on me with a furious expression that few would dare give me. I intimidate most students, yet she appears undeterred by my presence. It’s hard not to notice her natural beauty. Eva Carmichael is the polar opposite of her fake, self-centered mother in appearance. Nevertheless, she’s a Carmichael, and all Carmichaels are the same.
“That’s entirely untrue. You’re the heir to the Carmichael clan.” I stand taller and step closer to her in an attempt to intimidate her. “The syndicate academy is where you belong.”
She holds her chin high, undeterred by my scare tactics. “I’ve got no interest in the family business.” Mature wisdom in her unique hazel eyes makes her appear beyond her eighteen years.
“Words of a spoiled princess who doesn’t understand the meaning of working for a living.” I shake my head. “You’ll learn some difficult lessons here, Eva.”
Her jaw tightens, and she stands taller. She’s not short but compared to my height, she is tiny. “I have every intention of working for a living once I graduate.” Her brow furrows, and her fists clench by her side. “I will be a vet no matter what anyone says. I want nothing to do with my parents’ deranged criminal organization.”
Her outburst surprises me. Ironically, I teach students in the same situation I was in at eighteen before I ran away. No students in attendance are interested in living a straight and narrow life. They’re usually as fucked up as their parents, if not worse.
“You shouldn’t tell the other students that.” I squint at her. “They’ll prey on it as a weakness.” I don’t know why I warn her about the other students when my sole intention is to torture this girl, but we have some severely messed-up students in attendance. Girls and boys that would chew her up and spit her out.
She clenches her jaw. “Being better than yourparents isn’t weakness.” Her eyes are blazing with anger now.
Her words pack a punch to my gut, as I was likeher at one time. She’s a hopeless romantic who believes there’s an escape fromdarkness, but she is wrong and will learn.
“Your parents want you to take over the familybusiness, and I’m here to mold you into a perfect leader for said business.” Icross my arms over my chest. “You’ll do as you’re told while you’re here. Whathappens afterward is up to you and your family.”
I study her reactions closely, intrigued by thedaughter of my enemy. She isn’t what I expected at all. Instead of a smartretort, she holds her tongue and glares at me.
“Come. I’ll show you to your dorm room.” Igesture for her to walk out of my office.
She turns around and walks out, her hips swayingtemptingly.
At that moment, I realize I’m staringunashamedly at her curvy figure and, particularly, her firm, round backside. Shaking my head, I walk after her and make sure I stay one step ahead. “Followme.”
Although far shorter than her mother’s, Eva’sheels clack on the stone floor, punctuating the air violently. The sound is allthat falls between us as we make our way toward the girls’ dormitory wing.
It’s hard to believe I have the most preciousthing to Angela and Jamie Carmichael after years of scheming. They ripped myworld apart and dismantled the empire I established in minutes, as well askilled a woman I was too blind to recognize I loved.
The large insurance payout made it possible forme to purchase the Syndicate Academy from Artem Sidorov, ex-bratva commanderwho was pleased to retire at seventy-one. The school had a reputation formolding successful leaders, but I took it up a notch, extending attendance toevery mafia, not only the Bratva.
I swipe Eva’s keycard to enter the girls’dormitory wing and lead the way into the luxurious hallway. The dormitoriesare, of course, much like a hotel, as the families would expect nothing lessfor their beloved offspring.
There’s an odd contrast stepping from the mainschool, which is cold and dark, into the west dormitory wing.
Eva’s soft gasp is proof of that. A sound thatdraws my attention over to her as my pants tighten slightly. My brow furrows asI force my attention back to the corridor ahead, navigating my way through thelabyrinth of rooms to hers.
Finally, I find room sixty-nine. “This is yourroom,” I say, motioning to the door. I hold up the key card. “And this is yourkey.” I swipe it over the panel, and it clicks open.
Her brow furrows. “Is this a boarding school orhotel?”
“All rooms have key card access for thestudents’ protection.” I shrug as she stares at me blankly. “It’s impossible topick an electronic lock,” I add.
In the five years since I purchased thisacademy, we’ve had some incidents that would shock the most hardened criminals. In total, in five years, we’ve lost seven students to vicious attacks. Incidents shocked me to the core, but I guess it would never be easy bringingcriminal families’ heirs under one roof. I push open the door to her bedroomand step inside.
“You have your room, a small sitting room behindthe first door and a bathroom behind the second, leading to a walk-in closet,”I explain.
Eva follows me inside. “This isn’t what Iexpected after seeing the rest of the school.” She puts down her hold-all andwalks into the room, where one suitcase is waiting. Considering she’ll livehere, she has few possessions.
“Is that all you brought with you?” I ask.
Eva glances up at me, a sadness in her eyes.”Yes.” She shrugs slightly. “They only allowed me to pack one bag.”
I clench my jaw, wondering what the stab in my gut is. Sympathy, perhaps? This girl has been subjected to parents like Angela and Jamie Carmichael. However, I refuse to accept she isn’t like them deep down under her angelic exterior. A woman raised by evil doesn’t grow up untouched by it.