Shuttered Truth

Fionn

"Ok remind me again why we're in the arse end of nowhere?" I asked as I steered the car around a particularly precarious bend of a country road on the west coast of Ireland.

"We're on holiday, bro. It's what normal people do to destress and unwind," Dónal replied sarcasm dripping from every word.

The landscape of the area known as the Burren was spectacular but probably best seen in the Spring or Summer. It was now late December and Christmas was only around the corner.

Our second Christmas without Callie and our first without Leona.

We'd heard through the grapevine that she'd settled back in Germany during the last few weeks. We'd respected her wishes and not tried to contact her and I'd resisted the urge to stalk her phone location.

The rain pelted off the windscreen, the wipers hard pressed to keep up. I slowed again for another windy bend in the road.

"Fuck this...let's just go home," I said and Ryan nodded from the passenger seat.

"About bloody time," Dónal grumbled.

Two hours later we were back on the road towards Dublin having only lasted four days and three nights of a ten day holiday.

We'd postponed the grand opening of the club when word got out about our involvement in the case but we'd released some of Leona's videos with our resident D/s couples and they'd been an instant hit. People were begging for more and we could only hope that sometime soon she'd walk back through our doors.

It was the early hours of the morning when we got back and so we dumped our bags and crashed. I rarely slept for more than a few hours together these days and so when I woke at 6am I decided to use the brisk cold dry morning weather to waken my senses.

I stepped out into the garden and instinctively glanced up at the window of her apartment. The sun glinted off it and blinded me but I could imagine her standing there watching just like she had that morning.

I was only into my second movement of the tai chi routine when Ryan and Dónal showed up and we fell into sync quickly and easily.

Later, as I headed back into the house I blew a kiss to the balcony and whispered, "Ciao Bella."

We showered and grabbed some breakfast and then went next door to check on the club. Everything was ready for the opening and we'd hired a manager. Andrea Greeley greeted us at the door of her office.

"I've a little bad news, I'm afraid," she announced. "There was a burst pipe in the impact play room so it's off limits for the time being. I've a crew in there cleaning and drying it out so if you hear anything it's only them."

"Ok, thanks Andrea."

"You've also someone waiting in your office..." she gestured to Ryan's office and my heart leapt. Had Leona come back?

"He said he worked for you before...Pavel...something?"

My heart rate plummeted back to normal and broke a little all over again. Were we wrong to just leave things alone? Should we not be chasing her and letting her know how much we cared?

I followed my brothers into the office and perched on the side of Ry's desk.

Ryan shook Pavel's hand and they all sat down.

"I wanted to let you know that the case has been closed. The woman pretending to be Niamh was called Sasha Grubeck and she has officially been named as the serial killer with Rott and Hawthorne as her accomplices," Pavel informed us.

"So will you be moving onto another case?" Ryan asked and Pavel shrugged.

"That depends on you, really."

"How so?"

"Have you replaced me yet?"

"Turns out you're irreplaceable, Pav," I quipped and he smiled.

"We haven't," Ryan confirmed, "but why do you ask?"

"Because I'd like my job here back, please. I know I broke your trust by coming in undercover but it was a necessary evil and one I regretted. I hope that I proved where my loyalties lay during the last few months."

Dónal and I looked to Ryan and we each gave him a nod.

"It seems my brothers and I are in agreement," Ryan said sternly. "We'd like nothing more than to have you back. You'll be head of our personal security as before but also responsible for security of the club, working with its new manager, Andrea, and our home."

Pavel began smiling and then he reached out and shook Ryan's hand again.

"Thank you so much. You won't regret it, I promise. Now I best go and introduce myself to Andrea."

I watched him leave and couldn't help feeling relieved that part of our family was back together. The most important person was still missing but I had to focus on the positives.

I spent the next few hours going back over the security footage. This was a habit I'd fallen out of after the serial killer had been found. There had been very little going on around the club with the exception of our resident Doms and subs getting in some practice and the repair crew arriving to fix the leak.

One of the cameras around Leona's apartment seemed to be broken and a camera in the garage was having intermittent problems. I fired off an email to Andrea to have the camera network checked out and any repairs done before we opened in a few days.

It was almost 6.30pm when we decided to head back to the house for some dinner. We were crossing the main club floor when Jacinta appeared and Linda approached us. She paused in front of us and sank to her knees, offering up a large black envelope. On the outside our names were written in gold ink in calligraphy. Ryan took the envelope and thanked Jacinta. Linda stood and returned to Jacinta and they disappeared into the women's changing rooms. Ryan opened the envelope and began to read it aloud.

"Masters Ryan, Dónal and Fionn Vincenzi are cordially invited to participate in a punishment scene in the impact play room at 7pm tonight. If you agree to attend please note that you are asked to respect and consider the wishes and requests of those within the play space. Please be aware that this session will be recorded and posted to the scenes website and made available free of charge for anyone to enjoy it."

"Fuck, what's this all about?" Ryan grumbled.

Dónal took the card from Ryan and turned it over. In the top right corner there were several letters. 'LR', 'LL' and 'B'. We fell silent for a few seconds and then Dónal snapped his fingers.

"It's from Leona."

"How do you know?"

"These...LR, Leona Roache, you always call her Leona or Lee, Ry. And LL is me, Little Lioness and B..."

"Me, Bella -- I always call her Bella. Fuck we have to do this. I don't care who is punishing who, I don't care if she needs us to atone for deceiving her as a way of clearing the air and starting with a clean slate. All I know is we're miserable and lost without her and I for one will do anything to bring her home."

My brothers were silent for a moment and then they each held up a hand to me and I gave them each a high five.

During the next thirty minutes we made the usual preparations for play. Showered and shaved, I changed into a fresh white t-shirt and jeans that hung low on my hips. I didn't bother with shoes. Dónal turned out in a shirt and slacks with loafers and no socks and Ryan wore his usual suit but with loafers and no socks.

At 7pm sharp we were standing outside the door to the impact play room, waiting.