Shuttered Truth

Ryan

Not surprisingly with the arrival of our upstairs neighbor, Callie had been on my mind a lot over the last few days and so I'd decided to visit. Her grave was being tended well by the company we'd employed and so fresh flowers surrounded her just as she would have wanted.

Her picture insert in the headstone brought a lump to my throat. She was smiling and looking directly at the camera so now directly at me.

I could almost feel her censure of the fact that I'd dragged my two younger brothers into my obsession to find her killer. She was proud of being our older half-sibling and would want to protect us like she always had. I wished I could have protected her.

Before she and our mother had reconnected, Callie, being the product of a teenage dalliance by our mother before she met our dad, had suffered at the hands of an abusive husband. At a very young age, she'd found the courage to leave him and seek out her family in Ireland, and once here she'd established herself as a staunch advocate for women's rights and safety especially within marriage and their own homes.

A noise coming from a nearby grave brought me out of my thoughts and I frowned. I stretched my neck to see who was destroying the peace and did a double take. My feet had me moving towards her before I was fully aware of it.

"Well, if you're a grave robber you'll need a much bigger shovel," I joked and her head snapped up. Tears were rolling down her face and she was stabbing the hard ground with a small gardening trowel with no results. This October had been dry and cold and the ground was unrelenting.

"I promised him they'd be together for Christmas," she said, hiccupping on a sob.

Jesus, her distress had my heart twisting in my chest and the desire to make everything okay was almost overwhelming. I hunkered down beside her.

"Leona, stop," I said softly, covering her exposed hand with my large gloved one.

"But I promised," she whispered, her movements going still.

I could feel her warm breath on my cheek and I knew if I turned my head her lips would be just there. Since she'd watched us work out the other morning thoughts of her had plagued me.

"Hold on, I might know someone who can help."

I pulled out my phone and stood and she followed me up. Brushing soil off the end of her black knee length coat and the knees of her burgundy trousers she watched me make the call.

"Hello Derek, it's Ryan Vincenzi. I have a small graveyard emergency if you could help, please?"

I arranged with Derek who was from the company that tended Callie's grave to meet us and bring tools that would allow us to bury the urn.

"He'll be here in thirty minutes," I announced as I shoved the phone away. I started to pull back on my black gloves but then she blew on her hands and so I held them out to her. She hesitated but then she smiled up at me and pulled them on.

"Why don't we wait in the café?" I asked.

"Who were you visiting, if you don't mind telling me?"

She'd dried her tears but her eyes still glistened and I guessed she might be looking for a distraction from her emotions.

I stepped back a few paces and gestured to Callie's grave.

"She was very beautiful...you're wife?"

"No, Callie was my half-sister."

"Callie O'Reilly," she read from the headstone. "Oh yes, I recognize her name. She worked hard for women's rights, didn't she?"

I nodded, unable to speak past the tightness in my throat.

"Wasn't she a victim of that serial killer?" And when I again could only nod she gripped my forearm. "Oh I'm sorry Ryan. That must have been horrible."

They'd nicknamed the serial killer the 'Zena Slayer' because so far he'd only targeted strong vocal women. The theory was that his mother had been a strong woman, but horrifically abusive, so he snatched strong women for the sole purpose of torturing them until they begged for death, thus proving they were not strong at all. The women were real life Zena, Warrior Princesses or at least that's what the media came up with.

"Let's go get that cuppa, out of the cold."

I watched her move onto the path ahead of me and the words I wanted to utter teetered at the tip of my tongue but I knew I couldn't or at least shouldn't.

When we bought our beverages we got them to go and spent the time wandering around the museum. She read almost everything and I watched her.

My phone buzzed in my pocket and I approached her to tell her Derek had arrived. She was engrossed in the history of how Daniel O'Connell had founded Glasnevin Cemetery as the first non-denominational cemetery so that all creeds and none could be buried together. When I touched her shoulder she jumped and then laughed.

The sound of it touched places within me I'd thought had died along with Callie.

Leona insisted on paying Derek for his time and then it took a lot more persuasion than I would have liked for her to accept a lift from me back to her apartment rather than taking an Uber.

"My Harley should be here by the end of the week and then I'll be independent again," she explained and my cock twitched at the image of her naked, lying face down across her Harley, her backside pink from spanking.

Fuck. Being this instantly attracted to Leona Roach was not part of the plan.

"Apparently the shipping container is stuck somewhere or it would have been here today."

"Do you have the cargo reference number and the name of the shipper?"

"Why?"

"I might know someone who can help."

She laughed.

"That's the second time you've said that today. I'm definitely getting Soprano Mafioso vibes now. Will you make someone sleep with the fishes if they don't get my Harley here by sundown?"

I laughed along with her but the reputation we had as being affiliated with the Italian Mafia wasn't as much fantasy as people might like it to be. Granted our father had ties back in the day and over time they'd dwindled as family passed but the younger generations kept the connections alive with different and less overt enterprises such as cybercrime and the like. The days of on the street protection and gambling rackets might be gone but crime had a whole new outlet digitally. Sometimes we played up to it if we thought it would move things along but for the most part we tried to maintain the image that we were just businessmen.

"No seriously. We've been shipping in a lot of specialist items for the club so I have a contact. Here give me your number and I'll pass you his details and you can decide to ask him for help or not."

She recited her number and I keyed it into my phone and saved it immediately into contacts. I pulled up his contact information and messaged her.

"Thanks again for this and for your help today and I hope they catch the bastard who killed Callie sometime soon so she can really rest and you can find come closure."

With those heartfelt words, she stretched up and pressed her lips to my cheek. Her breast brushed my arm and my muscles jumped. I cupped her neck in my palm and turned my head slowly. Our breaths mingled and she gave a little gasp. I parted my lips and sucked her top lip inside. She moaned and molded her body into mine.

Wolf whistles pierced the evening air and calls of 'get a room' drifted from the scaffolding above. I pulled back and reluctantly released Leona who's cheeks were flushed pink.

"Just remember who pays your wages, lads," I called and received a few 'sorry boss' responses but mostly boisterous laughter.

Without saying anything more she jogged up the outside stairs to her apartment and disappeared inside. The sentiment she'd just expressed gave me hope for her future involvement in our plans.

"I still don't like it, Pavel. We're effectively using her as bait for this psycho," I grumbled at our security advisor who'd been working all hours trying to get a lead on who the serial killer might target next. We'd bought this club based on the scantiest information that Leona had come onto his radar but now it seemed we'd been right. Pavel and Fionn were following her social media and we had several internet anonymous ids that we thought might be linked to him and at least two of them were following everything she had out there.

"Look, Ry, we didn't put her under his nose, he found her himself. At least this way she won't be dealing with him alone." Dónal argued. At 33, just two years younger than me Dónal always seemed more mature than his years and usually I trusted his judgement. After what happened with Callie, though, I didn't really trust anything anymore.

"But if she knew she was in danger..."

"She'd either bolt altogether and we'd lose our connection to him or she'd become paranoid, change her behavior and scare him off. She can't know but us knowing keeps her safe," Pavel repeated his earlier ascertains. This was another man I trusted implicitly. He hadn't worked for us that long but time and again in that short period he'd proved himself reliable, resourceful and above all loyal.

"We can't be with her 24/7," I argued. "What happens when she starts working again?"

"I was thinking about that." Fionn leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees as he sat the far side of my desk. Two years younger again, Fionn was the 'baby' brother but there was no-one I'd rather have my back than him especially when it came to technology, cyber, virtual whatever. "She's this really talented photographer and videographer and we'll be launching our marketing campaign over the coming weeks. Why don't we hire her?" he suggested and I had to admit it was a good idea. With her working for us she wouldn't need to be travelling and we could try to have one of us close by at all times.

"Alright, but if it looks like she's not taking the job then we tell her the truth and offer to protect her if she helps us."

There was a soft knock on the office door and feeling the need to move, I crossed the room and opened it. Leona, of all people, was standing there, her brow creased with a worried frown. She stepped into the room and looked at each of us in turn. She stood still, with a straight back and tension in every line of her body.

With a slight movement of my head I gestured for Pavel to leave.

Had she heard some of our conversation? Would she have guessed we were talking about her? In this moment I couldn't even remember what had been said.

"How can we help you, Leona?" I asked, leading her to the couch and taking the seat next to her.

"That camera covers the entrance to my apartment, right?" she asked, directing herself to Fionn and he nodded. I was unsure where this was going although he'd told us about their encounter yesterday afternoon, but I was sure we needed to tread carefully.

"How long has it been there?" she asked and he shrugged.

"Since we bought the place."

She wrung her hands together.

"I found...other cameras...hidden around my apartment."

"What?" I asked.

"Hidden cameras. Around my apartment."

She spoke each word as if to someone hard of hearing, annoyance beginning to tinge her tone. "Someone must have put them there because I didn't."

I hated seeing her upset but was relieved she wasn't accusing us outright. Now, however, I had a different problem. If we tried to show her the footage of the entrance she'd see...fuck she'd see Fionn and only Fionn using the keys we had from the O' Rourke's to go into her place and wire up outside cameras. The day we'd confirmed she was heading home, on the off chance we'd need them, I had instructed Fionn to install them...for her safety.

"How did you find them?" Fionn asked.

"I have some equipment that detects them."

"Really? Why?"

Shit we'd never thought of that. Why would she be scanning her apartment for surveillance?

"I worked with a model who had a stalker and we bought the equipment for her because he'd broken in and was releasing footage of her online. We helped catch the bastard and I just kept the equipment." She explained in a rush, exasperation in every word.

"Ok, but why would you use it at your place?"

I was deliberately stalling to allow Dónal time to think, he was the brains after all, I was the decision-maker.

"I had a..." She blew out a breath and ran her fingers through her black locks. "Some of my previous work caused a lot of media attention back in Germany and I think I attracted a stalker. I saw him a few times before I left but I assumed he'd lose interest when I moved to a different country. At the graveyard the other day, I thought I saw him again so I decided to sweep for cameras and there they were. Fuck if he's broken in somehow or got access, I can't stay there." She jumped up and began pacing the small space.

"Look up the footage, will you?" she asked Fionn.

"Eh sure...but...our cameras were out some of the days. The construction guys disconnected them by mistake."

"How long were they out? Maybe we'll be lucky." She walked behind his chair and glanced down at his phone.

"Say, why don't you leave it with us, Leona? It'll take time to sift through that many hours since we don't know when it might have been done," Dónal suggested but her eyes narrowed and she glanced between the three of us.

"Just send me what you have and I'll look myself," she countered. "No need to waste your time."

Fionn opened and closed his mouth. You'd think being linked to the Mafia would make you a good liar, but not our Fionn.

"What's going on? Why won't you help me?"

She backed away a bit, towards the door and her eyes became wary.

"What don't you want me to see on the footage?" she asked quietly and my heart sank.

"Come and sit down, Leona." I gestured to the seat but she shook her head.

"It was you," she suddenly exclaimed and Fionn's head snapped up. Their gazes locked and I knew she could see the truth in his expression.

Her back crashed into the door and she fumbled behind her for the handle. She wrenched the door open and half stumbled, half ran through it.

"Oh my god...you've been watching me? And you have keys, don't you?"

She was out in the open area of the nightclub where a smattering of staff were beginning to set up for the grand opening. Pavel and two of his men stood over the far side, close to the exit.

"Is this some voyeur perv you have?"

The accusation stung but then again she didn't know us and we did own and run a BDSM club but she was freaking out and so I knew we wouldn't hold it against her.

"Mr Vincenzi?" Pavel queried and I stopped moving and became every inch the family leader I was expected to be.

"Miss Roach is not to leave until we explain," I declared.

Immediately Pavel approached her and his men took up positions blocking any exit. She spun around, glaring at all of us but behind her anger I saw her fear.

"I'm calling the Gardaí," she announced pulling her phone out of her pocket. Pavel had it slipped from her fingers and into his pocket in a blur.

"No police."

"Give that back," she screeched, panic beginning to get the better of her since she was surrounded by six large strange men who were bent on not letting her leave. Her eyes darted left and right and her chest began heaving. She was going to have a heart attack if we weren't able to calm her.

Fionn and Dónal both approached. Hands raised in a gesture that was non-threatening. She looked around frantically and then bolted. I'd no idea where she thought she was going. Fionn moved fast and tackled her hard. He wrapped his arms around her before they crashed into the wall ensuring he took all of the impact. Dónal came to back him up as she kicked and struggled and between the two of them they restrained her.

"Let me go..." she ordered and I had to admire the amount of authority it still held even though she was obviously terrified. If she didn't stop struggling though she was going to hurt herself.

"Enough Leona!" I roared and they all stilled.

"Bring her," I commanded but instead of the office I headed for the BDSM rooms. They caught on that if she wasn't going to calm enough for us to talk to her we were going to have to restrain her to keep her in place while we explained.

I entered one of the bondage rooms ahead of them and decided that the simplest and quickest way to contain her was to put her into the cage. It was a standing cage about the size of a small shower enclosure. It had metal bars all around and a wooden floor but shutters were built into the roof so that it could become a box if needed. I opened the door as they approached and she screamed.

"Don't you dare put me in there..." She writhed violently and kicked Dónal in the thigh, centimetres higher and he'd have been singing soprano.

"You have a choice," I informed her calmly. "You stop struggling and listen to reason or you go in there."

"Let me the fuck go...you've been spying on me why should I calm down?"

I tilted my head and Fionn and Dónal pushed her inside and I slammed the door closed. It locked automatically. She spun around grabbing at the bars and shaking them but it was solid metal.

We stood around it, arms crossed over our chests, feet akimbo and waited.

She swore and ranted for a little while longer, calling us all the names she could think of until finally she pressed her forehead against the bars and stopped.

She straightened her spine and stood up, letting go of the bars and folding her arms across her own chest, emphasizing the swell of her breasts, she mirrored our stances. All kinds of worlds were clashing together in this moment and my cock didn't know quite how to react.

"You admit that you installed the hidden cameras around my apartment?" she asked, her voice cracking slightly from her abuse of it.

"Yes but not to watch you, Leona," I replied.

"Really? Then what were you watching?"

"We'd noticed some unusual activity around the building at night and we needed other angles to ensure the security of both of our properties. You hadn't returned and we needed to do it urgently so we went ahead without consulting you. I won't apologize for that, it was necessary."

She took a few minutes to process what I'd said and then she sighed.

"Let me out."

I stepped closer and pressed my access swipe card against the keypad and the door clicked. She pushed it open and walked out, slamming the door closed behind her.

"This unusual activity? What was it?"

"Just some kids. A local gang thinking they could swipe some equipment or supplies from the contractors."

"Nothing that looked like a stalker," Dónal added and she dropped her head, relief draining the tension from her body. When she lifted her gaze there was still anger in it but also something else that I recognized but chose to ignore. She was aroused, I was sure of it, but it was fighting her other emotions. Fear, anger, vulnerability.

We walked her into the nightclub and Pavel handed her back her phone.

"If you see anything that looks like a stalker, you'll let me know, right?" she asked.

"Of course. The security is there for you too, Leona. It will keep you safe."

"Yeah, but who'll keep me safe from you guys?" she asked and then stalked out the door.

It was ten am the next morning and we needed to put our plan into action with regards hiring Leona. On the off chance she might be up and about given her sunrise audience with us from the balcony I sent her a message inviting her to a meeting about a prospective job.

Naturally after our encounter over the cameras, she was hesitant in her replies but eventually she agreed.

By 11 she was sitting on the opposite side of my desk flanked by Dónal and Fionn.

She looked stunning in tight dark blue jeans, knee high black boots and a deep pink cashmere polo neck that molded her upper body. Her jet black hair fell in loose waves around her shoulders and her deep blue eyes held my gaze steadily. Her gaze was still a little cold.

As soon as we sat down opposite one another I became ragingly aware of her body, her scent, her smooth lightly tanned skin and the way her eyes caught the light. She sipped the tea she'd asked for and when her lips came away wet and her tongue flicked out to lick them I had to adjust my crotch under the desk.

"So, Club Expression, that's an unusual name for a club," she commented, the silence obviously disturbing her.

"It's a space where people can come and express their true selves," I quoted one of the descriptions we'd been working on for the ad campaign.

"That sounds like a catchy tagline but what type of club is it?" she persisted and I understood why she was a good photojournalist.

"It allows people to practice certain proclivities that wouldn't be accepted in more conventional settings."

I sipped my own coffee and then leaned back in my chair waiting for the inevitable shock or disapproval.

"I see. So BDSM practices maybe. For example, locking women in cages?" I caught just a hint of a smile behind her tone of disapproval and so I nodded.

"As you know we're due to open the club very soon and so we're working with a marketing expert to run an internet campaign to attract members as soon as possible. We've seen your photography and videography work and we think with your eye for detail you could really help us sell the spaces we have on offer. We'd pay you well, this isn't a favor for neighbors or anything..." I trailed off talking because I'd begun to fucking babble and that never happened when I was talking business but for some reason Leona was chewing on the side of her thumbnail and the sight of her tongue darting around its tip was driving me insane.

Dónal and Fionn were also mesmerized, but she apparently didn't have a clue until the silence stretched and she looked around.

"Sorry...a marketing campaign? You want photos and video and you'll pay well," she summarized what I'd said but I had a suspicion her nervous chewing was because of the theme of the club.

"We could show you around, let you get a feel for the spaces and have a think how you might best present them," I offered.

"Thanks for the job offer but...I don't think...well kinks are not really my thing."

I leaned forward and she leaned away.

"Have you ever tried anything 'kinky'? Sometimes people don't know it's for them until they give it a whirl."

"Do you all practice?" she asked suddenly and I laughed.

"Very nicely deflected, Miss Roach."

She shook her head.

"No I'm not, it's just that I don't think I'll be able to capture the place if I don't understand what it's about and since I don't have any kinks along those lines maybe I'm not the best person for the job."

"Even if you don't share the 'kinks' as you call them, I'm sure you can still appreciate what others might see in a space that would attract them," Dónal said and she nodded slowly.

"Well, I suppose there's no harm in looking around. If you do practice yourselves maybe you could describe what you get from the spaces and it'll help me see a vision or get a feel for it."

Fionn led the way out of the office and across the general bar, dance floor area.

"So this area is like any other club where people can sit, talk, drink, dance. If they drink more than two drinks here, however, they won't be able to avail themselves of the private suites or the BDSM equipment because it and alcohol don't mix. We think this will often be a meet and greet area where Dominants and submissives can agree their protocols or just get to know one other before progressing to playing out a scene," I explained, trying to see what we'd created through her eyes.

"Right so have some music playing, the lights on the dancefloor going and some people milling and shoot a video of a meet and greet, or a couple dancing, or a businessman having a quiet drink at the bar... that kind of thing?" she asked and Fionn hugged her. She flinched at this sudden contact and stumbled a little at his abrupt release but then laughed.

"Exactly...I told you didn't I?" he asked us and Dónal and I nodded.

"I'm your secret stalker," Fionn's joke was in bad taste and a flash of darkness crossed Leona's expression for just a second before she recovered and asked 'how so'.

"I've followed you since you were an assistant fashion photographer to Gribbon Hughes. I wasn't so sure about your move to photojournalism but those documentaries were spectacular."

"Thanks...I've had great mentors and directors so the camera work was made easy."

We crossed the floor towards the door into the first private area. I keyed in the code and then pressed my thumb to the biometric pad.

"Wow, you're not getting in here if you're not invited," she joked.

"If anything you see confuses you just ask but if it disturbs you we can move on," Dónal held the door and she passed under his arm to enter.

As she moved inside she distractedly drifted her hand across his torso and a flush suffused his neck and face. We locked gazes and he blew out a breath.

Thank fuck, I wasn't the only one.

This first room was the classic dungeon with all the ways a submissive could be restrained and all the implements of impact play.

She strode over to the cage and circled it.

"So who gets the access cards?"

"Dominants who book the room for play and they're returned at the end of each session," Dónal replied, coming to stand beside her. "It can also be used for sensory deprivation."

"How?"

He punched a code into the control panel and the side shutters slid down and locked into place at the bottom turning it into a box with no windows.

"No light, no sound. Inside is a complete vacuum. It has one camera and microphone that feeds to the Dom's and monitors' phones to keep the inhabitant safe."

She shuddered and shook her head. She moved around the room some more, looking at other equipment.

"So is it all about pain possibly giving pleasure?" she asked.

"When you come down to it, pain is just another sensation so for me it's more about sensation and whether that sensation gives pleasure," Fionn replied. He crossed to one of the cabinets and opened a drawer. I knew it held some of the softer implements.

"Take these for example," he beckoned her over.

"Pull up your sleeve and turn your arm palm facing upward," he said gently and she paused.

"What are you going to do?"

"Show you a few sensations."

She pushed her sleeve up and golden brown skin appeared but it was mottled with bruises. Fionn's face flushed and he swore.

"Are those from us?" he asked gently and she nodded.

"I'd imagine Dónal has nice one on his thigh too...sorry I kicked you, by the way."

"Sorry we had to..." he stopped as she waved her hand.

"Don't. I get it. A lot of emotions came crashing in at once and I was borderline hysterical so I suppose I can see why you thought you had to...lock me up...to calm me down. Jesus, that just sounds bizarre but please...don't ever do it again, ok?"

She turned her arm glancing up at Fionn.

"Be gentle with me..." she joked and he smiled. Christ was she actually forgiving us for manhandling and scaring the shit out of her? That had to be a first.

"This skin is more sensitive, right?" she asked and Fionn nodded. He lifted up a piece of real rabbit fur and ran it along her arm.

"What do you feel?"

She paused and nodded for him to do it again.

"It's soft and a little ticklish but overall pleasurable."

"A few sensations leading to pleasure. How about this?"

He ran an emery board across her skin.

"It's a little abrasive, a bit like scratching yourself of an itch, not completely unpleasant..." Before she finished her sentence, he ran the fur over her again and she shivered.

Her eyes opened a little wider.

"Wow, ok. The abrasive sensitized my skin and so the fur felt even more soft and pleasant as a result."

"Combined sensations. One not so pleasant making the other more pleasant. That's the kind of knowledge a Dominant might want to learn to be able to enhance the experience for the submissive. The submissive is trusting, just like you did here, that the Dom's knowledge would be applied to make the experience good for the sub."

"And I suppose ultimately both parties want to give and receive pleasure, however that might manifest, right?"

We all nodded and she smiled.

She turned and walked towards the St. Andrew's Cross. She stood in front of it and suddenly she spread her legs and arms.

"So...like this?" she asked and when she got no reply, the three of us having been struck dumb, she turned with a worried frown.

"Sorry bella," Fionn recovered and stepped towards her. "We all had a rush of blood to our nether regions and so couldn't form words for a few seconds. Fuck Lee, your stunning, do you know that?"

His sudden outburst took her by surprise and she laughed.

"Shit, sorry did I say that out loud?" Fionn, ever the joker, covered his tracks.

"Right, let's move on, shall we?" I suggested and so we picked up the pace of the tour.

For the rest of our time together Leona kept stealing glances at us when she thought we weren't looking and if the number of times she rubbed her thighs together or twirled her hair was any indication of her state of arousal I'd guess she was matching us and our three raging hard-ons.

When we got back to the office she agreed to take the contract and so Dónal arranged a follow up meeting to get her to sign the paperwork.

We walked her to the door that connected the lower floors to her apartment by way of internal stairs. She pulled out the key and unlocked it.

"Oh, that reminds me. Did the O'Rourke's give you the set of spare keys to my apartment they were holding for me?"

"Yeh, they're in our lock box in the office. Do you want them back?" Dónal replied.

"Although it's never any harm for someone to have access just in case of any mishap," I added quickly, not wanting to lose the ability to get to her should she need rescuing in the near future.

"Eh...no...keep them. Like you say, better safe than sorry and better the devils you know that the one you don't."

So now we were friendly devils, huh?

I pulled out my set of keys and wound the key to our house which was the building to the right off the keyring and handed it to her.

"What's this?"

"Spare key to our house...number 12...next door," I replied and gestured in its direction. It seemed only fair that if we had access to her living space, she had access to ours.

We listened as the lock on the door engaged and the sound of her footsteps faded before any of us moved.

"We are so fucked," I growled and stalked across to the bar. I went in behind the counter and pushed a glass under the bottle of whiskey dispensing a measure. I knocked it back and filled again.