Tell Me No Lies: The Black Orchid, Book 1

by Magnolia Smith

  He looked at me and frowned. “Bella, you should do as I say. Surely Kael taught you some obedience. I know how he likes his girls, same as me.” His eyes hardened. “Docile as fuck.”

  And then he smiled courteously. “Pardon my language.” He moved around the room, opening containers. “Perhaps you need some encouragement?” He held up a circular black band with an attached box. “Shock collar?”

  I gasped and took a step backwards. He was mad.

  He laughed and picked up another object. Held it up for me to see. “How about this?”

  I stopped breathing. Dear lord, he had a gun.

  He let it dangle on his finger and then he twirled it around like a cowboy. “It would be a shame to mar your flawless skin with a bullet hole or two, but if you won’t comply…”

  I did as I was told, slowly peeling the dress off to reveal a demi-cup bra of sheer black lace with a matching bikini bottom. The material pooled at my feet and I stepped out of it.

  He approached me with the gun still in his hand and waved it toward me. “Just in case.”

  “So beautiful,” he breathed, his eyes full of reverence. He picked up the feather again and trailed it over my clavicle, swirled it around my breasts and played with it across my stomach.

  “You could enjoy this. No one has to know.” He leaned in, kissed me on my cheek and then whispered into my ear, “It will be our little secret.”

  I glanced down at the gun held loosely in his left hand.

  He grabbed my hand. “Come, bella.”

  Even with the weapon in his hand, I thought about resisting, but something strange glinted in his eyes and I thought better of the idea. Fear flowed through my every cell as he led me to a wooden platform with a metal structure resting at the center.

  He pulled out rope from his case and began wrapping it around my wrists. Before he could tie the first rope to a metal bar, I called out his name.

  Sighing, he gave me a put-upon face. “Sí, Rain.”

  It was possible this was all some sort of weird mix-up. Maybe my being at that club, dressed as I was, had given him the wrong message. I’d gone with him willingly, had not actually said that I did not want to do this. I looked at him, feeling hopeful.

  “I need to know, before you tie me up, can I leave if I want to?” My eyes were begging, no pleading for him to say what I needed to hear. “Because I’d like to, leave that is.”

  He only shook his head and tied my arm tightly to the bar. “No, bella. You will leave when I tell you you may leave.”

  He returned to his case, found a black leather strap with tassels and advanced toward me. I was tied up, my hands above my head. My feet barely touched the ground. I was on the tips of my toes straining to take the pressure off my arms.

  He gently nuzzled his nose against my cheek, inhaling deeply. “You smell so dolce, bella.” His teeth grazed my ear and then I felt his tongue slide across my neck.

  Then a sharp pain on my backside. Squealing, I strained away from him.

  He waved the leather strap at me. “Before the night is through, you will learn to love it.”

  Lips trembling, I tried to stop the tears welling in my eyes.

  I shook my head and he smacked my thigh with the strap.

  “Yes, cry for me, bella. I want you to be afraid.” He grabbed my ponytail, jerked it back and gazed into my eyes. “You are not enjoying yourself.” He smacked me across the front of my thighs with the strap. “I want you to enjoy this.”

  He moved away, returning to his case. He selected a large wooden paddle with holes in it. “Perhaps, this will encourage you to enjoy my efforts more.”

  “No, please.” I couldn’t take my eyes off the paddle. It looked painful, more so than the strap.

  “You didn’t mind when Kael did this to you, did you?”

  “He never strung me up like—” My mouth fell open. “Charlotte might have told you his name, but you don’t know him, do you?”

  “Kael and I go way back. You could say we work together.”

  “But Kael is an…then you must be…” Nausea churned in the pit of my stomach. “Is your name even Gian-Carlo?”

  Laughing, he walked behind me and smacked my butt with the paddle.

  I screamed, twisting on the ropes to look at him. “Why are you doing this? And Charlotte, what about her? She thinks you really care about her. Do you?”

  Without answering, he raised the paddle and hit me again. “Charlotte is la puttana, and she’s very disrespectful to Kael. I don’t like that.”

  Poor Charlotte. Even though I was upset with her and disappointed in her actions, I would not wish a psycho boyfriend on her. My mind whirled with all of the lies I’d been told. There were too many to count.

  And then I thought about the stories he’d told me when we’d talked at the art gallery and over drinks. “What about the restaurant? Is there really a grandmother with recipes?”

  He laughed. “There is an entire division at our employer devoted to creating such fictions. I have no interest in restaurants whatsoever.”

  “And the interest in art, was that a fiction as well?”

  He paused. “No. I do like art. My father loved art and he taught me to love the greats as well… Sanzio,” His Italian accent grew thicker as he pronounced each name. “Buonarroti, Caravaggio… No, that was real.

  “And you, bella, are real. This,” he waved his hand before me, “is real.” He ran his hands between my thighs and fondled the space between them without thankfully sliding his fingers inside. “Are you wet, bella?” he murmured against my cheek. “Do you like being paddled?”

  I forced my thighs together and he locked eyes with me before nodding in an ironically courteous manner and removed his hand.

  He kissed me gently on the forehead. “I am an assassin, just like Kael.” Then grabbed me roughly by the jaw. “We kill for a living. Does that disgust you?”

  I was afraid to respond. Clearly, there was no right answer here and he let go of my face, though my cheeks hurt and his fingers had probably left a red mark.

  “While I applaud your decision to leave Kael, by doing so you inadvertently saved your life.” He raised the paddle. “However, it pisses me off that you’ve hurt my friend. You broke his heart.”

  He smacked my butt again and I bit the inside of my cheek to stop screaming. He seemed to like it, and I didn’t want to give this psycho the satisfaction.

  “You rejected him because of his job, because he answered the call for civic duty. He is a fucking patriot.” His gaze traveled slowly over my body. “You are exquisite. I can see why Kael is willing to give everything up for you.”

  What was Kael giving up for me?

  He grabbed my face by the jaw and squeezed until my lips poked out like Betty Boop. “Kael is one of the good guys. You shouldn’t punish him for that.” He paused. “You’re shaking, bella. Don’t be afraid.”

  He took a long breath. “At first, I thought I might sample your pleasures but now I think I will just punish you for breaking my best friend’s heart. So, no worries. I will not force you to have sexual intercourse.

  He caressed my throat with one hand. “I don’t have to have sex to achieve orgasm, you know.” His hand closed around my throat, his touch still light as a caress. “I can ejaculate just by breaking your bone, dislocating your shoulder, things like that.”

  He smiled when he spoke in his casual, conversational tone. He was crazy, I was sure of it.

  He tightened his hold on my throat and I gasped for air. He nodded as if satisfied with my response. “Kael likes breath play, doesn’t he? His fingers gripped my throat and I wondered if I’d die where I stood. But then he let go and I gratefully sucked air into my lungs.

  “You may leave when I’m done with you.”

  Suddenly, there was a loud grating noise as the entrance to
the storage room rolled up. A deep scowl covered Gian-Carlo’s face. He set the paddle down and waited. A petite Asian woman wearing skintight black leather pants, a black tank top and matching stilettos appeared. She stepped into the room and looked around.

  “Really, music? You’ve got music playing?” She glared at me. “You have no intentions of killing her, do you?”

  Killing who? Me? I looked at Gian-Carlo who shot me an apologetic look, walked behind the young woman and pulled the door shut.

  “Zelie, come in.” He reached for her hand and gently led her toward me. I was still tied up and half-naked. “And please, keep your voice down.”

  Zelie? This was Kael’s ex-girlfriend? What was going on? Why was she here? Why was I here? And what did all of this have to do with Kael?

  “Please. I’ve been standing outside for the last thirty minutes. She’s screaming her head off, but I can’t raise my voice?”

  She propped her tiny butt on a table and observed me as if I were an animal in a zoo.

  “This is a major change of plans. Why didn’t you notify me? What happened to shoving her down the stairs, Luke?”

  Who was Luke? And why had he planned my death?

  He gave her a dangerous look. “I don’t have to run anything by you.”

  I did a double take. He’d just spoken in a perfect American accent.

  She snarled at him. “You said this would be different from The Group. But you’re no different from having a handler, giving commands and expecting no questions in return.”

  “I’m sorry to interrupt this little squabble,” I said, catching Gian-Carlo’s eye, “but could you untie me? Maybe give me my clothes back?”

  Zelie stalked closer to me, grabbing the black leather strap as she approached. “You, bitch, are going nowhere.” She struck me across my breasts and before I could stop myself, I moaned out loud.

  “Poor thing,” she grabbed one of my breasts and pinched the nipple between two fingers. “Can’t take a little pain?”

  I choked on my scream. Definitely would not show her any weakness. I looked over at Gian-Carlo who watched us both, fascination lighting up his face.

  My chest burned. Sick bastard. Enjoying watching two women together, when I obviously had not consented.

  She stepped even closer to me, her little tongue appearing and sliding across my tender nipple. Closing her eyes, she slowly dragged her tongue in a circle across my flesh then stopped herself, eyes flashing.

  “You are pretty,” she choked out. “I can see why Kael likes you.” She turned on her heel, stalked to Gian-Carlo’s tool case and rummaged around it. “But you are not prettier than me.”

  Looking at Gian-Carlo, I yanked at the ropes around my wrists. Do something. But he only gave me a sappy apologetic grin, as if he had no control over his sadistic friend.

  What kind of people did Kael run with? If these were his friends, what did this say about him?

  Zelie returned to me holding a large black dildo, waving it in my face. “If I didn’t hate you so much, I’d have a little fun with you.” She turned to Gian-Carlo, her face flushed with annoyance. “You promised. You promised me she’d die. It’s the only reason, I joined your little venture.”

  I was really tired of people talking about my death, as if I was expendable. As if I deserved to die. I had done nothing but fall in love with a guy.

  She lunged at me, this time snapping at me like a wild cat, her teeth clamping down on my breast. I mewled in pain, trying my best to kick her. But in my tied-up position, it was impossible.

  Gian-Carlo came to me then, concern on his face. “Bella,” he touched my breasts gingerly, “are you okay?”

  He was sick. She was twisted. I felt like I was in a filthy, X-rated version of The Twilight Zone. “I’m fine, Gian-Carlo.”

  He nodded, beginning to untie my binds. “I won’t let her hurt you again.” He kissed me on my cheek. “If Kael had trained you properly, you would’ve enjoyed this so much more.”

  He finished untying me and I rubbed my sore shoulders while he found my clothes then brought it to me.

  He watched me dress and then grabbed me by my arms, this time folding them behind my back. “I will have to tie you back up.” He pushed me down into a chair and tied my ankles together as well.

  He then found a roll of duct tape and wrapped it around my mouth.

  Zelie sneered at me. “You forgot to cover her nose.”

  Gian-Carlo gave her a rueful grin, as if she were a misbehaving puppy. “She doesn’t have to die now. She broke up with Kael.”

  She looked at me, eyes wide with surprise. “He loves you. How could you leave him?” She leapt at me. “You ungrateful bitch.” But Gian-Carlo caught her by the waist and slung her backwards.

  “Zelie, you have to calm yourself down. Kael was your assignment. You had no business developing feelings for him.”

  She shook her head. “I could do my job and still have feelings.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Because you’re behaving so rationally now.”

  I looked from Zelie to Gian-Carlo. She had been assigned to him? So she wasn’t really his girlfriend? I was so confused. Did I have a legitimate reason for leaving Kael?

  And where was he? Was he okay? Did he know what had happened to me?

  “With Rain out of the way, Kael will join us.”

  She glared at me. “If he joins us, I want him back. But I still think we should kill her. He’ll never stop—”

  Gian-Carlo pointed to several locations on the ceiling. “Zelie, I have web cams installed. I’ll show him some edited footage, a few carefully selected stills.” He exhaled, as if he were put out by the task at hand.

  “He’ll be disgusted with the former love of his life. He will not want her back.”

  Sensations of ice and fire raced through. Kael would know what had happened to me. He’d know I’d gotten dressed up and gone to that hideous club.

  Zelie smiled sweetly at me for the first time. “He’ll be crushed and I’ll be there to pick up the pieces of his broken heart.” She hopped off the table and kissed Gian-Carlo on the cheek. “This will be more effective than killing her.”

  “With her out of the way, Il Morte can become fully operational with the addition of two of The Group’s best agents.”

  The grating noise of the opening door startled everyone once again. Eyes narrowed, Gian-Carlo scowled at Zelie. “Did you bring someone with you?”

  She shook her head. “Why didn’t you lock the fucking door?”

  He strode toward it, grabbing his semi-automatic 9mm pistol. I couldn’t look away from the compact black object. Why did he have a gun?

  “Because nobody but you should know about this place.”

  Zelie glanced at me and pulled a sharp blade from behind her back then quietly ran to stand beside Gian-Carlo.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  The large red door rolled upwards, the sounds of metal screeching in the silence. A man dressed in a white t-shirt covered by a dark brown leather blazer stepped into the room. His baggy denim jeans were stuffed into scuffed Doc Martens that were planted firmly on the concrete.

  His right hand held a black pistol and it was leveled at Gian-Carlo. I held my breath as Asa stepped into the room. What was he doing here?

  “You’re going to untie her,” he said, looking at Gian-Carlo. He gestured at me with the gun. “Let her go and this will go easier on you.”

  Gian-Carlo’s hazel eyes narrowed. “What will go easier?”

  “I’m bringing you both in, Il Morte. And you’re letting her go.”

  Zelie snickered, knife still in hand and approached him. “You and what army?” She ran a finger up one tattooed arm. “Huh, cutie pie?”

  Gian-Carlo gave him an amused glance. “I never forget a face. You were in Jamaica awhile back. The bartender. Right
?” He shook his head, laughing. “You’re with The Group?”

  I stared at Asa. His golden dreads hung down framing his face, making him look wild and unpredictable. He was part of whatever this was? So hanging out at the coffee shop and running into me was all part of some bigger plan?

  My nose began to tingle, as if I might cry. Somehow, all of the events of tonight hadn’t been enough to really break me. But this, finding out that one more person in my life was lying to me…I don’t even know why it hurt. Asa meant nothing to me. But still, a lie was a lie. Another betrayal.

  Asa glanced at me before saying, “In a manner of speaking, yes. I’m an analyst.”

  Gian-Carlo exchanged looks with Zelie and they both roared with laughter, the sound echoing in the storage space.

  Asa cocked the gun. “Do you think I’m playing, Agent Winters?”

  A sneer crossed Gian-Carlo’s face. “Actually I do. You come here by yourself, thinking you can take me or her on.” He laughed. “Il Morte won’t be taken down by a pencil-pushing analyst.”

  “I’m much more than a desk jockey. I’ve been tracking you for two years,” Asa began, his face hard. “You kill indiscriminately. All you need is payment.”

  “What you’ve described is a mercenary. Il Morte is much more than that. I only kill people who deserve to die.”

  “Like Agent Brady?” Asa asked, his gaze falling on my face.

  Gian-Carlo rolled his eyes. “I was never going to kill Kael. He’s my best friend.”

  Zelie snorted but didn’t say anymore when Gian-Carlo shot her a silencing look.

  “I’m protecting him from the person who would take the assignment and really try to kill him.”

  Asa locked eyes with me. “And her?”

  He shrugged. “She just got caught in the middle. I’d planned on letting her go, since she and Kael are no longer an item.”

  Zelie glared at me.

  Asa nodded. “I agree with that. Let her go then. Just let her walk out of here and I’m sure she won’t tell a soul about what happened.”

  He took a step toward me. “Isn’t that right, Rain?”

  Eyes wide, I nodded.