Art of Deception (The Black Diamond Series Book 4) Read online

  Sean stood. "We trust you Trent." Jordan turned to Sean with a confused look.

  Sean continued, "We know that you will handle your business."

  "Thanks Sean." Trent stood and faced his brothers, the brothers who had taken him in and created a new life for him. He put his arms around Sean and embraced him solidly. Sean returned his embrace patting him on the back.

  He then turned to Jordan and smiled. "Sean is still the nice brother, but I love you anyway." Trent embraced his other brother and Jordan held him tightly for a second before releasing him.

  "Yeah, but is Sean fall out fine?" Jordan smiled.

  Trent shook his head. "I should never have told you that."

  "Are you ready for your party tomorrow?" Sean asked.

  "Oh yeah." He gave them a shoulder bounce with a dip. "Turn up!"

  "Sage and Lily are planning this thing like it's for the damn president," Jordan complained.

  Trent smiled. "They love me. Your daughter does too."

  Jordan turned to him. "Yeah okay."

  "Well I'm picking up Kent from the airport later so I need to bounce," Trent told them.

  "Lotus is coming in later too," Sean said.

  Trent shook his head. "Lotus is something else."

  Sean nodded. "I'm glad you invited her back for your party.

  "She's cool. I'm introducing her to Kent."

  "How is Kent's family?" Jordan asked.

  Trent turned to his brother. "They're cool. For some reason his mother keeps getting a bag of money showing up at their house every month."

  Sean and Jordan looked at each other and shrugged.

  Trent smirked. "Okay guys. You do know I'm a genius right?"

  "Bye Trent. See you later," Jordan told him going back to his desk.

  Trent shook his head as he walked out the door. His brothers were the best.

  *********

  "I'm going to kill her Lily," Sage said sitting on her sofa in the media room of her home.

  "Kill who Sage?" Lily asked looking over the final plans for Trent's birthday party.

  "That damn Shana White."

  Lily looked up. "Sean told me she was at the building."

  Sage's eyes narrowed. "She asked Jordan for money."

  "What?"

  "Twenty G's and said she'd sleep with him! Can you believe that?"

  Lily frowned. "What did Jordan do?"

  Sage threw her hands in the air. "He gave her the money!"

  "What?" Lily asked again.

  "Until I snatched that damn check out of her hand and ripped it up in front of her face!"

  Lily smiled. "Really? I would have loved to have seen that!”

  "I wanted to kill her Lily. If Diamond hadn't been there, I think I might have. I still might actually."

  "What did she want the money for?" Lily asked.

  "Jordan never said. I didn't even care."

  Lily looked at Sage. "Sean said she asked to see him too."

  Sage nodded. "See Sean is smart, Jordan likes to act dumb."

  "What are you going to do?" Lily asked knowing her friend.

  Sage nodded. "Her day is coming, I'm sure of it."

  Lily turned back to the party plans and looked them over.

  "Did Trent really invite fifty girls to this party?" she asked Sage.

  Sage laughed. "Yeah. I think the only guys there will be his brothers, Ray, his friend Kent and the security."

  "He is so cute."

  Sage smiled. "He's adorable and I hope he loves this party."

  "I'm sure he will."

  "At least he didn't ask for a stripper pole," Sage commented.

  Lily looked confused. "Where would he get an idea like that?"

  Sage shrugged. "He works with Ray."

  Lily turned to her. "Ray has a stripper pole?"

  Sage laughed. "The Sun God has a Temple and yes, it has a stripper pole... among other things."

  "Ray gets down like that?" Lily asked lifting a brow.

  "My brother gets all the way down Lily."

  *********

  Isabelle walked down the hall of the museum to Ralph Benson's office. She gave a brief knock and was invited to come inside. Quickly she walked to his desk and folded her arms.

  Ralph smiled. "Hello Isabelle. You look lovely today."

  "Why did you decline my purchase Ralph?" she asked without a greeting.

  Ralph leaned back in his chair. "I decided to go over your budget again today and in my opinion you're spending too much on acquiring new pieces."

  "There's never been a problem before."

  Ralph shrugged. "It doesn't have to be a problem now." He smiled at her.

  "Are you trying to bribe me into something?" she asked angrily.

  "If you want something Isabelle, sometimes you have to give up something."

  "You cannot be serious right now. Do you know I can have you fired?"

  Ralph laughed. "For what, not approving your purchase?"

  "You don't want to do this Ralph," she warned.

  "Who's going to stop me?” he replied smiling.

  Isabelle turned on her heels and strode out of the office. She went to her office and retrieved her purse and keys before heading to her car. Outside she found a note attached to her windshield. She pulled the paper off and opened it. Her hand went to her mouth as she read the words:

  I know what you did at Harvard. If you don't want anyone else to know, I want one million dollars in cash. I will be in touch.

  Isabelle looked around and saw no one in sight. Shakily she climbed into her car and drove. By the time she pulled into the parking lot of Parker Security, she could barely breathe. She rushed inside to the desk and Callie looked up at her.

  "Please, I need to see Ray."

  Callie saw the alarm in her face. "Are you okay? Do you want me to get you some water or something?"

  "No, please. I just need to see him." Her voice trembled on the last word.

  Callie grabbed the phone. "Okay, I'll call him right now."

  Callie buzzed Ray alerting him that Isabelle needed to see him. Seconds later, he appeared in the lobby and saw the terror on Isabelle's face. He quickly went to her taking her hand.

  "Isabelle, what's wrong? What happened?"

  Isabelle launched herself into his arms before she promptly fainted.

  *********

  Trent entered the building and stopped at Callie's desk. She left her seat and came around to greet him wrapping her arms around his waist.

  "Hey Callie." He smiled down at her.

  "Hey, how did it go with your brothers?" she asked concerned.

  "It was cool."

  She looked up at him. "I know you've been worried about talking to them."

  "Yeah, I'm glad that's over." He bent and kissed her gently. "Thank you Callie."

  "For what?"

  He touched her face. "For being my shero."

  She smiled at him. "You don’t need me. You know how to handle your business."

  His grinned turned naughty. "Yeah...you know."

  "Not yet, I don’t."

  His eyes darkened. "You will." Callie smiled and removed herself from his embrace before walking back to her seat.

  "Isabelle is here. She fainted in Ray's arms like fifteen minutes ago," she told him.

  Trent frowned. "What happened?"

  Callie shrugged. "She came in asking to see Ray. I could tell she was upset and when he got out here, she fainted. He carried her into his office and I haven't heard from him since."

  Trent turned towards Ray's office. "I hope she's okay."

  "Yeah, I know." Callie agreed. "But whoever has upset her that way is about to feel the wrath of the Sun God for sure."

  Trent blew out a breath. "I wouldn't want to be that dude."

  Callie nodded in agreement.

  "You're picking up your friend tonight right?" she asked him.

  Trent looked at his watch. "Yeah later, you sure you don't want to come to dinner with us?"
/>
  "No baby, have fun with your friend. You two haven't seen each other in a while and you don't need me tagging along."

  "Okay," Trent agreed. "What are you going to do tonight?"

  Callie grinned. "I don't know. I might catch a movie with Darryl since we missed the last one," she teased.

  Trent's eyes narrowed. "What?"

  Callie began moving things around on her desk hiding her smile.

  "What did you say Callie?" he asked slowly.

  Callie laughed. "I'm teasing you Trent."

  Trent didn't laugh. "Not cool Callie." He walked toward his office.

  "Trent!"

  He continued walking until he was in his office and closed the door with a thud. Callie appeared opening the door.

  "Trent, I was just teasing you."

  "No games Callie." He shuffled papers on his desk not looking at her.

  Callie walked around his desk and leaned against it watching him. "You're always joking and teasing Trent."

  "Not like that," he told her firmly. "That's not a joke to me."

  Callie watched him read over his papers before she reached for his hand removing the documents and sitting them on the desk. "Talk to me baby. What's up?" She held his hand in hers.

  Trent looked at their joined hands for a moment before lifting serious dark eyes to hers. "All my life I've been thrown to the side. If you don't want me, just tell me. I can handle that. I can't handle thinking that I mean something to you and I really don't."

  Callie removed her hand from his and placed her arms around his neck resting her forehead on his.

  "No games baby. I’m sorry." She placed her lips against his. "I never see you angry. It's sexy."

  "You want to see me kicking Darryl's ass?" he asked her.

  Callie smiled. "Now you're just making me hot."

  Trent pulled her onto his lap and his hand went to her thigh.

  "I'm so glad you wore a skirt today," he said smiling against her lips.

  *********

  Isabelle awakened on the small sofa in Ray's office. Concerned bright brown eyes stared down at her. Ray reached out and touched her face.

  "Tell me right now who I need to kill," he told her.

  "May I sit up?" she asked and he moved back a little to accommodate her.

  Isabelle touched his face softly moving her hands over the mustache and chin beard. She ran her fingers across his full lips...lips that did unbelievable things to her. What she had to tell him was going to change everything. Her secret was no longer hidden and her life was now over. A tear came to her eye as she looked up at him.

  "Isabelle, you need to tell me right now before I explode."

  "My purse," she whispered.

  Ray looked around and saw the bag Callie had brought in and sat on the table. He retrieved the item and handed it to her. Isabelle opened the purse and handed him the note. He read it and looked at her.

  "What the hell is this?"

  "I...I have to tell you something. Something very terrible," she choked.

  Ray took her hand. "Talk to me Goddess. Let me help you."

  Isabelle stared at his chest as she began..."When I was in college I was going to a study group one night. I ran into another student who was in one of my classes. He offered to walk me to the building. He said he knew a shortcut so I agreed."

  Ray's eyes narrowed as she slowly continued. "We walked to a secluded area hidden by trees. I got nervous because I'd never been there before," she said slowly.

  Ray felt her hands trembling and fought to control his emotions.

  "I turned to ask him where we were and he grabbed me...he pulled my hair...then he threw me down on the ground," Isabelle paused and a tear fell down her cheek.

  She swallowed. "He...he got on top of me and began touching me...hurting me," she brought her hand to her mouth.

  Ray was beyond any emotion he'd ever felt at this time. He held her hand and lowered his head as he tried to listen as she continued.

  "I screamed...I fought...he was so strong. He ripped my clothes and said terrible, disgusting things to me," she said softly.

  "Just tell me who he is," Ray said quietly. "I will find him."

  More tears ran down Isabelle's face.

  "You can't."

  Ray turned to her. "Can't what?"

  She sniffed. "You can't find him."

  Ray looked confused. "Why not?"

  Isabelle's shoulders shook. "Because he's dead...I killed him."

  Chapter 4

  Ray looked at her. "What did you say?"

  Isabelle lowered her head. "I killed him and now I'm going to have to pay for it," she whispered.

  Ray lifted her face to his. "Tell me what happened."

  Bright brown eyes watched dark brown ones.

  "He had me on the ground and he was trying to unfasten my pants. I reached out beside me and my hand touched something hard. I picked it up and hit him...in the head...several times. He fell off of me and I got up and ran. I just remember running...running so hard...as fast as I could. I never looked back."

  "I ran to my room and when I got there I still had it in my hand. It was a large rock and it had...blood on it. I ran into the bathroom and undressed. I took a shower...and stayed in my room with the door locked for the rest of the night."

  "I didn't know he was dead, not until the next day when it was announced on campus. It was reported that he had been attacked and killed. I was scared...so I gathered up my clothes from that night along with the rock then… I dumped them in the Charles River."

  Another tear slid down her cheek. "I didn't know what else to do..." she cried.

  Ray pulled her into his arms holding her tightly. "You did what you had to do Belle."

  "I'm going to go to prison," she said against his chest.

  "You're not going to prison and no one is going to hurt you again," he promised her.

  She looked up at him. "But someone knows."

  "I'm going to find out who this is and exactly what they know."

  "Do you think I'm a bad person because I've killed someone?" she asked sadly.

  Ray looked down at her. "I'm glad you killed him Isabelle, because you don't want to know what I would have done to him."

  "What do I do now?" she asked.

  Ray pulled her closer kissing the top of her head. "Now, I handle it."

  Isabelle held him tightly. "Another thing..." she whispered against his solid chest.

  "What's that?"

  "Ralph Benson is trying to blackmail me into having sex with him," she told him quietly.

  Ray pulled back and looked at her. "You're going to keep me busy, aren't you?"

  *********

  Jordan and Sean sat in his office after Trent's departure. The news of them having a sister had them both surprised.

  "Sean, what the hell? What's next?" Jordan asked.

  Sean shook his head. "I can't believe my mother has kept this secret for all these years."

  "I can't believe my father was such an ass!" Jordan stormed.

  "What happened? How did she get a family and Trent was passed through the system?" Sean questioned.

  Jordan's eyes narrowed. "I don't know, but we need to find out."

  Sean looked at Jordan. "My mother said that Justin refused to accept another son."

  Jordan shook his head. "Who are these damn people?"

  "We have to make sure we take care of him Jordan. He doesn't deserve any of this," Sean commented.

  Jordan thought about his little brother. A brother he'd come to love more than he ever thought possible.

  "I know."

  Sean gave Jordan a look. "Are you good with the plan to protect him from Esteban?"

  Jordan emphatically shook his head. "Hell no! You both know this is my ass on the line right?"

  "It has to be done Jordan. Ray has everything under control."

  "His ass better have this under control because if not, I'm going to lose everything!"

  Sean leaned fo
rward. "You're not Jordan. Have we ever failed at a plan?"

  Jordan sighed. "I'm not good with this Sean, too many variables."

  Sean smiled. "You just like to control everything."

  "Hell yeah."

  Sean laughed. "I've got your back."

  Jordan gave him a look. "Yeah, like you had it when Shana showed up here?"

  Sean shrugged. "I asked if you wanted me to check on you to make sure that Sage hadn't hurt you."

  "She was mad as hell."

  "You think?" Sean asked laughing.

  Jordan narrowed his eyes. "Shana came to see your ass, but you were hiding in your damn office."

  "No, I wasn't hiding. I had no reason to entertain Shana White," Sean told him. "Neither did you."

  Jordan shook his head. "That wasn't one of my smarter moves, I must admit."

  "She asked you for money?" Sean asked confused.

  "Yeah, twenty grand."

  Sean frowned. "For what?"

  Jordan shrugged. "I didn't ask her."

  Sean gave him a look. "She asked you for twenty grand and you didn't ask her what for?"

  "She just said she needed it."

  "Jordan, Shana's mother is wealthy. Why would she come and ask you for money?" Sean asked pointedly.

  Jordan thought for a moment then quickly glanced back at Sean. "Damn! She's trying to set us up for something."

  "Bingo."

  Jordan shook his head. "Who's she working with?" he questioned.

  Sean looked at him. "We need to find out."

  "This damn list keeps getting longer and longer!" Jordan snapped.

  "Well we know she's not the mastermind," Sean commented.

  Jordan stood. "Well I'm damned sure about to find out."

  "Jordan," Sean stood too. "What are you going to do?"

  Jordan smiled. "I'm going to let Shana see the Black Magic."

  "What?" Sean frowned.

  Jordan headed towards the door. "Not experience it Sean, just a glimpse to get what I want."

  Sean put his hands out. "Okay, I'll make sure you get a decent burial if Sage finds out."

  Jordan turned back to him. "Sage won't find out, besides if she does there probably won't be anything left of me to bury."

  Sean nodded. "True."

  "I've got enough things to deal with without adding Shana White. She's going to tell me who put her up to this," Jordan promised.

  "I don't think this is a good idea Jordan. We can find out another way," Sean warned him.