Wicked Intent

Chapter Sixtee

“Are you sure you want to do this, Tally?” Terrie paused at the closet, her hand reaching inside as she looked over her shoulder and met Tally’s gaze.

Tally refused to fidget or to chicken out. This was the rest of her life. It wasn’t a scheme, it wasn’t a game, it wasn’t a titillating little adventure. It was the final break with a past that should have never affected her the way it had.

“I’m sure.” She nodded firmly. She was. Certain.

Until Terrie pulled the clothes from the closet.

Clear plastic protected the garments and hid nothing from the eyes. They were innocent. A simple red plaid skirt that would have ended at Tally’s knees when she was much younger but would rise to mid thigh now. A short sleeved white cotton shirt. A very proper Catholic girl’s school uniform. It struck a chord of fear in her chest so strong that she nearly trembled in the face of it.

It was just clothes, she told herself realistically, but she knew her subconscious saw it as so much more.

Terrie laid the outfit out on the bed. It was over ten years old and should fit in the manner that Tally required. She needed to exorcize the ghosts the good sisters of the academy had placed within her, and what better way to do it than to take this first step into a new life, dressed as the person she had been so long ago?

“It will be shorter,” Terrie warned. “And snugger. But it should fit you okay.” Tally swallowed tightly. “It will work perfectly.” She stared at the clothing laid out as though it were a snake, coiled and ready to strike. In many ways it was.

“Tally, you don’t have to do this,” Terrie said. “You know Lucian and Dev love you…”

“This isn’t about Lucian and Dev.” She shook her head slowly, still staring at the innocent articles of clothing. “This is about me. I need white stockings. The ones that go just over the knee,” she told her friend faintly. “Do you have shoes that will work? I don’t dare return to the apartment yet.”

“I have everything you need.” Terrie nodded as she smoothed her hand over the plastic. “I wish we had schooled together, Tally. Perhaps I could have made things easier.”

Tally shook her head shortly. Nothing could have made it easier; nothing could change the parents who never knew how to love the wild little girl they had given birth to.

“It’s really shouldn’t be that big a deal,” Tally said softly. “I’m a grown woman, Terrie. Not a child. I should have faced this a long time ago. I don’t know why I’ve fought as I have.”

“Perhaps because nothing was worth the risk until now,” Terrie suggested gently.

“You’ve changed since going to Lucian’s office, Tally. You’re like this bright flame; where before you once glowed, now you sparkle. Love changes you. I told you that before. Perhaps, Lucian and Dev merely gave you the strength you needed to face it.” Tally smiled rather mockingly. Was that true? At this moment, she had no idea. All she knew was that suddenly nothing mattered more than changing the course her life had taken.

The empty, cold apartment. The loveless life. The chill she felt when darkness fell and she realized how empty her bed was. When she realized she could only envision two men within that bed with her. Lucian and Dev.

“They’ll be there tonight?” she asked Terrie quickly rather than replying to her previous statement.

Terrie nodded, a smile of conspiracy crossing her lips.

“I just talked to Jesse a few minutes ago. He’s meeting them for drinks this evening after work. He’s been doing that a lot lately.” She frowned. “What the hell do they do there anyway?”

“Fuck each other’s wives?” Tally asked her with an amused grin. “As I understand it, the married Trojans can only fuck their own women there, never anyone else’s.

House rules.” She rolled her eyes at the thought.

Not that she wanted Lucian and Dev to ever touch another woman. She would have to commit murder if that ever occurred, but the rule seemed designed to keep the married members in a constant state of lust while within the hallowed halls of their cherished Club.

Terrie snorted at that thought. “Jesse better never suggest such a thing. I don’t think he could stand it himself.”

“He doesn’t share you any longer?” Tally knew she was desperately delaying the moment she would have to uncover that damned uniform.

Terrie frowned. “Not in a while. He threatens to.” She shrugged. “He seems to enjoy it. But he’s been busy I guess…” Her voice trailed off.

“Men get complacent, I told you,” Tally warned her distantly.

“Hmm. We’ll see about that,” Terrie said thoughtfully, though her eyes were glittering with the light of battle.

Score another for Tally against Jesse, she snickered silently. So far, she was still ahead and Jesse was far, far behind her.

“Tally?” Terrie’s quiet voice drew her gaze from the uniform and back to her friend.

Terrie watched her with an edge of compassion, of concern. Tally could see the worry in her eyes now, the knowledge that Tally had to gather her courage to even touch the clothes, let alone put them on.

“I must really love them,” Tally mused with a self-deprecating little smile. “Because only love could get me in those clothes.” She looked up at Terrie, arching her brow mockingly. “What do we do if the clothes get ripped off me?” Terrie shrugged in unconcern. “I would consider it a worthy sacrifice then,” she laughed. “The uniform has no meaning to me, Tally. Burn it when you’re done if you need to. Consider it a wedding present.”

Wedding present. Tally swallowed tightly. “One step at a time here,” she breathed in deep and hard. “One slow step at a time here.”