"You told him you were going where?"

"To work. Filling out some last minute paper work before I can officially start…you know, FBI clearance – that sort of thing."

Wallace pushed the nasty burger he wasn’t eating away from him. The least she could have done was sprung for Atomic Burger.

"You mean to tell me that on top of luring me to this place…where they SERVE questionable burgers – at best…you also lied to your husband – my best friend – about where you were going…

"You’re secretly meeting with the guy you KISSED on the MOUTH a couple of months ago…and you expect the government to give you clearance to work?"

Elizabeth’s eyes narrowed. "Wallace what the Hell are you talking about? Could you try and follow me here."

"Oh I AM following you Lizzi-kins… and do you know where I’m following you to? Right into the underworld realm of awful AWFUL friendom. A realm where Lucky won’t talk to me, or return my phone calls. A realm where I’ll never get to hang out with him again because his wife is a LOON and always gets ME into trouble…and you know what – I’ve been there Elizabeth. I’ve been to that realm and taken the tour."

Elizabeth popped a fry into her mouth and leaned back. She had to admit that everything here was pretty rank. But she couldn’t haven taken a chance on inviting Wallace to lunch somewhere and having Lucky show up.

Certainly not Atomic Burger. The same exact place she and Lucky had first eaten in the city. The first place they’d ever run into Stephanie together.

"You got yourself into this," Elizabeth said then. Dousing her fries with Ranch. Maybe the flavor of the dressing would disguise the nastiness.

"WHAT?!" Wallace gasped. Lowering his voice when a few heads in the next booth turned at the volume. He hissed now. "You’re KIDDING me right? I called you back ONLY because YOU said Lucky knew all about your little plan to go see Stephanie!"

Elizabeth folded her arms atop the table and lowered her voice to a whisper. "Wallace, listen to me…you never even have to say that you saw me. Giving me that information can stay completely between us."

Wallace dropped his head back and looked at the ceiling. Wondering how the Hell he’d gotten trapped by her again. It was the same old story. Boy meets boy. Boy gets sucker kissed by other boy’s girlfriend. Boy ends up in the best friend hall of shame forever.

"See, this is not fair. You KNOW he’s gonna find out!"

Elizabeth chewed on her bottom lip nervously. "Not necessarily."

"Not necessarily?" Wallace countered, shrugging. "Oh really? How’s that? Stephanie’s sudden change of heart will be completely random? She’ll just DECIDE to become a decent person?…You can’t possibly be that naïve after everything she’s done."

"No, I’m NOT that naïve. But we both know that Jack is the mastermind behind everything…Wallace, all I have to do is let Stephanie see that memo – the way he talked about her? Her ego will NOT be able to stand that and she’ll turn against him…You were absolutely right to give that to me!"

"But I THOUGHT Lucky KNEW you were going there," he said through grit teeth once more. "You said he wouldn’t MIND me telling you what I knew."

"Well he won’t," Elizabeth said then, feeling a twinge of guilt for having duped Wallace AND for having lied to Lucky about her whereabouts. "And if all goes well, all he’ll know at the end of the day is that Stephanie came to her senses."

Wallace looked down at his uneaten burger. Bad burgers – bad situation. The burgers should have been a sign.

"Elizabeth, let me ask you something. What the heck were you planning on doing BEFORE I opened my big mouth about finding that memo at Lucinda’s? Just goin’ over there and having a chat? Or were you gonna throw down……because you know – Lucky might actually want to SEE that."

Elizabeth pushed her tongue into the side of her cheek and rolled her eyes. "I didn’t really have a plan. I was just…there are some things that I think Stephanie and I should talk about…maybe they’ll make a difference and maybe they won’t…but I think she needs to learn something about accusing people of things they didn’t do," she said quietly. "Heck, maybe I’ll just have that talk with her instead and then you’ll be off the hook."

Wallace took a deep breath and shook his head when he met her eyes. Suddenly realizing what she probably wanted to say to Stephanie. He’d rather her show her the damn memo if that was the case.

"Liz…what you want to say to her – I don’t think it’ll make a difference. You’ll be telling someone something that they don’t need to know….for no reason at all."

Elizabeth looked down at her ranch-drenched fries. She knew Wallace didn’t know any details of what happened to her as a kid, but Lucky had told her long ago that once upon a time….after one fight in particular that he’d had with her – he’d needed to vent a little to his friend.

And even in his venting state he hadn’t let much slip.

Such was the wonder of her husband.

"That’s the chance I have to take," she said then. "And you have to let me do this for –

"Don’t say for Lucky."

"For Lucky," she said anyway.

"Elizabeth, Lucky wouldn’t want you to go spilling something to –

"It doesn’t matter," Elizabeth said vehemently. "I have to do this Wallace. If this was Lucinda and –

"Oh come on…please don’t make me play ‘if this was Lucinda.’"

"Fine, let’s play another Lucinda game," Elizabeth said leaning forward with an evil glint in her eye. "Let’s play….’I’ll tell Lucinda you found that information and never showed her, if you don’t let me do this Wallace’."

Wallace’s threw his head back. "I HATE it when you make games up!"

Elizabeth folded her arms across her chest and grinned.

Wallace sighed and a grin quirked one side of his mouth when he looked at her. "What EXACTLY does he see in you?"

She smiled as she stood up then. Dropping a 20 dollar bill on the table. She leaned down and kissed Wallace’s cheek. He wiped at it like a little kid.

Elizabeth giggled. "Don’t worry, I’m not going to attack you this time….I’m not drunk or stupid. But I will pay for your burger as promised."

Wallace rolled his eyes and then sighed. "Elizabeth, I’m gonna tell him that you’re –

"You tell him and I tell Lucinda that you found it in HER apartment and failed to show it to her because you didn’t think she could handle what Jack said about her."

"But that’s NOT why I’m not showing her," Wallace said through a tight voice. "I just don’t want her to have to deal with one more thing that asshole does to upset her liiiiife…" the word dwindled away along with his point, as Elizabeth made hers with her eyes.

It was the same point.

She wanted to do the same thing for Lucky. Different asshole…but same principle.

"Ok," he sighed then. "But I’ll deny any involvement if this doesn’t work…..and take all the credit if it does….just letting you know."

Elizabeth shoved him and smiled. "See ya Wallace. Eat that burger now…I paying good money for it."

Wallace breathed in through his nose. "Over my dead body."

The funny thing was, if Lucky found out about this…chances were his body WOULD be dead within a few hours.

~~~~~~~

He felt like a stalker. A big, fat stalker.

If he really thought about it for longer than 30 seconds, that’s in effect what he was doing - stalking. Standing outside the boutique he knew she shopped in every second Tuesday of the month because they got new shipments in stock.

New shoes, new stockings, new sashays that made your sock drawer smell like jasmine. All of that stuff, she got on Tuesdays at the small boutique on 5^th. Because she had money and nothing but time.

It’d been annoying when they were together, and even more annoying now – knowing that she could still shop there. That more than likely, nobody looked at her like a criminal when she walked into the store. That more than likely, no one stopped and stared at her money as if it might be diseased when she plunked it down at the cash register.

Like they did with him and his dead presidents now.

But after today, maybe that would no longer be the case. He’d talk to her. He’d talk to her and convince her that this was all just insane. That he knew it was, she knew it was…everybody knew it was, and so she should just drop it.

He’d come up with all the reasons in his head that she should give up the fight. That all she was doing was making things difficult on herself. Afterall people thought maybe she was lying since she’d yet to press charges.

But did he really want to bring that up? Risk pissing her off even further and causing her to press charges anyway?

Damnit, he’d yet to come up with the exact perfect thing to say! Here he was…about to get arrested for violating a restraining order and he didn’t even have his words worked out in his head.

Lucky ran his fingers through his hair and let his head fall back against the chair’s high back in the deli across the street. If Elizabeth knew he’d come here this afternoon she’d flip out.

If the cops knew, he’d be hauled off to jail.

The store was right across the street, and he watched through the glass of the deli and the glass of the boutique as Stephanie lifted items from bins and sniffed them. Smiled at a saleswoman who passed by.

It had been that smile that had hooked him once upon a time, and the smile that made him angry now. He was right – nobody looked at her funny. Women in stores weren’t refusing to help her. They smiled at her… and she smiled back. All was still hunkey dorey in Stephanie Davenport’s world.

Well she was about to make it right with his world too.

This couldn’t go on anymore. Lucky said he was ‘ok,’ most days but things were never really ‘ok’ anymore. They hadn’t been since that night on the yacht. He snapped Elizabeth when he didn’t want to, and he knew she walked on eggshells half of the time lately. They were newlyweds and they shouldn’t have had to deal with this crap.

His wife had just gotten a job for God’s sake and as much as he knew she actually was looking forward to working…the mere thought of some child’s parents coming up to her and asking if she were married to ‘that rapist’ was enough to drive him insane.

He knew the possibility of that happening was a greater one in his mind than it was in reality, but it didn’t matter.

He had to do something about it now and a slander suit didn’t prove anything in the grand scheme of things. The public would look at it as a tactical maneuver and nothing more. Simply something his attorney told him to do to make himself look better.

And that was partially true. But there was another reason…a greater reason, and it was that he wanted justice! She’d dragged his name through the mud. Everyone on the New York social scene knew about Stephanie Davenport’s accusation of Lucky Spencer raping her.

Just then Lucky looked back up from his uneaten sandwich. Watching as the bitch walked out the boutique. Trying to consolidate all her bags into the larger Bloomingdale’s one that she’d walked in with.

Yes, he’d followed her from Bloomingdale’s, and now he’d follow her back to her apartment…as soon as he figured out what he needed to say to make her change her mind.

There was a woman inside of Stephanie that hadn’t always been such a bitch. He could recall the woman who’d encouraged him when he hadn’t felt like such the ‘golden boy.’ And even if she’d only done it to serve herself in the long run…she’d done it.

She’d smiled, she’d laughed at his jokes, she’d listened to his stories about work…she’d done all of that for months before she’d turned into a lunatic. If he could only call that Stephanie back and have a talk with her…maybe…

Lucky sighed. He had to figure this out before he went knocking on her door…

Maybe he’d try to eat a little of the sandwich first, before he went searching for justice.

~~~~~~~

Jack knew he hadn’t left anything of course. But still he couldn’t help but check. After Lucinda had left his apartment the yesterday, thoughts of leaving things in her loft had plagued him.

There were many times when he’d brought things over to work on. Things that he couldn’t work on at home because the bitch hadn’t been able to get enough of him. He’d had to spend every waking moment with her when she was home.

Lucinda McCloud needed more attention that a fucking newborn.

She’d always needed valuable time. Time that could have been used for work. If it wasn’t for her, he would have beaten Lucky to the punch with game proposals and ultimately, Lucky would have never been up for that promotion in the first place. If Lucinda had only gotten off his back and given him the time he’d needed!

As soon as he confirmed to himself that he hadn’t left anything in her apartment he’d pay her back for all the time she’d bled out of him. But for now he had to search.

He searched beneath her bed…a bed that had been left unmade and obviously slept in on both sides.

Bitch.

First she’d taken all his time and now she was fucking Wallace McKenzie. Jack shook his head. She was unbelievably stupid and naïve and soon she’d see that Jack Young didn’t do well with people who were stupid and naïve.

Skanks who were stupid and naïve.

He threw the sheets aside and pulled the fitted sheet off of the mattress. He didn’t know why it would be there, but maybe if Lucinda HAD actually found something, she’d hidden it there.

She didn’t know Jack still had a key. That he’d had one made specifically for this purpose, in case she’d ever gotten too damn big for her britches and tried to make a fool of him. And she was none the wiser.

He couldn’t trust her anymore. Hell, he’d never trusted her, but now things were worse. Now that she’d started screwing McKenzie, he couldn’t predict her actions. Back when they’d been together, she never would have spoken to him the way she’d spoken to him the yesterday at his apartment. She’d known better.

Obviously, Jack thought as he pulled out the boxes she had stacked in her closet, she’d forgotten her place in the order of things. Just as Stephanie had last night. He’d reminded her though pretty quickly.

Thankfully she’d followed his instructions and had called her lawyer to file charges against Spencer. Things would be going smoothly from here on out. Spencer wouldn’t know what hit him when the cops showed up at his door. Demanding to take him to prison for a crime he hadn’t committed.

A smile came to Jack’s face even as he started to sweat. Dreaming of the headlines as he pulled paper after paper out of Lucinda’s boxes and file folders.

Nothing. There was absolutely nothing here that could link him to any of this. The accusations or the sabotage he’d tried to do to Road Fury 2……not that it had worked anyway.

The bastard was nearly a felon and his game was selling off the shelves like hot cakes.

But that didn’t matter. Lucinda was lying and that was all Jack needed to know. It was just as he’d thought. He didn’t know why he’d ever doubted his own intellect. There was no reason to. Lucinda didn’t have anything and he’d see to it that she never thought about tricking him again.

One day soon she’d realize not to mess with him…

But Jack’s mind and body were quickly becoming involved with other things. Distracted by the sudden feel of the slip dress that hung in Lucinda’s closet. She was a bitch, but he still remembered what she felt like beneath him.

He sighed and ran his hands along the fabric.

Lucky Spencer was going to jail and Jack suddenly had a hard-on. It was going to be a great day.

~~~~~~~

Stephanie jolted at the sound of the knock on the door. She’d felt all day like she was being followed and now she knew for certain that she had been. The knock came again and she winced.

"Damnit," she whispered to herself. Chewing at her lip.

Slowly she placed her shopping bags on the carpet and approached the front door. Her feet quiet on the carpet. Timidly she approached her own front door, because that asshole was out there.

It was Jack. It had to be. He’d realized she’d pulled one over on him by dialing the wrong number for her attorney last night. He’d realized she’d faked him out and had decided to come back and finish choking the shit out of her.

Stephanie blanched at the thought of the night before and rubbed at her neck. A bruise the size of an egg was growing more and more violet beneath her turtleneck as the day wore on. She’d been half afraid to try on the lovely chemise that she’d bought today…HALF afraid.

Just because she was giving up men for awhile, didn’t mean she wouldn’t need something sexy upon her return to dating in just a few weeks.

A little hiatus was all she needed. Maybe a shopping trip to Europe during that time would make her feel better. A good pair of Italian pumps could always make her smile.

When the knock sounded again – louder this time – she jumped even higher and pulled at the neck of her sweater. Suddenly too warm.

"Damn, damn, damnit," she muttered. Maybe she could just pretend she wasn’t -

"Stephanie, can I please come in? I know you’re in there…I just watched you walk in with your lovely purchases."

Stephanie’s finely plucked brows rose and then lowered as she scowled. It wasn’t Jack. In fact the voice was female…Liz’s voice.

Liz the Stripper turned woman of great virtue was at her door.

She wasn’t quite sure whether to be relieved or even more wary.

Why the Hell was she at her door? She suddenly wished she would’ve gotten that damn restraining order for Lucky’s wife too.

"What do you want?" Stephanie finally asked. Holding her breath. "Is Lucky with you? Because he’s not supposed to be and I’ll call the cops if I have to."

Elizabeth took a step back behind the door and moved to the side so Stephanie could see that Lucky was nowhere to be seen. Internally checking her sudden urge to yell out the words ‘fuck you’ as loudly as she could to the woman behind the door.

No matter how much she wanted to, she couldn’t let Stephanie get the better of her today. If she did, she could kiss her plan goodbye, and Lucky could probably kiss his career goodbye as well.

Optimism was one of the things that had first drawn Elizabeth to Lucky, but lately optimism was hard to come by. He was getting more and more despondent about things with each passing day. That was exactly why Elizabeth had to do this.

"No, he’s not with me Stephanie. I just wanted to talk to you for a few minutes…please." The last word tasted like cheese gone bad on her tongue. She couldn’t believe she was minding her p’s and q’s with this bitch.

Stephanie stepped away from her door and folded her arms across her chest. "What is it that you want Elizabeth? Isn’t it bad enough that your husband attacks women, now he’s got you harassing them too?"

Elizabeth bit down so hard on her tongue that she actually tasted blood. The metallic flavor filled her mouth, and she swallowed.

"I’m not here to harass you Stephanie." Though, I may be the first to actually ATTACK your bitchass,’ she thought quickly. Wisely choosing not to voice that particular desire right then.

Elizabeth’s fists clenched. "I understand why you wouldn’t want to see me," she said, tasting that same bitterness on her tongue. "But I really think we need to talk."

"There’s nothing for us to talk about. Your husband’s a rapist and that’s all you need to know."

Elizabeth dragged her foot along the floor outside the door. How the Hell was she supposed to stay civil with this broad? Stephanie made it hard to hold back primal instincts, such as clubbing someone over the head.

Elizabeth knew of other women who’d had to deal with the x-lovers of their boyfriends or husbands…but what the Hell had she done in life to deserve THIS bullshit?

"Stephanie I know that you and Jack are close…but I recently found something out. Something about your relationship that you may want to know. Something that may make you rethink some of your…decisions."

Stephanie caught a shiver. What the Hell did she know exactly? Jack certainly wouldn’t have gone spewing about their relationship to Elizabeth! Unless he’d suddenly turned on her again. Just as he had last night.

She couldn’t trust him at all. She knew that now.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about," she continued through the closed door.

"Are you sure? This doesn’t sound familiar to you at all?" Elizabeth asked, unfolding the copy of the memo that Wallace had made for her. She cleared her throat and read.

"And I quote… Stephanie and I have big plans for Spencer…It’s time that Ass muncher left Game One…and Stephanie’s the exact right person to help me…afterall, she’s gotta be good for something."

Elizabeth let the last words trail upwards in their tone, as if they were a question. "None of that sounds familiar, huh?" She asked through the door. Looking up into the wide eyes in the peephole.

"Because I thought it was a bit odd the first time I read it…What could Jack possibly be talking about?…I mean a bit earlier in the memo he goes into detail about how horrible you are in the sack, but I didn’t think he’d actually imply that…."

The door swung open and Elizabeth quickly stepped inside. Handing Stephanie the memo politely, when all she really wanted to do was wad it up and shove it in her huge collagen inflated pie hole.

"I thought that was all pretty interesting," Elizabeth muttered. Training her eyes anywhere but on Stephanie.

She took the apartment in. It was posh, elegant…Sterile – cold.

No wonder Lucky couldn’t stomach her. It looked like something out of a magazine…a magazine picture that an actual human being wouldn’t be caught dead in, let alone living in.

Elizabeth folded her arms and tried to remain calm as Stephanie’s eyes scanned the memo furiously. Shifting back and forth over the words. She’d obviously never seen it before, and was actually shocked that her good friend Jack could say such wicked things about her.

"Wh - where did you get this?"

"What?" Elizabeth asked casually. "Oh…why don’t we just say that a little birdie gave it to me, and leave it at that."

Stephanie was seething. She couldn’t believe what she was reading. The things Jack had said…if ANYBODY had been horrible in the sack…

Man, did she ever have news for Mr. Young. The guy he hated, the guy he despised SO much – Lucky Spencer – may have been an asshole who didn’t deserve her – but compared to Jack, he was a sex god in bed.

Maybe she’d just have to drop that little comment in front of Jack the next time she saw him. Stephanie’s anger boiled up high inside her and she looked up at the woman who got to sleep with the sex god every night now. She hated her too.

Even more so now for humiliating her.

"What are you doing? This doesn’t prove anything. Your husband still attacked me."

Elizabeth licked her lips. "Right…I’m sorry. Of course that memo doesn’t mean anything. The fact that Jack wanted Lucky out of Game One and you just happened to be a ‘help’ to him in some way, means absolutely nothing. My bad."

"It doesn’t," Stephanie stubbornly reiterated. "It means nothing…Jack is just blowing a lot of hot air. Just like he is with this whole thing about me being bad in the sack…Just ask your husband how ‘bad’ I am in the sack."

Elizabeth’s gaze dropped to her shoes. If she didn’t focus on her shoes, she’d focus on putting her fist through Stephanie’s face and she doubted that would be a productive use of anyone’s time.

Besides, Stephanie had just given herself away…bigtime.

"It’s funny you should say that."

"What’s so funny about it? Your husband knows I’m great in bed. I wouldn’t think you’d find that amusing at all."

"No, what’s amusing to me is a woman calling her rapist a sex god….but hey – that’s just me. To each her own, right?"

Stephanie stared for a moment and then turned towards the front door. This was not going well, and she’d just opened her big mouth. She didn’t want Lucky to go to prison, but she didn’t want to be made a fool out of either.

"I think you should go now."

Elizabeth stepped in front of the door before she could reach it. "No, I don’t think I should…and do you want to know why Stephanie?" Elizabeth took a deep breath. She hadn’t wanted to actually do this…she loathed the thought of giving this part of herself away to someone other than Lucky…

"Because you and I…you know – we have something in common. Us both being rape victims and all."

Stephanie’s brows constricted. The last thing she’d expected to hear was something – anything – in common with Elizabeth. Especially this.

"I know," Elizabeth nodded. "Your confused right?…Yeah I was too, the first time it happened. I was 10…my 10^th birthday to be exact – the first time it happened – the first time my step-father came into my room at night…Talk about confused," Elizabeth added bitterly. She smiled even while her body shook from head to foot.

This girl made her crazy. Talking about this made her crazy. By the time she left this apartment she’d probably have to kill someone.

"I didn’t even know what sex was…so you can imagine how completely confused I was right?…What about you Stephanie? What was your experience like?…It’s ok," Elizabeth said then as the woman’s eyes widened in shock. "You can tell me about what Lucky did…just pretend I’m not his wife. I’m just another woman…come on…go ahead and chat with me. Sisterhood here," she added. Pointing from Stephanie to herself. "Share."

"I don’t think this is –

"What? You don’t think it’s appropriate to talk about this? Why not? We both had the same experience right? Lucky held you down and raped you, told your mother that you were a slut and that everything that happened was your fault. That you seduced him. All those seemingly innocent glances across the dinner table…walking down the hall…the way you sashayed past….was that your experience too? Do tell," Elizabeth added folding her arms across her chest. "I think it’ll really help the both of us."

Her fingers tingled now. She probably wasn’t getting enough oxygen with how fast she was speaking, but she surged ahead.

"What was it like that night?…I mean it must have been a little different for you. You and Lucky already had a sexual past…with me – well I hadn’t had a sexual past so mine was quite interesting….share Stephanie SHARE!" Elizabeth demanded then. Anger increasing the volume of her voice. "Or was it different for you? Did he talk you into bed and THEN get rough? Or was it the other way around? Did he tell you he loved you while making you bleed?"

Something in Stephanie’s eyes changed. Horror was probably what Elizabeth saw in them, but she didn’t care. Maybe now she’d understand. Maybe now she’d get it!

Elizabeth felt morbid and reckless and sick to her stomach. Ready to heave all over her shoes if this wasn’t over soon.

But she was so angry. So beyond furious that she couldn’t seem to stop the words or the insane pounding of her heart.

"And then what happened?…After it was over did Jack come over…You confided in him and he was he a good friend to you? A sympathetic ear? Yeah, he seems like the kind of guy that would be sympathetic…I mean when he had me up against the side of that yacht a couple of weeks ago, that’s the impression that I got…..that he was someone sympathetic to the plight of the rape victim…was that what you thought too when you came around the corner that night?…I remember that glint in your eyes…it was almost…happy.

"Funny how someone who had recently been brutally attacked right here in this fucking apartment would feel….…..happy – at another woman’s misfortune. Did he tell you he was gonna stick his hand up my dress or was that just something he was improvising with?"

Stephanie bit down on her lip when it trembled and looked down at the carpet. Suddenly unable to look the woman in front of her, in the eyes.

"I didn’t…I didn’t know."

Elizabeth took a step into her personal space. "You didn’t know WHAT exactly?"

"I didn’t know that…you know…that you…"

"That my step father fucked me until I was a teenager? Oh, that’s ok," Elizabeth said waving it off. "Most people overlook things like that when you start taking off your clothes for a living…Most people just call your Stripper Slut, Lizzie Slut….you remember all those little nicknames you had for me right? It’s really my own fault for behaving in such a way…

"But now that you’ve had the same experience as I, that’s all water under the bridge right?…We can be friends. Rage against the injustice of men who hurt women together…etc. etc," Elizabeth finished, her voice shaking right along with her body now.

She would not cry. She would not allow this woman to see her cry. This was going to be finished today and that was all there was to it.

Stephanie swallowed hard against the bile that rose in her throat. Jack had never told her any of this and he had to have known. He’d always sounded like he’d known something about Elizabeth that she hadn’t. Something that he was unwilling to tell her.

When she looked back up into Elizabeth’s eyes she wanted to say something. There was a word on the tip of her tongue, but it would have sounded trite and stupid and useless. She suddenly felt like all three of those words herself. She didn’t need to compound it by actually proving it with such a simple word.

So she stared for a moment – wanting to say something but not. And when her first tear fell she turned away again. Embarrassed that she would be crying over something that she caused. She would be crying when the woman in front of her who had been through so much had more of a right to do so.

Elizabeth cleared her throat and looked away.

"Well," she said thickly. "I’ll just be leaving this for you Stephanie. You can have a look at it…or not," she said then, shrugging. There wasn’t anything more that she could do, short of killing her. And right then…she didn’t have the energy.

She placed the memo on the credenza near the couch and turned towards the door. She stopped with her hand on the doorknob. Speaking over her shoulder because she couldn’t bear to look at that woman again.

"He’s the best person I’ve ever met…and I know that you know that too. I know that you know it, because you hate me so much…Please don’t do this to him because you hate me, or because you want to help Jack…or to get even…Just be HAPPY with your life Stephanie…stop letting Jack wind you up like a fucking cupie doll and take control of your life…you and I are not the same…but we both know a good man when we see one – obviously.

"You know I never thought I was worthy of his love…but maybe there’s somebody inside of you who is……Maybe you can get in contact with the girl Lucky used to date. Maybe she could change all this."

And with that Elizabeth was gone. Disappearing down the hall as quickly as she had come. Stephanie stepped forward to close the door. Her hand shaking. Her body weak from the encounter. She may have not had the strength to close the door even if there hadn’t been a hand that reached out and stopped her.

A hand that wrapped around her neck and cut off all her air.

~~~~~~~

Elizabeth stooped down against the banister and finally let it out. Retching over the side and into the bushes. She held on to the cement rail and squatted close to the ground. Feeling the world spin beneath her.

Between the tears and the vomit she felt just about ready to die.

She’d just given herself over to Stephanie Davenport. She’d laid her entire soul down on the carpet and presented it so Stephanie could stomp all over it in her Prada pumps if she so chose.

Elizabeth reached back and pulled her hair into her fingers. Lifting it off her neck for the winter air to cool. She shut her eyes to the words she’d spoken. All of them floating around her as a reminder of all that she’d risked.

She’d never be sorry for her decision, but she couldn’t help but be scared. Be disgusted that of all people…Stephanie knew about her past. So now the most trust worthy and the most UN trust worthy people in the world knew about her. When she thought about how much the first extreme had terrified her…this one – this extreme, increased that terror tenfold.

With a shaking hand she brushed at her mouth and slumped on the steps. Pressing her clammy forehead against the cold concrete for relief.

She wanted to be held. She wanted Lucky to hold her like he had just a few months ago when he’d promised to love her always and that everything was going to be alright. She wanted all of this was over and things to be beautiful and perfect again.

It was an unrealistic wish she knew, but she wanted it anyway.

"Hey…Elizabeth what are you doing here?….Are you alright?"

The familiarity and the panic in the voice made her look up. A smile instantly pushed it’s way past the sickness in her belly as Lucky bent down towards her. He tugged at his pants and then settled in front of her on the lower step. His hand was on her face then and it was so cool it felt like heaven.

His eyes searched hers. "Baby…what’s wrong? Why are you here? Please tell me you didn’t come here for the reason I think you came here."

Elizabeth swallowed and tried to pull back but he wouldn’t let her. He’d be sorry once she opened her mouth and he smelled what she’d had for breakfast.

Her hand covered her mouth. "I had to explain some things to her."

Lucky dropped his head and sighed. "What do you mean explain some things to her?"

"Just women stuff," she said then. Knowing by immediate questioning look on his face that he wasn’t going to buy a vague response.

"Stephanie’s not a woman, she’s a viper," he responded. "What could you possibly have said to her that she’d understand without you speaking like Harry Potter?" He asked, noticing how her hand trembled. He pulled it down. "And why do you look like you’re about to be sick?"

Elizabeth shook her head and breathed in through her nose. "I was already sick……I guess because of her. Talking to her tends to do that to me."

Lucky pressed on. "What did you talk to her ABOUT exactly?"

"YOU of course."

His brows rose in suspicion. "And that’s what made you sick, huh?"

She looked down at her lap. He wasn’t going to like this. Hell, she abhorred it. "I told her about…about when I was a little girl…about my stepfather."

Lucky shut his eyes for a moment. The words sinking in slowly. She’d done what she’d never done with anybody but him…FOR him. His heart palpitated just a bit at that moment.

People asked him all the time how he could have married someone so quickly. Someone he barely knew. Someone who he still had so much to learn about.

Well he’d just learned everything he’d ever need to know about Elizabeth in this one instant.

When he opened his eyes again they met his wife’s. They were so beautiful. SHE was so beautiful inside that it made his heart ache.

He took her hands in his and held them there between them as he knelt before her. Kissing her knuckles and holding his lips there.

"I can’t believe you did that…I can’t believe…Elizabeth you didn’t have to do that. You really didn’t….I know that you love me and I know that you want to do whatever you can for me and…but this is Stephanie…"

"No," Elizabeth said shaking her head. "It’s not about Stephanie. It was about so much more than Stephanie. It was about me, and you...and everything I’ve had to do in my life to get to this day…it was about me not letting her take that away from us…She can try – but she won’t succeed."

Lucky breathed in deeply and placed both of his hands on her face. So proud of her that he wanted to burst. She pulled back again when he leaned in to kiss her, but he held her still.

"I’m GONNA kiss you…no matter what…it’ll just be a short one," he added grinning.

Elizabeth smiled back, and he did kiss her then. Softly and sweetly…quickly.

She smiled back at him when he pulled away and then jolted as the world came into view again.

"Lucky what are YOU doing here?! You could get arrested just for sitting on this stoop if the cops come by or –

"Yeah that’s why I’m not gonna sit on this stoop anymore. I’m gonna go up and see her."

Elizabeth’s eyes widened into O’s. "What!" She said rising when he did. Lucky helped her up. "Lucky no. You CAN’T go in there……Lucky I pissed her off. If you go up there now, she'll call the police for sure and then they’ll arrest you…Baby please don’t do this."

Lucky pushed her hair away from her face, and his palm brushed against her forehead in the process. He scowled suddenly.

"Hey I want you to go home and get in bed…you’ve got a fever I think –

"Lucky don’t change the subject. Don’t go in th –

"Elizabeth PLEASE go home now."

"And just what am I supposed to do at home? Wait until I get a call from the police that you’re in jail?"

"I’m not going to jail. Stephanie and I are gonna have a long talk and that’s it."

Elizabeth shook her head. "Fine, if you’re going up there, I’m staying right here. I’m gonna sit right here on the stoop until you come down. I’ll call your cell phone if I see the cops in the neighborhood."

Lucky sighed, knowing she was serious. Though the only cops around were on horseback near the park and he didn’t think they’d be traipsing by the building any time soon. That would buy him a little time at least.

"Ok, but stay right here ok? Don’t come up……You’ve already done enough for me," he whispered. Brushing the backs of his fingers along her cheek.

He took off his jacket then and draped it around her shoulders. "Just sit here…I’ll be back before you know it."

Elizabeth nodded reluctantly and sat. He would NOT be back before she knew it…and she knew it.

Lucky bent once more and pressed his lips to her forehead.

"I love you so much," he said against her skin. Holding her face in his hands. "And after today everything’s going to be fine…beautiful and perfect."

Elizabeth watched him walk away and smiled tiredly as she leaned back against the banister…

Beautiful and perfect…she couldn’t wait.

~~~~~~~

Lucky knocked on the door even though it was cracked open a few inches. The last thing he needed was to add breaking and entering to his possible list of crimes.

But all thoughts of his criminal record were lost when he heard the scuffle. Followed by something falling to the floor, and the quick and distinct sound of ripping fabric.

"Stephanie?"

There was a dead halt in all sounds coming from inside, but not one audible response to her name. Nothing…but a frozen sort of silence that sent a chill right up his spine.

Lucky swallowed hard and pushed the door all the way open. And for the rest of his life he would never forget the scene in front of him.

"Oh my God."