Chapter 288 Traitors

Chapter 288 Traitors　　"Trust? No way! I don't trust you. Not after you left me alone with Evelyn last night," Lucy said with a shake of her head.

"But this is different. What's the worst that can happen if you wear this very decent dress? Or you're scared because the idea of wearing a dress without undies turns you on?" Sonia asked, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.

"I'm not!" Lucy said defensively.

"You are. Else I see no reason you don't want to wear the dress. Fine, I'll wear something similar too," Sonia offered. 

"Why are you so bent on making me wear this dress?" Lucy asked, suspecting that Sonia was up to something.

"I have my reasons, okay? Just trust me. No harm will come from wearing this," Sonia assured her once again, and against Lucy's better judgment, she allowed herself to be convinced. She took off her crop top and palazzo pants and changed into the one-shoulder floral print dress that hugged the upper part of her body and then flowed down from her waist, with a long slit that ran from her right thigh to her ankle. 

Sonia also took off her clothes and changed into another long dress. The difference was that hers was a simple mix print sleeveless v-neck dress that flowed down her ankle.

"This is the most covered you've ever been when it's not winter," Lucy said as she observed Sonia's dress. 

"Thanks," Sonia said with a wink, accepting it as a compliment, "Now we both look decent. I'm sure Mother Hank would love this," Sonia said as they left the room.

"What is taking them so long? I would have thought they were up to something had the boys not been here," Lucy's father said, and Tom's father chuckled.

"I still think they are up to something. Maybe something differs," Tom's father said suggestively, and his wife glared at him mildly as she covered Jamal's ears while Lucy's parents laughed.

"Doing that is pointless. Even if he hears what I said, I don't think he understands the meaning," her husband pointed out.

"You had better start watching your tongue. I don't want you talking like this around our grandkids," Evelyn warned, and Tom exchanged a look with Bryan, who was seated beside him, and they both shook their head. 

"Sorry we kept you waiting," Lucy said as she walked into the Den with Sonia, and Tom, who had been playing a game with Bryan, dropped his pad when he heard her voice. 

His eyes lit up the moment he saw Lucy walking in with Sonia, and then he did a double-take when he noticed that she was wearing the dress. 

"C'mon, Tom! I was just about to score!" Bryan snapped at him.

"You don't need to score to win. I give up. You win," Tom announced distractedly.

She was wearing the dress. Did that mean that she wasn't wearing anything under the dress? He wondered as he waited for her to come to him since he had reserved the space beside him for her. 

"Just like that? That's not fun," Bryan said irritably, and their father chuckled.

"Yet you did the same to me last night. What did the Bible say about reaping what you sow? Your harvest came quite early," their father said, and the others laughed, apart from Tom whose brows were creased in displeasure when Lucy smiled at him but sat down on an empty couch away from him, and Sonia went to sit beside her. 

Tom glanced at Bryan who also looked confused. There was enough space on their couch to accommodate both ladies, so why did they choose to take the seat away from them?

"Babe? What are you wearing?" Bryan asked with a frown making Tom realize that Bryan was more concerned about Sonia's dress than where she was seated, "Mom, see what you caused! Now she's wearing stuff that she doesn't even like," he said accusingly as he stood up and walked over to where Sonia was seated. He grabbed her hand before she could say a word, "Come with me," he said, pulling her up while the others watched the show.

"Where to? I'm fine," Sonia said with a giggle as she tried to pull her hand away from his grip, refusing to let him drag her away, "I'm comfortable. Stop embarrassing me," she said with an amused smile. 

"Are you sure?" Bryan asked, not understanding why she would choose to wear a dress like that. That was completely not her style.

"Yes. And I'm not wearing it because of your mom either. Or didn't you notice Lucy's dress?" she asked, and Bryan's gaze shifted to Lucy.

"If at this point you still think that Sonia would wear a dress like that just to impress your mom, then you still have a long way to go," Lucy's father said with a chuckle.

"Your dress looks lovely," Evelyn said, her gaze shifting from Sonia to Lucy, and it made Lucy shift uncomfortably in her seat since she felt like the woman could see through them and know that they had stolen her daughter's clothes.

"We borro..."

"Thank you," Sonia quickly cut in with a smile, "And I'm sorry Bryan accused you falsely," she added to cover up what she had just done.

"Get back to your seat. I'm okay," she whispered to Bryan as she sat down once again beside Lucy.

"So why are you dressed this way?" Bryan asked again.

Sonia smiled, "I just reasoned that since I made her wear something I picked last night, I should wear something she likes today," Sonia lied through her teeth, and everyone else bought her explanation apart from Tom.

He knew for a fact that it was Sonia who had convinced Lucy to wear the dress, the same way he could swear that she was the one who had suggested that Lucy sit away from him. Too bad for them that he wasn't going to let that happen.

Tom stood up, and Lucy turned to Sonia for help when she noticed Tom was coming over to where they were seated, but Sonia only winked at her, "Loosen up, Lu. Try to enjoy yourself every time you get the chance. You only live once."

Before either Bryan or Lucy could finish processing what Sonia was saying to her, Sonia looked at Tom who had stopped in front of them, "I suppose you want to sit beside her," Sonia said with a wide smile as she stood up.

"Sonia! Where are you going to?" Lucy called, feeling betrayed that Sonia was leaving after convincing her to wear the dress without undies, and Tom chuckled as he sat down on the spot that Sonia had vacated.

"To sit with Bryan. I can't possibly refuse to let him sit down on his own couch, can I? I don't want to be thrown out," Sonia said with mock fear as she linked her arm with Bryan's.

"I'll let everyone know that we stole the dress if you don't sit down," Lucy threatened.

"No, we didn't," Sonia said with a wink before walking away with Bryan, leaving Lucy who was glaring at her back.

"You must trust your friend a lot, don't you? How do you think she found out about the closet? Or chose this particular dress?" Tom asked, looking at Lucy who was sitting away from him.

Lucy turned to look at him with round eyes, "Did you plan this?" She asked in disbelief, and Tom chuckled. 

"Did I not promise you that we will correct your not having a dress to change into soon enough? You didn't think I would let you get away without fulfilling your end of the bargain, did you?" Tom reminded her.

She knew he had said that, but she didn't think he meant it would be that same day, "But this morning..."

"It wasn't in the closet. Jade would never wear something like this. I ordered both dresses and had Adolf pick them up after dropping off Lucas at the airport," Tom said with a grin.

"I've been with Sonia all day. When did you talk to her? And what did you tell her?" She asked, wanting to know just how much Sonia knew.

"After Jade left and you went to talk with Lucas, I had a little conversation with her. I told her that I wanted to get you a lovely dress, and I wanted her to convince you to wear it before dinner," Tom explained, and Lucy turned to glare at her traitorous best friend, but unfortunately, Sonia was completely engrossed in whatever she was discussing with Bryan as she had a silly smile on her face. 

"She didn't ask you why?" Lucy asked, and Tom shrugged.

"Was she supposed to? It was a reasonable request. I wanted you to wear a dress, not run around naked. I'm sure she didn't read any meaning to it. Why? Did you tell her about our bet?" Tom asked, narrowing his eyes, and Lucy's face flushed a bright red.

Tom shook his head. "Yet, you ladies claim that guys are the ones who kiss and tell," Tom said with a shake of his head, "I suppose I'm free to talk to Harry about it too?" He asked, and Lucy shook her head. 

"I'm sorry," she said, pressing her lips together.

"I don't feel offended. I was just making a point which you got already," Tom assured her with a wink.

"The dress looks really lovely on you. And I hope that the only reason you were avoiding me is that you remembered not to wear anything under it," Tom whispered with a naughty gleam in his eyes. Butterflies fluttered in Lucy's belly when he reached out to trail a finger from her bare shoulder down to the slit on her gown, touching her thigh. 

This man! Lucy thought with a shaky breath, "Tom, please don't start," she pleaded in a weak voice and looked around them self-consciously.

She flushed a deep shade of red when she realized that the others were not talking but were all staring at them with amused expressions. Thankfully their seat was far apart from theirs, so she didn't have to worry about them hearing what they had been discussing since they had been speaking in hushed tones. 

"If you are done flirting with her, can you let her call the results? You can continue that interesting discussion in the safety and privacy of your bedroom," Tom's father who had been watching them along with everyone else, called out to Tom, and Lucy rested her head on Tom's chest, hiding her face from the others who were now laughing.

"Do you know that you always look sexy and cute when you're embarrassed," Tom whispered with a soft smile, ignoring the others, "It really makes me want to..."

"Shut up, Tom. Please don't say any more words," Lucy pleaded as she pulled away from him and stood up. 

"And don't do anything naughty. I need to focus," she warned in a tone that was supposed to be stern but came out as a plea, making Tom grin.

She cleared her throat, "Uhm, although they both did really well, I'm sure you will all agree with me that there is neither a winner nor a loser here."

"Oh, come on! That isn't fun," Desmond protested with a defeated sigh as he collapsed back on his seat, and the ladies laughed.

"You can compete with Jade's boyfriend when she gets one. I'm sure you will hear the result then," Tom told his father.

Lucy cleared her throat, "Well, the whole essence of the game wasn't for either of them to win or lose. Rather it was to see how far they were willing to go just to prove to each other that they are deserving of their place in my heart."

"Dad, you're my father and the man I first loved. I will always love you. You have your special place in my heart, so there's no need for you to fight with Tom. He doesn't want your place. He knows that he has his own place in my heart. Am I right, Tom?" Lucy asked as she turned to Tom.

"Yeah. Very correct," Tom said with a nod.

"And seeing how he could have won but decided to turn back just to help you, I think you should cut him some slack and..." Lucy said.

"He already did. He welcomed my traitor brother to the family," Bryan cut in dryly.

"Traitor brother?" Their father asked curiously, and Lucy's father laughed as he told them what had happened.

"That was a smart move, Tom. I hope the guy your sister brings home is as smart as you," Desmond said, and Bryan scowled at them both. 

"Traitors."

"Definitely not as traitorous as the person sitting next to you," Lucy retorted, pointing at Sonia, and they all burst into a peal of laughter.