“What do you want, flower?” he murmured quietly.

My attention flickered to the menu. “Um, the tiramisu looks good.”

“Then order it, and we’ll share.”

I noticed Matilda giving me an encouraging smile, and I grew self-conscious. Still, I craved Jack’s touch like a drug, and while the brothers chatted and we waited for dessert to arrive, I tentatively leaned my head on his shoulder. After an emotional two days I was tired, and I really just wished we could go somewhere and be alone. Talk things out. I heard him let out a long sigh, and before I knew it, his big arm came down around my shoulders and pulled me in tight.

“Awww!” said Matilda in delight the moment she saw. “You two make such a beautiful couple.”

Jack gave his usual uncomfortable grunt, and I glanced away shyly.

“No, seriously,” she went on. “You both look so striking together. Your colouring’s so light, and Jack’s is so dark.”

I savoured the heat of Jack’s body and hastened a glance at him from beneath my lashes. I wasn’t expecting it when he leaned in, brought his mouth to my ear, and whispered, “She should see us when we fuck.”

My eyes went wide, and I swear every hair on my body was standing on end. Jay was watching us with amusement, and Matilda looked like she was dying to know what Jack had said. I for one was glad that she hadn’t. It would have been mortifying. I was grateful for the distraction when the dessert arrived. Jack handed me a spoon, our fingers grazing when I took it. He watched as I dug in. I could only manage three or four mouthfuls before my stomach started to complain, so I let him finish the rest.

After dinner Matilda used her phone to search for the nearest dance club. Apparently, when Jack told Marina about reuniting with his long-lost brother, she’d insisted he take some time off to be with him, so we didn’t need to hurry back for the show. Since Turin had been such a successful stop for the circus, I’d made enough money painting faces to justify taking another night off, too. Besides, there was absolutely nothing right then that would make me leave Jack’s side. He might have warmed up to me over dinner, but I still wanted to apologise properly. Explain that I never had any ill intentions by sending Jay his letter.

The club we ended up in was loud and crowded. A couple of men gave me interested looks, but they quickly aimed that interest elsewhere when they saw Jack standing behind me. I hated to admit it, but I loved that he was being all possessive. It meant he still cared.

After we all shared a drink at the bar, Jay led Matilda to the dance floor, leaving Jack and me alone for the first time that night. We stood side by side, watching the gyrating bodies, and I didn’t know what to say. It wasn’t like he’d be able to hear me anyway, since the music was loud enough to wake the dead.

I felt his hot, humid breath on my neck when he leaned down and shouted over the music, “I’m going outside for a smoke.”

“I’ll come with you,” I shouted back, and followed him out the side of the club and into an alleyway. A couple of people hung about, smoking and chatting in Italian. I stood close to the wall and watched as Jack pulled a pack of smokes from his pocket, then used a match to light one up. He took a drag, still holding the match in his hand as the smoke rose off it slowly and drifted into the air. His eyes came to me, and they held unmistakable heat. I knew we were both remembering the same thing, our first night together, making love out in the open. He’d used a hot match against my nipples, awakening a hunger inside me I didn’t even know was there.

He seemed taken off guard when I closed the distance between us to stand before him. Our eyes met, and there was a question in his when I took the match from him and brought it to my chest. Dragging it over the rise of my breasts, I gasped when its heat scorched my skin and heard Jack emit a strangled groan.

“What are you doing, Lille?”

“I miss you.”

He dragged his hand through his hair. “I miss you, too.”

“I’m so sorry for betraying your trust, Jack. You’re the most important person in my life, and I’ll do anything to win your forgiveness.” I continued running the match over my skin, and my nipples were rock hard beneath my bra.

His voice was strained. “Will you…could you stop doing that? It’s fucking distracting.”

“I like distracting you,” I murmured.

“You don’t have to try to distract me, Lille. It already comes natural,” he answered, his voice thick with warning. I dropped the match and let out a breath.

“You seem happy with Jay,” I ventured.

Jack tilted his head, staring up at the sky as he spoke. “I am happy. I’m still trying to get my head around it all. It’s kind of surreal. It’s like there’s this whole back story to our family that I never even knew about.”

I nodded. “Yeah, Matilda and I talked last night. She told me all about it.” I paused, trying to figure out what to say next. “I shouldn’t have gone behind your back,” I told him sadly. “I should have figured out a better way.”

“You did what you thought was right. I’m not gonna lie, Lille. I’m still fucking angry that you stole the letter. You can’t just go around meddling in people’s lives like that, but I’ll admit in this case, the end result was a good one. It wrecks me to know you took such a huge risk for me, and at the same time it makes me want to strangle someone, because shit, my words were private, and you read them.”

I didn’t disagree with a single thing he’d said. “I’m too curious. I really didn’t read it with any kind of ulterior motives. I just wanted to know you so badly. I had such strong feelings for you even then, and I had a moment of weakness. But Jack, the pain in what you wrote wasn’t something I could ignore. I cared about you too much to just let you go on suffering, so I put myself on the line. I thought that if I could reunite you with your family, then it would be worth it, even it meant you’d hate me after. Now I understand that the way I thought was silly, because I can’t handle losing you. You’re in my skin now, Jack. You’re the love of my life, and I need you so much I can’t breathe with it.”

A solitary tear streamed down my face, and I cursed myself for crying. I was being an emotional fool, making a show of myself in a dirty alley outside a nightclub. But then Jack was in front of me, his hard body pressing into mine, caging me in warmth as he brought his hand to my cheek and wiped away the tear.

“Flower,” he murmured, taking my chin in his hand, his fingers grazing my throat, “if you think I could let you go, then you seriously underestimate the kind of man I am.”

His words made me crumble. I was gone. A mess. And when he brought his mouth to mine for an intense kiss full of unspoken words and promises, I almost lost the ability to hold myself upright. Jack’s tongue slid inside my mouth and he let out a feral growl, backing me up into the wall almost painfully. His mouth captured mine, possessed every inch of my insides, causing tingles to radiate down my spine. I moaned and he swallowed it, gripping my neck in his tight grasp and pressing his hardness into my belly.

“I can’t be gentle tonight, Lille,” he said, his voice a carnal warning, and I whimpered.

“I don’t want you to be.”

“You need to be punished.”

“Punish me, then.”

Before I could think another thought, his hand was under the hem of my dress, smoothing up my thigh and seeking refuge inside my underwear. His long fingers opened me quickly, rubbing down my slit, finding my entrance, and plunging in without preamble. I gasped at how perfectly he filled me. There were people only feet away from us, but no street lights shone on our unlit corner. We were shrouded in the privacy of darkness.

I yelped in surprise when Jack’s mouth came down on my neck, his sharp teeth grazing my skin before biting down hard. My entire body shook against him, my breaths coming out choppy and laboured.