Page 124 of In Love and Revenge

Pulling away for air, I sit up, loving the way he feels nestled inside me, all thick and hot and semi-hard like he’s already hoping for round two.

‘I really like the waistcoat,’ I say.

‘Yeah?’ he rumbles, gazing up at me. ‘Will it get me fucked more if I wear one every day?’

I shrug, my lips curling up. ‘Maybe.’

My eyes fall to the neck of his shirt, and I slowly undo the first three buttons, revealing short dark chest hair beneath. There, concealed beneath it, is the scar. I didn’t feel like I had the right to ask before.

But now . . .

‘What happened to y—?’

Rafael catches my wrist gently before I can trace the scar with the pad of my finger. He brings my hand to his mouth and presses the softest of kisses to my inner wrist, over my fluttering pulse.

‘Another time, okay? I don’t want to taint this moment with anything other than joy and relief that you didn’t leave me.’

My throat thickens at the glassiness in his eyes as they plead with me again, but for completely different reasons this time.

‘Okay,’ I whisper.

‘Okay,’ he repeats softly.

The scar disappears as he adjusts his shirt and sits up.

Wrapping his arms around me, he pulls me into a kiss that makes me forget why I was ever mad with him in the first place.

Chapter 32

Aurora

‘Are you sure you want to do this?’

‘I have to,’ Dove replies, peering through the windscreen of her car. ‘I was told Vance will be here tonight. It’s time I saw him on my terms. No more dodging his calls. No more wondering why the hell he’s back. It’s time for answers.’

I study the way she’s gnawing on her lip. We’re referring to the man from her past by his name now. I’m not sure if it’s a good thing or a bad thing. But the longer Dr Vance Falcon has been back in England, with no sign of leaving, the more Dove’s been talking about him. When I arrived at her house earlier this evening, after psyching myself up to tell her about me and Rafael, she whisked me out of the door before I could even catch a breath.

And that’s how we ended up here, sitting in her car in the dark, in a part of the city I’ve never been to before, and would happily never visit again.

‘Are you sure? It looks derelict.’ I stare at the grimy building, a shiver running up my spine. I’ve heard more police sirens going off in the distance tonight than on an episode ofPolice Interceptors.

‘There must be a bar in the basement. Look, there’s a bouncer,’ Dove says, unperturbed by yet another wailing siren a few streets away.

I follow her gaze and, sure enough, a giant, scary-looking bald guy stands beside a concealed door, scanning the alleyway, wearing an earpiece and dressed head to toe in black.

‘Come on.’ She opens her door and climbs out.

I rush to keep up as she strides to the bouncer with purpose.

‘Evening, darling,’ he drawls, eyes dropping over Dove’s tight jeans and loose, silky blouse. ‘You lost?’ His eyes pass to me, and he chuckles to himself, drinking in the low-cut dress I’m wearing.

‘We’re here for the whiskey.’ Dove gives him a calculating smile. ‘Heard they serve the good stuff downstairs.’

‘They might,’ big bouncer guy replies. ‘You can find out if your friend shows me her tits.’

His eyes return to me, and he drags his thick tongue over his lower lip. Bile rises up my windpipe.

‘How about I show you mine?’ Dove interjects, a steely look of determination on her face.