He looked at her and waited for her to go on but she didn’t say anything else. She just looked at him with her big blue eyes and he felt his heart beating a tattoo in his chest.

He had never wanted a woman so much in his life. But there was so much he could never tell her about his life. The telling could destroy her. He would never intentionally hurt her. He had fallen madly in love with her; he had heard people say that they loved but he had never understood it till now. It had been a very strange experience for him, as he had always believed that he would never feel such emotion for another person. He wanted this woman on any terms, but he would be as honest as he could without hurting her.

So he said softly, ‘I know about Lenny.’ He saw the way her face paled at his words, but he went on. ‘Liam told me.’

She didn’t know what to say and she just sat there bewildered. ‘Told you what?’

It was a whisper and he felt so heart-sorry for her.

‘About what he saw with Lenny and Reggie.’

She was starting to panic and he took her in his arms and held her to him. She could hear the steady beat of his heart and it calmed her.

‘Look, I can’t imagine what it must have felt like to discover something so shocking. I ain’t defending Lenny when I say that, in the world we occupy, this is not something anyone with half a brain would broadcast. He suppressed it, I suppose, and from what I can gather he loved you with all his heart. As I do.’

She was frightened of his words and he understood why. This wasn’t something she would relish being spoken of by people in their world.

‘I just want you to know, Sharon, that I understand how it must have hurt and I want to take that hurt from you, darling. I want to make you see that you are a beautiful and desirable woman. I just want to love you, if you will let me.’

And she let him. Twice.

Chapter One Hundred and Six

‘Oh, Sharon Scott, you are a jammy bitch!’

Sharon laughed at Gerry’s obvious delight. She had never felt so alive. Ray might never have been married but he was certainly not backwards in coming forwards. It was the best sex of her life, and that had been a revelation in itself. It had been a whole new experience for her. Lenny had satisfied himself; Ray wanted to satisfy her. She felt lighter inside somehow.