Jack entered The Lakeview lobby as he had many times before, determined to complete the mission at hand…but a momentary pang of doubt stopped him before he could head for the elevators. Was he doing the right thing? Had he given things enough time to settle down a little before he came to her again? The thoughts plagued Jack…but he was not able to concentrate on them for too long, as a voice soon called out to him. "Detective Snyder."

Jack turned to face the person and saw Sonny sitting at the bar, nodding his head in recognition of the two men knowing each other. Jack returned Sonny's non-verbal greeting with a brief crook of his finger and walked over to where Sonny was sitting. He wasn't sure what to say to Corinthos, but he figured ignoring him would be worse than making a little small talk. "Mr. Corinthos, I didn't expect to see you in Oakdale."

"First of all, it's Sonny. And yeah, Carly and I came over for a little visit. What brings you to The Lakeview, official police business?"

"I'm here to see Carly," Jack stated.

"Carly?" Sonny asked. "I haven't seen her. Are you two supposed to meet up?"

"Actually, she lives here, upstairs. Your wife didn't tell you that?"

"I don't think Carly really knows, because if she did, she probably would have gone straight to her room when we arrived rather than called her and left her a message."

"I see. I assume then that means you are staying at The Lakeview? Where is your wife, anyway?"

"We are, and Carly's out doing what she does best, shop and spend money. Say, if your Carly isn't expecting you, why don't you join me for a little espresso and a conversation?" offered Sonny.

Jack shook his head and answered, "I'll have to pass, maybe some other time. Give my best to Carly and I'll see you around."

"Yeah, see ya." Sonny turned away from Jack and went back to drinking his espresso. Jack shook his head and walked out of the bar area. He returned to the lobby and made his way to the elevators. He pressed the "up" button and waited for one to arrive. When the elevator came, Jack quickly stepped in and wasted no time in pressing the floor number for Penthouse 4. Seeing Sonny Corinthos in town had stirred up some angry feelings in him, and he knew that the best way to calm him down was to talk things out with Carly. Besides, there was so much he had to tell her…and there was really no time like the present (even with the doubts he'd had earlier)! The elevator arrived at the penthouse level and Jack got off. He walked over to Penthouse 4 and tapped on the door, hoping that she was indeed there and thus he wouldn't have to look all over Oakdale to find her. There was no answer at first, but just before Jack could turn to leave, he heard the sound of the lock on the other side and saw Carly as she opened the door. "Jack," she said, surprised to see him standing in front of her.

"Hi. You alone?"

"Yeah, uh, Craig's been out for a while. I don't have any idea where he is, or when he's coming back. Parker's with Will and Jennifer; I think they're spending the night with Kim and Bob. Do you want to come in?"

Jack shook his head "yes" and Carly motioned him in. He walked halfway into the living area, but then stopped to turn around and stare at Carly. She looked absolutely stunning, with her hair tucked back in small jeweled barrettes and her body clothed in an outfit consisting of a red silk shirt and sleek charcoal gray pants that conformed to every last curve, and it took every ounce of Jack's strength not to grab her and consume her sexually right then and there. But he had promised her that they'd be together only after he had set things straight with Julia, and even if it killed him to do so he would resist the temptation until after they had talked. "So," he began, "how are you?"

"I'm all right," she answered. "I didn't expect to hear from you, or see you, no less, so soon. Were you able to talk to Julia like you said you were?"

"Well, I gotta be honest with you, Carly, it didn't exactly play out the way I had envisioned it would."

"Oh? Did something happen to change your mind?" Carly immediately started panicking that she was going to lose Jack once again, and Jack picked up on her fear right away. "No, it's not what you're thinking, Carly," he said. "I…can we go somewhere a little more private? I realize Montgomery isn't here, but I just…I don't want to discuss this here because he might walk in and I don't want to be interrupted."

"Yeah, why don't we just go into my room? Craig doesn't exactly make a habit of coming by."

"That's perfect, lead the way." Jack followed Carly as they passed through the little foyer and walked straight into Carly's room. She walked over to a spot close to the window and turned around to face him, while he, after closing the door, chose a place that was well within normal conversing distance but not so close that he'd feel her breath on his face when she talked and he would lose all his sensibilities. Carly looked directly into Jack's eyes and said, "So, tell me, Jack, what went on when you got back from New York and saw Julia?"

"OK, I went home, just like I said I would, and I had every intention of telling Julia that I couldn't run from my feelings for you anymore and I had to end our marriage, not only so you and I could have a life together but also so Julia could find someone who loved her and only her. But she…she knew something was wrong before I could ever even say a word to her."

"I don't understand that, Jack. How?"

"Part of it, I'm sure, was intuition, knowing I'd never gotten over you, no matter what I did. But she also saw us together, Carly. She went to the airport to meet me, but when she got there, she found us kissing-you know, when we were saying goodbye, and it was just the last straw for Julia. So she went home and waited for me to arrive, and when I did, she told me she wanted me out because things weren't over between you and me."

"My God," Carly exclaimed, "I can't believe it happened like that! I never thought, not in a million years, that Julia would be the one to make the decision that your marriage wasn't going to last forever."

"Well, you gotta remember, I was going to tell her myself that it was over; that's what I was there for, Carly," Jack stated.

"I know, I know. I know you wanted to give her the news personally, Jack, because it would be better hearing it from you than finding out some other way. I just…I guess it just blows my mind that Julia would make the choice so quickly, without doing everything in her power to keep you with her."

"Yeah, well, maybe she's more realistic than we both think, Carly. Maybe she realized that it would never be enough for her to live with a man who couldn't give her everything in his heart because someone else was in the picture, and always would be, and she decided to end things now for her own sake."

"I suppose that's possible. It just doesn't…" Carly began to embellish on her knowledge of Julia as a person, but chose not to continue in the hopes of avoiding a pointless argument with Jack. She knew he was looking right at her, waiting to hear what she had to say, so she shifted her eyes down to the floor. Jack felt himself filling up with frustration at the fact that Carly was not going to tell him what was in her mind about Julia, but one glance at how incredibly sexy she appeared when she refused to meet his eye contact changed his mind in an instant. Jack raced forward and thrust his right hand on the back of Carly's head. He put his lips to hers and kissed her hard, so hard that he almost knocked his teeth into hers. Carly wrapped her arms around Jack's waist and pulled his pelvic region closer to hers, sending shockwaves to his most intimate spots and intensifying his desire for her. He spun them around so that Carly's back was facing the bedroom door and he placed his hands on her arms, pushing her backwards until she was flat up against the door and her arms were above her head. He grabbed hold of her silk shirt blouse and popped open all the buttons, revealing a sexy scarlet bra underneath. Jack yanked the shirt off and started kissing Carly on her exposed torso: first on her neck, then on her shoulders, her collarbone, the part between her breasts that wasn't covered by her bra (he stopped there for a minute to trace his fingers along the edge of the lacy undergarment, which turned Carly on to no end), her ribcage, and her stomach. When he finished kissing her, he rubbed his hands on her thighs and the sides of her legs until he reached the part of her calves where her boots came to. Jack slowly unzipped Carly's boots and tossed them to the side. Carly bent over and pulled Jack up to her for another long, deep kiss. She pushed her hands on to his chest and worked deftly to unbutton his shirt, pulling it off with the same brute force that he had used to remove her blouse. She kissed him on his neck and used her tongue to trace a trail from his Adam's apple to the top of his jeans. Carly looked up at Jack and smiled, knowing that she was exciting him as much as he was exciting her. She passed her hands over both sides of his pelvis, his thighs, and all the way down his legs until she found his shoelaces. Carly untied Jack's shoes and got him to take them off. They came back together for yet another long kiss and Jack thrust himself into Carly, eager to join their bodies into one. "Oh," Carly moaned, her body quivering with desire.

"Carly, Carly, Carly," Jack whispered, "I want you, I want you so badly I can feel it in every corner of my body."

"Yes, Jack, yes…yes…yes…" Carly moved her hands down to her waist and worked quickly to pull off her pants. Jack, in turn, unlatched his belt and pulled it out of the loops, then unbuttoned his fly and shed his jeans. He embraced Carly and gave her a passionate kiss. She licked his lips with her tongue and he lightly touched her tongue with his. Carly felt the sensation of Jack's sexuality growing and she realized that if they didn't satisfy each other soon it might be too late. She took charge of his hands and placed them directly on the hooks of her bra. He undid the hooks, slipped the bra off her body, and let it drop to the floor. Carly pushed the bra out of the way with her left foot and stood up against the door, waiting for Jack to make his next move. In response, Jack slipped out of his boxers and removed Carly's panties, leaving them both primed and ready…. He shifted his body so that he could come together with her, and when that perfect connection was in place, Jack deeply entwined himself and Carly, sending them both to the highest realms of pleasure, something that they both had been longing for and dreaming about sharing for much more time than they cared to imagine. When the last wave of ecstasy finally disappeared, Jack and Carly broke apart, but held on tightly to each other's hands for fear that their knees would give way from all the satisfaction they'd just experienced. "Wow," Jack said, turning to lock eyes with Carly and give her a loving smile.

Carly returned Jack's gesture and replied; "I have never, ever, ever felt something like that in my life. It just gets better, and better, and better with us, Jack."

"And I hope it always will. I love you, Carly, I love you more than I could ever say."

"I love you, Jack. Come on." Carly took Jack's hand and led him over to her bed. They climbed up on it, laid down side-by-side facing each other, and started kissing again. Jack rolled onto his back and Carly positioned herself on top of him, joining together once more in a passionate embrace…