Illusions of Love (22 page)

Her head was spinning now and she backed up against the wall to steady herself, every memory of every second they’d been together invading her head, making her want him more because those memories were incredible –
he
was incredible.
 
‘Yeah,’ she said, her eyes scanning his handsome face.
 
‘I kind of need you too.’
 
Because she had no choice in the matter in now.

She closed her eyes as his mouth touched hers again, just for the briefest of seconds before he pulled away slightly and smiled at her, a smile that sent every fibre of her being into overdrive before his lips met hers again in a longer, deeper kiss.
 
She could feel the heat of his body and she pressed herself up against him as the kiss got harder, one of his hands resting on her hip, pulling her closer and she literally felt herself spinning, aware only of him right beside her and the feel of his mouth moving on hers.
 
It was just a kiss, but it was a hell of a lot more.

‘My trailer,’ he whispered, his mouth resting on hers as he spoke.
 
‘Come on.’

And who was she to argue?

***

Michael looked at his watch.
 
Five more minutes then he was going to have to call time on the morning’s filming and break for lunch.
 
But he still had a lot to get through before that afternoon’s scenes were shot.

He was more than aware there’d been a few raised eyebrows at the last-minute extension of an originally small love scene into full-blown sex between the two leads, especially as it was no secret how Michael still felt about
India
.
 
So it was only natural that everyone assumed he would do anything he could to avoid throwing her and Dominic together, but instead he seemed to be almost encouraging it.

Well, he had his reasons.
 
And for some reason even
he
couldn’t fully explain at the minute, he wanted to see how Dominic and
India
looked together.
 
He wanted that picture in his head because, after what he’d just found out, he really needed to see that.
 
He really needed to know.
 
And now he had the perfect opportunity to find out.

The actual scene he planned on shooting may never make it to the final edit, he didn’t yet know whether it was entirely necessary for the plot of the movie, but it was something he needed to do.
 
For his own personal reasons.
 
Unprofessional, maybe, but if they were going to start talking unprofessional then he wasn’t the only one playing that game.
 
Dominic MacDonald had been playing it too.
 
But those days were about to come to an end because nobody got one over on Michael Walsh.
 
Nobody would win against him in any kind of fight, but especially a fight where the prize appeared to be
India
.

CHAPTER 18

Kenny couldn’t believe what Charley had just told him.
 
Jimmy Cash was back and a long forgotten nightmare had all of a sudden resurfaced.
 
Something she really didn’t deserve.

‘I’m assuming you haven’t told Vince,’ Kenny said, watching Charley as she stared blankly into her drink.

‘No.
 
I can’t do it, Kenny.
 
I…’
 
She looked up, staring right at him, and Kenny couldn’t help but notice the fear in her eyes.
 
‘I know I should, but… I just don’t know what to say to him because… because he’ll do something stupid, I know he will.
 
He wants to protect me, I know he does, and I love him for that.
 
He makes me feel safe, Kenny.
 
But going after Jimmy Cash – that can’t happen.
 
Can it?’

It was Kenny’s turn to look away, watching life going on around them as they sat at the poolside bar; the laughter and buzz of people enjoying themselves surrounding them.
 
It was almost surreal, when he remembered how dangerous a man Jimmy Cash could be.
 
And he was somewhere in this town, Kenny was certain of that.
 
Jimmy Cash was here, in Vegas.
 
Meaning that a big, dark, dangerous cloud now hung over them, tainting everything around them.

He looked at Charley, shaking his head.
 
‘No.
 
That’s not a good idea.’

‘I had to tell someone, Kenny.
 
And I’m sorry it was you, I’m sorry I had to drag you into this, especially after the last time…’
 
She trailed off, looking away into the distance for a few seconds.
 
Then, almost as if someone had just flicked a switch, she turned back to look at him.
 
‘But it was killing me, keeping it all to myself.
 
I didn’t know what else to do, who to turn to, and when I saw you… I’m terrified, Kenny, I’m so scared, but… you understand, don’t you?’

Kenny reached out and took her hand, squeezing it tight, giving her what he hoped was a reassuring smile.
 
‘Hey, come on.
 
Of course I understand.
 
I know what you went through before, I was there, remember?’

‘I know,’ she whispered, sadness clouding her eyes once more.
 
‘You were there when Jimmy… You found Terry, didn’t you?’

Kenny looked down at their joined hands as the memories of that devastating night almost fifteen years ago came crashing back into his head.
 
He could still hear the sound of the gunshots ringing out in the black night sky, as loud now as they had been back then; the memory of
India
’s brother lying dead in the road still as heartbreaking as it had been all those years ago.
 
He’d never wanted to go back there, never wanted to revisit that time in his life, but it looked as though Jimmy Cash had other ideas.
 
That one night had almost destroyed all of them, and now it looked as though he was back for some kind of sick revenge on the woman who’d made sure he’d stayed behind bars for a long time.
 
Just, not long enough.

‘How can you be certain Vince won’t find out some other way?
 
About Jimmy being back, I mean.’

Charley gave a shrug of resignation, letting go of his hand.
 
‘I can’t be certain of anything Kenny, can I?
 
I don’t even know where Jimmy is.’

‘He’ll be here, Charley.
 
In Vegas.
 
You know he’ll be here.’

She felt a cold shiver run down her spine when Kenny spoke, because he was right.
 
Of course Jimmy would be here.
 
What was the point of him turning up like this if not to mess with her mind?
 
And he was certainly succeeding on that score.

‘In some respects it’s worse than the last time,’ she whispered, absent-mindedly poking at the ice in her glass with a straw.
 
‘At least last time I knew where he was, I knew where’d he’d be.
 
But, even if he’s here, Kenny – even if he’s here in Vegas, I still don’t know what his next move is going to be, and that scares the hell out of me.
 
I’ve got my daughter to think about this time.
 
I’ve got Lily to protect… Oh, Jesus; I can’t believe this is happening again…’

Kenny watched as the tears started streaming down her face and he reached out for her hand again, holding it tightly.
 
She didn’t deserve this; she didn’t deserve to be going through this, not again.
 
Not after everything she’d been through in the past.
 
And he didn’t really want to have to go there either, but what else could he do now?
 
She’d confided in him, she’d pulled him into the situation and, whether he liked it or not, he was involved now.

‘We’ll get through this, Charley.
 
I promise you, we’ll get through this.’

She looked up at him, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.
 
‘Will we?
 
How, Kenny?
 
Where do we even start?’

‘I don’t know, honey.
 
I really don’t know.
 
But you’re not alone now, okay?
 
And somehow… somehow we’ll work something out.’

He just didn’t know what, and he had no idea how he was going to deal with this but she needed somebody, and he was going to be there for her.
 
He wasn’t a stranger to this, he’d tried to rescue her from the nightmare of Jimmy Cash before, so he could try again.
 
He just had to hope that, unlike the last time, the outcome didn’t end up the same.

***

India
wrapped the robe around her, covering her almost naked body as she waited to be called to the set, running her fingers through her hair, shaking it out as she looked in the full-length mirror in front of her.

Sex with Dominic had given her a glow that even
she
could see and she smiled to herself, closing her eyes for a second as she remembered the way his fingers had stroked her skin, the things he’d whispered as he’d made love to her.
 
She was in the throes of lust here – full-on, spine-tingling, all-consuming lust, and she was loving every second of it.

‘You thinking about me?’

She opened her eyes and smiled as he stood behind her, gently pushing her hair away from the back of her neck, leaning over to kiss it.

‘You’re so full of yourself, MacDonald.’

He laughed that deep, sexy laugh and she wished more than anything that they were making love for real in private any second now, rather than pretending in front of an audience.

‘You look incredible,’ he whispered, his hands moving round to the front of her robe, slowly untying the belt.

‘You’re doing that smooth-talking thing again and I’ve told you, it’s so not necessary.’

He opened her robe, slowly sliding it down over her shoulders, looking at her almost naked reflection in the mirror.
 
‘Jesus… I just want to fuck you forever,’ he groaned, slowly running his hands over her waist, down to her hips, making her gasp out loud.
 
And it was true – he really did just want to spend an obscene amount of time in that incredible body, with everything it could do to him.

‘This really isn’t a great idea, Dominic.
 
Not when we’ve got to go out there and…’

‘Have sex…’

‘I was going to say, act.’
 
She turned round to face him, sliding an arm round his neck, closing her eyes as he kissed her, slow and sexy, causing every inch of her body to break out in goosebumps.

‘I’ve told you, baby, we don’t have to do no acting.’

‘Jesus, Dominic, can you stop saying that, please?
 
My dad’s out there.’

‘Then he’s gonna see his little girl like he’s never seen her before.’

‘Dominic!
 
Come on…’

He smiled at her – that movie star smile that caused her stomach to turn a thousand somersaults – and she couldn’t help but smile back as he moved his mouth closer, almost touching hers.
 
She thought she was going to pass out with the intensity of it all.
 
She honestly had no idea how she was going to get through that afternoon’s filming.

‘You’re not serious, though.
 
Are you, Dominic?’

‘About what?’ he asked, pulling her closer.

‘You
know
what.
 
Can we be professional about this?
 
Please?’

He looked at her, raising an eyebrow.

‘Oh, whatever,’ she sighed, rolling her eyes and he laughed, throwing his head back, his fingers lightly running up and down her back, causing her to breathe in deep – and want him more.
 
‘Okay, come on.
 
Behave yourself.’
 
She’d suddenly turned on “
Mommy Mode
” and she couldn’t help laughing too.
 
‘You’re too horny for your own bloody good you are,’ she smiled, pulling her robe back around her as Michael approached them.

‘Whoa, here comes the ex-husband,’ Dominic smirked, his hand still on
India
’s back, and he had no intention of removing it.
 
Why should he?
 
Who was Michael Walsh anyway?
 
Somebody who didn’t deserve
India
, that’s who.
 
And he’d tell him that, one day.
 
Soon.

Michael looked at
India
, noticing the way she hurriedly tied her robe back up, the way Dominic’s hand lay lightly in the small of her back, and it tore him apart inside.
 
Especially because of what he now knew.
 
It had hurt before, of course it had, it would never stop hurting, seeing
India
with another man.
 
But seeing her with
this
man hurt more than anyone could ever imagine.
 
More than seeing her with Kenny or JJ had ever done.