Illusions of Love (25 page)

‘What gossip?’ Kenny asked, looking at
India
who just looked away, focusing on the busy restaurant where a mixture of tourists and businessmen were having breakfast on yet another beautiful Vegas morning.

‘Well, my little English Princess here, and the rather hot Mr MacDonald, shot a sex scene yesterday.
 
And, apparently, the word on the movie set is that there was
no acting involved.
’

Both Kenny and Charley looked straight at
India
, but she just shrugged.
 
‘What?’

‘Is that true?’ Kenny asked.

‘Y’know, Bobby, that mouth of yours is going to get you into trouble one day,’
India
said, throwing him a look that spoke volumes.

‘It’s hardly a secret, Angel.
 
Everybody’s talking about it.
 
I wouldn’t be surprised if it was on
Entertainment Tonight
before the end of the week.’

‘Is it true?’ Kenny asked again, still staring at
India
.

‘We had sex – for the cameras.
 
It was a movie scene, okay?’

‘
Real
sex?’ Charley gasped, unable to believe
India
could have done something like that.
 

‘As opposed to what?’

‘Acting, Missy,’ Bobby replied crisply, his attention now focused back on his diary.

‘Believe what you want to believe,’
India
sighed.
 
‘I’m really not bothered.’

‘Evidently,’ Bobby said, under his breath.

‘Have you not got work to do?’
India
asked, crossing her legs and pushing her dark glasses down over her eyes.

Bobby stood up, gathering his things together.
 
‘I know when I’m not wanted,’ he sighed, leaning over to kiss
India
on the cheek.
 
‘Make-up in ten minutes, Princess.’

As he flounced off in the direction of the hotel’s gardens – where most of that morning’s filming was taking place – India turned her attention to Charley and Kenny, not missing the little glances that were passing between them, the reassuring smiles Kenny kept throwing in Charley’s direction.

‘Everything okay?’ she asked.

Charley’s expression changed far too quickly for
India
to think anything other than it wasn’t, but she wasn’t going to push it.
 
Not yet.
 
Whatever Charley told her she’d accept.
 
For now.
 
She had enough crap of her own going on anyway.

‘Everything’s fine,’ Charley replied, smiling a smile that even
India
could see didn’t reach anywhere near her eyes.
 
‘I’m just a bit tired.
 
I guess everything’s just caught up with me.’
 
And never a truer sentence had been spoken.
 
A lot was catching up with Charley, and none of it was welcome.
 
None of it was going to go away easily, and that’s what she was scared of.
 
But, as much as she loved
India
, she couldn’t bring her in on this.
 
She couldn’t let anyone else know about this.
 
It was just too dangerous.

‘Okay,’
India
said slowly, turning her attention to Kenny who was fiddling with a coaster in front of him.
 
‘I just haven’t seen all that much of you since you arrived in Vegas.’
 
She looked back at Charley, who’d joined Kenny in staring at the table.

‘We’ll have to make time to have lunch,’ Charley smiled, quickly looking up, her eyes meeting
India
’s.
 
‘We obviously have a lot to catch up on.’

‘Yeah.
 
We do.’

‘Okay, look, I’ve got to go rescue Vince from babysitting duties, let him get to work.
 
I’ll call you later,
India
.
 
We’ll sort something out, have that lunch.’

India
just nodded, watching Charley as she almost ran off in the direction of the hotel before turning her attention back to Kenny.
 
‘What’s going on?’

Kenny threw her a confused look.
 
‘Huh?
 
Shouldn’t
I
be the one asking
you
that?’

‘Look, I’m sleeping with Dominic MacDonald, so what?
 
I don’t know what everyone’s so bothered about.
 
You were all half expecting it to happen anyway.’

‘Fucking him in front of an entire film crew though,
India
?’

‘It wasn’t an entire film crew, Kenny.
 
It was a closed set.
 
And anyway, what happened – or didn’t happen – on that film set is still very much a rumour.
 
Remember?’

‘You see, you’re being flippant again.
 
It’s a terrible habit of yours when you’re on the defensive.’

‘Jesus, when did you turn into my dad?
 
Can we forget about me and Dominic for a minute and concentrate on Charley?
 
Is she okay?’

‘Why you asking
me
?’

‘Because there seemed to be something going on there, Kenny.
 
Little looks, reassuring smiles… Has something happened between her and Vince?’

Kenny sat back, trying to adopt a casual stance, one arm slung over the back of the now vacated chair Charley had been sitting on.
 
‘
India
, I don’t know.
 
Quit with the questions.’

She sat back too, pushing her dark glasses up onto her head.
 
‘Right back at ya, Kenny.’

He couldn’t help smiling, and neither could she.
 
‘Shit,
India
… tell me you didn’t really fuck Dominic MacDonald in front of the cameras.
 
The last thing you need is a freakin’ sex tape doing the rounds.’

‘I didn’t really fuck Dominic MacDonald for the cameras,’ she smiled, getting up and pushing her chair back under the table, looking right at Kenny.
 
‘Or, maybe I did.
 
You’ll just have to watch the movie and make your own mind up, won’t you?’

***

Jimmy watched from his position by the slot machines as Charley walked briskly through the casino, dark glasses covering her eyes, her head down.
 
She had a right to look nervous.
 
She had every right, because it was time to move out of the shadows now.
 
Oh, not literally.
 
Jimmy wasn’t going to show himself any time soon, not yet.
 
It was too early for that.
 
But it was time to show her that he hadn’t gone away.
 
It was time to make his presence felt.
 

It was time to let the countdown begin…

***

Dominic lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, his hands clasped together over his chest as he thought about everything that had happened over the past couple of weeks.
 
And how none of it had exactly gone to plan.
 
Although, yesterday had been something of a bonus, shooting that scene while
India
’s ex-husband had looked on, filming every second.
 
What a freakin’ turn on
that
had been.

India
Walsh – now firmly under his skin, filling his head, mixing up every fucking emotion he’d ever felt.
 
And it hadn’t been in his game plan, he hadn’t even considered it might happen.
 
Sure, she was one hell of a woman, but she’d only ever originally been in his sights as a way of getting back at a man who’d once hurt someone very close to Dominic.
 
Now she was someone he wasn’t sure he could be without.

Okay, so all they’d really done so far was sleep together, but he felt something, right there in the pit of his stomach, every time he looked at her.
 
He felt something.
 
But what that was, exactly, he had yet to work out.

Closing his eyes he slid his hand down under the covers.
 
Just thinking about her was making him crazy and she wasn’t here so he was going to have to take care of business himself.

A real-life movie star fantasy she could turn him on with just a smile, tell him what she wanted him to do to her just by looking at him a certain way and he threw his head back and groaned, keeping his eyes closed as he remembered just a few hours ago when she’d put on a private show for him behind closed doors, stripping like a hooker, taking it all off slowly, making him sit there and watch with his hands behind his back while every inch of him had wanted her with an ache so bad it had physically hurt.
 
She’d played with his head, messed with his mind, and then given him the ride of his life wearing nothing but killer heels and a smile.

 
Jesus, what was this woman doing to him?
 
He groaned louder as the memories of her naked body wrapped around his filled his head, bringing him to a solo finale that would have to do – for now.

Lying back against the pillows he opened his eyes, waiting for his breathing to slow down, his chest rising and falling with the exertion he’d just put himself through.
 
And still it hadn’t been enough to push thoughts of her from his mind.

He sat up, pushing his hands through his hair, sighing heavily.
 
Things had just got a whole lot more complicated now, and he was sure he could stop this if he really wanted to.
 
The problem was that he didn’t.
 
But he still had a job left to do here, no matter what was happening between him and
India
.
 
The game was still playing out, but maybe now it was time to end it.
 
Maybe now it was time to confront the one man he’d come here to play against.
 
His father.

***

Michael watched India sign autographs at the barriers set up around the perimeters of the set where crowds were gathering to catch a glimpse of a real-life movie being made – and the stars who were taking centre stage.

He watched as she chatted to people as though she’d known them all her life, having photographs taken, kissing men who probably dreamt about her every night on the cheek, sending them back to their hotel rooms with a hard-on and a memory they’d keep for years.

She looked incredible, and she hadn’t even been into make-up yet.
 
Dressed in white denim shorts, a tight black AC/DC T-shirt and biker boots, her hair pulled into a loose ponytail, she looked a good decade younger than her forty-two years.
 
And Michael loved her just as much now as he had done when he’d first laid eyes on her almost twenty years ago.
 
It was never going to go away, and he couldn’t accept that she’d never be his again, he just couldn’t do it.
 
Because, deep down inside, he knew she’d never forget what they’d had together either – the most intense, the closest of relationships.
 
They belonged together.
 
Michael and India Walsh – one of
Hollywood
’s most powerful couples.
 
And he hadn’t come this far just to let a kid he hadn’t even known he had take the one most important thing in his life away from him.
 
That wasn’t going to happen.

His eyes met India’s as she turned around, walking over to him, smiling that smile that still made his heart skip that proverbial beat, even though it meant nothing to her.
 
She was smiling at him because she smiled at everybody.
 
And that realisation still cut through him like the sharpest of knives.

‘Was Ethan okay last night?’ she asked, slightly distracted by the arrival of Dominic on set, a large group of female fans making their presence felt in the most obvious of ways.

‘He was fine.
 
We watched a couple of DVD’s, had some take-out, cracked open a bottle of bourbon…’
 
She quickly swung back round to look at him and he raised an eyebrow.
 
‘Just checking you were actually listening to me.’

‘Of course I was listening to you.
 
Why wouldn’t I be?’

He looked over her shoulder and she followed his gaze, watching Dominic as he laughed along with his “fan club”, draping himself over them for photographs as they screamed and clung onto him.

‘What happened yesterday,
India
?’

She turned away from Dominic and started walking towards the make-up trailer.
 
Michael fell into step beside her, pulling his cap down further over his eyes.
 
‘You threw in a scene that didn’t need to be there, Michael.’