Illusions of Love (47 page)

So he didn’t need to answer her question.
 
He didn’t need to do anything except hold onto her and know that he was back.
 
And now he finally had the chance to love her like he wanted to.

‘Take it all off,’ he whispered, desperate to see her naked, because being inside her just wasn’t enough anymore.
 
He wanted to see everything she had, everything she could give him; he needed to see that right now.
 
And she did exactly as he wanted, stretching out and pulling her dress up over her head, throwing it aside, arching her back as his hands covered her breasts.
 
And he did nothing for a few seconds, just looked at her, taking her all in, his heart beating like a jackhammer against his ribs.
 
Then, slowly and gently, he began running his fingers over her firm breasts, making her gasp out loud as, once again, the breeze blew back the curtains round the cabana, letting the outside in.

The cool evening air made
India
shiver, heightening everything she was already feeling.
 
Making love with Dominic, being outside and so close to so many people, it was a rush she was in no hurry to end.
 
And she knew Carlos would know exactly what was going on between her and this insanely handsome movie star, but at least having him out there meant that nobody else would get near them.
 
The last thing they needed were paparazzi snaps of
this
.
 
So she felt no need to stay quiet, had no qualms about shouting out or screaming Dominic’s name as he thrust deeper and deeper into her, and she helped him go as far as he could by leaning back, giving him the best view possible of everything she had to give him.

And it was a view Dominic was never going to tire of.
 
She had the body of someone twenty years her junior, the body of an angel sent down to fuck with every inch of him but he could handle that.
 
He was ready for everything she had to throw at him, and right now she was giving him one hell of a ride, sending both of them crashing to a simultaneous climax that rocked the tiny cabana to it’s foundations.

‘Jesus, you kill me, baby.
 
You freakin’ kill me,’ Dominic breathed, still holding onto her hips, his head thrown back against the sofa as he tried to get his breath back.
 
‘But it’s so fucking good to be back.’

India
smiled, still gripping him tight, reluctant to let him go because it felt good, having him there.
 
It felt nice.
 
For whatever reason.

‘Are you cold?’ he asked, opening his eyes and looking at her, still eager to take in every inch of her incredible tanned, toned and naked body with the perfect breasts and thighs so hard he had no doubt they could keep him inside her for hours without letting him go.
 
He could stare at her for days.
 
He could look at her forever.

She shook her head, quite enjoying the liberating feeling being naked and outside was giving her.
 
‘I’m fine.’

He ran his fingers gently up over her hips, running them along the curve of her waist, his eyes following their every move.
 
‘We
are
gonna be okay, baby.’
 
Dominic looked up, his eyes meeting hers and she smiled again, stroking his face with her fingertips, kissing him so softly it made his heart skip that proverbial beat.

‘Yeah.
 
I know we are, Mr Movie Star.’

A movie star she was, quite possibly, falling in love with.
 
So she really hoped that he meant what he’d said when he’d told her he was different because, right now, as she looked at him, into a face so handsome it didn’t seem real, there was more of Michael in him than she really wanted to see.
 
But she had to get over that, they had to deal with the fact he was Michael’s son or they – as a couple – were never going to work.

But she knew, in reality, that that problem was hers rather than Dominic’s.
 
It always had been.
 
And it always would be.

CHAPTER 28

Charley stood in front of the mirror and ran her hands through her dark brown curls, shaking them out so they fell around her shoulders in loose, natural waves.
 

Staring back at her was a determined, strong and beautiful woman, although Charley felt anything but strong.
 
She felt trapped and scared, terrified that her life was going in a direction she couldn’t control because, despite Vince doing everything he possibly could to try and stop Jimmy from exposing every element of her past life, Jimmy was letting nothing stand in his way.
 
Nothing was a hurdle to him; legalities didn’t register in his warped and evil mind, so if he was hell-bent on some kind of revenge then he was going to go all out to get it.
 
And no injunction in the world was going to stop him.

But did that mean she had to sit back and let him slowly dismantle everything she’d worked so hard for?
 
Did it mean she had no other option but to sit back and watch while he pulled apart her wonderful new life, bit by bit, until it crumbled around her?
 
At first glance it may look that way, but Charley knew she had to get out there and fight for what she loved, what she’d worked so hard to build up because, if she didn’t, Jimmy Cash was going to take it all away from her.

‘You can do this,’ she whispered to her reflection, running her fingers through her hair again, staring at the image in front of her.
 
‘You can do this, you can do this!’
 
she repeated, like some kind of mantra.
 
‘He will not do this to you again, he won’t drag you down, you won’t let him.
 
You got that?
 
You won’t let him.’

And she wouldn’t.
 
Because Charley was going to take the only course of action she could see left open to her now.
 
And she was going to do it on her own because if Vince knew what she was about to do he would stop her, no doubt about that.
 
He would stop her.
 
And maybe what she was about to do wasn’t the wisest route to take, but in her eyes it was the only one left, because Jimmy obviously wasn’t listening to anything anyone was saying to him.

Staring at her reflection one more time she took a long, deep breath and stared up at the ceiling as she exhaled, as though banishing away any nerves or doubt she might be feeling.

Charley had survived Jimmy Cash once before, and she could do it again.
 
Only, this time, she needed to finish it for good.

***

‘Everything back on track then?’ Kenny asked, sitting down opposite
India
who was grabbing a quick cup of tea at one of the on-set catering wagons before filming began.

She looked up at him, blowing on her tea to cool it down.
 
‘If you mean am I back with Dominic, then yes.
 
I am.’

‘Did you spend the night with him?’

She narrowed her eyes as she stared at Kenny.
 
‘Who are you?
 
My father?’

‘No, but your father would also like to know what’s going on with my two co-stars, if that’s alright,’ Reece said, sitting himself down next to Kenny.

India
felt as though she was being slightly ambushed as she took a sip of her finally-cooled-down tea.

‘I’ll get Carlos over to remove the pair of you in a minute,’ she said, half smiling, kicking Kenny under the table.
 
He immediately kicked her back, causing them both to collapse in a fit of giggles.

‘How old are you two?’ Reece asked, looking from one to the other.
 
But secretly he was just pleased to see his daughter happy again.

‘Oh, lighten up, Dad,’
India
smiled, leaning over the table to kiss him quickly on the cheek.
 
‘Everything’s fine.
 
Dominic and I, we had a good talk last night.
 
Everything’s okay now.’

‘Everything’s okay?’ Reece asked, raising an eyebrow.
 
‘What does that mean, exactly?’

‘It means the pair of them kept me awake half the night with noises I’ve not heard the like of since I watched one of those
‘SAW’
movies,’ Bobby shuddered, sitting down next to India, sliding his glasses down onto his nose as he tapped away on his phone.

India
looked at him.
 
‘My father is sitting right there, thank you, Bobby.’

Bobby looked at her over the top of his glasses.
 
‘Yes, I can see that, Angel.’

India
turned her attention back to Kenny, smiling at him again, but the second he smiled back she dissolved into another fit of giggles.

‘Here we go again,’ Bobby sighed, rather too dramatically, looking up to the heavens for a second.
 
‘A love-struck
India
is
never
a good sign.’

‘Who said anything about being love-struck?’
India
laughed, taking another sip of tea, if only to stop her from giggling.
 
‘He’s making me laugh, that’s all.’
 
She indicated Kenny with her head just as Dominic walked over, his hands in the pockets of his jeans, his handsome face carrying that movie star smile off to perfection as he threw it in the direction of anyone who looked his way.

‘And here we have the other half of the problem,’ Bobby said, without looking up, still tapping away on his phone.

‘Why do you always refer to my relationships as “
problems
”, Bobby?’

Bobby stood up, raising his eyebrows and sporting an expression on his face that gave
India
the answer to her question without him having to say a word.
 
Then he just walked away, talking into his phone.

She turned to look at Kenny, who also just raised his eyebrows and said nothing, so she kicked him again.
 
‘You’re supposed to back me up.’

‘Only if the other person’s talking crap,
India
.’

‘Okay, I’m out of here,’ Reece sighed, pushing his chair back and walking over to India, who stood up to give her famous father a big hug.
 
‘I’ll see you on set, kiddo.’

‘Yeah, see you, Dad.’

India
watched him walk away, tensing up slightly as he stopped briefly to exchange a few words with Dominic.
 
An exchange which, thankfully, involved a smile or two, and
India
breathed an inward sigh of relief.

‘Hey, beautiful,’
 
Dominic sauntered over to India, sliding an arm round her waist and pulling her against him for a long, slow kiss; a kiss that literally made her knees go weak, and that was something she hadn’t felt since JJ.

‘Hey, handsome,’ India smiled, banishing any thoughts of her soon-to-be-ex-husband to the back of her mind as she gently stroked Dominic’s face, looking up into those incredible ice-blue eyes.

‘Right, I’m out of here too,’ Kenny sighed, sensing this was going to turn into something he didn’t much feel like staying around to watch.
 
India
was loved-up with another member of the Walsh family – albeit a slightly reluctant one – and the last thing Kenny wanted was to hang around to witness the early stages of her falling for another man.
 
Even after twenty years it still hurt too much.

‘Are you not coming on set today?’
India
asked, turning to look at Kenny but not letting go of Dominic’s waist, leaning into him like a teenager out on a first date.

‘Maybe later,’ Kenny replied, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his worn-out jeans, smiling at the girl he loved so much.
 
The woman he cared about more than anything else in the world.
 
‘I want to go visit Greg and Anita over in
Spring Valley
this morning.
 
I said I’d drop by and see them when I was in Vegas.’

India
nodded, knowing that Kenny had promised to go see their two friends from back in the day, when they’d hung out at biker rallies and rock gigs; went to surf parties together down on the beach.

‘Has Anita had the baby?’
India
asked, letting go of Dominic for a second to give Kenny a hug.

‘A couple of days ago.
 
A little girl.’

‘Give them my love.
 
Tell them I’ll give them a call soon, okay?’

‘Yeah.
 
Sure,’ Kenny smiled.
 
‘See you later.’

‘Is he alright?’ Dominic asked, reaching out to take
India
’s hand, swinging her back round to face him.