Illusions of Love (64 page)

‘Then work it out, Vince.’

He stopped pacing and looked at
India
.
 
There was a sadness in her eyes, and he felt guilty for throwing this on her along with everything else she was obviously having to deal with right now.
 
‘
Can
we, though?
 
Can
we work it out?’

India
started fiddling with the bracelet she was wearing, twisting it round and round her wrist.
 
‘If you love someone enough, Vince, you can work anything out.’

‘Do you want to prove that?’

They both swung round at the sound of Dominic’s voice.
 
He stood behind them, tired but oh so handsome, so handsome
India
felt her breath catch in her throat.
 
A feeling she’d experienced so often in the past with his father.

Vince looked from
India
to Dominic, sensing there was something going on here that they both needed to sort out, and maybe
he
had some sorting out of his own to do too, in time.
 
But, not yet.
 
Not just yet.

‘I’d better go see how Michael is,’ Vince said, sticking his hands in his pockets as he started to make his way back inside.

‘Vince… Kenny, he’s… he’s in there.’

Vince smiled at
India
.
 
‘It’s okay.
 
I think I can deal with the situation.
 
I’ll be fine.
 
I’ll see you later, sweetheart.’

She smiled too, turning her attention back to Dominic.

‘What situation?’ he asked, sitting down beside her.

‘Nothing.
 
It’s a long story.’

She stared straight ahead of her, watching as Vince chatted with the security guards that were manning the door back into the hospital.
 
What the hell had Kenny and Charley been thinking?
 
Another complication wasn’t something anyone needed right now, but they’d damn well made sure one more had been added to the pile.

‘Was he okay?
 
Michael, I mean.
 
When you saw him?’ Dominic asked, clasping his hands between his open knees.

‘He’s fine.
 
Surprisingly fine, considering what’s happened.’
 
India
sat back, pulling her knees up to her chest and hugging them tight.

‘I told him how I felt.
 
About you.’
 
Dominic looked at her, those ice-blue eyes boring right into her.
 
‘I told him I loved you.’

‘I know you did.
 
But maybe now wasn’t exactly the right time to be telling him all that.’

Dominic threw his head back, sighing.
 
‘You’re protecting him?’

‘No, of course I’m not protecting him.’

He watched her as she fiddled with the frayed leather bands tied round her wrists.
 
‘Your dad.’

India
looked at him.
 
‘What about him?’

‘Why was he there?
 
At Michael’s villa?
 
It’s common knowledge they’ve never really been the best of friends, so, I’m guessing it wasn’t a social call.
 
Reece he – he’s always been slightly wary of Michael so, why was he there?’

India
turned away.
 
This secret she’d tried to keep hidden for so long – was it destined to follow her around for the rest of her life?
 
Was it always going to be a barrier between her and any man she met?
 
But then, this man here beside her, he was the son of the man who’d hurt her so much she never thought she’d ever get over it.
 
The son of the man who’d done that to her, a man she still couldn’t get out of her head.
 
A man she still found hard to hate, despite everything.

But, did Dominic need to know just what it was that his father had done to her all those years ago?
 
If she told him, surely it would only create yet more problems, problems that could prevent Dominic and Michael from ever building some kind of father/son relationship.
 
So, did he need to know?
 
No, he didn’t, not really.
 
But then, her father hadn’t really needed to know either, and look what keeping that secret from him had achieved.

‘I don’t know,’
India
replied, still fiddling with her leather wrist bands, still unable to look Dominic in the eye.
 
‘Michael and my dad… it’s a relationship that’s just, well… they’re never gonna be close, let’s put it that way.’

‘But, I still don’t understand why he was there,
India
.
 
And Layla won’t say anything either.
 
She told me she just walked in on some kind of argument between the two of them.
 
But an argument about what?
 
Something that caused a freakin’ heart attack?
 
What the fuck’s going on here?’

She finally turned to look at him.
 
‘How the hell should
I
know, Dominic?
 
When this was all going on we were having sex, remember?
 
So why the hell would I have any idea what was going on between my father and Michael?’

No.
 
Telling him would be such a bad idea.
 
A really, really bad idea,

‘Do you still want to be with him?’

‘Do I still want to be with
who
?’

‘Come on,
India
.
 
Michael.
 
My dad.
 
Do you still want to be with him?’

She turned away, resting her chin on her knees as she stared straight ahead again.
 
‘No… I don’t know.
 
No, I don’t want to be with him.
 
Look, do we have to talk about this now?
 
He’s just had a massive heart attack and we’re all trying to deal with that…’

‘Yeah, I think we
do
have to talk about this now,
India
.
 
Because I need to know where I stand.
 
So, you need to make a choice, baby.
 
Okay?
 
You need to make a choice.
 
Is it me?
 
Or is it Michael?’

CHAPTER 37

Charley sank down into the bubble-filled bath, turning up the radio just that little bit louder to drown out the silence that emanated throughout the apartment.
 

She may have only been a few doors down from the private penthouse she shared with Vince within The Amber Palace, but it felt as though she were a million miles away.

The days since Vince had found her and Kenny together had been the hardest she’d ever experienced since this whole business with Jimmy Cash had begun and as she lay there, listening to the smooth vocals and hypnotic guitar-playing of Joe Bonamassa’s very own brand of the blues, she felt now-familiar hot tears flood down her cheeks.

She’d been stupid, there was no doubt about that.
 
And every second she’d been with Kenny she’d known it was stupid and wrong but once again she hadn’t had the strength to leave behind that wonderful escape Kenny had given her.
 
Even though it could have destroyed everything she lived for.

She closed her eyes and sank further into the warm water.
 
As far as Jimmy Cash was concerned he appeared to have backed off or, at least, that’s what it looked like.
 
There’d been nothing about her past, no photos, no articles, nothing for the past few days.
 
Did this mean Vince really
had
sorted everything out?
 
Or had Jimmy just got bored?
 
Whatever, it was a welcome relief to wake up and find that she wasn’t front page news for a change.
 
That accolade now went to
Michael
,
India
and Dominic as that complicated triangle of a relationship continued to dominate the
Hollywood
gossip grapevine.
 
Word was that Dominic had asked India to marry him just minutes before she’d found out about Michael’s heart attack, and from what information Charley had managed to glean – mainly from Bobby – India had said no.

She opened her eyes as her cell phone rang, startling Charley out of those precious few minutes of thinking about someone else’s problems.
 
Reaching over to the ledge by the side of the bath she grabbed the phone and answered it before she’d even checked to see who was calling, which she should have done, really.
 
Because the voice on the other end sent an icy shiver right through her, despite the warm bath she was lying in.

‘Charley… did you think I’d forgotten about you, sugar?’

Jimmy’s Texan drawl filled her head, and whilst she knew she could just hang up, end the call, it was as though her fingers wouldn’t move, leaving her with no choice but to listen to him as he continued to speak, without even waiting for her to reply.

‘Well, I think you know that Jimmy Cash doesn’t really forget about anyone.
 
Especially those who owe him, and you owe me big, honey.
 
You owe me big.’

‘Jimmy…’

‘But it’s almost over, Charley.
 
It’s almost over.’

She sat up sharply, sending water crashing over the sides of the bath, spilling out onto the floor in bubble-filled waves.
 
‘What do you mean, it’s almost over?
 
What’s
almost over, Jimmy?’

‘It’s almost over, darlin’.
 
So, you and everyone else, y’all take care now, d’you hear?
 
Y’all take care.’

***

‘Are you going to have that face on you all night?’ Bobby asked as he bustled around the kitchen of the villa, tidying away plates and glasses from dinner.
 
‘And the state you leave this place in…’

India
looked up from her magazine, crossing her legs as she sat at the breakfast bar.
 
‘What face?’

He looked back at her, his hand on his hip, his lips pursed.
 
It would have been highly amusing if
India
wasn’t in such a weird mood.
 
‘
That
face,’ Bobby said, pointing at her with a J-Cloth.
 
‘The miserable one.’

‘I’m not miserable,’ she muttered, looking back down at her magazine.

Bobby snorted.
 
‘Yeah, and I’m about to tour
North America
with Barbara Streisand.’

She looked up at him again, ignoring her cell phone.
 
‘Why should it bother
you
anyway?’

‘Why should it bother
me
?
 
Why should it bother…?
 
It bothers
me
, Angel, because I have to look at you all day!
 
And it’s not an expression that suits you, Princess.
 
Especially at your age.
 
All that frowning really shows up the crow’s feet.’

She stuck her tongue out at him and he quickly returned the gesture.

‘I blame it all on the fact you haven’t had sex for five days,’ he sniffed as he started to scrub the cooker hob to within an inch of its life.

‘What on earth are you…?
 
How the hell do
you
know I haven’t had sex for five days?’

Bobby looked at her over the top of his glasses, raising his eyebrows.
 
‘Well, the lack of Mr MacGorgeous around here is a
big
clue, Angel.’

India
turned her attention back to her magazine, saying nothing.
 
She knew Bobby would love to know what was going on with her and Dominic right now, but what could she tell him when she didn’t have a clue what was going on herself?

Just two days after his heart attack Michael had been back at work in the director’s chair, determined to finish filming his movie – despite everyone telling him he should be taking it easy – and he’d succeeded.
 
Everyone had pulled together to make it work – including
India
and Dominic, despite the ultimatum he’d given her.
 
The movie had finished shooting just a few days over schedule, and the only thing left to get through now was the wrap party, a party that meant everyone was still hanging around in Vegas because it was going to be a huge event, taking place in The Amber Palace’s biggest night club,
Epic
,
in just a couple of days time.
 
Not that
India
was anywhere close to finding her party mood right now.