Authors: Michelle Betham
‘Of course he is.
Why wouldn’t he be?’
Dominic shrugged.
‘No reason.
He just seems to find it difficult to look me in the eye, that’s all.’
India
started playing with the collar of his shirt, his hand resting in the small of her back, stroking the base of her spine gently with his thumb.
‘He’s very protective of you, isn’t he?’ Dominic went on, tilting her chin up so she was looking at him.
‘Kenny, I mean.
Very protective.’
‘He’s my best friend, Dominic.
My
closest
friend.
He’s been through some of the worst times of my life with me and he’s always been there to pick up the pieces, always been there to put me back together again so, he’s just wary, that’s all.’
‘Of me?’
She couldn’t help smiling.
‘Well, looking at your résumé, Mr MacDonald, you’re a little high-risk, you have to admit.’
He pulled her closer, kissing her slowly and India just fell against him, closing her eyes as his open mouth covered hers, their lips moving gently together in perfect sync, his hand in the small of her back keeping her body pressed against his and all she wanted to do was take him back to the villa and carry on where they’d left off the night before, making love until their bodies ached and her voice was hoarse from the shouting out.
She wanted that right now, all over again.
‘High-risk, huh?’ he smiled, that beautiful smile that caused her stomach to somersault and her skin to tingle.
‘
Very
high-risk, Mr Movie Star.’
‘Yes, well, I’d quite like Mr Movie Star to get his ass back out on set, if that’s not too much trouble.’
They both looked round to see Michael standing there, the ever-present cap he always seemed to wear when he was directing pulled down over his eyes, his arms folded across his chest.
‘I mean, we
are
making a movie here.
Apparently.’
India
gave Dominic a knowing look and a quick smile, squeezing his waist before letting him go.
‘You coming?’ he asked her.
‘No, she isn’t.
I want a word with
India
first,’ Michael said, his arms still folded as he stared at Dominic.
His handsome, cocky, arrogant son.
And a man who was far closer to
India
than Michael found comfortable.
He wasn’t supposed to have gotten this close again, after everything that had happened.
But Michael, as usual, had a back-up plan.
Because if there was one thing he’d learnt over the years it was to be prepared for every eventuality.
‘We won’t be long.
If that’s alright with you.’
Dominic stared back at Michael.
It was quite obvious their father/son relationship wasn’t getting off to the easiest of starts, and he was in no real hurry to push that anyway, so he just looked at
India
, gave her a reassuring smile and left them to it.
‘Was there any need for that?’
India
asked, turning round to pick up her phone, sliding it into the back pocket of her jeans.
‘I’m assuming, from that very public display of affection there, that the two of you are back together?’ Michael said, ignoring
India
’s question.
She looked at him, hoping that he wasn’t going to start with anything today because she really wasn’t in the mood.
‘What do
you
think?’
Michael gave a small laugh, looking down at the ground for a second, scuffing his shoe against the concrete floor.
‘Okay.
Stupid question.’
He looked back up at her, his expression suddenly softening and
India
didn’t know whether to feel nervous or pleased.
‘He may be my son,
India
, but I don’t know him at all.
And neither do you.’
‘I know him well enough to know that I want to be with him.’
Michael looked away for a second, and when he met her eyes again he had a look of concern on his face that she hadn’t seen from him in a long time.
‘You met him on a movie set, honey.
You’ve known him a matter of weeks…’
‘Michael…’
He unfolded his arms and leant back against the table, and for a brief second
India
almost felt as though the old Michael was back.
The Michael she’d fallen head-over-heels crazy-in-love with all those years ago.
The kind and wonderful, incredible Michael.
‘I care about you,
India
.
Jesus, I love you, kiddo, and I don’t make any secret of that.
Do I?’
She couldn’t help but smile, relaxing in his company for the first time in weeks.
He smiled back, that famous Michael Walsh smile, something else Dominic had unwittingly inherited.
Oh, the smiles were completely different, but just as captivating, in their own ways.
‘You haven’t made a secret of much, Michael.
If we’re being honest.’
He looked down at the ground for a second, laughing that small laugh again.
‘No.
I guess this is turning out to be one hell of an experience for all of us, huh?’
‘You could say that.
Look, Michael, what’s all this about?’
He looked up at her, into a face he still loved beyond anything else he could ever imagine.
She was his obsession, his only reason for waking up in the mornings, and it had been that way for twenty years now.
So how was anything ever going to change?
‘Just, don’t let him hurt you.
Okay?’
It was India’s turn to look away for a second, quickly glancing round at the normality going on around them, the noise of a movie set surrounding her as she had what could only be described as a surreal conversation with a man she would never truly understand.
Even though she’d once loved him like she’d never loved anyone before.
Like she’d probably never love anyone again.
‘Are you saying you’re suddenly going to stop fighting him?’
‘I never
was
fighting him,
India
.’
She looked at him again, into those piercing blue eyes – eyes that were now mirrored not only in the face of their beautiful boy, Ethan, but also in the face of the son Michael never knew he had.
The man
India
was now very much involved with.
‘Yes, Michael.
You were.’
He walked over to her, stopping right in front of her and she didn’t move, she couldn’t.
Something made her stay exactly where she was, staring up into those eyes as he reached out and gently stroked her cheek, smiling that smile, but this time it didn’t fill her with dread or make her think there was something sinister beneath the exterior.
‘I can’t say it doesn’t hurt me to think of you with him, because I’d be lying.
But then, you know as well as I do that seeing you with
anyone
hurts me.
It always will, I can’t ever stop that.
And yes, when I saw you with Dominic it got me right where it always gets me, right here.’
He stabbed at his chest with his fist, still staring right into her eyes, making it impossible for her to look anywhere else.
‘And when I found out who he was, what he was doing…’
India finally looked away, although she didn’t move from where she was standing, but just bringing up the subject of what Dominic had done made her feel uncomfortable.
She didn’t want reminding; they were starting again, starting over.
They were putting all of that behind them.
‘
India
, baby, look at me, honey.
Come on, look at me.’
She looked back up at him, confusion taking over.
Why was he suddenly so calm?
So nice?
‘Finding out who Dominic was, that hurt more than anything else,
India
.
That really fucking hurt.
But what I did…’
‘Forget it,’ she sighed, breaking the stare and stepping away from him, taking her phone out of her pocket and checking a message that had just arrived.
From Dominic.
It simply asked,
are u
ok?
India
smiled, punching out a quick reply and Michael watched her, taking in every tiny change in her expression.
‘Dominic?’ Michael asked, catching her eye as she slid her phone back into her pocket.
She looked back up at him.
‘How do you really feel about him being your son?
I mean, this has to be really weird for you, finding out about Dominic after thirty-six years.
It’s enough to freak anyone out, but you seem so calm.
Too
calm, almost.’
He just shrugged, folding his arms again.
‘You know me, honey.
I’ve coped with many things in my life, this is just something else sent along to try me.’
She watched him for a few seconds.
Was he displaying signs of defensive behaviour?
Was the folding of the arms a signal that this was something he didn’t really want to talk about?
Or was it a sign of something completely different?
Was it a sign that he didn’t want to talk about it because he was dealing with it in a way only Michael could?
A way that still left room for people to be hurt even more than they already were.
India
had no proof either way, of course, but just knowing what Michael was capable of was enough to make her step back slightly.
It was enough to put any growing trust she might have been building towards him right back in the box.
‘There’s nothing more to it than that,
India
,’ Michael said, as if reading her mind.
He needed to keep her on side; he couldn’t risk alienating her any more.
‘I’m dealing with it, okay?
And maybe, one day, when he’s ready, we’ll talk about things.
Sort something out.’
‘Sort something out?
What’s
that
supposed to mean?’ India asked, narrowing her eyes as she looked at him, wishing he’d take the cap off when he was talking to her because it felt slightly odd not being able to fully see his eyes.
Or maybe that was his intention.
If she couldn’t see his eyes then she wouldn’t be able to read him.
‘I’m not saying we’re ever going to have a close father/son relationship but, one day, well… maybe one day we can salvage something from this mess.’
She continued to stare at him.
‘Why are you telling me this?’
‘Because I want you to know that I’m okay with it.
With you and Dominic.’
‘I don’t need your permission, Michael.’
‘No, I know that.
I know.
That isn’t what I meant.’
India
was starting to get bored now and she sighed, running her fingers through her hair, shaking it out as she looked at him and Michael wished she wouldn’t do that because she made it one of the sexiest actions he’d ever seen.
And he still wanted her more than anyone could ever know.
‘What
do
you mean then?’
He looked down at the ground for a second, breathing out quickly as he looked back up at her almost impatient expression.
‘I’m not going to stand in your way.
You and Dominic, you’re together, I get that now.
And it was obvious that anything I did wasn’t going to prevent that from happening.
So, I’m not going to stand in your way.’
She stared at him for a few seconds longer before pushing her dark glasses down over her eyes.
‘I’m glad to hear it.
But what any of it had to do with you in the first place is still beyond me.
I’ll see you on set.’
Michael watched her walk away, his heart breaking with every step she took because each step was a step nearer to a man who was now more involved with both of them than he needed to be.
He’d made it a tougher fight to win, a harder game to call, but Michael was still confident that, although Dominic seemed to have won the battle, he would not win the war.
Michael had that all-important Plan B, that idea to fall back on, he wasn’t stupid.
He’d always known this might happen, he’d just hoped that it wouldn’t.
But now he had to take a different tack, make
India
think he was okay with it all, that her being with his son didn’t bother him.
But it did.
It bothered him big time.
It had bothered him before he’d found out who Dominic really was and it bothered him twice as much now he knew the truth.
But he could deal with it because it wasn’t the end.
In fact, in Michael’s eyes, it was only just beginning.