Authors: Michelle Betham
‘Can we get a little professionalism round here, please?’
Michael watched as Dominic pulled away from
India
, turning to look at him.
‘Don’t you think we’ve got enough media attention focused on us?
You’re not a couple of hormone-driven teenagers, so start acting like the adults you’re supposed to be, and the professional actors I hired.’
Dominic fixed him with a stare, blue eyes locking onto blue eyes as he slowly shook his head, squeezing
India
’s hand, whispering in her ear before walking away.
India
watched him go, folding her arms as she turned back to Michael.
‘There wasn’t really any need for that, was there?’
Michael briefly removed his cap, pushing a hand through his hair before replacing the cap firmly back on his head, looking away for a second before meeting her eyes.
‘We’re on a movie set, honey.
Save that crap for the bedroom.’
‘You know, when I first arrived in Vegas to do this movie I really thought you’d changed.
That night in the bar, that first night here, I thought we were finally moving on, finally learning to deal with everything.
But you can’t do it, can you?
You can’t leave it alone.’
‘A lot’s happened since we first arrived,
India
.
I’ve suddenly gained a son I never knew I had, and I’m still getting my head around that.
And you, of all people, should know just how confusing it can be to suddenly discover a family member you had no idea existed.’
His eyes met hers again, and for a brief, fleeting second a barrage of memories flooded her head.
Times when this man had been the most important person in her world.
Times when she’d loved him more than she’d ever loved anyone before.
Times before the pain and the hurt he’d caused her.
Before he’d turned her world upside down.
‘Of course I can understand how you’re feeling,’ she said quietly, turning away from him, focusing on the goings-on in front of her instead, watching as Dominic took a few minutes to chat to some of the growing crowd, shaking hands and kissing cheeks.
‘I can’t imagine this is easy for you.’
‘You didn’t have to make it harder by sleeping with him.’
She turned her head sharply to look at him again, her arms still folded against her.
A defence mechanism?
Probably.
Where Michael was concerned she’d always feel the need to keep that safe distance, to stop him from getting too close.
‘Like I said, Michael, you just can’t leave it alone, can you?’
Pushing past him she walked away from the entrance, away from Michael, back over to Dominic.
Michael watched as this man he still couldn’t get used to thinking of as his son slid an arm protectively round her waist, pulling her in against him as he quickly kissed her, whispering something in her ear that made her laugh out loud.
She was right.
He
couldn’t
leave it alone.
He never would.
How could he?
When everything he did still revolved around her.
But maybe Layla was right too – maybe he had to at least try and move on.
And as he turned to look at the woman who was giving him a chance to do just that, he felt nothing but a crushing sense of déjà vu.
***
Kenny had no idea why he was in Vegas anymore.
India
was too wrapped up in Dominic to care about spending time with him, so why else did he need to stick around?
When she was the main reason he’d come here in the first place.
Strolling aimlessly through the Amber Palace casino, already busy with the morning’s quota of tourists mixing with those that had probably been there since last night, still trying to win back whatever amount they’d lost, he thought about the stories some of these people could tell.
Because there had to be people out there whose lives were crazier than his.
A dozen or more movie scripts were probably hanging around that casino, amongst that strange mix of high rollers and housewives.
Hands stuffed deep in his pockets, his eyes very much focused on the ground, he headed into The Pool View Diner, hoping more than anything that he could go unrecognised today, because the last thing he was in the mood for was having to make small talk with people.
He would, if he had to, because that’s what Kenny did.
Being recognised was all part of the package but today, well, today he just didn’t feel much like being sociable.
What he felt like doing was turning the clock back nearly twenty years to the day when a young and beautiful girl from the North East of England had walked through the door of that small screen-test room on a studio sound stage in
Hollywood
– he wanted to go back there, and do a million things differently.
He slipped into a window booth, briefly taking in the view of the pool outside as it filled up with tourists and those that wanted a day with nothing to do but catch some sun and chill out, turning to smile his thanks at the pretty waitress who quickly filled his cup with fresh coffee, smiled back, then left him alone with his thoughts.
Thoughts Kenny wasn’t all that keen on being left alone with, if he was honest.
He turned back to look outside, watching as the pool seemed to grow more crowded by the second, the sun loungers rapidly becoming occupied by people of all shapes and sizes, all having fun in this city that provided just that and more, twenty four hours a day.
But he wasn’t exactly having fun himself right now.
All he seemed to be experiencing was a major headache, a ton of guilt, and feelings he’d been trying to kick for almost twenty years that just refused to go away.
He sat back in the booth and pushed a hand through his hair, taking a quick sip of far-too-hot coffee.
He’d just left Charley, and a situation he’d promised himself he wouldn’t return to.
They’d let it happen once, but they’d both been adamant it wouldn’t happen again, yet it had.
Just now.
Upstairs in his apartment.
Two weak people clinging onto each other because neither of them was brave enough to face their own realities head on.
But
she
needed
him
, and
he
needed
her,
although their reasons for needing each other were both dangerous and dubious, and once again Kenny Ross was playing with fire.
But he was used to getting his fingers burnt, so he knew that – despite the guilt and the feelings of doubt that still ran riot inside his head – he wasn’t going to step back from whatever it was he’d just walked into.
Because he still needed the distraction it was giving him.
Even if that distraction was both dangerous, and very, very wrong.
***
Charley hoped she wasn’t going to be disturbed today.
She’d shut herself away in her office in the salon
with strict instructions to her staff to bother her for no reason other than an emergency, because she just didn’t feel much like socialising.
She didn’t feel much like working, either, but she’d given herself no choice.
She’d really just wanted to hide away in her and Vince’s apartment and escape all the crap with a day of non-stop reality TV, a day of watching other peoples’ problems unfold and other peoples’ lives unravel, but she had so much paperwork to get through, thanks to her neglect of the salon lately.
She was so lucky Vince had sorted everything out over in the
Beverly Hills
branch of
Charley’s
because she just wasn’t sure when she could face going back there.
If she ever could.
Even though he’d told her there was nothing to worry about she still didn’t know if she’d ever be able to face many of her clients ever again.
Thinking about Vince brought a fresh wave of guilt crashing over her that almost took her breath away.
Closing her eyes she sat back in her chair and threw her head back, pushing her hands through her long, dark curls.
She loved Vince, she loved him more than she could ever begin to explain, and it was still something she herself couldn’t understand, this reason why she just couldn’t seem to open up to him about all of this.
But she couldn’t.
She found it easier to keep that distance between them, as far as the subject of Jimmy was concerned.
She found it easier to pretend she was coping, even though she was so far from that.
But with Kenny – with Kenny, it was different.
She could talk to him; she could tell him everything that was going on in her head, things she just couldn’t tell Vince.
And she had no idea why, she only knew that with Kenny she could somehow escape all the crap and disappear into a world of distraction that took her mind off all the fear she was still feeling, even if it was only for a couple of hours, a few minutes, she didn’t care.
As long as she got that distraction, she was happy.
Relaxed.
Able to deal with everything that little bit better.
Even if it was the most dangerous thing she could do, because to put her marriage to Vince in jeopardy like this wasn’t something she should even be considering.
She shouldn’t be going anywhere near Kenny Ross, not like this.
But she couldn’t walk away either.
She couldn’t walk away.
And that only made Charley a hundred times more scared than she already was.
***
Reece felt as though some kind of black cloud had descended over him, tinged with that red mist of anger that cut through it – and him – like a knife, his head spinning with the overload of information he’d had to take in.
Michael Walsh had raped his daughter, and Martha just expected him to take that and leave it alone?
Just because
India
had, supposedly, dealt with it?
But
he
hadn’t.
He’d only just heard about an event that may well have happened over six years ago, but as far as he was concerned it was as new and as fresh in his mind as if it had happened yesterday.
India
had been tainted by something she may think she’d come to terms with, but she hadn’t.
Look at the years that had passed since her divorce from Michael.
Despite the early signs that she may have found the right man in JJ Foster to settle down with and finally move forward, a chance to put Michael Walsh behind her, that just hadn’t happened.
And Reece knew why.
The hold Michael Walsh had over his daughter would never be loosened, its grip would always be there, constant and threatening, but Reece had had enough.
He couldn’t just sit back and pretend he hadn’t heard what Martha had told him.
What kind of a father would that make him?
Almost running through the lobby of The Amber Palace, he was gripped with nothing but a determination to finally face the man who refused to take a step back from a woman he just didn’t deserve to have in his life, not after what he’d done.
He didn’t deserve to go near her again, and if Reece had anything to do with it this movie would be the last close contact his daughter ever had with Michael Walsh.
And maybe he wasn’t being entirely rational here, after all, his thinking was all over the place.
He was angry and tired and allowing years of pent-up frustration to come tumbling out all at once, but he didn’t care.
He’d had it with sitting back and letting everything happen around him.
It was about time he took control again, and sorted this once and for all.
As the huge glass doors that graced the main entrance of The Amber Palace slid open he stepped out of the welcoming cool of the air conditioning and into the breathtaking heat of a stifling Vegas mid-morning, standing still for a few seconds only to catch his breath, his hands on his hips as he inhaled deeply, looking around him, gathering his bearings, scanning the busy scenes in front of him as filming continued out on the street opposite.
India
was standing on the sidelines, watching Dominic shooting a scene.
Her arms were folded, her eyes never leaving the new man in her life, despite the old one being not a few steps away from her.
And just the sight of Michael Walsh – knowing what he knew now – only served to send another wave of anger flooding through Reece’s body as all rational thought left him, leaving him with nothing but tunnel vision and just one endgame in sight.
To get to the man who’d hurt his daughter.