Illusions of Love

by Michelle Betham

  ‘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? W
hy 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.

  Despite the fact Michael was fine – albeit slightly unnerved by the realisation that he wasn’t immortal – she still hadn’t spoken to Reece since she’d seen him at the hospital. It wasn’t even that she blamed him anymore for what had happened, she just didn’t know how to face him, now he knew the truth.

  She looked up to find Bobby still staring at her. ‘What?’

  ‘Well? Are you going to make me ask the obvious?’

  ‘If it’s got anything to do with Dominic then I’m saying nothing.’

  Bobby snorted again, pulling off the rubber gloves he was wearing and throwing them in the sink. ‘Spoilsport.’ He pulled himself up onto the breakfast bar and snatched the magazine away from her, putting it to one side.

  ‘Hey! I was reading that!’

  ‘No you weren’t. You were using it as a distraction to avoid talking to me about you and Mr Movie Star.’

  ‘There is no me and Mr Movie Star.’

  Bobby raised an eyebrow. ‘Really?’

  She ignored him, sliding down off her stool and running her hands through her hair, shaking it out so it fell all tousled and loose around her shoulders. ‘Okay. I’m off out.’

  ‘Out? Where are you going?’

  ‘Who are you? My mother?’

  Bobby swung round on the breakfast bar so he was facing her, crossing his legs, watching as she fastened a large cuff watch round her left wrist. ‘I’m just concerned, Angel.’

  ‘For “concerned” read “nosy”,’ India smiled, slipping her phone into the back pocket of her jeans.

  ‘As if,’ Bobby huffed, examining his nails.

  ‘I’m off out with Kenny, if you must know.’

  ‘Ah, partying with the philanderer now, are we?’

  She ignored his comment. ‘If you want me, I’ll be at The Mirage… And, Bobby? Vince and Charley are trying to work things out y’know.’

  ‘So why’s she still living in a separate apartment then?’

  ‘I don’t know. These things take time, don’t they? There’s a lot to sort out.’

  ‘You’re telling me.’ He slid down off the breakfast bar, going over to her, fussing around her as he positioned her hair perfectly over her shoulders, straightening her strapless top, pulling it up slightly over her breasts.

  ‘Bobby!’

  ‘Now, come on, Angel. I have no idea what’s going on in your love life right now…’

  ‘Well, that makes two of us then.’

  He looked at her, kissing her forehead. ‘But you walk out of here and into any bar, looking like you do right now – despite the miserable face – and you are going to have men falling at your beautiful feet. Let’s just not show them too much of that India Walsh charm too soon, okay?’

  She couldn’t help laughing.

  ‘There! You look so much prettier when you smile, Angel.’

  She looked at her wonderful P.A. ‘Why is my life so fucking complicated, Bobby?’

  ‘Because you make it that way, Princess.’ He gently stroked her fringe from her eyes. ‘Look, just listen to your heart, okay? You just listen to your heart.’

  ‘Shouldn’t I be listening to my head though, Bobby? Shouldn’t I be doing the sensible thing?’

  ‘Oh, being sensible is overrated, Angel. Anyway, it’s a bit late for you to start being sensible now, isn’t it?’

  She smiled again, hugging him tight. ‘I love you, Bobby Castle.’

  ‘Of course you do, Angel. And I love you too. Now, go on. You go enjoy yourself with that ridiculously handsome best friend of yours.’

  ‘Don’t wait up,’ she shouted over her shoulder as she ran out of the kitchen and into the hall, knowing all too well that he’d be doing exactly that. Because if there was one thing Bobby Castle couldn’t do it was sleep if there might be some gossip on the horizon. And who knew what tonight was going to bring?

  ***

  Dominic had never felt so confused, so totally out of his comfort zone that he couldn’t even think straight. Him or his father – that was the ultimatum he’d given her. Her choice to make, but so far she hadn’t made any kind of decision at all.

  The final few days of filming had been the hardest he’d ever experienced on a movie set. Being with her, so close to her, kissing her for the cameras when all he’d wanted to do was make love to her in private, it had messed with his head big time because she gave nothing away, no indication as to how she was feeling. She could be one very good actress when she wanted to be.

  But what made everything even more confusing for Dominic was that Michael seemed to have backed off from a woman he’d always claimed to have been infatuated with. He seemed happy with Layla, a woman who was quite obviously head-over-heels in love with him, any idiot could see that. Had his father’s heart attack finally made him realise that he couldn’t spend the rest of his life chasing a woman who was nothing but a part of his past? And just why had Reece been at the villa that morning? Because Dominic sure as hell knew that India was still hiding something from him. She knew why Reece had been there. She just wasn’t telling him.

  He had a head full of questions he needed answers to, but every call he made to India was rejected and every message he sent ignored. How had they got from her falling in love with him to completely blanking him? It didn’t make sense, and Dominic knew he couldn’t let this go on for much longer.

  He needed to know where he stood, with or without her. And only one of those options was something he knew he could easily accept.

  ***

  Layla stood quietly in the corner of the living room, watching Michael as he spoke to Ethan via Skype, his beautiful little boy laughing at whatever it was his father was saying to him.

  Laying a hand over her stomach she rubbed it gently, trying to ease the queasy feeling she’d had for a while now. At first she’d put it down to the worry she’d experienced over Michael’s heart attack, but she knew she’d been feeling that way long before all that had happened, and she was still feeling that way now.

  She looked over at Michael again, a man so happy to be talking to his youngest son. A man who, quite possibly – if things had been any worse – may not have had the chance to see his little boy again. Layla closed her eyes at the memory of that day, when something so horrible had made her realise, for sure this time, how she really felt about this man.

  The way she’d felt during that short but horrific time when they hadn’t known what was wrong, wh
en all she could remember was blind panic, that had told her all she’d needed to know – that she loved this man, and she always would.

  What he’d done to India – that had shocked her, she couldn’t deny that. And she’d be lying if she said it wasn’t something that preyed on her mind, but she loved him, simple as that. And she was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, after all, India had forgiven him, hadn’t she? India couldn’t push him away, even after all of that. India hadn’t pushed him away, and neither could she. She wasn’t willing to. That time in their lives had been a tough one, for many of them, and maybe now – and hopefully for the final time – they could start to put the past behind them and look forward to some kind of future.

  But could Michael ever really love her the way he’d loved India? That crazy, mixed-up, complicated love that those two had always shared; could he ever love her that way? That was a question Layla knew she could never answer, and neither could Michael. But it finally looked as though – this time – she was winning the fight. And that was just as well, because Layla had news that she couldn’t wait to share with this man who’d become such a big part of her life. Fate had taken a hand in making sure that she kept him by her side this time.

  Layla Boyd was having Michael Walsh’s baby, and she couldn’t be more excited.

  ***

  ‘She’ll come round, honey. You just have to give her time,’ Martha said, joining Reece on the terrace of their Amber Palace apartment, the view of Las Vegas stretching out before them.

  ‘It’s been five days now, Martha, and she hasn’t even spoken to me. She blames me for what happened to Michael; she said so, didn’t she? I’m the bad guy… how the hell did that happen, huh? I’m her father, I’m the one who wants to keep her safe and yet she feels more sympathy for a man who caused her nothing but heartache.’

  ‘You know that’s not true, sweetheart. India and Michael, they were happy once, you know they were.’