Illusions of Love

by Michelle Betham

  It hadn’t been easy, leaving Layla behind in Malibu because, despite what she’d said, Kenny still wanted to be with her. Ending their relationship hadn’t been something he’d even considered because he was finally learning to move on. Finally beginning to want something that didn’t involve wishing he was with India, because he knew that was never going to happen now, not really. Not in the way he wanted, and he was okay about that. He was. She was his best friend and he’d take that, because just being in her life was enough.

  But he really had wanted to try and make it work with Layla. He still thought they needed each other more than she cared to admit, but she’d been adamant she wasn’t willing to carry on the relationship. So being able to spend some time in Vegas was almost a Godsend. It would give him time to think, time to cut loose. Time to party like he hadn’t done in a long time. He just needed to persuade India to do the same.

  After settling into his apartment within the hotel, he wandered through the casino of The Amber Palace, his hands in his pockets, just taking in the incredible spectacle of Vince Maine’s latest Vegas resort, the noise and the atmosphere washing away all the stress and tension he’d carried with him from L.A. That was all gone now. It was something this city had a knack of doing for him. It relaxed him. Like nowhere else could.

  He was about to hit the bar for a beer when he noticed Charley sitting at the slot machines, absent-mindedly filling them with money, pulling the lever down over and over again but not really taking any notice of what was going on. Strange. It wasn’t as though she needed to win any kind of jackpot, and she certainly didn’t look as though she was enjoying herself.

  Walking over to her he leant back against the neighbouring slot machine, folding his arms and smiling at her.

  ‘Hey, you forgotten your husband owns this place?’

  She looked up at him, smiling a smile that Kenny noticed didn’t reach her eyes. ‘Kenny. I didn’t know you’d arrived already.’

  ‘Well, filming’s finished now so, I’m never one to say no to some time in Vegas. Especially as Layla’s just blown me out.’

  ‘Oh, God, Kenny, I’m sorry. I didn’t even know it was that serious.’

  He pushed a hand though his black hair, sighing. ‘It wasn’t, Charley. Not really. I just let myself think it might be, y’know? It might’ve been nice.’ He looked at her again. She was studying her nails, staring at them but not really looking at anything. She was miles away. She couldn’t make it any more obvious that she had something on her mind. ‘Charley?’

  His voice made her look up sharply. ‘Yeah? Oh, sorry. I was… I was just thinking.’

  ‘Yeah. I could see that. Do you want to talk about it?’

  She looked away again, fiddling with her wedding band.

  ‘Is something wrong between you and Vince?’

  She looked up again. ‘No. No, it’s nothing to do with Vince. Not really…’

  She trailed off, and Kenny now knew for sure that something was wrong. ‘Do you want to talk about it, Charley?’

  She stood up, looking straight into Kenny’s eyes. ‘Can you keep a secret?’

  ***

  Jimmy watched from his seat at the bar, watched as she spoke to Kenny Ross. It seemed as though more and more of Charley’s friends were beginning to gather here in this city, which was good. That suited Jimmy just fine. He just hoped they stuck around long enough to see just what it was he had planned because, as far as he was concerned, the more friends Charley had around her, the better.

  Watching her body language intently he could see she was on edge, nervous, anxious. Good. He couldn’t have asked for more. This was just what he wanted. And he’d continue to let her feel on edge for just a couple more days. He enjoyed the notion that she was spending every day looking over her shoulder, not knowing if he was near or not. Well, she’d find out soon enough.

  He stood up and walked away from the bar as Charley and Kenny started walking towards it. He didn’t want her to see him just yet, not yet. Just a couple more days then he’d let her know exactly what it was he intended to do. For starters.

  ***

  India stood at the side of the set, leaning back against the wall as she read through her script, the searing Las Vegas summer sun beating down on her bare shoulders. She wasn’t required on set until after lunch and she needed to catch up with a couple of last minute script changes, so she’d found a quiet spot away from the main action to read through the bits she wasn’t yet familiar with. And she was surprised to see that a relatively low-key love scene between her and Dominic – that was initially to have stopped before it got anywhere near the bedroom – had now been extended to incorporate them actually making love, and that confused India slightly. Michael was directing this, and she knew how he felt about anyone coming near her, especially someone like Dominic. So why change a scene like that to show them so intimate with each other when it hadn’t originally been that way?

  ‘You avoiding me?’

  She looked up at the sound of that New York accent, and she couldn’t stop the smile spreading across her face. ‘No. Any reason why I should be?’

  ‘Well…’ He moved closer, his blue eyes fixed firmly on hers, ‘… we haven’t really said all that much to each other – outside of this movie set – since that incredibly entertaining flight over here on your father’s private jet.’

  ‘Entertaining, huh?’

  He laughed, taking the script she was holding out of her hands, throwing it down on the floor.

  ‘Hey, I was reading that!’

  ‘Not anymore.’

  She looked right into his eyes, her stomach somersaulting like an over-active acrobat, her heart starting to beat ten-to-the-dozen; she could feel it hammering hard against her ribs. Was she breaking out in a sweat? What was this man doing to her?

  ‘We’re making love this afternoon, India. You do realise that, don’t you?’

  He was referring to the script change, of course. And she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t nervous about it, how could she not be when both her father and her ex-husband would be looking on? Jesus, one of them was going to be directing her! And she was going to be so close to a man who was bringing her out in goosebumps just by thinking about him. Even the thought of pretending to have sex with him was making her feel dizzy. When the hell had this happened? When had Dominic MacDonald suddenly become more than just her co-star? It was crazy! And not something India was particularly comfortable with, because she felt slightly out of control of the situation at a time when she’d actually started to feel as though she was gaining some control back in her life.

  ‘I know we are. And have you got any idea why they’ve suddenly changed the script?’ She reached out and gently stroked his rough chin as she spoke, an almost involuntary action, watching her fingers as they ran over his jaw line.

  ‘No. But I’m not complaining. Any excuse to be near you, I’ll take that.’

  She couldn’t help smiling again. ‘We’re not really making love, y’know.’

  ‘Well, we could shake things up a bit, if we wanted to.’

  India frowned slightly. ‘How do you mean?’

  ‘We could get so close that they ain’t gonna be able to tell whether we’re pretending, or whether it’s really happening.’

  She felt her stomach flip over again, that tingling sensation down below signalling the start of something she knew they’d have to finish, for the sake of that afternoon’s filming. But, despite those feelings, she still wished she were stronger, she wished she could say no to this man before it got out of hand. Because it would. If she let it.

  ‘You can’t be serious, Dominic. Why would we want to do that?’

  He gave that low, sexy laugh, looking right into her eyes, and she’d never felt so turned on, so desperate to have someone that she could just fuck them there and then and not care who the hell was watching. Jesus, what the hell was he doing to her?

  ‘Why not?’

  She smiled again, touch
ing his lips with her fingertips. ‘You’re crazy. No way, Dominic.’

  He slid an arm loosely round her waist, pulling her against him, kissing her mouth slowly and softly and she just fell against him, unable to fight it anymore. Not that she’d really tried that hard to fight it in the first place.

  ‘You’re making me feel about sixteen again,’ she whispered, looking up into those incredible blue eyes of his.

  He smiled that movie star smile and she felt her stomach dip again. ‘Well, you don’t look a day older.’

  ‘Oh, shut up!’ she laughed, pushing him away, then grabbing his shirt and pulling him back against her. ‘Quit with the smooth talking, okay? You’ve already got me into bed. You can stop trying so hard now.’

  He pushed a hand gently through her loose blond hair, pushing it back off her face, moving his mouth closer to hers as he spoke. ‘I don’t ever want to stop trying. Where would the fun be in that?’

  She was still looking up into those beautiful blue eyes of his, her heart still beating so hard it hurt. ‘We’re due back on set soon,’ she whispered, his whole presence completely overwhelming her. ‘They’ll start to miss us.’

  ‘No, they won’t. Everyone’s busy. They don’t need us.’ He ran his fingers lightly over her shoulder, across her collarbone, his touch sending those now-familiar shivers right through her. ‘But I need you, India Walsh.’

  Her head was spinning now and she backed up against the wall to steady herself, every memory of every second they’d been together invading her head, making her want him more because those memories were incredible – he was incredible. ‘Yeah,’ she said, her eyes scanning his handsome face. ‘I kind of need you too.’ Because she had no choice in the matter in now.

  She closed her eyes as his mouth touched hers again, just for the briefest of seconds before he pulled away slightly and smiled at her, a smile that sent every fibre of her being into overdrive before his lips met hers again in a longer, deeper kiss. She could feel the heat of his body and she pressed herself up against him as the kiss got harder, one of his hands resting on her hip, pulling her closer and she literally felt herself spinning, aware only of him right beside her and the feel of his mouth moving on hers. It was just a kiss, but it was a hell of a lot more.

  ‘My trailer,’ he whispered, his mouth resting on hers as he spoke. ‘Come on.’

  And who was she to argue?

  ***

  Michael looked at his watch. Five more minutes then he was going to have to call time on the morning’s filming and break for lunch. But he still had a lot to get through before that afternoon’s scenes were shot.

  He was more than aware there’d been a few raised eyebrows at the last-minute extension of an originally small love scene into full-blown sex between the two leads, especially as it was no secret how Michael still felt about India. So it was only natural that everyone assumed he would do anything he could to avoid throwing her and Dominic together, but instead he seemed to be almost encouraging it.

  Well, he had his reasons. And for some reason even he couldn’t fully explain at the minute, he wanted to see how Dominic and India looked together. He wanted that picture in his head because, after what he’d just found out, he really needed to see that. He really needed to know. And now he had the perfect opportunity to find out.

  The actual scene he planned on shooting may never make it to the final edit, he didn’t yet know whether it was entirely necessary for the plot of the movie, but it was something he needed to do. For his own personal reasons. Unprofessional, maybe, but if they were going to start talking unprofessional then he wasn’t the only one playing that game. Dominic MacDonald had been playing it too. But those days were about to come to an end because nobody got one over on Michael Walsh. Nobody would win against him in any kind of fight, but especially a fight where the prize appeared to be India.

  CHAPTER 18

  Kenny couldn’t believe what Charley had just told him. Jimmy Cash was back and a long forgotten nightmare had all of a sudden resurfaced. Something she really didn’t deserve.

  ‘I’m assuming you haven’t told Vince,’ Kenny said, watching Charley as she stared blankly into her drink.

  ‘No. I can’t do it, Kenny. I…’ She looked up, staring right at him, and Kenny couldn’t help but notice the fear in her eyes. ‘I know I should, but… I just don’t know what to say to him because… because he’ll do something stupid, I know he will. He wants to protect me, I know he does, and I love him for that. He makes me feel safe, Kenny. But going after Jimmy Cash – that can’t happen. Can it?’

  It was Kenny’s turn to look away, watching life going on around them as they sat at the poolside bar; the laughter and buzz of people enjoying themselves surrounding them. It was almost surreal, when he remembered how dangerous a man Jimmy Cash could be. And he was somewhere in this town, Kenny was certain of that. Jimmy Cash was here, in Vegas. Meaning that a big, dark, dangerous cloud now hung over them, tainting everything around them.

  He looked at Charley, shaking his head. ‘No. That’s not a good idea.’

  ‘I had to tell someone, Kenny. And I’m sorry it was you, I’m sorry I had to drag you into this, especially after the last time…’ She trailed off, looking away into the distance for a few seconds. Then, almost as if someone had just flicked a switch, she turned back to look at him. ‘But it was killing me, keeping it all to myself. I didn’t know what else to do, who to turn to, and when I saw you… I’m terrified, Kenny, I’m so scared, but… you understand, don’t you?’

  Kenny reached out and took her hand, squeezing it tight, giving her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. ‘Hey, come on. Of course I understand. I know what you went through before, I was there, remember?’

  ‘I know,’ she whispered, sadness clouding her eyes once more. ‘You were there when Jimmy… You found Terry, didn’t you?’

  Kenny looked down at their joined hands as the memories of that devastating night almost fifteen years ago came crashing back into his head. He could still hear the sound of the gunshots ringing out in the black night sky, as loud now as they had been back then; the memory of India’s brother lying dead in the road still as heartbreaking as it had been all those years ago. He’d never wanted to go back there, never wanted to revisit that time in his life, but it looked as though Jimmy Cash had other ideas. That one night had almost destroyed all of them, and now it looked as though he was back for some kind of sick revenge on the woman who’d made sure he’d stayed behind bars for a long time. Just, not long enough.

  ‘How can you be certain Vince won’t find out some other way? About Jimmy being back, I mean.’

  Charley gave a shrug of resignation, letting go of his hand. ‘I can’t be certain of anything Kenny, can I? I don’t even know where Jimmy is.’

  ‘He’ll be here, Charley. In Vegas. You know he’ll be here.’

  She felt a cold shiver run down her spine when Kenny spoke, because he was right. Of course Jimmy would be here. What was the point of him turning up like this if not to mess with her mind? And he was certainly succeeding on that score.

  ‘In some respects it’s worse than the last time,’ she whispered, absent-mindedly poking at the ice in her glass with a straw. ‘At least last time I knew where he was, I knew where’d he’d be. But, even if he’s here, Kenny – even if he’s here in Vegas, I still don’t know what his next move is going to be, and that scares the hell out of me. I’ve got my daughter to think about this time. I’ve got Lily to protect… Oh, Jesus; I can’t believe this is happening again…’

  Kenny watched as the tears started streaming down her face and he reached out for her hand again, holding it tightly. She didn’t deserve this; she didn’t deserve to be going through this, not again. Not after everything she’d been through in the past. And he didn’t really want to have to go there either, but what else could he do now? She’d confided in him, she’d pulled him into the situation and, whether he liked it or not, he was involved now.

&nbs
p; ‘We’ll get through this, Charley. I promise you, we’ll get through this.’

  She looked up at him, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. ‘Will we? How, Kenny? Where do we even start?’

  ‘I don’t know, honey. I really don’t know. But you’re not alone now, okay? And somehow… somehow we’ll work something out.’

  He just didn’t know what, and he had no idea how he was going to deal with this but she needed somebody, and he was going to be there for her. He wasn’t a stranger to this, he’d tried to rescue her from the nightmare of Jimmy Cash before, so he could try again. He just had to hope that, unlike the last time, the outcome didn’t end up the same.

  ***

  India wrapped the robe around her, covering her almost naked body as she waited to be called to the set, running her fingers through her hair, shaking it out as she looked in the full-length mirror in front of her.

  Sex with Dominic had given her a glow that even she could see and she smiled to herself, closing her eyes for a second as she remembered the way his fingers had stroked her skin, the things he’d whispered as he’d made love to her. She was in the throes of lust here – full-on, spine-tingling, all-consuming lust, and she was loving every second of it.

  ‘You thinking about me?’

  She opened her eyes and smiled as he stood behind her, gently pushing her hair away from the back of her neck, leaning over to kiss it.

  ‘You’re so full of yourself, MacDonald.’

  He laughed that deep, sexy laugh and she wished more than anything that they were making love for real in private any second now, rather than pretending in front of an audience.

  ‘You look incredible,’ he whispered, his hands moving round to the front of her robe, slowly untying the belt.