No Matter What

by Michelle Betham

***

  Michael stood at the side of the studio floor, watching India as she laughed and talked with the people around her. She was so comfortable in her surroundings, and that never ceased to amaze him. She could walk into any situation and just adapt to it, whether it be acting, modelling or TV interviews. She could do it all. She was an absolute natural. A gift she’d quite obviously inherited from her father.

  Today she was shooting still shots for a perfume advertising campaign. She’d already filmed the TV commercial, which was one of the sexiest things Michael had ever seen and he’d had to pinch himself to believe that the girl he was watching on the screen was his girl.

  Folding his arms and leaning back against the wall he shook his head as the art director let him know he could come closer, but he preferred to watch from the sidelines. He didn’t want to distract India; he just wanted to watch her.

  She was talking to the photographer, wrapped in a huge white robe, her blonde hair curled and loose around her shoulders, and for a second his mind wandered back to those days when all he could do was watch her and hope that, one day, she’d be his. She’d never known the extent of his obsession, never once guessed how much he’d longed for her and maybe it was better she never did, because none of that mattered now anyway.

  He took a deep breath as she dropped the robe she was wearing, revealing her perfect body in nothing but small black bikini pants and the highest of black shoes. He still couldn’t believe she was pregnant, carrying his baby, and he secretly couldn’t wait for the time when it started to show, when the world could actually see that this beautiful woman was having his child.

  She had no shame in showing her body, no shyness was there at all, despite the amount of people around, but for Michael it was getting harder to cope with situations like this. He hated feeling this way, he hated this almost jealous streak that hit him when other people looked at her, this possessive nature he seemed to have acquired lately, and he was finding it more and more difficult to control.

  He watched as she took direction from the photographer, lying down on the black leather sofa, arching her back, her head thrown backwards, her hands – as she’d promised him – covering her breasts. She fell into pose after pose, moving so naturally, until the direction stopped and they just let her go because she knew exactly what to do.

  Michael couldn’t take his eyes off her, he couldn’t break the stare. The feelings he’d had for her the minute he’d seen her all those years ago had never diminished, they’d never changed. If anything, they’d got stronger. He loved her so much, too much almost and the fear of losing her had resurfaced because of what he now knew.

  He knew Kenny had been over with her in the U.K., he knew she’d turned to him because she’d had things on her mind but he’d chosen to ignore it all. He’d chosen not let her know what he knew because she was with him. She’d come back to him, and whatever had gone on over there was in the past and he didn’t want to know. He didn’t want to know the things that had gone on in her head, he didn’t want to know what she’d been feeling, why she’d turned to Kenny - he didn’t want to know, because the thought that she’d harboured any idea of leaving him, it was too much for him to take.

  It had played on his mind though, of course it had. It had sent him crazy wondering if Kenny had touched her, if she’d slept with him, what she’d talked to him about, but if he told her he knew it could damage everything they had and he didn’t want to risk that. He couldn’t risk that because losing her would kill him. He could deal with her relationship with Kenny; he could deal with it because India was in love with him. He had no doubt about that now because she was here, and whatever had been going on in her head to make her turn to Kenny like that could stay unspoken. He didn’t want to know. He didn’t need to know. As long as she loved him it didn’t really matter. For now.

  It wasn’t until they’d finished the shoot that India caught sight of him, a huge smile appearing on her face as she pulled on a t-shirt and ran over to him.

  “Hey, baby!”

  “Hey back,” he smiled, placing a hand in the small of her back, stroking it with his thumb as he pushed her against him, kissing her slowly.

  “Have you been here all the time?”

  He nodded, running his fingers up and down her spine.

  “Was I ok?”

  He kissed her again, loving the feel of her open mouth on his, so warm and soft. “You were amazing.”

  She was still smiling. “Well, I’m done now, Mikey, so, give me a few minutes to get my stuff together and we can get out of here. Is Vince ok?”

  “Vince is fine. He can’t wait to see you. I’ve left him organising a few things for tonight.”

  “Did you ask him about being Godfather?”

  He nodded, smiling. “He said he’d be honoured.”

  She gave him one last kiss. “That’s good, because I can’t think of anyone I’d rather have for that role. As long as he doesn’t get them too used to that Vegas lifestyle. Right, I’ll just go get changed then you can take me to lunch. If you’ve nothing else planned.”

  “I’m all yours, India.”

  And, as far as Michael Walsh was concerned, he’d never uttered a truer sentence.

  ***

  Terry had turned up, halfway through the morning, and Jimmy had watched as his black convertible had pulled into its usual place and parked up. He had a feeling this was it, that things were moving on now so he’d instructed Jake to let Charley “out of his sight” for a few seconds, give her a chance to go to Terry, to talk to him because Jimmy knew that she would. If she was given the chance. If she wanted to escape as badly as he suspected she did then there was no doubt that she would run. She’d want to get out of there straightaway, but Jimmy also knew, somehow, that Terry would want to come back after dark, when he thought it would be less obvious. He wouldn’t want to do anything in broad daylight. Jimmy just knew that tonight was when Terry would make his move. He didn’t know how or why, he just did. It was a feeling that wouldn’t go away, a gut instinct, and that had never let him down yet. So he was going to act on it.

  He could read Charley like an open book, she couldn’t hide her feelings as well as she thought she could; he’d be able to see it in her eyes if a plan had been made between her and Terry, and if he saw that, if he could sense they’d set something up for tonight then they wouldn’t be the only ones with a plan. Jimmy had one too. Only his was foolproof.

  Stepping back from the window slightly he watched as she ran the short distance from the building to Terry’s car, which was parked round the corner. He watched as Terry jumped out of the car and grabbed her in a hug, and she clung onto him.

  Jimmy felt the anger rise up inside him. Hadn’t he given her everything? Hadn’t he given her this life? Money, houses, cars; holidays she could only have dreamed of before? She was an ungrateful bitch! Which is why she needed to pay for every ounce of disrespect she’d shown him. And she would pay. She’d pay big.

  Lighting up a cigarette he inhaled deep, blowing smoke up at the ceiling. Oh yes. Charley Miles was about to find out just how serious a man Jimmy Cash could be. And, after tonight, there’d be no doubt left in her mind.

  ***

  Charley looked behind her, grabbed the chance that was staring her in the face and ran out of the door. She didn’t know why she’d suddenly been left alone but she didn’t stop to question, she just ran, ran across the road and round the corner, hoping with every ounce of her being that Terry was there.

  As soon as she saw his car she couldn’t stop the tears as she ran into his arms.

  “You’ve got to get me out of here, Terry, get me out of here, please!”

  “Hang on, Charley, hang on ... listen ... listen to me sweetheart.”

  “I can’t do this anymore, I can’t do this, I can’t ...”

  “I know, I know all of that, I do, I understand. But we haven’t got much time so you have to listen to me.”

  He quickly kissed her forehead, put
ting his hands on her face, making her look at him. She looked tired and older than her years and he wished he could just bundle her into the car and take her now but he couldn’t. Not yet.

  “You have to listen to me, ok? You have to listen to me and you have to understand, because, if you don’t, this won’t work. Do you hear me, Charley?”

  She nodded, tears streaming down her face. He was so handsome, so kind and she’d thrown all of that away for what? A life of misery, cruelty and pain?

  “I’m coming back. Tonight. I’m coming back for you.”

  The tears wouldn’t stop falling down her face. “Why can’t I come now, Terry? I don’t understand. Why can’t you just take me now?”

  He rested his forehead against hers for a second and closed his eyes, trying to block out the sound of her sobbing.

  “I can’t, Charley. I’ve got to go to work, sweetheart. I can’t do it now, it has to be tonight.” He looked into her red and worn out eyes, mascara running down her face and he wished work wasn’t getting in the way today, but he had an important match at school this afternoon and he couldn’t let them down. “Michael and India, they’re having a small party tonight. I can slip away ... I’ll come back, 10.30 tonight, I’ll come back and we’ll get out of here. I’ll take you back to the beach house in Malibu and we’ll take it from there, ok? Have you got that, Charley? 10.30 tonight.”

  She nodded again, closing her eyes as he kissed her quickly.

  “You’d better get back in there before they realise you’ve gone. Go on.”

  He let go of her, jumping back into his car, and Charley watched as he drove away, watched as a chance of freedom sped away from her but she trusted him. More than anyone she trusted him, in a world where Charley had learnt to trust no-one. He’d found her, he’d made it clear in that brief conversation that he wanted to help her and she had to cling onto that. It was all she had left now.

  She turned round and ran back inside, quickly wiping the tears from her eyes, pushing her shoulders back and putting on that front that she was so used to displaying now. But hopefully this would be the last time she’d ever have to play this part. After tonight, a whole new chapter was about to begin. For everyone.

  CHAPTER 26

  The engagement party was an informal do, something India much preferred to some of the dressed-up, catered events she’d experienced over the years. The music was a mixed bag of pop and rock, the food was laid out in the kitchen in a buffet style - along with any kind of alcohol you could think of - and the doors to the garden were left open so that people could take it outside if they wished. It reminded her of the house parties she and Charley had used to throw back in Newcastle all those years ago – only on a much larger scale. She wanted people to mingle and relax, and the dress code was definitely informal.

  India was wore a short, figure hugging black strapless dress teamed with stiletto-heeled ankle boots, her hair loose and tousled, her eyes made-up dark and smoky with pale lips and a dusting of bronzer on her cheeks. She felt good, she felt happy. She couldn’t deny that sometimes her head still felt all over the place since the revelation that Reece was her real father, but she was dealing with it. They both were. And she loved him. She’d loved him before she knew he was her dad, so nothing had changed there. He was a wonderful, kind and generous man and all he’d ever done was care about her. She couldn’t blame him for the way things had happened. It was a situation so complicated and surreal, how could anyone deal with it logically?

  Walking into one of the large living rooms in her beautiful Beverly Hills home, she found Vince flicking through a pile of CD’s. He turned round and smiled at her.

  “Oh, you look amazing!”

  She smiled back. “Thank you.” She stood up on tip-toe to kiss him on the cheek. “You don’t look so bad yourself, Mr Maine.”

  “Where’s Michael?”

  “In the shower. People should be arriving soon so I’ve told him to get a move on. He’s worse than me for getting ready sometimes.”

  Vince slipped a CD into the machine and selected a track. The sounds of Foreigner’s ‘Juke Box Hero’ began playing out of the sound system – which was piped throughout the entire house - and they both sat down on one of the huge chocolate brown sofas that graced either side of a magnificent and imposing fireplace.

  “So, he tells me the wedding could be sooner than first thought.”

  She crossed her legs and clasped her hands round her knees. “What’s the point in waiting, Vince? It’s going to happen eventually so I don’t see why we should hang about. Some people will think we’re only getting married this quickly because of the baby, but that’s not the reason. I just want to be with him. I want to be his wife.”

  Vince smiled again. “He’s a lucky man.”

  India looked down at her engagement ring. “No, I think I’m the lucky one because sometimes I don’t think I deserve him. He’s had to put up with so much lately, I wouldn’t have blamed him if he’d run for the hills.”

  Vince looked at her. Both she and Michael were extremely important to him, and he was nothing but relieved to see that things seemed to be moving on, that the two of them were finally settling down.

  “You’ve worked things out then?” he asked her.

  She gave him a small smile. “I didn’t know if I could do it, Vince, not at first. I just didn’t know if I had it in me to be a mum and a wife and everything that he wanted me to be but ... well, things happened. A lot of things happened. Things changed.”

  “Reece?”

  “Well, yeah, that was definitely one thing.” Her smile grew wider at the thought of her famous father. “That whole situation kind of pushed me to where I needed to be.”

  “So, how’s all that going then?”

  “It’s early days, and in all honesty the relationship hasn’t even changed that much from what it was before all this came out, because he was always like a dad to me anyway. I guess the only difference now is that he really is my dad. Vince ... I’m glad you’re here.”

  “Hey, come on.” He pulled her into his arms for a hug, kissing her quickly. “I’m always here if either of you need me, you know that. And any time you need to escape, or you just fancy a few days away, there’s always Vegas. You know there’s always a suite for you at the Maine Resort.”

  “You’re a good friend, do you know that? The best.”

  He smiled, giving her hand a squeeze. “Go on; go get that man of yours before everyone starts arriving. I’ll go open the champagne.”

  She jumped up off the sofa and ran upstairs to the master bedroom, where Michael was now out of the shower, grabbing clothes out of his closet, a towel wrapped around his waist.

  He looked over his shoulder at her and whistled. “Wow! Look at you.”

  She walked over to him, hugging him from behind, kissing his still damp shoulder. “Get a move on, Walsh. People are going to be here soon.”

  He turned around and pulled her against him, kissing her mouth so gently she just fell against him. Sometimes he really could literally make her go weak.

  “Don’t do this to me now, Mikey. We’ve got a party to go to.”

  He was kissing her neck, his hands on her thighs, slowly pulling her dress up over her hips.

  “What do you expect when you walk in here looking like that? You’re killing me, baby.”

  “You need to learn to control yourself.” But she was smiling as she pulled the towel away from his waist, letting him push her up against the wall.

  “You can say no,” he smiled, giving her that quirky look of his, his head cocked to one side and she couldn’t help laughing as he shrugged. “It’s up to you.”

  “Stop it, Michael!”

  He held his hands up in mock surrender. “You want me to stop? Ok, I’m gone, I’m done.”

  She pulled him back against her, kissing him to shut him up. “You know what I mean. I meant, stop making me laugh.”

  He looked into her eyes, brushing her cheek with his fi
ngertips, kissing her long and slow. “I love making you laugh. You’ve got a beautiful laugh; I want to hear it more often. I love you, India Steven. I just want you to know that.”

  She kissed him back. “Hey ... I love you too, Michael. More than you realise.”

  More than Kenny Ross? He really hoped so because that man would forever be his competition, whether he liked it or not. And there was nothing he could do to stop that. There was nothing he could do to get him out of India’s life without losing her, so he’d set up the battle lines, he’d got himself used to the idea of a lifelong fight and he just hoped that he could make her happy, that she’d never need Kenny again. Right now he was the one holding her; he was the one she woke up with every morning, and if it took every ounce of strength he had to make sure it stayed that way then he’d fight to the end because she was all he cared about. She was all that mattered. And nobody was taking her away from him. Nobody.

  ***

  Jimmy Cash stood at the side of the set watching Charley, his arms folded, his face expressionless. She seemed different. Since she’d spoken to Terry Steven that morning she’d been different, which had left him in no doubt - it was happening tonight. He had no idea what time but that wasn’t a problem, he’d be keeping a very close eye on Miss Miles as the evening progressed. He’d make sure that everything he had planned fell neatly into place; he’d make sure this whole situation was brought to its necessary end.

  He quickly checked his watch. It was still quite early, although it was starting to get dark outside. He looked up at Charley again. She was a little on edge, the nerves were obviously setting in but that was only to be expected. She knew this wasn’t going to be easy because she knew he’d be watching her, and he was. But what she didn’t know was what he planned to do when she eventually made that break. Nobody knew, only him and Jake. Only they knew what he planned to do, and in a matter of hours it would all be over. For more than just Charley Miles.