No Matter What (14 page)

It was all working out fine for him right now, though.
 
He’d bided his time, watched from the sidelines as India’s career had taken off and while that gave him great pleasure – she deserved it, she was a rare talent – seeing her getting closer still to Kenny Ross was almost ripping him apart.
 
He’d never forgotten the image of them together that night at the ‘Rock Stars and Demons’ premiere party, and even after all this time he still couldn’t think about it without it hurting like hell.
 

To say he loved her was an understatement.
 
He’d fallen in love with her the minute he’d set eyes on her, a cliché he’d never thought would apply to him but with
India
it had hit him like a head-on crash.
 
What he felt for her invaded his life in every way, every waking moment she was on his mind and when he closed his eyes at night she came into his dreams and loved him back.
 
But dreams weren’t something Michael was willing to live on; he wanted her here, in his life, in his bed.
 
And he knew that time would come soon because he was doing everything he possibly could to ensure it.

This movie he was directing, producing and starring in was something he’d waited all this time to do, he’d held it back until he’d felt the time was right.
 
But from the very beginning it was only ever going to be
India
cast as his leading lady.
 
He’d seen to that.
 
It was all being done simply to get closer to her, a vehicle to give him his chance to strike out, to make sure she saw the real Michael Walsh, the one who could give her everything she’d ever need.
 
The one who could love her like she’d never been loved before.
 
He wanted her to see that she didn’t need Kenny Ross, although he wasn’t stupid enough to think she was going to leave Kenny behind easily.
 
Everything would take time, and he’d already waited almost two years, but time was something he was willing to give if it meant
India
could finally be his.

He left his trailer and walked out onto set, catching sight of
India
sitting on the steps of her own trailer, her long hair piled up messily on top of her head, her face made up and ready for the day’s filming.
 
She looked young and pretty, and Michael felt an almost child-like excitement as he thought about the love scenes between them that he’d made sure were present in this film.
 
Soon he’d be able to find out what it felt like to kiss her, touch her, go one step short of really making love to her, and he couldn’t help smiling.
 
Yes, it was all working out very nicely indeed.
 
Not long now and India Steven and Michael Walsh would be the
Hollywood
couple everyone was talking about.
 
And Kenny Ross would be a thing of the past.

***

The empty bottle of whisky hit the bottom of the bin with a heavy thud.
 
Terry leaned back against the kitchen counter, closing his eyes and rubbing his temples.
 
He had a headache from hell but he could still do with more alcohol.
 
He just couldn’t be bothered to go out and get some.

He was on a hiding to nothing, he knew that, but his life was so mixed up right now.
 
It felt empty and finished, just like his fast disappearing football career.
 
Ever since his sister’s rise to fame and his split from Charley he just hadn’t been able to cope.
 
He couldn’t deal with everything around him changing, with everybody only wanting to talk about
India
.
 
It was beginning to feel as though people only wanted to be close to him because he was
India
’s brother.
 
And the comments he was getting from his team mates, as far as his sister was concerned, were making him feel more uncomfortable as each day went by.
 
It was all part of her work that she was doing photo shoots that made her look like every man’s fantasy, he knew that, he accepted it, but when he had to deal with hearing what they said about her, what they’d like to do to her or say to her, it all became too much for him.
 
She was his sister, his little sister.
 
He didn’t need to hear those things.

And then there was Charley.
 
What a mistake
she’d
been.
 
It had taken him less than two months after landing back in the
U.K.
from the ‘Rock Stars and Demons’ premiere to work out that he’d been nothing but a stepping stone for her to walk all over in order to gain some kind of fame.
 
When he’d outlived his use, when she’d squeezed everything she possibly could out of him she’d dumped him like a bag of rubbish and moved over to L.A. to see what she could find out there, and she’d found fame alright, although not the kind of fame that India was experiencing.
 
Charley Miles was a glamour model and soft porn star, and a fairly famous one at that, but it almost sickened Terry to think that that was what she’d sunk to.
 
Had she been that desperate to be noticed?
 
India
told him she saw her out and about every now and again, but she’d also told him how Charley had almost changed beyond recognition, how she seemed to have become a completely different person to the one they’d both known before.
 

She could do what she liked as far as he was concerned.
 
She’d got what she’d wanted; let her get on with it.
 
India
had seemed concerned about her last time they’d spoken but Terry didn’t want to know anymore.
 
He was past the point of caring.
 
Anything he’d ever felt for Charley had long since disappeared.
 
They hadn’t had the easiest of relationships in the first place, but he’d honestly thought they could have made a go of things.
 
How wrong he’d been.

He started opening cupboards, trying to locate something that would help numb the feelings he was trying to stifle, something to help him forget that everything around him was falling apart.
 

India
had no idea, of course.
 
No idea of the state things were in.
 
Oh, she knew about the trouble with Charley, obviously, but she had no idea how badly his career had been affected by everything.
 
Over the past couple of years his concentration had slowly gone by the wayside, his heart had just ceased to be in it anymore.
 
He’d always known he was never going to be a world class footballer but he’d always hoped he’d have a steady club career.
 
Now he didn’t even think he could hang onto
that
.
 
He wasn’t even sure he wanted to.
 

Finding nothing in the cupboards he reached for his jacket and grabbed his keys.
 
There was no other option.
 
If he wanted a drink tonight he was going to have to go out and find one.
 
Maybe getting out of the house would be good for him.
 
So the pub it was.
 

With a sigh he slammed the door shut behind him and braced himself for another night of questions about his film star sister.

***

Charley Miles was a big name in certain circles in
L.A.
, circles she’d never intentionally intended to be mixing in but the world she’d fallen into was giving her money and a level of fame that afforded her a life she was more than happy with.
 

She had her own apartment, her own car, endless nights of partying, and that was enough to make Charley think everything she was putting herself through was worth it.
 
She knew she wasn’t mixing with the A-list crowd, not the conventional one anyway, and she wasn’t starring in the kind of movies that hit the average cinema screens, but she was living her dream.
 
Kind of.
 
And her life in
L.A.
was so far removed from the one she’d had back in the
U.K.
less than two years ago that to Charley it was unthinkable to even consider going back there now.

She ran a brush through her long, dark curls and applied pillar-box red lipstick to her full mouth as a sudden wave of guilt washed over her.
 
She stared at her reflection in the mirror.
 
The only regret she sometimes felt was that Terry had got caught up in all of this.
 
At the time she’d been so consumed with the need to fulfil her dream that she’d been willing to step over anyone to achieve that.
 
It was just bad luck that that person had been Terry.
 
She’d tried contacting him but he was refusing to speak to her, and it had obviously damaged her relationship with
India
, although
India
was nothing but polite and friendly whenever they bumped into each other, which was rarely these days.
 
They just didn’t hang out with the same crowd.
 

She looked around her cluttered dressing table for her perfume and thought about Terry again.
 
She wasn’t sure she’d ever really felt that much for him when she thought about it, which, in reality, wasn’t all that often.
 
So she tried not to let it get to her too much, concentrating instead on how far she’d come.
 

Brad Mason was the man who’d given Charley her big break in
L.A.
 
After that initial meeting at the ‘Rock Stars & Demons’ premiere he’d kept in touch with her while she’d tied up loose ends in the U.K., but when she’d finally arrived in the U.S.A. he’d wasted no time in making sure she got to work.
 
But even Charley had to admit to feeling a certain amount of shock when she’d realised that Brad wasn’t exactly the next Steven Spielberg but rather the boss and owner of one of
America
’s biggest porn companies.
 
She’d been a touch naive, she realised that now, but when she’d heard about the amount of money she could make, and spoken to some of the girls who already worked with Brad, she’d decided it could do no harm to see what happened.

Brad had started her off with what she was used to in the beginning – glamour modelling.
 
He’d eased her in gently, starting off with semi-nude and topless pictures until she’d been comfortable enough to go naked.
 
He’d told her the more she took off the more dollars she earned and that had gone a long way in persuading Charley that this was the way forward.
 

Eventually, she’d found herself loving being in front of the camera.
 
She craved attention and she got it in spades from Brad and every photographer she worked with.
 
Before long she was a force to be reckoned with in the world of soft porn modelling and she adored the notoriety that came with that.
 
Men loved her, recognised her and wanted to be with her and even if it
was
for all the wrong reasons it didn’t bother her.
 
It was enough just to be in demand.

She’d reached the top of her game within a year, which was when Brad had decided to move Charley into movies.
 
The porn industry was one she’d never dreamed of ever going anywhere near but within months she’d become the star of the show, one of Brad’s hardest working actresses and highest earners.
 
To Charley it was easy money.
 
But did she really have everything she wanted?

She looked in the mirror again, studying her face.
 
It was a face that was incredibly beautiful in a dark, exotic kind of way, a face that people knew now, and wasn’t that what she’d always wanted?
 
Yes, of course it was.
 
But one thing was still missing.
 
Or rather, someone.
 
Kenny Ross.
 
She still wanted Kenny Ross, and all she had to do was make Kenny Ross want
her
.
 
And how hard could that possibly be?

***

“Doesn’t it make you feel uncomfortable?” Kenny asked as they parked up near the beach house where the party was being held.
 
Already they could hear the music and see the light from the fires lit outside casting a beautiful glow across the sand.
 

“Doesn’t
what
make me feel uncomfortable?”
 

Kenny stopped the jeep and looked at her.
 
“Those scenes with Michael Walsh, kissing him and stuff.
 
He’s old enough to be your dad.”

India
jumped out of the jeep. “Only just, Kenny, and no, it doesn’t make me feel uncomfortable.
 
It’s my job.”
 
She smiled at him.
 
“Are you jealous?”