No Matter What (43 page)

Reece got up and walked over to the sink in the kitchen area, picking up a glass from the draining board and filling it with water from the cooler.

“They’re friends, Terry.
 
Those two have got a relationship that we’ll never understand so, maybe you’re just jumping to conclusions.”

“So why doesn’t she want Michael to know he’s been over there with her?”

Reece just shrugged, but he had a bad feeling about this.
 
Something had never felt right about her relationship with Michael.
 
He’d never been able to put his finger on exactly what but if Terry was right, and Kenny
was
with her to offer more than just friendship, then this was going to be one big mess India had got herself into.
 
And he couldn’t stand by and let that happen.

“She’s pregnant.
 
She wouldn’t do anything stupid.”
 
Reece took a drink and put the empty glass back down on the draining board, hoping he was right.

 
Terry just raised an eyebrow.
 
“This is Kenny Ross we’re talking about here.”

Reece looked at his watch.
 
He had to be back on set any time now and he could do without this on his mind.
 
“Isn’t
India
due home today?”

“She’s probably back already,” Terry replied, checking the clock on the wall opposite.
 
“And I know that Kenny’s arriving on a flight later tonight.”

Reece looked surprised.
 
“They’re not flying back together?”

“No.
 
They’re not flying back together.
 
If they had nothing to hide, why take separate flights, huh?”

Reece pushed a hand through his hair.
 
He was sure he was going greyer by the day with the amount of crap he had on his mind.

“Couldn’t it just be that she doesn’t want Michael to jump to any conclusions?”

“Bullshit!
 
She could have just told Michael that Kenny was coming over to the
U.K.
, she could have just said she wanted to spend some time with her friend but instead she’s gone all cloak and dagger.
 
Will you talk to her?
 
She’ll just accuse me of nagging, she always does, but she’ll listen to you.”

“You think?”

“I just don’t want to see her hurt again, Reece.
 
I mean, Kenny’s a mate now and I like him, I like hanging out with him but ... he’s hurt her once and I don’t want him to do it again.”

“No, neither do I,” Reece sighed.
 
“Ok, I’ll talk to her.
 
I’ll pop over and see her later.”

“And the other thing?”

“Let’s just see how it goes, alright?
 
Too much thrown at her at once might not be the best idea.”

“You’ve got to tell her sometime, Reece.
 
And considering what’s going on around here, I think sooner’s the more sensible choice.”

And Reece couldn’t help but agree with him.

***

Jimmy Cash wasn’t a happy man.
 
And when Jimmy wasn’t happy everybody suffered, and that included Charley.
 
He’d been told someone was watching Charley, someone was following her and he didn’t like that.
 
He didn’t like not knowing what was going on, and if someone
was
watching Charley he wanted to know who and he wanted to know why.
 
He was aware that she had connections to India Steven, aware that she used to be involved with
India
’s brother.
 
Infact, there wasn’t a lot Jimmy didn’t know about Charley Miles.
 
He wasn’t stupid, he knew she wanted out, he knew she wanted to be away from him, and if he found out that whoever it was who was watching her had anything to do with that, well, Jimmy Cash didn’t like to be made a fool of.

He had eyes and ears everywhere.
 
He was a very powerful man in certain circles and nothing got past him.
 
Nothing.
 
He’d find out what was going on and he’d make sure it stopped, right now.
 
Charley wasn’t going anywhere and the sooner she got used to that idea, the better.

***

Michael had been there at the airport to pick her up, a smile on his face and a single white rose in his hand.
 
He’d swung her up in his arms, so pleased to see her and evidently with no idea that Kenny had been over in
Britain
too, let alone what had been going on over there.
 
And the guilt
India
had felt had been overwhelming.

He’d taken her straight to their favourite restaurant for a quiet lunch.
 
He’d asked what she’d been up to and she’d told him nothing but lies.
 
He didn’t deserve it, he didn’t deserve any of it but she couldn’t get Kenny out of her head.
 
She couldn’t stop thinking about the way he’d touched her, the way he’d kissed her, the things they could say to each other that they couldn’t say to anyone else.

But when she looked at Michael she saw a man who loved her beyond anything else, a man who could give her the security she needed and she knew that she loved him too, she did, she loved him like crazy but Kenny - Kenny wouldn’t go away.
 
And that was bad news but she couldn’t leave it alone.
 
Even with a million nagging voices in her head telling her that’s exactly what she
should
do.

She was almost relieved when Michael had to go back out to work after lunch, relieved to have a bit of time to get her head around everything, a bit of time to take in just what had happened over the past few days.
 
She’d had a wonderful trip to
New York
, she’d got engaged, she’d visited her home town back in the
U.K.
and started an affair with her best friend.
 
It was crazy!
 
But then, this was her life now.
 
It was all crazy.

She was in the TV room, flicking through CD’s and trying to find some music to take her mind off things when Kenny turned up.
 
She could have said no, she could have said she was tired and needed some rest but she would have been lying.
 
Even if she’d been dead on her feet she would have still let him in, and he was no sooner through the door before he’d pushed her up against the wall, a long, deep kiss making her feel like everything was right with the world again, even though that very act was turning it all on it’s head in the worst possible way.

“I’ve missed this,” he said, his hand sneaking up under her shirt, resting on her hip.
 
“I’ve missed
you
.”

She pushed his dark hair back off his face, stroking his still bearded jaw line as she looked into his eyes.
 
“I’ve missed you too,” she breathed, even though they’d only said goodbye to each other a matter of hours ago.

“How’s Michael?”

She pulled away from him and walked towards the kitchen.
 
Just hearing Michael’s name had somehow killed the mood.
 
But guilt had a habit of doing that, didn’t it?
 
Killing the mood.
 
“Can we please not talk about Michael?
 
It doesn’t feel right.”

He followed her, grabbing her hand and turning her round.
 
“I’m sorry.
 
I just wanted to know ... does he have any idea?”

She looked up at him and shook her head.
 
“No.
 
He hasn’t said anything anyway.”

The look of relief on his face was evident and that made
India
slightly agitated.
 
“This isn’t some kind of childish game, Kenny.
 
Michael really doesn’t deserve this.
 
He hasn’t done anything to either of us.”

“He took you away from me.”

“No, he didn’t.
 
You
lost me, all by yourself.
 
Just you.”

Kenny looked away for a second, pushing a hand through his hair.
 
“I’m sorry.”

She came back over to him, sliding her arms round his waist, kissing his mouth quickly.
 
“So am I.
 
I’m just so wound up at the minute.
 
Seeing him this morning ... it was hard.
 
He was so happy to see me, and all I did was lie to him and that kills me.”

“Are you sure you still want to do this?”

“I can’t walk away now, Kenny, I can’t let you go.
 
I can’t do it.”

He gently touched her face, stroking her cheek.
 
“How long’s he gonna be out?”

“He won’t be back until later tonight.
 
He’s got some post production work to do, then he’s got to go to some seminar he’s speaking at over in
West Hollywood
.”

“We’ve got a few hours then?”
 
His mouth was moving closer to hers and, even though she knew it was the most stupid thing they could possibly do, to make love here, in the house she shared with Michael, she wasn’t going to stop it from happening.
 
But not in her and Michael’s bed, not even anywhere upstairs.
 
That just felt too close for comfort.

“Come on,” she said, taking his hand and leading him into the kitchen, into the seating area at the far end.
 
“Let’s make the most of the time we’ve got.”

“
India
…”

She stopped and looked at him.
 
“I’m sure, ok?
 
Now just shut up and let’s do this.”

That was all the reassurance he needed.
 
Once again they were best friends with benefits, and he intended to make the most of every benefit she was willing to give him.
 
No matter how wrong that may be.

***

Michael was worried about
India
.
 
She’d seemed quiet over lunch, a little distracted even, but maybe she was just tired.
 
It’d been a long flight, and she
was
pregnant so it was bound to take it out of her.
 
He still couldn’t stop smiling at the thought that he was going to become a dad, the thought that he was engaged to a woman most men would kill to get near.
 
He couldn’t stop thinking about the wedding he wanted to give her, the life he had planned for the three of them.
 
If she wanted the world then he would try and give it to her, he loved her that much.
 
They needed to talk about the wedding though.
 
They needed to start planning, start deciding whether to get married before or after the baby was born.
 
He didn’t much fancy a long engagement himself but he’d talk to her.
 
He’d put one night aside this week, take her out somewhere special and they could finally get around to enjoying this engagement.

Everything had moved so fast since their trip to
New York
and he felt like they hadn’t had five minutes together to talk about anything properly, and they needed that.
 
They needed to start making plans for this coming year because a lot was going to happen.
 
He just wasn’t aware how much.

***

Charley looked in the mirror and gently touched the bruise around her left eye. It didn’t hurt.
 
She’d got so used to them over the years that she’d almost learnt to zone out from the pain.
 
Sometimes Jimmy would just lash out for no reason, use her as a punch bag in which to take out his various frustrations but she knew that, this time, he’d had a reason.
 
She’d seen him too, recognised him, even from a distance.
 
She’d seen Terry, sitting there across the street, seen him and known why he was there and that in itself had filled her with an undeniable feeling of warmth.
 
And hope.
 
Something she hadn’t had much of lately.
 
He knew, so
India
must have told him and now he knew she needed him.
 
He was trying to save her from this hell she’d got herself into, but at the same time he was playing with fire and she knew that more than anyone.
 
The reason she had this bruise, the reason Jimmy was lashing out this time was quite obviously because he knew Terry was around and that was something Charley knew wouldn’t please Jimmy at all.

She also knew that she should never really have involved
India
, or anyone else, in any of this, knowing what she knew about Jimmy.
 
But she’d had no choice.
 
She’d really had no choice.
 
She knew Terry could be in real danger if he continued to hang around in the way that he was now that Jimmy had got wind of it, but what could she do?
 
He was her only hope, her only chance of ever escaping this.
 
And she’d already made up her mind that, the next time she saw Terry, she was going to make that escape.
 
Before it was too late to even try.