No Matter What (51 page)

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 fingertips, 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.

***

“You look beautiful,” Reece smiled, kissing
India
’s cheek.

She smiled back.
 
“Thanks, Reece.”
 
She couldn’t call him dad, not yet, it was far too soon and it didn’t feel right.
 
Maybe it would come with time, but for now, they were taking each day as it came, preparing themselves for the moment when it became public knowledge.

“Congratulations again, my darling.
 
You’re going to make one beautiful bride.”

“Isn’t she?” Michael grinned, coming over and slipping his arm round her waist, shaking Reece’s hand.

“Yes, well, you just look after my little girl.”
 
Reece looked at
India
.
 
“She’s very, very precious to me.”

“And to me, Reece, so don’t worry, ok?
 
I’ll take the best care of her.
 
The very best.”

“Oh God, the pair of you are just too soppy for me now.
 
I’m twenty-eight years old, I can look after myself.
 
Now go and make sure everyone’s got a drink,”
India
said, playfully pushing Michael away.
 

She’d noticed Terry arrive, looking less than happy, and she’d noticed Kenny go straight over to him, almost running to catch him as what looked like a heated conversation started up, with her brother seemingly becoming more agitated by the second.

“What do you think that’s all about then?” Reece asked, following her gaze.

“I don’t know.”
 
She wasn’t taking her eyes off her brother and best friend.
 
Kenny’s face was deadly serious, angry even, whereas Terry was starting to look slightly worn down.
 
“But I’m about to find out.”
 

She walked over to Kenny, Terry now having moved into the kitchen, probably in search of a drink.

“What’s going on with you two?” she asked.
 
“You’ve been in a strange mood all day and now you’re arguing with Terry.”

“I’m not arguing with him,
India
.”

“So what was going on there then?”

“Nothing.”

“Don’t fob me off, Kenny, I’m not stupid.”

He sighed, pushing a hand through his hair.
 
“I’m just trying to get him to back off from this Charley business.”

“Why?”

“He just needs to,
India
.”

“Why, Kenny?
 
What’s going on?”

She was starting to get worried now.
 
She’d never seen Kenny look so serious, and the way she’d seen her brother react, whatever was going on, he was serious too.

“Right, I’ll talk to Terry, then ...”

“
India
... wait ...”

But she’d already gone.
 
She needed to know what was going on here, because if the look on Kenny’s face was anything to go by, Terry was way too far into something he shouldn’t be.
 
And that worried her.
 

She found him sitting outside by the pool and she sat down next to him, staring out at the twinkling fairy lights hanging from the lemon and palm trees on the surrounding patio.

“If he’s telling you to back off, Terry, then it’s for a good reason.”

“I can make my own mind up,
India
.
 
I don’t need him telling me what to do.”

“He isn’t telling you what to do, he’s being a friend.”

Terry looked at his sister, aware that he was going to have to diffuse this situation fast otherwise everything he had planned would come crashing down and he couldn’t afford for that to happen.
 
Not tonight.

“A friend would help me.”

“What help do you need?”

And this conversation wasn’t helping to diffuse anything.
 
He had to get a grip.
 
He needed to stay calm.
 
For Charley’s sake.

“Nothing.
 
He’s right, Kenny’s right.”