No Matter What (117 page)

“Did he hurt you?”

She felt the tears start to slide down her face and she frantically wiped them away, nodding, her voice quiet.
 
“In every way, Kenny.
 
I loved him so much, you know?
 
And he did that to me.
 
I said no, I said I didn’t want it and he still did that to me ...”

She started crying uncontrollably, all the memories of that day coming back in waves and Kenny ran over to her, pulling her close and holding her tight, rocking her in his arms as she clung onto him.

“I would have been there for you,
India
.
 
If you’d told me I would have been there.”

She held onto him as he kissed the top of her head, the tears slowly subsiding, and she was grateful for the familiar, safe warmth that Kenny was giving her.

“I know that, Kenny.
 
But you’d also have done something you’d have later regretted, I know you.
 
The situation was handled the best way it could have been.”
 
She looked up at him, wiping her eyes again.
 
“And don’t you dare tell Reece.
 
He really doesn’t need to know anything about this.
 
I need him to still communicate with Michael, for Ethan’s sake, and if he finds out what Michael did I don’t know what’ll happen.
 
Please, Kenny.
 
Ethan needs his daddy.
 
Let’s not take that away from him.”

Kenny kissed her forehead, holding her tight again.
 
He didn’t know what he was feeling but anger was certainly up there.
 
He’d never trusted Michael, he’d always known he wasn’t good enough for
India
and he’d been proved right.
 
In the worst possible way.
 
And now she was getting involved with a younger man that she really knew nothing about and that worried him too.
 
Why couldn’t she just see that
he
was the one who could keep her safe?
 
He
was the one who could look after her.
 
He
could make her happy.

“I’ll say nothing.
 
I promise,” he said, the sound of the ‘phone ringing disturbing the moment and he had no choice but to let her go as she ran over to answer it.

“Joe!”
 
Her face immediately lit up and she pulled herself up onto the breakfast bar, cradling the ‘phone between her chin and her shoulder, swinging her legs like a little kid.
 
“Yeah, I miss you too, baby ...”

Kenny felt his stomach hit rock bottom.
 
His head was totally messed up with all of this now.
 
Part of him wished he’d never found out about India and Michael but he
had
asked, he’d pushed her to tell him, and above everything else he wished she wasn’t embarking on this new relationship with JJ Foster.
 
It was so painful for Kenny to be around.
 
So painful he couldn’t explain.
 
And what the hell did he do with the information he had now?
 
She’d told him to stay clear of Michael.
 
She’d told him to leave well alone.
 
But he wasn’t altogether sure he could do that.
 
He just wasn’t sure at all.

CHAPTER 57

“How much luggage can you possibly need for a few days in Vegas?” Bobby asked, throwing another case down onto the floor of the Penthouse Suite in Vince’s new hotel, The Amethyst Casino and Golf Resort.

India
looked at him.
 
“There’re two cases there, Bobby.”

He stood up, putting a hand in the small of his back.
 
“Only because Vince is getting the other four sent up with people who are used to carrying heavy loads.”

“My best friend is about to have her first baby and, as I am only too well aware, baby’s don’t work to a timetable.
 
Charley’s due date may be this weekend but that means nothing.
 
I could be here for days.
 
I need my stuff.”

Vince and Charley were on red alert waiting for the birth of their daughter and
India
had made sure that she was going to be in Vegas for her arrival, just as Charley and Vince had been there when Ethan had been born.

“Days?” Bobby said, fanning himself with a magazine.
 
“You’ve got enough stuff here to stock
Rodeo Drive
.”

“Says the man who’s brought over a dozen pairs of shoes with him.”

“I’ve got plans for Vegas, angel, and I couldn’t possibly predict what I’d be wearing for each event back in
L.A.
now, could I?”

India
smiled.
 
“No.
 
Of course you couldn’t.”
 
She walked over to the huge picture window and looked out at the view spread out in front of her.
 
This place held a lot of memories for her.
 
This was where she and Michael had come to get over Terry’s death and the loss of their first child.
 
It had put them back together after all of that had almost torn them apart.
 
But it was also the place where he’d spied on her and Kenny, the place where actions he’d undertaken had finally seen to it that she couldn’t face him again, and that hurt.
 
Because she’d loved him.
 
Part of her always would, she knew that now.
 
She knew in her own heart that he was the only man she’d ever wanted to be with but she could never go back there.
 
Not ever.

Bobby’s voice shook her back to reality.
 
“So, when’s the gorgeous JJ joining us then?” he asked, setting up the laptop on the desk in front of the window.

India
looked at her watch.
 
“Any time now, hopefully,” she smiled, absentmindedly running her fingers over her tattoo.
 
“I haven’t seen him for days; I can’t wait for him to get here.”

Bobby sighed, sitting down at the desk and resting his chin in his hand.
 
“Isn’t the flush of new love so romantic?”

India
walked over to one of the huge mirrors hanging on the wall of the large open-plan living area and looked at her reflection.
 
“Christ!
 
I look so tired.”

“Yeah, you do look a bit rough around the eyes princess.
 
I just didn’t like to say.”

She looked at Bobby, sticking her tongue out at him.
 
“I can easily find another P.A. you know.”

“Not one that puts up with you like I do.”

She went over to him, putting her arms around his neck from behind.
 
“You don’t just put up with me, do you?”

“Don’t get all Hollywood Diva needy on me, missy.
 
You know I love you and no, I don’t just put up with you.
 
You know that.”

She kissed his cheek and hugged his neck as the door intercom buzzed.
 
Letting go of him, she ran over to see who it was.

“
India
, honey, it’s Vince.
 
Can I come up?”

“Sure you can, Vince.”

He was no sooner out of the private elevator that led up to the suite than
India
was hugging him.
 
She didn’t see Vince and Charley half as much as she wanted to and she missed them, but she also knew that it could be quite difficult for Vince because he was still very close to Michael.
 
He loved them both, and that didn’t always make life easy.

“Is Charley alright?”
India
asked, finally letting go.

Vince smiled.
 
“She’s fine.
 
Still no sign of mini-Maine but everything’s ok. We’ve just got to sit tight and wait.
 
Anyway, how are you?
 
Is everything ok here?”

“I’m doing fine, and everything here is perfect, Vince, thank you.
 
This place is incredible!”

He laughed, walking around the suite, checking everything was as it should be.
 
“It took a lot of hard work but we got there eventually.
 
Hey, Bobby, you alright?”

Bobby mock-sighed.
 
“She’s got me working like a trooper again, Vince, but you know
India
.”

Vince laughed again and
India
playfully punched Bobby as she walked past.

“Look,
India
I … can I … can I have a word?” Vince asked.

She looked at him.
 
“Is everything ok?”
 
Because it didn’t sound as though it was.

“Yeah, yeah it’s fine.
 
I just need to talk to you for a second.”

“Ok.”
 
Something was wrong,
India
could sense his mood change and she looked at Bobby.
 
“Can you go see if JJ’s here yet, Bobby?
 
Please?”

“Of course I can, angel.
 
I’ll be only too happy to look after him for you.”

She waited until he’d left in the elevator before looking at Vince again.
 
And suddenly she knew exactly what he was going to say.
 
It was obvious.
 
She should have known.

“Michael’s here, isn’t he?”

Vince nodded.
 
“I thought you should know.
 
I’ve given him one of the villas; I didn’t think it would be fair on you to have him in one of the suites here in the hotel.”

India
tried not to let this news bother her, but it did.
 
It bothered her more than she cared to admit.
 
He was here, her ex-husband was here and that was filling her with a barrage of emotions she couldn’t get her head around.
 
Michael was here.
 
She furiously blinked back tears that were threatening, quickly trying to compose herself.

“Are you ok?” Vince asked.

India
sat down.
 
She had to.
 
Her legs suddenly felt as though they were going to give way underneath her.

“I don’t know,” she replied.
 
And she
didn’t
know.
 
She really didn’t know what she was feeling.

Vince sat down next to her.
 
“All these years,
India
, and you’ve never even spoken to him, never talked to him.
 
For the sake of Ethan couldn’t you ...?”

She looked up at him, shaking her head.
 
“It isn’t going to happen, Vince, so don’t even try.
 
I’m assuming he’s asked you to talk to me?”

Vince nodded, taking her hand and squeezing it.
 
“He still loves you so much,
India
.
 
He wants you to know that.”

Those words cut through her like a knife.
 
He still loved her.
 
And she’d never stopped loving him, even after everything he’d done to her.

She got up, going over to the drinks cabinet, pouring herself a small whisky.
 
She needed it.
 
“Then tell him he should have thought about that before ... I just … I can’t see him, Vince.
 
I can’t so ... please, no trying to set anything up because I just can’t.
 
Ok?”

He stood up, looking at her.
 
“He says he hurt you.
 
He says he hurt you really badly,
India
, but ...”

She looked at him again, straight at him.
 
“There
are
no buts, Vince.
 
He knows why I won’t see him and if he can’t understand that by now then that isn’t my problem.
 
I’ve moved on.
 
I’ve got Joe now.”

Vince pushed a hand through his hair.
 
“Are you happy?
 
With JJ I mean?”

India
nodded.
 
“He’s so far away from what Michael is ... was ...”

“And that’s a good thing?”

“It is for me.”
 
It had to be.

Vince walked over to her, pulling her into his arms, holding her tight.

“
Jesus
,
India
,” he sighed heavily.
 
“This is so hard for me because I love the pair of you, I really do.
 
I just wish you could put whatever it was that happened behind you and talk to each other because he misses that.”
 
He looked at her.
 
“He misses
you
.”