No Matter What (52 page)

“Is he?”
 

Terry noticed Kenny standing by the French windows, watching them.
 
“Yes.
 
He is.”
 
He looked at
India
, hoping he had the right expression on his face, hoping she couldn’t tell he was lying to her.
 
“I’ll back off,” he sighed, standing up.

India
stood up too, taking his hand and making him look at her again.
 
“Do you promise?
 
I mean, I don’t know exactly what’s going on here, all I know is that whatever Kenny was asking you to do he meant it, and I trust him.
 
If this is dangerous then please listen to him, Terry.
 
Please.”

Terry smiled, although his stomach was in knots with nerves.
 
“I promise.”
 
He’d never broken a promise to
India
in his entire life and he hated doing it tonight, of all nights, a night when they should be celebrating, but surely they could celebrate even more when he had Charley home safe.
 
And nobody was going to stop him from doing that, not now.
 
He’d come too far.

India
reached up to kiss her big brother, giving him a hug.
 
“I love you, you stubborn bastard.
 
So don’t go doing anything stupid.”

He watched her run back into the house, saying something to Kenny on the way in.
 
Kenny then turned and looked at Terry, and Terry just hoped that he believed whatever
India
had told him, because the only thing stopping him from doing what he needed to do tonight was Kenny.
 
An obstacle he could well do without.
 

He checked his watch.
 
9pm
.
 
He needed to be out of here by 10pm at the latest, and what he also needed was a drink, something to steady the nerves, so he started to make his way back inside but Kenny stopped him before he could get there, grabbing his arm, making it impossible for Terry to escape.

“
India
said you’re backing off.”

“I am.”

“Then I hope you mean it, Terry, because I know people who’ve dealt with Jimmy Cash before, and you really don’t want to go messing with him.”

“I’m not planning to.”

“It doesn’t matter what
you’ve
got planned, Terry.”
 
He let go of his arm.
 
“Look, I know Charley’s become very important to you and you want to help her, but if you’re really serious about that then let me help you.
 
Back off for now, give it a bit of time and we’ll think of something.
 
Ok?
 
I promise, we’ll think of something.”

Terry tried to keep his face impassive because Kenny was getting just a bit too good at reading people.
 
“Ok.”
 
It must have worked because Kenny’s face relaxed.

“Good.
 
That’s good.”

“Can I go now?
 
I really need a drink.”

Kenny nodded and Terry started to walk away.
 
“Terry?”

He turned round and looked at Kenny.
 
“What?”

“You aren’t lying to me, are you?”

Terry kept his face expressionless, shaking his head.
 
“No.”
 
But the lies would be worth it in the end.
 
They’d all understand why he’d had to do it.
 
They wanted him to be happy, didn’t they?
 
And he would be.
 
Once he had Charley back where she belonged, and in a matter of hours she’d be safe.
 
Just not in the way any of them could have anticipated.

***

“We go for the first scan in a couple of weeks, don’t we, baby?” Michael smiled, squeezing
India
’s waist as they spoke to Vince and Reece.
 
India
was still slightly distracted by Terry and Kenny but she was trying to relax.
 
It was hard when you couldn’t even have a drink, though.

She turned her attention back to the conversation in hand, leaning into Michael and stifling a yawn, suddenly feeling quite tired.

“Yeah.
 
Almost twelve weeks now so I think it’s about time we caught a glimpse of this little one.”

Michael kissed her forehead gently.
 
“You ok?”

She looked up at him and smiled.
 
“I’m fine.
 
Just a bit tired.”

“You need to take it easy,” Reece said, a concerned expression on his face.
 
She looked worn out, and he knew she was doing way too much when she should be stepping back a bit.

“I keep telling her that,” Michael said.
 
“But she won’t listen to me.”

“I
am
here you know.
 
It’s just been a long day, stop fussing.”

“It’s our job,” Vince smiled.
 
She couldn’t help smiling back.
 
Out of the three of them he was always the one who could read her the best, even more so than Michael.

“Yeah, well, it’s like having three dads at the minute so just trust me, ok?
 
I’m fine.”
 
She looked up at Michael and kissed him quickly.
 
“I’m just popping out for some fresh air.”

“Put a jacket on, will you?
 
It’s a bit chilly out there.”

She went back over to him and shut him up with another kiss.
 
“One more word, and it doesn’t matter how good a boy you are you’re getting nothing from me for a very long time.
 
Do you understand?”

He held his hands up in surrender and smiled that smile and she couldn’t help smiling back before she left them to it, walking out into the garden.
 

Michael watched her go, watched Kenny follow her outside and it felt as though somebody had grabbed hold of his heart and was squeezing it tight, his chest was actually aching.
 
He watched as Kenny took off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders, he watched as she smiled up at him, but he also noticed the distance she kept from him, the little steps she took back as he tried to move closer and that was enough to make Michael look away, satisfied.
 
The signs weren’t there, she wasn’t interested like that, and that was all Michael needed to know.

India
had noticed Michael looking over and she felt a small stab of guilt.
 
Just thinking about what she’d risked made her feel sick.
 
She’d betrayed him in the worst possible way and she wished with all her heart that she could turn back the clock and for it all not to have happened because she didn’t know what she’d do if she lost him.
 
And she could.
 
If he found out.

“You regret it, don’t you?” Kenny asked, noticing her looking towards Michael.
 
“You and me. You regret it.”

“I could have lost him, Kenny.
 
If he knew ...”

“But he doesn’t, does he?”

She looked at him.
 
“That doesn’t make it right.”

He decided to leave the subject alone.
 
Michael was a man Kenny just couldn’t compete with when it came to
India
.
 
It seemed like he had some kind of magical hold over her, a spell that Kenny just couldn’t break and he’d tried, oh, he’d tried, and if he thought it would make her happy he’d try harder, but it was obvious that anything he did could just drive her further away.
 
She was head over heels in love with Michael Walsh and Kenny had to admit defeat.

“Where’s Terry?”
India
asked, looking around the garden.
 
She hadn’t seen him inside either and something was starting to nag away at her, something that didn’t feel right.

“I’ll go see if he’s inside.
 
You should think about going back in there too, it’s getting cold out here.”

“Don’t
you
start.
 
Just go and see if you can find him, will you?
 
He’s not himself tonight and I’m worried about him.”

She waited a few minutes, just looking around her garden, pretty and serene with the twinkling fairy lights and the faint sounds of the water features.
 
She tried to enjoy the peace of the night, the clear sky filled with stars, the sound of crickets in the distance.
 
Just for a second she wanted to enjoy the tranquillity and she placed a hand to her stomach, leaving it there as she looked around her.
 
She couldn’t wait to feel this new life inside her start moving, she couldn’t wait to see it’s image when they went for the scan, couldn’t wait to hold their baby for real and see if they looked like her or Michael.
 
All that worry, all that doubt, none of it was there anymore.
 
She wanted this baby more than she’d ever thought she possibly could.
 
And she wanted their daddy even more.

Making her way down to the guest bungalow, she went inside and closed the door.
 
She often came in here when she wanted to think, when she wanted to be alone.
 
It was one of the first places she and Michael had made love and she always felt happy in here.

She took off the jacket Kenny had given her and threw it over the back of the sofa, walking over to the window in the living room, looking out at the pool, the lights shimmering on its surface, the moon casting a white, almost eerie glow across the water.

“I thought you’d come down here.”

She turned around to see Michael, and all she could do was smile at him.
 
He looked much younger than his forty-five years, tall and handsome in his own way, and she didn’t think she’d ever loved anyone more than she did this famous, talented man.

He walked over to her, taking her in his arms, their mouths meeting in a long, deep kiss.

“I needed some time out,” she said, her fingers gently stroking the back of his neck.
 

“Is everything ok?”

She nodded.
 
“Everything’s fine.”
 
She smiled up at him and he gave her that wonderful, warm smile back.
 
“Marry me soon, Michael.
 
I mean, really soon.
 
Let’s do this before I even start to show because I don’t think I can wait any longer.
 
I just want to be Mrs Walsh.
 
Right now, I don’t want anything else.”

And neither did he.
 
He’d never wanted anything other than this incredible, insanely beautiful woman and he vowed that tomorrow the wheels would be put in motion to bond them together forever.
 
There was no reason why that couldn’t and wouldn’t happen now.
 
He’d always said there was no hurdle he couldn’t get over, no problem he couldn’t overcome and he’d overcome many to get her here.
 
Now there was nothing left to stand in the way of a future he’d dreamed of for so many years.
 
Nothing left at all.
 

***

Kenny had looked everywhere.
 
He’d searched every room in the house, he’d checked outside but there was no sign of Terry anywhere.
 
He punched the wall in frustration, annoyed with himself for believing Terry had meant it when he’d said he was backing off.
 
How could he have been so stupid?
 
His reaction had been far too quick and Kenny should have known it wouldn’t be that simple, he should have known that Terry was never going to back off just like that.
 
He should have known he wouldn’t let it go.
 
He should have known.

Feeling around in the pocket of his jeans he breathed a sigh of relief as he found the keys to his bike, glad they hadn’t been in his jacket, the one he’d given to
India
.
 
The last thing he wanted was for her to find out what was going on.
 

Terry had told him where Charley was working, he’d got that much information out of him anyway, so at least he had something to go on, somewhere to start.
 
It was a place in downtown L.A. and Kenny racked his brains to try and remember exactly where Terry had said it was, jumping on his bike and speeding off down the winding driveway, sure he had an idea where he was heading but not having a clue what he was going to find when he got there.
 
He should have paid closer attention to this.
 
He should have kept a closer eye on what Terry was getting into but he’d been with
India
in the
U.K.
, hadn’t he?
 
He’d taken his eye off the ball and now he had to find out the extent of the problem he could be dealing with.