face going back there. If she ever could. Even though he’d told her there was nothing to worry about she still didn’t know if she’d ever be able to face many of her clients ever again.
Thinking about Vince brought a fresh wave of guilt crashing over her that almost took her breath away. Closing her eyes she sat back in her chair and threw her head back, pushing her hands through her long, dark curls. She loved Vince, she loved him more than she could ever begin to explain, and it was still something she herself couldn’t understand, this reason why she just couldn’t seem to open up to him about all of this. But she couldn’t. She found it easier to keep that distance between them, as far as the subject of Jimmy was concerned. She found it easier to pretend she was coping, even though she was so far from that. But with Kenny – with Kenny, it was different. She could talk to him; she could tell him everything that was going on in her head, things she just couldn’t tell Vince. And she had no idea why, she only knew that with Kenny she could somehow escape all the crap and disappear into a world of distraction that took her mind off all the fear she was still feeling, even if it was only for a couple of hours, a few minutes, she didn’t care. As long as she got that distraction, she was happy. Relaxed. Able to deal with everything that little bit better. Even if it was the most dangerous thing she could do, because to put her marriage to Vince in jeopardy like this wasn’t something she should even be considering. She shouldn’t be going anywhere near Kenny Ross, not like this. But she couldn’t walk away either.
She couldn’t walk away. And that only made Charley a hundred times more scared than she already was.
***
Reece felt as though some kind of black cloud had descended over him, tinged with that red mist of anger that cut through it – and him – like a knife, his head spinning with the overload of information he’d had to take in. Michael Walsh had raped his daughter, and Martha just expected him to take that and leave it alone? Just because India had, supposedly, dealt with it? But he hadn’t. He’d only just heard about an event that may well have happened over six years ago, but as far as he was concerned it was as new and as fresh in his mind as if it had happened yesterday.
India had been tainted by something she may think she’d come to terms with, but she hadn’t. Look at the years that had passed since her divorce from Michael. Despite the early signs that she may have found the right man in JJ Foster to settle down with and finally move forward, a chance to put Michael Walsh behind her, that just hadn’t happened. And Reece knew why. The hold Michael Walsh had over his daughter would never be loosened, its grip would always be there, constant and threatening, but Reece had had enough. He couldn’t just sit back and pretend he hadn’t heard what Martha had told him. What kind of a father would that make him?
Almost running through the lobby of The Amber Palace, he was gripped with nothing but a determination to finally face the man who refused to take a step back from a woman he just didn’t deserve to have in his life, not after what he’d done. He didn’t deserve to go near her again, and if Reece had anything to do with it this movie would be the last close contact his daughter ever had with Michael Walsh. And maybe he wasn’t being entirely rational here, after all, his thinking was all over the place. He was angry and tired and allowing years of pent-up frustration to come tumbling out all at once, but he didn’t care. He’d had it with sitting back and letting everything happen around him. It was about time he took control again, and sorted this once and for all.
As the huge glass doors that graced the main entrance of The Amber Palace slid open he stepped out of the welcoming cool of the air conditioning and into the breathtaking heat of a stifling Vegas mid-morning, standing still for a few seconds only to catch his breath, his hands on his hips as he inhaled deeply, looking