glass doors of The Amber Palace, into the exquisite atrium with its vast glass ceiling and towering indoor palm trees, the bright and airy atmosphere giving the place an almost outdoors feel, Vince wondered if it had been such a good idea coming back to Vegas for this movie. He loved this city, it was in his blood. He loved everything about it. It was where he’d got together with Charley, it was where their daughter had been born, it was where his life was. His whole world was wrapped up here. So why was so much shit happening? Again.
He sighed inwardly as he checked his cell phone, a message flashing up on the screen from one of the casino managers. He’d really wanted to oversee filming today. It was the first day back on set after the recent goings-on, but his hotels came first and if there were any problems with those then they needed to come before anything else. Michael was more than capable of handling the movie side of things.
Sliding his phone back into his pocket he stopped at reception to pick up any messages, suddenly feeling a wave of total exhaustion sweeping over him. He’d left Charley upstairs in their apartment, catching up on sleep she’d missed through nights of staying awake and crying and he’d promised her he’d leave her in peace – no more talking until she felt strong enough. But he was beginning to realise that he couldn’t really go on today if he didn’t face up to things, if he didn’t talk to her properly, tell her what was on his mind. Crazy things, things that couldn’t possibly be true but until she put his over-active imagination to rest he wasn’t really in any state to carry on with his day.
So, he quickly tapped out a message to his casino manager, took a deep breath and headed for the private elevator that took him up to his and Charley’s private apartment, hoping beyond anything that every fear he had buried deep inside him was wrong.
***
‘Your dad is gonna be okay y’know.’
India turned to look at Dominic, watching as he absent-mindedly tidied a pile of magazines she’d left lying around on the dining table.
‘Yeah. I know. It was just the shock, that’s all. The realisation that he’s not indestructible, that he’s not going to be around forever. That scared me.’
He turned round, leaning back against the table. ‘That’s totally understandable.’
‘What I don’t get, though, is why he was even on set that day. I mean, his scenes were over, he’d finished. I thought he wanted to spend more time with Martha, not hang around watching us lot at work. Why would he want to do that?’
‘Is it really so important?’
‘Yes. It is. I know my dad, and I know that if he doesn’t have a damn good reason to be somewhere then he doesn’t usually hang around for nothing. Not when Martha’s here, not when they could be spending time together. Him being on set that day… well, it was weird.’
‘Weird?’ Dominic laughed, folding his arms, wiping the smile off his face the second he caught the look she gave him. ‘Okay, listen, he’s fine. He’s fine, alright? No real damage done.’
India pushed a hand through her hair, turning away from him for a few seconds. ‘Is that what you think? Huh? That no real damage was done?’
‘India, baby, he’s fine. He’s one hell of a tough old guy.’
She looked at him again. ‘Something’s not right, Dominic. Something’s just not adding up, it doesn’t feel right…’
‘Come here.’
She stopped talking and stared at him through slightly narrowed eyes. ‘Why?’
‘Jesus, India, do you ever stop being so freakin’ defensive?’ Dominic laughed, and she couldn’t help but smile. He had that effect on her. Over these past few days he’d been there for her, constantly, always by her side, and she’d been grateful. For everything. Grateful to have him with her, grateful that he cared enough to do that for her.
‘Sorry… I’m sorry, okay? I’m just a bit stressed out with it all. This movie’s turning into a bit of a nightmare.’
Dominic raised an eyebrow. ‘So, meeting me was a nightmare, was it?’
‘Well, I can’t say the circumstances under which we met were ones I would have chosen, but… ‘ She couldn’t help laughing. ‘No, meeting you was not a nightmare. Meeting you was the good bit.’
‘So, come here. Come on.’
‘You telling me what to do?’
He gave her that movie star smile, sexy-as-hell and twice as