years, then when he suddenly reappears you can’t keep away from him, you can’t even hold down a fucking relationship with any other man because you can’t get Michael fucking Walsh out of your fucking head… Don’t stand there and tell me you came through it because you aren’t even close, sweetheart. So don’t fucking kid yourself.’
‘I’m over him, Dad.’
‘Yeah, okay,’ Reece laughed. ‘You’re over him. You don’t want him anymore, is that right?’
She looked at her famous father through narrowed eyes. ‘I’m over him.’
‘Okay. Do one thing for me, alright? Just answer this one question. If Dominic MacDonald wasn’t his long-lost son, would you have grown so close to him so quickly?’
‘What the hell are you talking about?’
‘You can’t have Michael anymore… Okay, maybe that’s not the case, because I think all of us know that you’ve only got to say the word and that man would come running, so, how can I put this?’ He looked straight at India. ‘You won’t go back to Michael, am I right on that score?’
India nodded slowly, confused as hell now.
‘So, what’s the closest thing you can have to Michael without actually having to take him back?’ Reece stared straight into India’s eyes as he spoke. ‘His son, India. You can sure as hell have his son.’
India shook her head, those tears that she’d never quite managed to cry all day now falling freely down her face. ‘How dare you. How fucking dare you…’
‘Okay, that’s enough, Reece,’ Kenny said, jumping up and pulling India away from her father. ‘That’s enough. Everyone’s upset, so let’s just calm down, alright?’
‘I don’t want him near me, Kenny.’
‘You’re upset, India…’
She swung round to face her father again, a mixture of anger and fear and confusion taking over. ‘Yes, I’m fucking upset. What would you like me to be feeling, huh? Would you like me to be angry that he’s not dead, or pleased that this has happened to him because it’s the least he deserves? Is that what you want me to feel? Because I don’t, okay? I don’t feel any of that. In fact, I’ll tell you what I’m feeling. I feel a pain ripping me apart inside, a pain that I can’t even begin to describe, and it hurts. It hurts like hell… I loved him so fucking much, y’know? I loved that man like I’ve never loved anyone before…’
‘Like you’ll never love anyone again?’
She swung round to see Dominic standing there, his hands in his pockets, his dark hair all dishevelled, but those blue eyes so like his father’s still shone from a face that was so obviously tired.
‘He wants to see you,’ Dominic went on, not waiting for India to answer his question.
She stared at him. ‘You… you’ve seen him?’
Dominic nodded. ‘I’m his son, aren’t I?’
‘I… How... how is he?’
‘He’s asking for you so, why don’t you go see for yourself?’
‘What… what about Layla?’
‘She’s gone back to the villa to get changed.’
‘Dominic…’
‘Like I said, India. He’s asking for you.’
She almost ran off in the direction of Michael’s room, stopping only to take a deep breath before she pushed open the door, the sight and sound of the machines surrounding him bringing back the still-so-vivid memories of her brother. Of a death she’d never quite gotten over, even after all these years. And her biggest fear had been that she was going to have to deal with losing Michael too, and she wasn’t ready for that. She really wasn’t ready.
But, propped up against the pillows, he looked okay. A bit tired, maybe, but he looked okay. He looked fine. Various wires were attached to his chest to monitor his heart and there was a drip in his arm, but, apart from that, he looked just like Michael. A little older, maybe, a little more worn down – but he looked like Michael.
‘You look remarkably well, for a man who’s just had one hell of a wake-up call,’ she said, walking over to the bed.
He smiled – that smile that had made her so happy. Once upon a time. ‘It’ll take more than a crappy heart attack to keep me down, honey. I’m not quite ready to be written off just yet.’
She folded her arms, trying hard to give him a convincing smile. ‘How are you feeling?’
‘A bit tired, y’know? Kinda feel as though someone’s driven a truck over my chest, but…’ He looked at her, and India felt more tears start to spill down her cheeks, tears that she quickly wiped away with