huge canopy that covered the Terrace Restaurant, not wanting to take any chance that India might see him. He couldn’t afford for that to happen. ‘Get me everything you know on Dominic MacDonald. Everything you fucking know. And quick.’
Ending the call he sat forward, India now having left the restaurant, leaving Dominic alone but smiling, and who wouldn’t be, after what he’d just done? But his days with India were numbered, Michael would make sure of that. They were coming to an end, before anything had a chance to begin.
CHAPTER 13
Charley had just put Lily in her room for a nap in the huge Penthouse apartment she and Vince shared within The Amber Palace when Vince walked in, a smile immediately spreading across his face when he saw his wife.
Throwing his jacket over the back of a nearby chair, he held his arms open as Charley ran into them and he picked her up, swinging her round.
‘Hey, baby! It’s great to see you. I’ve missed you so much!’ he said, putting her down and tilting her chin up, kissing her mouth. ‘So fucking much.’
She couldn’t help but smile back. Just a few seconds with Vince and she already felt better, but it was a false sense of security, an uncertain feeling of calm, and she knew that. Deep down she knew that. And she also knew that, at some point, she’d have to tell Vince about Jimmy because he wouldn’t go away. Jimmy Cash never started anything without seeing it through to the end, but right now she just wanted to enjoy being with her husband, enjoy being a family again. Enjoy catching up with India before she had to face up to the nightmare that had now been forced upon her.
‘I’ve missed you too,’ she smiled, looking into his eyes. She loved him so much, she really did. He’d saved her had Vince Maine. He’d come into her life at a time when she’d really needed someone like him. And he’d given her a life she could only have dreamed of before so it scared the hell out of her to think that Jimmy Cash could destroy all of that, in ways she didn’t even dare think about.
‘Is everything okay?’ Vince asked, stroking the hair from her eyes and she tried to look happy, tried to look as though nothing was on her mind because she couldn’t face that conversation just yet. Not yet. ‘You look a little pre-occupied. Is the show still on your mind?’
She almost breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn’t even thought of hiding behind the fashion show for a few days, pretending she was recovering from the stress of all that. It was the perfect smoke screen. But a flimsy and weak one, and something she wouldn’t be able to hide behind forever.
She smiled again, standing up on tip-toes to kiss him, loving the feel of his arms around her, the safety that could give her. But she wasn’t sure they could keep her safe from what was happening now, from a threat she couldn’t even begin to contemplate.
‘I’m just tired, sweetheart. It’s been a busy week, and I guess I really needed this break. I really needed to see you.’
‘Well, you got me now, kiddo. And I’ll make sure you have the best time, I promise. Now, where’s that gorgeous daughter of mine. I’ve got presents for her.’
‘She’s in her room. And she’s dying to see you.’
Charley stood back and folded her arms, watching as Vince grabbed a handful of wrapped boxes and headed off to Lily’s room. She waited until he was safely inside before she leant back against the wall, closing her eyes, breathing a heavy sigh.
Her little family was perfect. But how long was it going to stay that way?
***
‘You and Layla Boyd? Again?’ India gasped, staring at Kenny as they shared a beer outside in the grounds of the stunning Bel Air home where the video shoot for Black Rock Diamond’s new track Dangerous Day was taking place.
‘Yeah. Who’d have thought, huh?’
India looked down into her drink, a sudden feeling of confusion washing over her. Was Layla with Kenny purely because she thought Michael didn’t want her? Because she thought that her and Michael were back together?
It was almost as though Kenny could read her mind and as she looked back up at him, her head wasn’t exactly feeling any clearer about anything as he asked her a question she knew he’d wanted to ask the second she’d arrived