She nodded, piling her hair up on top of her head before pulling off her robe to reveal a black bikini, all ready to join her little boy and her Goddaughter in the pool.
‘I know what I’m doing, Dad.’ She smiled that incredible smile of hers – a smile so much like his – and he returned it. She was almost forty-three-years-old; he couldn’t look after her forever, even if that’s all he wanted to do. ‘I’m gonna join Ethan and Lily in the pool, are you coming?’
He shook his head. ‘No, sweetheart. You go ahead. I’ve got a couple of things to take care of here.’
And having a word with Dominic MacDonald was one of them.
CHAPTER 17
With filming on his movie finished in L.A., Kenny headed straight to Vegas, just like he’d promised India he would, although just how much time she was willing to spend with him was another matter, now Dominic MacDonald was apparently on the scene. But it would be good to catch up properly, to re-live some of their old party days. That would be great. Because he really needed a distraction right now.
It hadn’t been easy, leaving Layla behind in Malibu because, despite what she’d said, Kenny still wanted to be with her. Ending their relationship hadn’t been something he’d even considered because he was finally learning to move on. Finally beginning to want something that didn’t involve wishing he was with India, because he knew that was never going to happen now, not really. Not in the way he wanted, and he was okay about that. He was. She was his best friend and he’d take that, because just being in her life was enough.
But he really had wanted to try and make it work with Layla. He still thought they needed each other more than she cared to admit, but she’d been adamant she wasn’t willing to carry on the relationship. So being able to spend some time in Vegas was almost a Godsend. It would give him time to think, time to cut loose. Time to party like he hadn’t done in a long time. He just needed to persuade India to do the same.
After settling into his apartment within the hotel, he wandered through the casino of The Amber Palace, his hands in his pockets, just taking in the incredible spectacle of Vince Maine’s latest Vegas resort, the noise and the atmosphere washing away all the stress and tension he’d carried with him from L.A. That was all gone now. It was something this city had a knack of doing for him. It relaxed him. Like nowhere else could.
He was about to hit the bar for a beer when he noticed Charley sitting at the slot machines, absent-mindedly filling them with money, pulling the lever down over and over again but not really taking any notice of what was going on. Strange. It wasn’t as though she needed to win any kind of jackpot, and she certainly didn’t look as though she was enjoying herself.
Walking over to her he leant back against the neighbouring slot machine, folding his arms and smiling at her.
‘Hey, you forgotten your husband owns this place?’
She looked up at him, smiling a smile that Kenny noticed didn’t reach her eyes. ‘Kenny. I didn’t know you’d arrived already.’
‘Well, filming’s finished now so, I’m never one to say no to some time in Vegas. Especially as Layla’s just blown me out.’
‘Oh, God, Kenny, I’m sorry. I didn’t even know it was that serious.’
He pushed a hand though his black hair, sighing. ‘It wasn’t, Charley. Not really. I just let myself think it might be, y’know? It might’ve been nice.’ He looked at her again. She was studying her nails, staring at them but not really looking at anything. She was miles away. She couldn’t make it any more obvious that she had something on her mind. ‘Charley?’
His voice made her look up sharply. ‘Yeah? Oh, sorry. I was… I was just thinking.’
‘Yeah. I could see that. Do you want to talk about it?’
She looked away again, fiddling with her wedding band.
‘Is something wrong between you and Vince?’
She looked up again. ‘No. No, it’s nothing to do with Vince. Not really…’
She trailed off, and Kenny now knew for sure that something was wrong. ‘Do you want to talk about it, Charley?’
She stood up, looking straight into Kenny’s eyes. ‘Can you keep a secret?’
***
Jimmy watched from his seat at the bar, watched as she spoke to