Illusions of Love

chapter 22



Dominic MacDonald was born in Manhattan, New York, thirty-six years ago to a woman called Elizabeth Holt. She was nobody important, just an ordinary young woman who’d worked as a legal secretary at a large Manhattan law firm. Until she’d met a young, aspiring actor called Michael Walsh one night in a diner after a visit to an off-Broadway theatre with some girlfriends.

They’d hit it off, she’d fallen head-over-in-heels in love, and within a matter of weeks they’d married in a small and quiet civil ceremony before moving into Michael’s modest Manhattan apartment. Less than six months later she was pregnant and rapidly falling out of love with Michael.

Back then he’d been just another struggling young actor trying to find work wherever he could so money had been in short supply. The bills were mounting up, and Michael had started to become more and more controlling. Elizabeth hadn’t been happy, she’d wanted more from her life than scrimping and saving with a man who wanted to know her every move. She wanted a man who could look after her, give her everything she wanted. Not someone who was only going to dominate her, and possibly their baby too.

But she carried on, trying to make things work for the sake of their unborn child. Until, five months before Dominic was born, she met Alan MacDonald, a partner at the law firm where she worked. He was an older, kind and sensitive man who’d moved from Scotland to New York when he’d been just twenty-three.

He’d always held a torch for Elizabeth, and after a particularly emotional lunch one beautiful, sunny New York afternoon, Elizabeth had found herself opening up to him completely, telling him how unhappy she was with Michael but how frightened she was to leave because she wanted this baby to have a father. The thought of bringing up a child alone terrified her, and although she felt trapped in a marriage that just wasn’t working, she didn’t want her child growing up without a dad.

Alan had listened, falling in love with her more with each second that had passed, and he’d grasped that chance to be her knight in shining armour with both hands. His chance to save her from something that was making her so unhappy. Because he’d known he could change that. He’d known he could be the man she needed in her life. The man both Elizabeth and her baby needed.

In a matter of days he’d persuaded her to move in with him, promising her the life she’d always wanted, and the father for her baby that Michael could never be.

Of course, at the time, nobody had had any idea that Michael would turn out to be one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, but even when that happened Elizabeth never regretted her decision to leave him without ever telling him about Dominic.

She had an amazing life with Alan. He adored her, and she adored him twice as much, and he was a perfect father to Dominic. Alan made sure he never wanted for anything, and he was the most loved child. Both Elizabeth and Alan worshipped him, and Dominic had grown up thinking that Alan was his father – no-one had ever told him any different or alluded to anything other than that.

Even after Alan tragically died in a road traffic accident on his way home from work one evening early in 2009, Elizabeth had let Dominic go on thinking he’d lost his real father. Alan had been his real father after all, hadn’t he? He’d brought him up, supported him through school, been there for him when he’d got his first acting job, gone with him to his first movie premiere; loved him beyond anything else.

But then Elizabeth had fallen ill. Breast cancer. Too aggressive to treat successfully she went downhill fast, and that’s when the guilt had caught up with her. She felt Dominic deserved to know the truth about who his real father was, and it was news that had stunned him as he’d sat there holding his dying mother’s hand, trying to take in everything she was telling him. Michael Walsh, Hollywood superstar, was his real father. It explained his acting talent, his mother had smiled as she’d closed her eyes and left this world, leaving Dominic confused, but not angry. How could he be angry when he’d had the best life? With two wonderful parents.

His mother had obviously had her reasons for not telling him the truth, and he didn’t blame her. But he blamed Michael Walsh – a man who had no idea that Dominic even existed. His mother had told him how controlling Michael had been, how dominating he could be, how things had to go his way or he just wasn’t happy, and how living with that wasn’t what she’d wanted. She’d explained how she hadn’t wanted Dominic to be brought up with that atmosphere around him. So Dominic blamed Michael completely. He could never blame his mother. She wouldn’t have left like she had without good reason.

So, Dominic thought maybe it was time for Michael Walsh to get a surprise he could never see coming. Something that would blow that control issue straight out of the water.

But for months Dominic did nothing with the information he’d been given, because he’d known how much he needed to think about what his next move would be. He had to think really hard if he wanted to get it right. So he’d spent a lot of time looking into the life of Michael Walsh, finding out as much as he could about him, and it wasn’t difficult. He came across as a tough but likeable man to work with, and a lot of people admired him. But Dominic knew different.

He also knew that to really get at Michael Walsh it meant hitting him with something right between the eyes, something that he’d find hard to take. And whilst finding out that Dominic was his son would be surprise enough, finding out that his estranged son was sleeping with his ex-wife – the only woman Michael Walsh had ever loved, and the woman he still wanted back in his life because he made no secret of that – well, that had to be something that would hit him the hardest.

So, when Dominic found out he’d landed the male lead in Michael’s new romantic comedy, alongside India Walsh, he knew that was going to be his perfect opportunity. Fate had played a part when he’d needed it most.

Dominic didn’t want or need Michael as a father at this stage in his life, but he wanted him to know – when he finally revealed who he really was – that he wasn’t the only force to be reckoned with. He, Dominic MacDonald, long-lost son, could be someone in control too. He wanted to show him he’d inherited not only his acting talent, but also his determination to let nothing get past him. What Michael Walsh wanted, Michael Walsh usually got, but not this time. This time Dominic had been determined to show him that things were different now. There was a new kid in town, here to shake things up, here to make him sit up and take notice.

Dominic MacDonald was going to take the only thing that Michael Walsh really wanted away from him. That had been his plan. That had been his intention…



But the best laid plans don’t always go the way you’d expect them to, and this plan had certainly veered way off course for Dominic as he looked at India, her face a mask of confusion as she stared at both him and Michael. Father and son.

‘You knew about this?’ she whispered, looking from one set of blue eyes to the other, a sudden realisation making her feel sick to her stomach. Those eyes. Now she knew why there’d been times when she’d felt almost uncomfortable looking into them. Because they were the eyes of Michael. The same blue eyes. With the same ability to lie to her whilst under some illusion that they loved her.

‘India, I can explain, baby, if you’ll let me…’

She shook her head, pulling her hand away as Dominic tried to take it, determined not to make a scene. Not here. Not when the press and media were still around. This wasn’t something she really wanted to deal with in front of an audience, although it was quite obvious it wouldn’t stay a secret for long. How could it? She’d lived her life in a fish bowl for far too long to think that this could just be brushed under the carpet without anybody realising it’d happened.

‘He lied to you, India. Do you see that now?’

Michael’s voice made her turn around and she fixed him with a stare as an all-too-familiar feeling of déjà vu flooded through her. ‘And so have you,’ she hissed, trying to stay calm. ‘If you knew about this, if you knew who he was and what he was doing but you still chose to keep me in the dark then you lied to me too, so don’t stand there and pretend this was all his fault.’ She looked from one to the other – two handsome men who’d messed up her life once too often. ‘You’re as bad as each other.’

‘India!’

‘No, Dominic! Just… no.’

She turned and walked away, as calmly as she could without drawing too much attention to a situation that was going to kick off big time anyway, she was all too aware of that. She just didn’t want to be around when it happened.

‘India… what the f*ck’s going on?’ Kenny asked as she pushed past him on her way out of the club, just desperate to get away and find some privacy because she could only be strong for so long. She could only hold everything back for a few more minutes and that time was fast running out.

She looked at Kenny, into the eyes of a man who’d been there to pick up the pieces of every crappy relationship she’d ever had. Was this going to be one time too many, or would he still prove to be the only man she could rely on right now?

Kenny held out his hand and she took it, furiously blinking back angry tears that were threatening to fall and he sensed that, pulling her quickly out of the club.

‘Come on, kiddo. Let’s get you out of here.’



***



‘What’s going on over there?’ Vince asked Reece, whose attention seemed to be focused on some kind of altercation involving India, Dominic and Michael.

A sense of dread filled Reece as he watched India so obviously trying to stay calm in a situation that seemed anything but. ‘I don’t know,’ Reece sighed, leaning back against the wall, pushing a hand through his hair. ‘But it doesn’t look good, does it? Shit! I knew something was going on. I could f*cking sense it!’

‘Whatever’s going on, Reece, you couldn’t have known about it.’

‘I knew something was going on, Vince. And that’s all I needed to know.’

He looked over to see Kenny dragging an obviously distressed India out of the club. Great! Another pile of crap had evidently hit the fan, and once again Michael Walsh was in the middle of it all.

Reece closed his eyes for a second, sighing heavily, knowing that all he could do now was wait and see what happened next, and be there for his daughter if she needed him. Only, this time, he was determined not to be shut out of whatever was going on. This time he wanted to know everything. This time Reece Brogan would not be left in the dark.

‘Aren’t you going after her?’ Vince asked, shaking Reece back to reality.

‘No,’ he sighed, downing the rest of his brandy in one mouthful. ‘I think I’ll let Kenny deal with it for now. He can handle India just fine. No, what I’m going to do, Vince, is find out just what the hell’s going on over there.’

‘Do you want me to talk to Michael?’

Reece shook his head. ‘No. I’ll deal with this myself, Vince. And this time, he’s going to tell me the truth.’



***



‘What the f*ck did that gain either of us?’ Dominic hissed, staring at Michael. This man may be his father by blood, but in every other sense of the word he was nothing. And whatever Dominic had wanted to prove to him, it just didn’t matter anymore. None of it mattered, because the only thing he cared about, he’d hurt. The pain in India’s eyes had shattered him and shown him what a stupid act this had been from the beginning. He should never have started it, never have put the wheels in motion. He should have just confronted Michael himself without involving India at all, that would have kept him in control, given him the upper hand, instead of the situation they now had in front of them. One hell of an end to a game that really had no winners.

‘She needed to know who you were. She needed to know what you were playing at,’ Michael replied, as cold and calm as he always was in these situations. ‘And I don’t think here is the place to be talking about this, do you?’

Dominic continued to stare at this man who stood before him. A handsome, intelligent but calculated man. But then, wasn’t that exactly what he was too?

‘You won’t win, Dominic. I can promise you that. Not against me, because I’m all too aware that that was your intention. To take away the one thing I love more than anything. So you need reminding that, where India is concerned, you will not win.’

Dominic narrowed his eyes as he looked at the man who was supposed to be his father. What had his mother ever seen in him? What the hell had India ever seen in him?

‘This isn’t a game anymore,’ Dominic said quietly, trying to keep his emotions in check but all he could feel was a crushing pain across his chest as the realisation of the situation hit home. The realisation of what he’d done, and how hard it might be now to rectify any of it.

‘Isn’t it?’ Michael smirked, raising an eyebrow.

Jesus! Was this guy for real? ‘The game’s over, Michael. It’s over.’

‘Oh, it’ll never be over. Not until India is back where she belongs, back by my side, because she will be. In time. Once I’ve talked to her, explained just how much of a shock this has been to me, too…’

‘Didn’t you hear her? Are you so f*cking deluded that you don’t realise she hates both of us right now? Can’t you see that?’

But all Michael did was smile, turn around and walk away, leaving Dominic more alone than he’d ever felt in his life. But one thing was for sure, if Michael wanted whatever game this had turned out to be to continue, then he could play it on his own, because the only thing that mattered to Dominic right now was proving to India that he loved her. Whatever had happened he was sorry, so sorry he couldn’t begin to explain. But he loved her with every beat of his heart, he knew that now because, if he didn’t, then surely this pain he was feeling wouldn’t hurt quite so bad. Dominic MacDonald had fallen in love for the first time in his life, and now he had one hell of a fight on his hands to win back the woman who’d taken over his life. One hell of a f*cking fight.



***



‘He said he was falling in love with me, Kenny. He said that, not ten minutes before we came back downstairs. He said that. And he made me believe, y’know? He made me believe that he was telling me the truth. And when I looked at him, when I looked into those eyes… Jesus, those eyes…’

India sat cross-legged on the bed in Kenny’s apartment on the top floor of The Amber Palace, tears she’d thought she’d wanted to cry still welling up behind her eyes but she was refusing to let them fall. She was still too angry, too confused, and she wanted to stay strong not break down like the weak person she could sometimes be. This time she wanted to stay strong.

Kenny sat down next to her, handing her a glass of brandy which she downed in one.

‘Why couldn’t I see it in his eyes, Kenny? I mean, they’re Michael’s eyes… they’re Ethan’s eyes…’ India stared at Kenny, a look of realisation suddenly passing across her face. ‘Dominic he… he’s Ethan’s half-brother, Kenny. Could this get any more f*cking complicated? The man I’ve been sleeping with is not only my ex-husband’s son, he’s also my own son’s half-brother! Why the f*ck is my life always like a bloody movie script? Huh? Why? Why can’t anything just be bloody simple?’

Kenny wished he could tell her why, he really could. But even he couldn’t have seen this one coming. Dominic MacDonald, the long-lost son of Michael Walsh – who the hell would have ever thought that? Certainly not him. Out of everything he could ever have envisaged happening that hadn’t even come close to anything he’d imagined.

‘Did you tell him.. ?’

‘Did I tell him what?’ India asked, pulling her knees up to her chest, hugging them against her. ‘That I loved him too? No. I didn’t.’

Kenny looked at her, at the way she seemed to drift off into the distance, the way her eyes clouded over. She might not have told Dominic anything, but it was more than obvious to Kenny that she felt something.

‘You can’t avoid him, you know. You can’t avoid either of them, seeing as you’re in the middle of shooting this movie.’

‘Yeah, I’m very much aware of that, Kenny, thanks.’ She sighed, pushing a hand through her hair, flinging herself backwards onto the bed, throwing her arms up above her head. ‘What a f*cking mess! Sorry, make that what another f*cking mess!’

He lay down beside her, resting up on one elbow as she turned on her side to face him.

‘How do I do it, huh? How do I always get myself into these situations? My dad’s going to go f*cking crazy when he finds out.’

‘Well, knowing Reece, yeah. He probably will.’

She couldn’t help smiling. ‘Shit! What am I gonna do, Kenny? You’re right, I can’t hide out up here forever, but I just want to get away, y’know? For a little while. A few days away from the press party that’s gonna kick off big time when they get wind of this little gem of a story.’ She let out another loud sigh, falling over onto her back again, closing her eyes. ‘I need to get out of here, Kenny.’

He looked at her, pushing her hair from her eyes as he stared down into them. ‘How about I try and take your mind off things for a little while, huh?’ he asked, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth; a smile that was infectious because India couldn’t help breaking into one too.

‘And how do you plan to do that then?’

He cocked his head to one side, his smile getting wider. ‘Remember the old days? Back in the very beginning? When we were the very best of friends – with benefits?’

‘Benefits, huh?’

She knew what he was talking about, of course she did. Back when she’d first arrived in L.A., a naive and shy twenty-two-year-old, she and Kenny had hit it off immediately, forming a bond within seconds of meeting that had lasted a lifetime and created one of the most important relationships in India’s life. But, in the beginning – despite what everyone else had thought at the time – they really had been nothing but best friends. For a few months. Until the night of her very first movie premiere when they’d crossed a line that had taken their friendship to another level. Friends with benefits. Sex whenever they wanted or needed it but with no strings attached and no commitments. And it had worked. Even after their brief spur-of-the-moment and extremely short marriage had ended, running to each other for a dose of nothing but no-hassle sex had always been a regular thing. It had never gone away – that need. Not really. It had caused problems over the years, of course it had, when that line between friends and lovers had sometimes become blurred. But the need to know they were always there for each other had never gone away. Although India had never thought of Kenny in that way for a long time now.

‘Benefits,’ he whispered, moving his face closer to hers, and she didn’t move. Didn’t make any attempt to pull away from him.

She smiled, reaching out to touch his cheek, stroking it gently, looking into those deep, dark eyes of his. ‘No, Kenny. I mean, sex it… it always gets in the way, doesn’t it? Messes things up, blurs those lines, so… I don’t think it’s a good idea. Not anymore.’

Not anymore. He felt a brief stab of disappointment followed by the rational part of his brain telling him she was right. Maybe those days were over now. Maybe it was finally time to draw a line under everything they’d used to do that had only succeeded in complicating everything ten-fold. Maybe it was finally time to grow up and handle these things like adults instead of hiding behind sex as a way of coping with the crap the world sometimes flung at you.

‘I don’t want anything to ruin things between me and you, Kenny. I really don’t want that to happen because I love you, okay? I love you so much, you’re so important to me, you have no idea, but… my head’s all over the place right now. And all I really need is my best friend. I really need you.’

He smiled, wrapping his fingers around hers, squeezing her hand tight. ‘And you’ve got me, baby. You’ve always got me; I’ll always be there for you, no matter what. You know that.’

She reached out to stroke his cheek again, leaning forward to kiss him quickly. She really did love this man. She loved him in a way she’d never really loved anyone else before. And in the past this situation would probably have turned into one of those times when she would have quite happily slept with him just to get back at someone else who’d hurt her, after all, she owed Dominic nothing. Not after what he’d done. But not this time. Not anymore. She could handle this without acting like some petulant teenager. She just wanted to forget. She wanted to forget everything she’d ever started to feel for Dominic because thinking about him hurt too much, and she really didn’t want to go there right now. But things were different, times had changed. The past was the past and it wasn’t fair on Kenny, using him as a way for her to get some sort of ridiculous revenge on another man who’d lied to her, even if Kenny always did know the score. It still wasn’t fair. She had to grow up, start acting like an adult and deal with this new dose of crap that life had dealt her, instead of burying her head in the sand and trying to forget it had ever happened. Because it wasn’t going to go away.

‘I meant it when I said I wanted to get away from here for a while, Kenny. My head’s a mess, and when the media get a hold of this… I’m just not ready to deal with it. Not yet.’

‘You’ll have to at some point, India.’

‘Yeah, I know. But I don’t have to do it right now, do I?’ She sat up, crossing her legs up underneath her, looking at Kenny. ‘Let’s go back to L.A. Just me and you. Let’s get out of here, just for a couple of days. Let’s go back to Malibu, hang out at the beach house.’

‘Is that what you really want?’ he asked, sitting up too, pushing a hand through his dark hair.

‘Well, I don’t want to be here, in the middle of yet another media frenzy detailing another f*cking complication in the life of India Walsh, I know that much. I want some me time, Kenny. Some us time.’

He smiled. He certainly wasn’t going to argue with that idea. ‘Yeah, okay. I can do that.’

‘You can do that?’ she laughed, raising an eyebrow.

‘Okay,’ he laughed too. ‘I’d love to do that. Just me and you, together, on the beach. Us time.’

‘Us time,’ she grinned, a ridiculous feeling of happiness taking over, despite the monumental mess that was now going to unfold. A mess she knew she’d have to face at some point. She just hoped that a couple of days back home in Malibu would get her head straight enough to enable her to deal with it a lot better than she knew she’d be able to deal with it right now.

Suddenly, a barrage of sharp knocks at the door caused both India and Kenny to jump, India’s heart almost leaping into her throat because she was certain that knock could only belong to one of two people who were desperate to talk to her right now – Michael or Dominic. And she wasn’t really in the mood to see either of them just yet.

‘India? India, honey, it’s Dominic. Baby, come on, I need to speak to you. I need to explain.’

India didn’t move; she stayed right where she was, saying nothing.

Kenny looked at her. ‘Do you want to speak to him?’ he asked.

She got up off the bed, walking over to the huge picture window in the bedroom, looking out at the lights of Las Vegas, not really knowing whether she wanted to face Dominic or not. Maybe it was too soon.

‘India? I can tell him to go, kiddo. If you’re not ready…’

She turned round and shook her head, folding her arms. ‘No. Let him in. I’ve got to face him sometime, haven’t I? And I doubt he’s going to go away quietly so, I might as well hear what he has to say.’

Kenny gave her a reassuring smile before making his way out of the bedroom to the front door, Dominic pushing his way in before Kenny had even had a chance to open it properly.

‘Yeah, come in, why don’t you?’ Kenny muttered under his breath, following Dominic into the bedroom.

India stood by the bed, arms still folded against her in an almost defensive manner, watching Dominic as he looked from her to Kenny. ‘What the hell’s been going on here?’

That question alone was enough to make India give one big cynical laugh. ‘Oh, so all of sudden you’re interested in the truth?’

‘Have you just slept with him?’ Dominic stared straight at her, then over at Kenny, before fixing India with another stare. ‘Well? Have you?’

‘That hasn’t really got anything to do with you, has it, Dominic?’

‘The hell it has! I’m your f*cking boyfriend!’

She let out another cynical laugh, pushing a hand through her long blond hair. ‘No. No, that’s where you’re wrong. You’re nothing to me now. Okay? You’re nothing.’

‘Shit! India, come on. How can you say that? You can’t just switch your feelings off like that, you can’t do that.’

‘Can’t I? Jesus, Dominic, you’re Michael Walsh’s son…’

‘And that is not my fault.’

‘You should’ve told me.’

Dominic looked down at the ground for a second, then back up at Kenny who was now leaning against the wall, watching everything carefully. ‘Can we have some privacy here?’

‘This is my apartment,’ Kenny replied, shoving his hands deep into his pockets, looking right into Dominic’s eyes. Then he turned his attention to India. ‘Do you want me to stay?’

She looked at him, sorry that their little bubble had burst so quickly because she’d been enjoying it in there. ‘No. It’s okay. I’ll be okay.’

‘You sure?’

‘Of course she’s gonna be f*cking okay. What do you think I’m gonna do to her?’

Kenny stared at Dominic again, but said nothing. He just walked over to India, pulling her into his arms and she held onto him, letting him hug her, holding onto him for those few seconds longer.

‘I’ll go check on Ethan, alright?’

She nodded, smiling up at him, gently stroking his cheek with her fingers. ‘I really did mean what I said before, y’know. About us getting away from here for a while.’

‘I know you did.’

‘I know I’m a pain in the arse sometimes, Kenny, but…’

He smiled. ‘Yeah, you are. But you’re a beautiful pain in the ass so I’ll forgive you. I’ll be back soon, okay?’

She nodded, letting him go, watching him walk out the door before she turned back to a bemused Dominic.

‘What the f*ck is it with you two? I mean, what the hell was that?’

She sat down on the edge of the bed, not really in the mood for this discussion. ‘He’s my friend.’

‘Oh, don’t give me that “best friends” bullshit again, India. Have you f*cked him? Only, I know your track record where Kenny Ross is concerned…’

She looked up at him, keeping her voice calm and steady. ‘No. I haven’t, okay? I haven’t slept with him. Jesus, what the hell kind of person do you think I am? Because I’m really in the mood, aren’t I? I’ve just found out that my ex-husband has a secret son, who just happens to be the man I’ve been sleeping with and, guess what? Both the bastard’s have been lying to me.’

‘Shit!’ Dominic turned away for a second, his head spinning with all the crap that had now hit the fan.

Back downstairs the press had, of course, got wind of the whole Michael Walsh/Dominic MacDonald father/son connection – how could they not? They were professionals, they could sniff out a story a mile away and they’d just given them gossip gold on a plate.

Things had gotten crazy very quickly once India had left the club, and the way she’d left, holding onto Kenny Ross – the man who always seemed to be there for her when something kicked off – that was the real reason people had noticed something was going on. That had been the catalyst that had started the press attention.

Photographers and journalists had surrounded both Michael and Dominic, desperate to speak to them both, desperate to get out of them some idea of what was going on whilst Vince had frantically tried to organise security and some kind of order to an increasingly out-of-control situation. A situation that Dominic had somehow managed to escape from, leaving Michael to handle it all, which was no less than he deserved in Dominic’s eyes. Neither of them had really thought this through, but bringing it up like he had, well, that hadn’t been the wisest move on Michael’s part. And now this town was going to be crawling with more media than Vegas had ever seen. All eyes on them.

India stood up, running her fingers through her hair and Dominic felt his stomach lurch. She was the most beautiful, most mixed-up, complicated woman he’d ever met, and he wanted her so much it hurt like hell.

‘I need to explain things, India.’ His voice was quieter now. Calmer. He shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions about her and Kenny, but given their past, and the way he wasn’t exactly thinking rationally right now, he’d just assumed. Wrongly.

‘I don’t want to hear it.’ India pushed past him but he grabbed her arm, swinging her round to look at him.

‘What did you mean when you said you wanted to get away from here for a while?’

‘Exactly that, Dominic. I want to get away from here. Which part of that don’t you understand?’

‘With Kenny?’

‘Yes, with Kenny. He’s my…’

‘Best friend, yeah, I get that. But why Kenny? Why can’t we go away together, you and me, talk this whole mess out…’

‘Because I don’t want to go away with you, Dominic. Don’t you get it? You and Michael… you need to sort things out with him, not me. He’s your father, for Christ’s sake!’

‘And you know nothing of the circumstances, India. You know nothing about any of this, nothing about why I had to do what I did…’

She looked at him again, into the eyes of a man who, all of a sudden, reminded her too much of a man she’d tried so hard to forget. ‘I don’t want to understand, Dominic. I want…’

‘To run away. You want to run away from the situation, but you can’t run away from this, India.’

She pulled her arm away from his grip and walked out of the bedroom, into the living room, opening the French doors that led out onto the terrace. She stared out at the view of the city that stretched before her; a city she loved, but a city that always seemed to bring complications and heartache to her life in equal measures every time she was here. ‘How long has Michael known about this?’ she asked, because she knew Dominic would’ve followed her outside.

‘I don’t know.’ He stood by the open French doors, leaning against the doorpost and India turned around, staring at him for a few seconds, trying to see if there was anything in his handsome face that reminded her of Michael, other than those incredible blue eyes. But it was only the eyes that held any resemblance to her ex-husband, although that was enough as far as she was concerned. Enough to make her take a step back from this.

‘As far as I was aware he had absolutely no idea I even existed,’ Dominic went on, never taking his eyes off her. ‘I thought this was going to be one hell of a surprise for him so I have no idea how he found out.’

‘Oh, believe me, if Michael wants something he usually gets it. And I should know. He’ll have found out in the only way he knows how – by getting someone else to dig the dirt. He’s got connections we can’t even begin to imagine…’ She looked up at Dominic as everything suddenly started to click into place. ‘He’ll have seen how close we were getting. How you were – in his eyes – moving in on me, and that won’t have sat easy with him.’

‘He still wants you back, huh?’

She shrugged, running a hand through her hair, pushing it back off her face as a sudden breeze blew it over her eyes. ‘To be honest, Dominic, even if he didn’t want me I just don’t think he wants anyone else to have me either.’

‘I think he wants you.’

She looked up at him, but didn’t respond to his comment. ‘If he’s seen you as a threat then he’ll have made sure that any dirt that could be dug up on you was unearthed. But I guarantee he probably didn’t expect to find this out. Doesn’t really matter though. He’ll still try and use it in any way he can to discredit you, to make you look like the bad guy. I know how he works now. I know the way he thinks.’

Dominic moved a step closer but stopped short of touching her, even though he wanted to. So much. ‘I’ve handled this all really badly, and I need you to understand that, India. I really need you to let me explain why I couldn’t tell you about any of this…’

‘Why you wouldn’t, you mean.’ She threw her head back and sighed, a sudden wave of overwhelming tiredness sweeping over her. ‘Do you know what? I really don’t care anymore. I’m tired of Michael infringing on everything I do. I should never have agreed to do this movie…’ She started walking back inside but Dominic reached out and put a hand on her hip, causing her to stop and turn back around.

‘I meant it when I said I was falling in love with you, India. I meant every f*cking word, that was no lie, that was no game.’

‘So, you admit you were playing a game then?’

‘Yes, but… Jesus, this is f*cking hard…’

She started walking away again but Dominic reached out and grabbed her arm, preventing her from moving any further away from him.

‘It started out as a game, baby. I can’t lie to you, that’s how it was in the beginning. Michael, he wasn’t a good man to my mom. He wasn’t a good man…’

India stopped and looked at him, his beautiful blue eyes clouding over but she had to be strong here. He was a Walsh. He was part of Michael, no matter how much he didn’t want to be. He was part of Michael. And that was enough to make her think twice about any involvement she may have with him now.

‘Okay. He wasn’t a good man, so…?’

‘So, I… I just wanted to make him realise that he couldn’t always have what he wanted, India. That he couldn’t always control things… people. Situations.’ When he said it out loud it all sounded so pathetic. So trivial. So childish. Something he should have dealt with in a much better way.

‘And where do I come into all of this?’

He looked at her, swallowing hard, trying to work out how to say it to her without it sounding as crass as it really had been. ‘Michael loves you more than he’s ever loved anyone, India.’

She stared right into those ridiculously blue eyes, never wavering for a second. All of a sudden she wanted to hear this. ‘Go on.’

‘And I just thought that… that if I could take you away from him…’

‘How can you take someone away from a person when they were never with them in the first place?’

‘Jesus, you’re not making this easy.’

‘You want easy? Okay, I’ll give you easy. I’m outta here.’ She turned to walk away from him but he was too quick, reaching out to grab her hand, swinging her back round to face him.

‘India, please… Look, I know how this sounds, but… I wanted you to be with me, to fall in love with me, to show him that you weren’t just there whenever he wanted you.’

‘That was never the case anyway, Dominic.’

‘I know.’ He sighed heavily, pushing a hand through his dark brown hair, throwing his head back and staring at the ceiling for a second. ‘I know. I just… I just wanted you there, with me, when I told him… when I told him I was his son. I wanted it to hit him hard, India. I wanted to get him any which way I could and I don’t even f*cking know why now, y’know? Not anymore. Because none of it f*cking matters. It really doesn’t matter.’ He looked at her, right into her eyes as a tightness crossed his chest, a small shot of pain making him flinch slightly. ‘And it doesn’t matter because what I didn’t bank on… what I hadn’t realised would happen… I didn’t bank on falling in love with you, India.’

‘You used me?’ she whispered, suddenly feeling those tears she’d refused to cry before making a reappearance, burning the back of her eyes.

‘Christ… baby, I never meant it to be that way…’

‘What way did you mean it then? You used me to get back at Michael – what other way is there of describing it?’

‘India… please…’

She shook her head, still staring at him, the realisation of what was going on here almost rendering her speechless. She felt as though she was rooted to the spot; she wanted to get away from him, but it was as if her body was refusing to do anything her brain told it to.

‘So, when you followed me to L.A… everything that happened there… it was just a way of you getting back at Michael?’

‘No… India, believe me, when I followed you to L.A. that was the turning point for me, that was when things were changing, when I was starting to have second thoughts…’

‘Then that’s when you should have told me everything, Dominic. You should have taken a step back and you should have told me. I mean, Jesus Christ, after everything I went through when I found out Reece was my dad… You could have talked to me, don’t you see that? I would have understood all those crazy, mixed-up feelings that must have been going round in your head because I’ve been there. I’ve been there, I’ve felt that shock, I know how it feels. But you wasted that chance. You wasted that. And this could have all been so different… Shit! I’m so angry with you right now, Dominic. So f*cking angry…’

He felt his stomach lurch as the realisation of what she was saying hit home. Why hadn’t he seen that? Why hadn’t he seen that the one thing they had in common could have brought them closer together, instead of tearing them apart? His fault. He’d been blinkered, let tunnel-vision take over with that completely pointless need to get one over on Michael. And it hadn’t needed to be that way at all. He should have told her the truth that night in L.A. He should have told her. Jesus! What an idiot he’d been!

‘Baby, I know. I… I know that now. But things were moving so fast, my feelings were all over the place, I was confused…’

She’d heard enough. He may not think he was anything like his father but the similarities in his behaviour were just too close for India to cope with. ‘You said he was manipulative, with your mum, right?’

He looked at her, hoping beyond anything that she was beginning to understand his motives for what he’d done – no matter how twisted they may have seemed at the time.

‘And what exactly have you been, Dominic?’

‘No, India… no, baby, it wasn’t like that…’

‘It was exactly like that. Now, just go, please.’

He walked over to her and she didn’t step back, didn’t make any attempt to move as he reached out to gently stroke her cheek with his thumb, leaning in to kiss her mouth so softly she almost fell against him, because she was still weak where he was concerned. Despite everything. A kiss from him was more than enough to make her knees turn to jelly and her heart beat faster, as it always had done with the man Dominic now called his father – Michael Walsh. Her feelings for him had always haunted her, always been there in the back of her mind no matter how many times she’d tried to move on. Because the real reason why she could never seem to move too far was because she’d never really gotten over Michael. But she’d honestly thought that Dominic could have been the one to finally break that spell, the one to make her realise that life without Michael really could exist. Only, he was Michael, to some extent. Wasn’t he? He was a connection, a blood relative. A part of him. And that was far too close in India’s eyes.

‘We are so good together, baby,’ Dominic whispered, his mouth still close to hers and it was all she could do to not to reach out and touch him too, but she was stronger than that now. Where Michael Walsh was concerned she’d learnt one lesson too many and this time she had to step away. She had to let Dominic go. For her own good.

‘I can’t do it, Dominic, I just… I can’t do it. This is all wrong…’

He closed his eyes, resting his forehead against hers, tiredness and frustration sweeping over him. ‘I love you, India.’

She felt an overwhelming pull on her heart as she heard those words from him, his body so close to hers, so close she could feel the heat. But she had to dig out that strength and push him away, before this mess got any bigger.

Resisting any urge she had to kiss him again she took a deep breath and stepped back from him, confusion and anger and a pain so raw she could feel it burning up inside her over-ruling anything else she was feeling. She just needed him to go.

‘So, it’s over? Just like that?’ Dominic really hoped this would just turn out to be some cruel nightmare that he’d eventually wake up from, leaving him another chance to put this right, to stop it from happening.

She nodded, folding her arms across her chest again in that defensive manner, silently telling him not to come any closer. She was done. ‘It’s the way it has to be.’

‘Why? Why does it have to be that way? Surely we can… You and me, we still have that thing in common, India. That shock of finding out who our real fathers are… You know how that feels, and I can see what an idiot I’ve been…’

‘I can’t do it, Dominic. It’s too late, okay? And if you want to find out the real reason why, try asking your father.’

Dominic looked at her again, her beautiful face masked by an expression he knew she was trying hard to make him believe was real, but he could see underneath that hard exterior. He knew she was acting a role she was having trouble keeping up with. But it wasn’t her best work, and she certainly wouldn’t win any awards for this performance.

‘Okay. You want me to go, I’ll go. But you can’t avoid me, India. We still have a movie to make; we still have to work together. Like I said, this is a situation you can’t run away from.’ He began to walk towards the door, turning back to look at her one more time. ‘And one day you’ll have to face up to those real feelings, honey. One day.’