Illusions of Love (2 page)

But things had changed.
 
For
India
, anyway.
 
Things had changed.
 
She’d grown up, forgiven him, and her decision to do this movie, with Michael directing, it was her way of showing the world that she
could
work alongside him and not let her feelings get in the way.
 
Because those feelings just weren’t there anymore, no matter what everyone else thought.
 
So this was something she needed to do.
 
To prove that to everyone.
 
And maybe there was still a part of her that needed to prove that to herself, too.

A hot-shot Hollywood producer, in-demand director, and one of the most famous actors
Hollywood
had ever produced, Michael Walsh had been in
India
’s life for as long as she’d been in
L.A.
 
And despite their somewhat chequered history, they’d loved each other.
 
Once.
 
Maybe more than they should have done, because that love had caused incredible heartache, destruction and pain, as well as days of indescribable happiness.
 
The birth of Ethan, their amazing little boy almost eight years ago, being one of them – a time when
India
had thought that her life was sorted, that she and Michael had been settled, ready to begin family life.
 
How wrong she’d been.
 
Ethan.
 
The bond that held her and Michael together, even though there was very little that could really tear them apart.
 
The past had already proved that.

At the age of forty-two
India
still had the world at her feet.
 
She had a dream of a career, two beautiful children and, even though she was facing the end of yet another unsuccessful marriage, she could still have any man she wanted.
 
Once upon a time she’d thought that Michael was the only man she’d ever want, and maybe that was something that had had a hand in the breakdown of her marriage to JJ, but those days were over now.
 
One day she’d just woken up and known that she could never go back there, back to Michael.
 
She couldn’t ever do that.
 
But she knew she couldn’t stay with JJ either.
 
Because he deserved so much better than her.

She’d loved JJ, of course she’d loved him.
 
She’d loved him like crazy, and she probably still did, but she didn’t deserve him.
 
He deserved so much more than she could give him, and she just didn’t have the strength to pretend any longer.
 
She knew that he, along with everyone else, thought she still wanted Michael back in her life, but they were so wrong.
 
Michael had asked her to work with him, that was all.
 
But her lack of hesitation in accepting his offer had given JJ every reason to think differently, and she couldn’t really blame him, considering everything that had happened in the past.
 
But it wasn’t true.
 
She didn’t want Michael back, she knew that now.
 
She just had to convince everyone else of that.
 
But the fact she wasn’t fighting to make her marriage to JJ work – the fact she didn’t even want to – told her everything she needed to know.

‘It’s over,’
India
sighed, picking her bag up off the floor and sliding it up onto her shoulder, leaning over to kiss Charley on the cheek.
 
‘Anyway, I’m off to Vegas soon to start work on this new movie, so that should take my mind off things.’

Charley smiled, hugging
India
tight.
 
A few weeks in Vegas would probably do her best friend the world of good, Charley thought.
 
Even if she
was
working.
 
But whether being that close to Michael was the best thing for
India
, at a time when she was more than slightly vulnerable, she still wasn’t sure.

India
smiled too, pushing her sunglasses down over her eyes as she made her way towards the door.
 
‘See you for drinks tonight?
 
At my place?
 
Miguel’s got some new cocktails he wants to try out, and you know me, I’m not one to pass up
that
opportunity.
 
It’ll be fun.
 
Bobby’ll be there.
 
Even Layla said she’d pop round.’

Charley nodded, still smiling as she watched her friend walk out into the
L.A.
sunshine, paparazzi appearing out of nowhere to get a snap of one of
Hollywood
’s most beautiful women.
 
Stronger than she’d ever been before, more self-assured, and ready to take on the world.
 
Again.
 
A better person for putting Michael Walsh behind her, and Charley just hoped it stayed that way.

She turned around and continued to tidy up her work station, taking a second to look around the vast floor space that was her new baby, her own little empire.
Charley’s
had very quickly become one of
Beverly Hills
’ most exclusive hair and beauty salons, and Charley had every reason to thank her famous best friend for that.
 
The second anyone found out that India Walsh was a regular there, well; it was publicity that money just couldn’t buy.
 
And she was more than grateful because, in just over a year of being open, she now had a second salon based in The Amber Palace Hotel, Casino and Golf Resort – the third and newest
Las Vegas
hotel to be opened by her husband, businessman and movie producer Vince Maine.

Charley loved
Las Vegas
.
 
It was a city that had given her back her life.
 
A city that had given her the most wonderful man in the world who, in turn, had given her the most beautiful little girl.
 
Their daughter, Lily, was the most precious thing in her life, along with Vince, and Charley still couldn’t bear to think of her life before them.
 
Because life before Lily and Vince just didn’t exist as far as Charley was concerned.
 
She didn’t talk about it, she never went there.
 
She didn’t need to.
 
Not anymore.
 
A lot had happened over the years, and one very important thing Charley had learnt was that it never paid to look back.

She’d fast-tracked her way through
Beauty
School
, determined that she wasn’t going to be just a figurehead for her salons, she also wanted to work.
 
And, in the few short months since she’d gained her licence, she’d already built up quite a list of clients, a lot of them celebrities from the worlds of movies, music and modelling, all of them wanting to be seen where the stars hung out.

She was the happiest she’d been in years.
 
She and Vince split their time between
Las Vegas
and their homes in
L.A.
– their Californian ranch, and their Spanish-style villa in
Beverly Hills
.
 
She had everything she could ever have dreamed of, and just thinking about how different her life could have been still sent a shiver down her spine.
 
But, like she’d always said, it never paid to look back.
 
So she never did.
 
She was happy now.
 
Happier than she’d been in a long time.
 
And what she wanted, more than anything, was for her best friend to feel the same.

CHAPTER 2

Michael Walsh needed to work, and at fifty-eight-years-old he was showing no signs of slowing down any time soon.
 
He needed to keep busy.
 
He’d never been one to sit around and wait for things to come to him; he’d always been the one to seek out the opportunities.
 
And the opportunity to work with
India
, his beautiful, super-talented ex-wife, wasn’t something he was going to ignore.

He was certain that this soon-to-begin-shooting Las Vegas-based romantic comedy would be a sure-fire box office winner.
 
When he’d first seen the script he’d known there was only one actress who could play the main female lead, and studio bosses couldn’t have agreed more.
 
So they’d banked on him to make sure he got India on board, because this movie had come at a time when everyone was only too aware of the amount of work being put her way, now that she’d finished filming
‘Covert One’
and was making a return to the big screen.
 
She had options, a lot of options, but Michael had been determined to have her in his movie.
 
To have the chance to work with her again, to direct her in the kind of movie she did better than anyone else out there right now.
 
There was no way that opportunity was going to pass him by.
 
He had a major studio backing his movie, and they’d wanted
India
too.
 
Because, with her leading the cast, and Michael directing, that was movie gold, right there.
 
That was movie gold.
 
And she hadn’t hesitated in saying yes.

But this movie wouldn’t just be the first movie
India
had made in a while, it would also be the first time
India
and Michael had worked together since the near-fatal accident that had nearly killed her just over a year ago.
 
Her first movie since all that had happened.
 
So Michael had gone one better than just making sure
India
was on board.
 
He’d also managed to secure Reece Brogan – India’s very famous movie star dad – to star alongside her as her on-screen father.
 
The studio had been ecstatic, and Michael had become the hero, guaranteeing his position as one of
Hollywood
’s most sought-after and powerful directors.

He was finally in a place in which he felt comfortable, after years of not knowing where he really belonged.
 
Well, that wasn’t entirely true.
 
He’d always known where he’d belonged.
 
She
just hadn’t wanted him.

‘Michael, honey, you know I’m going to
India
’s tonight, don’t you?’

He swung round as Layla, his thirty-three-year-old actress and TV presenter girlfriend entered the room, all blond hair and prettiness, exuding Chanel No.5 as she walked over to him.
 
But it wasn’t really her that had caught his attention.
 
It was the mention of his ex-wife’s name.

‘Erm, yeah… yeah, of course.
 
You… you told me this morning.’

She narrowed her eyes as she looked at him.
 
‘Are you okay?
 
You look tired.’

He ran a hand through his hair and sighed, looking forward to a night on his own with a bottle of bourbon and the TV.
 
He’d be glad of the peace.
 
He needed to think, because there was a lot to think
about
before he headed off to Vegas.

‘I’m fine, Layla.
 
You just… you just enjoy yourself.
 
Have a good night.’

Layla didn’t take her eyes off him for a few minutes, even when he’d turned away and started gathering together the pile of papers he had strewn all over the kitchen table.
 
She wasn’t stupid.
 
Just the mention of
India
’s name and his whole demeanour changed.
 
An award winning actor he might be, but he wasn’t good enough to hide his feelings where his ex-wife was concerned.

Layla had long since gotten used to being second best in his life, because to compete with
India
wasn’t something she had the energy to do anymore.
 
But she wasn’t sure how much longer she could carry on like this.
 
She’d lived in
India
’s shadow for far too long now and it was quite obvious that Michael wasn’t going to take their relationship any further.
 
But she was only thirty-three.
 
She wanted to get married, she wanted to have a family, and that was never going to happen with Michael.
 
Even though she loved him.
 
Far more than he’d ever loved
her.

‘You’re invited you know,’ she said, fastening her watch onto her wrist, still watching him as he packed away his files and papers into his briefcase.
 
‘To
India
’s.
 
You can come too, if you like.’

He turned round and looked at her.
 
‘No.
 
No, I don’t think that’s a good idea.’
 
He turned away, pushing his chair back under the table.

‘Why not?’

He swung back round at her quick reply, not meeting her eyes because he couldn’t.
 
He really couldn’t look at her and trust himself when talking about
India
.