No Matter What (61 page)

“Spoilsport,” he smirked, putting his hands back where she could see them. “You gonna let me have it when we get to the villa then?”

“What is
wrong
with you?” she laughed.
 
“Have you forgotten what we did this morning?”

“That was hours ago.
 
I’ve been three months without you, baby.
 
Three months.
 
That’s a killer amount of time when I’m married to someone like you.”

“And binge sex helps, does it?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe,” he grinned, and she laughed again.
 
He could be so funny at times.
 
She loved him when he made her laugh.
 
She loved him anyway; she just wasn’t over-keen on his moodiness that was starting to creep in now and again.

She kissed him quickly, slipping her hand into his as he pulled her close for another slower, longer kiss, neither of them hearing the elevator doors open.

“Jesus, get a room will you?” Vince said, smiling.

Michael looked at him, smiling back.
 
“What are
you
doing here,
Maine
?”

“Well, last time I looked, Walsh, I owned this joint.”
 

India
stepped out into the lobby as Michael gave Vince a friendly hug.
 
“Great to see you, Vince.”

“You too, Michael.
 
I was just making sure everything was ready for your arrival.
 
I like to give my V.I.P. guests the personal touch.”

India
smiled at him and hugged him tight as he lifted her up and swung her around.

“And you just get more beautiful each time I see you, Mrs Walsh.”

“Watch him,
India
.
 
He’s an irrepressible flirt,” Michael smiled.

“Ignore him,”
India
said, kissing Vince quickly.
 
“And thank you for letting us take over one of your villas.
 
I’m really grateful.”

“Well, I thought it might be a little more private than a suite here in the hotel. You just make yourself at home, and anything you need at any time you just call me and it’s there, you got that?
 
I want this place to be your home from home.
 
Come on; let’s get you both over to the villa.”

She still couldn’t get used to all this attention, to the fact that all she had to do was snap her fingers and whatever she wanted or needed was there.
 
Even after all these years it was still something she found strange.

She held tightly onto Michael’s hand as they walked through the hotel, following Vince even though they knew exactly where the villas were.
 
They knew this hotel like the back of their hands after countless visits because
India
loved
Las Vegas
.
 
She loved the feel of the place and the sense of freedom it gave people.
 
If she had to spend more time away from Michael working then she couldn’t think of a better place to be.
 
There were enough distractions here to take anyone’s mind off anything.
 
Although whether it could take her mind off missing Michael was yet to be seen.

Each of the six villas at The Maine Resort was set in its own private grounds.
 
There were four two-bedroom/four bathroom villas and two three-bedroom/five bathroom villas, each with its own large private terrace, garden, swimming pool and Jacuzzi.
 
Inside, they all had huge living rooms with sixty inch plasma screen TVs and state-of-the-art sound systems, a gym, private spa, kitchen, dining-room and permanently stocked bars, not to mention staff on call round the clock.
 
There were LCD wall mounted TV’s and sound systems in every room, including the bathrooms, which featured the most amazing steam showers, and a 24 hour butler service was also on hand if called for.
 
The first time
India
had seen these places she’d been blown away.
 
They could only be described as magnificent.
 
But staying here meant that she could have total privacy whenever she wanted it and she needed that sometimes.
 
It was important to her.

“Vince, this is amazing!
 
I never get tired of saying that because every time I see these places they still take my breath away,”
India
gasped, as they walked into the vast entrance lobby of the two-bedroomed villa she’d be staying in while she was in Vegas.

“Well, this is your home now, sweetheart.
 
I just want you to be comfortable.”

“I think we can safely say that I’m definitely going to be that,” she smiled, letting go of Michael and looking around her.
 
“Right, I’m going to go check out the bedrooms.
 
I’ll leave you two to a bit of male bonding.”

Michael watched her walk away, something he never, ever got tired of doing, watching her walk.
 
And for a split second his mind wandered back to that very first day he’d seen her, that first time he’d watched her walk into that screen-test room and how every inch of him had ached for her.
 
Right from the start.
 
For ten years she’d been all he’d ever wanted, and now he had everything.
 
Well, almost everything.
 
A baby would make it all complete.
 
He just had to get
India
to think the same way.

“The honeymoon period still alive and well then?” Vince smiled, as they went into the living room.

“I don’t think it’ll ever go away.”
 
Michael looked at Vince.
 
“When’s Kenny getting here?”

“He’s already here.”

“In the hotel?”

“He’s staying here too, Michael.
 
Come on, what’s on your mind?
 
You’ve got that look about you, something’s bothering you.”

“Kenny’s bothering me.”
 
He walked over to the huge windows that overlooked the private garden.

“Even now?
 
You still feel threatened by him, even now?”
 
Vince walked over to the bar and poured them both a bourbon.
 
“She married
you
, remember?”
 
He handed Michael his drink.
 
“She’s in love with
you
, don’t you get that yet?”
 

“I’m getting older, Vince.
 
And I can’t stop that.
 
The hair’s getting thinner; there are more lines on my face ...”

“And I love every one of them, you paranoid, middle-aged idiot,”
India
smiled, standing in the doorway.
 
She’d only checked out one bedroom but she’d already concluded that it was bigger than the entire flat she’d used to live in back in
England
.

Michael looked at her, just hoping she hadn’t heard anything he’d said about Kenny.
 
He didn’t want her knowing how much he bothered him, how knowing she was going to be near him 24/7 for months was getting to him more than he cared to admit.

India
smiled at her husband.
 
“I’m going to take a shower.
 
Ok?”

The look she gave Michael sent out a message he couldn’t miss, but there was something he had to take care of first.
 
He waited until she was out of sight then turned back to Vince.

“Look, I am more than desperate to get in there with her ...”

“I’m sure you are,” Vince said.
 
“Who wouldn’t be?”

“That’s what I’m worried about ... Vince, I need you to do something for me.
 
I need you to keep an eye on
India
and Kenny.”

Vince looked at Michael, narrowing his eyes.
 
“I’m not
spying
on her, Michael. That’s bullshit, no!”

“Vince, I’m begging you, please!”

Vince knocked back his drink.
 
“You should trust her.
 
What the hell is wrong with you?”

“I do trust her.”

“Then why the fuck are you asking me to do this?”

Michael pushed a hand through his hair and sighed, looking away for a second.
 
He’d never told anyone about Kenny and
India
’s brief affair, never told anyone he knew about it.
 
And he’d never really got over it, which is why the idea of leaving her alone with Kenny Ross while he was in
L.A.
was messing with his head big time.

“They had an affair.”

Vince looked up.
 
“Who did?
 
India
and Kenny?”

Michael nodded.

Vince sat down on the edge of one of the huge cream sofas.
 
“When?”

Michael leaned back against the window, folding his arms, staring at the floor.
 
“Back in ‘97.
 
When she went to the
U.K.
, just after our trip to
New York
.
 
The trip where I asked her to marry me.
 
I was in
L.A.
and he flew straight out there to be with her.”

“I didn’t know,” Vince said quietly.

Michael looked back up at him.
 
“No, well, nobody did.”

“Does she know ...?”

Michael shook his head.
 
“No.
 
She has no idea I know, no-one does.
 
And I don’t ever want her to find out.”

Vince sat back and looked at his friend.
 
“It was 1997, Michael.
 
A lot’s happened since then.
 
A hell of a lot.”

“It doesn’t matter
when
it happened, Vince; the fact is that it did.
 
They slept together and I have to deal with that.”

“You know that, do you?
 
You know for definite that they slept together?”

“Oh come on, he’s not going to fly thousands of miles to another country just to talk to her, is he?”

Vince stood up and went over to Michael.
 
“Look, you’re torturing yourself over something that happened years ago.
 
For fuck’s sake, Michael, she’s your wife! And she’s a professional.
 
They’re making a movie together, that’s all.
 
They’re friends and you’re never gonna change that so you’ve got to get used to this.
 
Or you’ll lose her.
 
No-one is gonna spy on her, least of all me, so don’t ask me to do that, ok?”

Michael sat down and put his head in his hands for a second as Vince poured them both another drink.
 
“What am I doing, Vince?”

Vince sat down beside him and handed him the glass.

“I can’t lose her.
 
I can’t, not now.
 
Not after everything we’ve been through. But Kenny Ross ...”

“Forget Kenny Ross.
 
She loves
you,
Michael.
 
She loves
you
, it’s obvious, anyone can see that, but if you let her know you feel like this ... look, just sort it out, ok?
 
This really is nothing to worry about, and
India
doesn’t need a bodyguard.
 
She just needs a husband who trusts her.”

Michael knocked back his drink in one go.
 
“It isn’t her I have the problem with, Vince.”

Vince stood up, making his way to the door.
 
“Sort it out, Michael.
 
I mean it. Now get in there and be with your wife.
 
I’ll see you both for dinner later, ok?”

Michael nodded, sitting back and staring out of the window again as Vince let himself out.

Vince was right, of course.
 
If
India
thought for one second that he was this obsessed with her and Kenny she’d back off like a shot and he couldn’t afford to let that happen.

Sighing heavily he got up and walked over to the mirror, looking at his reflection.
 
He looked good, his tan was coming back, what was he worried about?
 
But he knew, even as he made his way to the bathroom, knowing his beautiful wife was naked and waiting for him, he knew that this constant fight, this never ending battle for her love, it was never going to be over.
 
And he’d just have to make sure he was ready for the long haul.

***

Kenny walked through the casino of the Maine Resort Hotel, smiling at people, signing autographs and having his photograph taken with anyone who asked. He was in a good mood, a very good mood, and looking forward to getting to work on this movie.
 
He hadn’t done a comedy in a while, it wasn’t what he was best known for, but he couldn’t wait to get started on this one, and working alongside
India
- his best friend - well, that was a massive bonus, especially in Vegas.