Holly hitched up her chin, her stance one of cool dignity. ‘Would you like a drink brought up to your room? A bite to eat? Some fresh fruit?’
Elisabetta flattened her mouth. ‘Did you hear what I said?’
‘Yes, Ms Albertini, but I chose to ignore it on account of you being travel weary and upset over recent events,’ Holly said. ‘Now, if you’d like a drink or some other refreshment, I’ll see to it, otherwise I’ll leave Julius to show you to your room.’
His mother’s brown eyes flashed as she turned to Julius. ‘Did you hear how she spoke to me? Get rid of her. Get her out of my sight. I won’t be patronised as if I’m a child!’
‘Then don’t act like one,’ Julius said. ‘Holly might be acting as my housekeeper but that doesn’t mean she isn’t entitled to respect.’
‘It’s fine, Julius,’ Holly chipped in. ‘I can handle snobs like your mother.’
Elisabetta bristled. Her lips were pursed, her eyes blazing, her hands clenched. ‘You disgusting little sow,’ she threw at Holly. ‘He can have anyone he wants. Why would he want you?’
‘I’m great in bed,’ Holly said. ‘Plus, I cook an awesome meal. Oh, and did I mention I give great—?’
‘That’s enough,’ Julius cut in quickly. ‘Mother, you need to leave. Find a hotel somewhere. This is not the place for you right now.’
Elisabetta narrowed her eyes to slits. ‘You’d choose her over your own mother? What sort of son are you? Anyone with eyes could see she’s nothing but trailer trash.’
‘Takes one to know one,’ Holly said, calmly inspecting her cuticles.
Elisabetta’s eyes bulged in outrage. ‘What did you say?’
‘Right. Time to go.’ Julius took his mother’s arm and led her back to the waiting car. His mother didn’t like being reminded of her poverty-stricken background. It was mostly a well-kept secret, how she had grown up on the back streets of Florence, child of a single mother who had turned tricks to put food on the table. Elisabetta had reinvented herself when she’d moved to London to find a modelling job, which had then led to acting. Julius had never met his grandmother even though she had died three years after he and Jake were born. Not because he had been told of his grandmother’s death. He had by chance come across the death certificate when he’d been a teenager sorting out things in the library down at Ravensdene. It was as if Elisabetta’s past hadn’t existed. It was erased from her memory.
But now, having got to know a little about Holly’s desolate background, he wondered if his mother had had good reason to distance herself from it. Perhaps the memories, like Holly’s, were too painful. Perhaps it wasn’t a matter of pride and arrogance on his mother’s part but shame. Was that why Elisabetta found it hard to be a mother herself? She hadn’t been nurtured in the way most loving mothers nurtured their children. Elisabetta had pushed her children away unless she’d needed them to do something for her.
Like now, for instance. His mother would never come to visit him unless she’d wanted the visit to be all about her. She had never shown any interest in his work. He suspected she barely knew anything about his career. She had certainly never asked. He had always felt resentful towards her for her lack of interest but he wondered now if that was just the way life had shaped her.
Elisabetta got back in the car with a haughty flick of her Hermes scarf. ‘I wouldn’t demean myself by staying under the same roof as someone as common as that little tart. She’ll bring you nothing but trouble. You mark my words.’
Julius closed the door and stepped back. ‘I’ll call you in a couple of days. Take care of yourself.’
His mother tightened her mouth as she looked straight ahead. ‘Drive me back to the airport,’ she told the driver. ‘It seems I’m not welcome here.’
Holly came down the steps to join him as he watched his mother’s car disappear down the driveway. ‘I might’ve overstepped the mark...just a little,’ she said.
Julius put an arm around her shoulders and brought her close to him, kissing the top of her head. ‘Only a little.’
She clasped his hand around her shoulder as she watched the dust stirred up by the car finally settle. ‘Why did you defend me like that, anyway?’
He turned her in his arms to look at her. ‘Why wouldn’t I defend you? She was being rude and disrespectful.’