She kept pulling at her lower lip with her teeth. ‘Look, I really like you, Julius, but love? I’m not sure I even know what that word means.’
Julius tried not to be put off by her lack of enthusiasm. He understood her caution. She was used to people letting her down, exploiting her. She would be the last person to speak her feelings first. She would have to feel totally secure, trust that her heart was not going to be destroyed by someone who wasn’t genuine. He could live with that. He loved her enough to be patient. He didn’t need the words. He needed the action. The evidence. ‘Love means wanting the best for someone,’ he said. ‘I want the best for you, querida. I want you to be happy. To feel safe and secure and loved.’
Her frown was back. ‘I can’t feel safe. Not here. Not in Argentina.’
‘Because of your stepfather?’
She held her arms against her body, visibly shrinking her frame, as if trying to contain every bit of herself into the smallest package possible. ‘You don’t know the power he has. The reach he has. If he knew we were involved it could get ugly. Really ugly.’
‘I can handle bullies like your stepfather,’ Julius said. ‘I survived English boarding school, after all!’
Her eyes showed her doubts in long, dark shadows that went all the way back to her childhood. Julius could see the fear. He could sense it. It was like a presence.
She suddenly unpeeled her arm from around her body and held it wrist-up. ‘This is what my stepfather did,’ she said. ‘He broke my arm in four places. He told me to lie to the doctors at the hospital or he would kill my mother or me or both.’
Julius looked at the white scar on her wrist, his gut boiling with rage at what she had suffered. ‘The man is a criminal,’ he said. ‘He needs to be charged. He needs to be locked up and the key thrown away.’
Holly laughed but it wasn’t with humour. It bordered on hysteria. ‘He has friends in such high places he could wriggle his way out of any charge. He’s done it numerous times. I know he’s out there waiting for a chance to hurt me. I’m surprised he hasn’t tracked me down yet. It’s unusually slow for him.’
He took her in his arms and held her close. ‘I won’t let him hurt you,’ he said. ‘I won’t let anyone hurt you.’
She pressed her cheek against his chest. ‘You’re the nicest man I’ve ever met.’ Her voice was so soft he had to strain his ears to hear her. ‘If I was going to fall in love it would be with someone like you.’
Julius rested his chin on top of her head, holding her in the circle of his arms. He swore he would do everything he could to make her feel safe. He would not settle until he had achieved that for her. Whatever it took, he would do.
Whatever it took.
CHAPTER TWELVE
HOLLY WOKE WELL before Julius the next morning. But then, she hadn’t really been asleep. Even though Julius had made love to her with exquisite tenderness and had made her feel treasured and cherished, she had lain awake most of the night with a gnawing sense of unease. Sophia was returning today after extending her break with her sister. But it wasn’t just about the housekeeper finding out about Holly’s relationship with Julius. It was a sense the world outside—the world she had been pretending didn’t exist—was coming for her. To seek her out. To make her pay the price for the bubble of happiness she had been in.
The fact that Julius had told her he loved her should have made her feel the most blessed person in the world but instead it made her feel the opposite. It was like tempting fate. Whenever things were going well for her, something always happened to ruin it. It was the script of her life. She had no control over it. She didn’t dare to be happy. Happiness was for other people—for lucky people who didn’t have horrible backgrounds they couldn’t escape from.
Holly slipped out of bed and padded across the room, quietly opening the balcony doors and stepping outside. It still amazed her how Julius had helped her overcome her crippling fear. But he was right. She had allowed her stepfather to control her through fear. She stood on the balcony and breathed in the fresh morning air. The sun was just peeping over the horizon, the red and gold and crimson streaks heralding a warm day ahead.
Julius’s phone beeped on the bedside table, and Holly heard him grunt as he reached out to pick it up. She turned to look at him, all sexily tousled from a deep sleep after satisfying sex. He pushed his hair back off his forehead as he read the message. She saw his face blanch. Watched as his throat moved up and down in a convulsive swallow.