face pale.
“Something wrong, Ava?”
She smiled, but it did nothing to reassure me. She looked ready to cry. “Everything is fine, Master Ashton.”
I frowned at her and tried to lighten the mood. “You know you’ll go to hell for lying.”
“I’m already going anyway,” she muttered and sat on my bed with a sigh.
“Seriously, Ava. I don’t remember you being this down. What’s wrong?”
I sat beside her and wrapped my arm around her shoulders.
Instead of answering me, she hugged me back. Tightly. Then she kissed my temple and stood.
“It was great helping to raise you all these years.”
“Why are you telling me this? It sounds like you’re leaving.”
“I’m not leaving.”
“Well, is my mother firing you? Because I’ll hire you right back.”
She chuckled and patted my cheek. “You are sweet, but I promise you. I’d never leave without telling you.”
“Thank fuck for that!”
“Master Ashton.”
“Sorry, Ava.” I kissed her on the cheek. “I’m just excited about today. Callum is introducing me to his friends.”
“You love him, don’t you?”
“If I didn’t have a heart, I’d find a way to get one just to give it to him.”
“And you’re staying away from all that crazy drinking?”
“I’m trying. He helps me a lot to stay sober.” I stiffened. “Ava, where’s Callum? Is he alone with my mother? Oh my god!”
“Master Ashton—”
“No, no, no!” I rushed out of the bedroom and ran down the stairs, taking them two at a time. It was a wonder I didn’t tumble down to the landing. I dashed across the hall to the sitting room.
“I suppose that’s the reason you’re wearing clothes he paid for? I keep tabs on my son’s credit cards, Callum. With a drunkard for a son, I have no choice in the matter.”
I gasped at my mother’s audacity, my heart racing in my chest. I was used to her opinion of me, so I couldn’t care less about what she said about me, but her attacking Callum brought out my anger.
What if she ruined everything with her careless words? Callum was proud, and it couldn’t have been easy for him to wear the clothes I’d bought him.
“Mother, that’s enough. How dare you?”
I stormed up to them and wedged my way between her and Callum to protect him from her careless barbs. I’d had a lifetime of listening to her, and I didn’t want him to fall victim to her scathing words too.
“Ashton, I’m just pointing out the obvious, dear,” she said, turning up her nose at Callum. “This man has nothing to offer you.”
“He’s offered me much more than you ever have.”
“Well, if you mean sex, I’m assuming half of Battersea has offered you that.”
My stomach churned at her hateful words. How could she so calmly stand there and try to belittle me…humiliate me in front of the man I loved? Why did she have to bring up the fact that I’d slept around? Like we all didn’t know that already.
“Callum knows about my past.”
“Well, I suppose so, considering much of your wild escapades usually end up online.” She looked over my shoulder to Callum. “You mean he’s not done a porn video too and demand us to pay him off, or else he’ll release it on the internet?”
The blood drained from my face, and I blinked. This was my mother being nasty before someone I cared about. She was deliberately digging up the worst stories to tell about me to ruin our relationship.
“It’s not going to work.” I took Callum’s hand. “You won’t even take the time to get to know him, but what you’re doing isn’t going to chase him away. Callum loves me.”
“Does he? Because if he really loved you, he’d take you to a quality recovery center where you can clean up and not be a sloppy drunk.”
I gasped, and Callum’s arm came around my waist, supporting me as I sagged against his weight.
“That’s enough.” His voice rang out in the room.
“This is my home, and I’ll say it’s enough when it’s enough.”
“You should be ashamed of yourself talking to your son that way,” he snapped at her. “Belittling him the way you do. Can’t you see that with all your animosity, you help to drive him to drink?”
“That’s great. Blame the mother for giving him what his spoiled little hands always wanted. I gave him everything!”
“Ava has been more of a mother to me than you’ve ever been,” I said softly.
She sucked in a deep breath, her face turning so red I worried she’d have a stroke. For unknown reasons, she was vile