Page 20 of The Billionaire's Bad News Baby

“She is a good mother,” she said, voice quiet.

They lapsed into silence for what felt like the first time in hours.

“You’re easy to talk to,” Elio said, and again Kayla got the impression that this was a big statement for him to make. She took it accordingly seriously.

“Thanks,” she said. “You too.”

They looked at each other across the sofa and Kayla suddenly felt like she’d been dropped into the middle of a vacuum. The air was gone, stealing the breath right out of her chest. Even the storm seemed to drop in volume, just a fraction. Then a particularly loud clap of thunder crashed in the air, and Kayla jumped, breaking eye contact with Elio to look at the window that had seemed to rattle in its frame. It had gotten even darker outside. God, how much time had passed while they’d been sitting there?

“It’s gotten late,” Elio observed, but his attention wasn’t on the window; it was still firmly locked on Kayla. She had not a single clue how to deal with that right at the moment, except to flee the scene as fast as possible.

“Well,” Kayla said. “I’m exhausted. I might head to bed. Get an early night, you know?”

It was a downright lie. Her bloodstream was now a cocktail of caffeine and alcohol, and there was no way she’d be sleeping until the early hours of the morning.

But Elio nodded, and as she rose, he held out a hand. “Give me your glass and I’ll take it to the kitchen.”

“Careful,” said Kayla. “You’re going to leave your housekeeper without a job.”

“I guarantee you that will never happen. I will be welcoming Gianna back with open arms, thank you very much.”

As he took the glass from Kayla’s hand, his fingers brushed against hers, and it took all of her self-control not to turn into a human puddle as their skin touched for such a brief moment. In fact, she point-blank refused to look Elio in the eye after that because she was definitely, definitely blushing right now, and if she wanted to keep any semblance of her dignity, she needed to hightail it immediately.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, then,” she said and promptly left the room. Maybe it was her just being ridiculous. And maybe she was blowing this whole thing out of proportion, but she would have bet money that as she walked away, she could feel Elio’s eyes on her back for every single step.

CHAPTER 8

ELIO

It was quiet when Elio woke up. Not only that, but sunlight was streaming through his bedroom window, warming his face and making him squint his eyes in the unexpected brightness. The storm had raged so hard for so long, that now that it was over, the world felt far too quiet and still.

Now fully awake despite the early hour, he pushed the bed covers away and wandered out onto the bedroom balcony in his boxer shorts, breathing in the scent of rain-soaked earth mixed with sea spray. It was nice to feel the sun, closing his eyes and letting it soak into his face, into every inch of his skin, feeling the warmth in his hair.

He was also… sad? God, what was wrong with him lately? This stupid lawsuit had him all mixed up if he was feeling sad about a torrential storm finally being over. But… well, it meant that Kayla would be able to leave now. The sea was still a little choppy, sure, but it was calm enough that a boat could get here safely from the mainland. Which meant a boat could easily be chartered to come and collect Kayla and take her away. Forever.

It was one of the most disheartening things that Elio had thought about in a very long time, and he really wasn’t in the mood to do a psychological deep dive on himself anytime soon.

He went back inside and dressed for the day in his usual uniform of linen shirt and trousers, going through the motions in a sort of haze. As he wandered down out of his bedroom, his feet took him towards the guest suite before he really realized where he was going. As soon as he noticed the path he was following, flushing bright red at his own subconscious wanderings, Elio was ready to turn on his heel and walk to literally any other part of the island. But when he spun around, Kayla nearly ran into him, her eyes wide with surprise. She was still wearing his clothes, mussed up from sleep, her hair wild and sticking out in all directions, and in her hand was a plate with an omelet freshly made.

“Sorry,” Elio said, stepping out of her way. But Kayla didn’t continue towards the guest suite. She just stood there looking at him with an amused little smile on her face.

“I couldn’t sleep,” she said. “So I got up and made breakfast. I left an omelet for you.” She tilted her head back in the direction of the kitchen.

Elio felt his chest grow tight at the thought that she’d made him food. Despite it being his house in the first place, it made him feel taken care of.

“Since you weren’t up, I was just going to eat in my room, but I can?—”

“No, no,” Elio protested despite the fact that he did very much want to eat breakfast with her again. But if he looked too hard at any of the feelings he was having this morning, it might actually kick off a proper breakdown and he didn’t have time for that. “I won’t interrupt you.”

“Okay,” Kayla said. Did she sound disappointed? Was he just imagining it?

“I just was coming to say that you should stay one more day,” Elio blurted, shoving his hands in his pockets and trying to look as if he hadn’t just surprised himself with the offer. Kayla watched him with those beautiful eyes of hers as if she was also trying to smother her surprise for the sake of politeness.

“Um, well…”

“Everyone’s going to be cleaning up after the storm,” Elio continued, gathering evidence as fast as he could think. “You know, better safe than sorry.”

“Yeah, sure.”

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