Page 33 of The Billionaire's Bad News Baby

“Like we can definitely get a paternity test, I totally understand?—”

“No,” he interrupted. “I mean, yes, we probably should, we will. But it’s not because I don’t believe you. Just to be thorough, you know.”

Kayla felt herself sag against the chair in relief. So he did believe her. It had felt like the whole room had been spinning, but now it stilled again, his voice finally cracking through the oppressive silence that had been hanging over her.

“Yeah, that’s completely fair,” she said, still rambling. “I totally understand. I mean, you’ve been through enough legal headaches thanks to me, right?”

The joke fell flat and Kayla smothered her tentative grin because Elio wasn’t smiling at all. At this point she really did wish that he’d at least start yelling, start acting crazy, anything at all. But instead, he was still and silent.

But she was starting to think it wasn’t good. Kayla hadn’t realized just how much she’d been needing to hear him say that it was all okay. She didn’t expect a shower of rose petals and a confetti cannon, but she had thought he would at least say something. So maybe she had been wrong about him all along, making up some fantasy in her head about a guy she barely knew, because the blank stare he was giving her was the opposite of it’s okay.

“So…” she prodded, feeling desperate now, more desperate than she had since she’d found out she was pregnant. “How are you feeling?”

At least Elio unfroze when she asked him that. His eyes darted to her stomach, properly looking for the first time, taking her in. He licked his lips, a hand fidgeting by his side, but still, he said nothing.

“I don’t blame you for feeling however you feel, you know,” said Kayla, feeling like she was desperately reaching for a safety rope that wasn’t there. “I just wanted to tell you, you know. Keeping it all a secret felt kind of… wrong, I guess. So whatever you think about the whole thing, good or bad, it’s fine. Though I’d prefer good, not going to lie.”

Her final attempt at something that even resembled a joke fell just as flat as before, and this time, Kayla didn’t even have the strength to try and fake a smile. And Elio’s expression still hadn’t changed at all.

“Well,” he said in a flat tone, like some sort of recording. “I’m just going to… If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be back in a moment. If you need anything, well… You know where the kitchen is, so…”

He trailed off as he stood, and avoiding all eye contact, he left the living room with a brisk stride as if he was off to a business meeting.

Kayla wasn’t entirely sure what she was feeling right that second. It was a sort of numbness that she’d never experienced before, like watching a violent movie scene on the TV with the sound turned off. Except you weren’t supposed to feel anything when you were numb, and this hurt. She sat alone in the living room, any grain of optimism that she’d had snuffed out like a candle in the wind.

CHAPTER 15

ELIO

Elio shut the door to his study, and as soon as the click of the lock echoed in the quiet room, the thoughts came rushing at him like a tidal wave.

Kayla was here; after months of thinking about her, wondering where her life had taken her, wondering if he should have fought harder to stay in touch, whether he should have fought at all, she was here. It was like magic, a dream. The universe was throwing him a second chance at maybe having something in his life that wasn’t just work, lawsuits or contracts.

But Kayla was pregnant. Very pregnant. The timeline definitely matched up, and he had been ignoring any calls from the States. Everything fit with the story she had told him, even the distress built up in her shoulders as she let the words out, watching his reaction carefully. Elio had done his best to keep his face completely blank as Kayla had spoken. Only now, in the privacy of the study, did he collapse into the chair behind his desk, resting his forehead on the smooth wooden surface of the desk itself. There was no reason to think that she was lying.

So what should he do?

He had never really considered having kids. Until Kayla had blown into his life with that storm months ago, he’d never even thought about the possibility of a relationship. Work had been all-consuming. Traveling for work. Meetings for work. Getting up early and going to bed late, all in order to work. So he had no time for a relationship, and how much his heart squeezed in his chest as he saw Kayla arrive in that boat didn’t change the laws of time. He certainly didn’t have space in his life for a child. For a whole family.

Think, Elio…

But that was the problem, wasn’t it? He was thinking too much. There were too many thoughts to sift through. So he sat there rubbing his eyes, trying to find strings of rational thought amongst the chaos and panic.

Okay. So. When Kayla had arrived in that boat, what had he been expecting? That maybe they could still start some sort of relationship? Maybe long distance even? But that was ridiculous because it still didn’t change the fact that he had no time. So even though his chest felt tight and his heart felt like it was being stained black, he ruled that out. He just wasn’t cut out for being with people. No matter how great the people might be.

So, no relationship. They couldn’t be together. He wasn’t going to expect someone like Kayla, someone who, by the sounds of it, had found her passion in life (and God, he really was so happy that she had gone into cooking because it was perfect for her), to give all of that up and what? Follow him around as he moved between Italy and the U.S.? If he was ever able to set foot back on American soil… And that was the other thing… Having quit her job and gone into the food industry, which was great, he was happy for her… but she wasn’t exactly rolling in cash, was she…

That’s when he allowed himself to face the dark, insidious thought that had been crawling around his skull ever since she set foot on that dock. Had she just come all this way for the money?

It was certainly possible. The few times Elio had stumbled into relationships in the past, his wealth had been what they were attracted to. He didn’t really seem to matter all that much. The same went for friendships and even working relationships. His father’s voice ran in his head. Money matters. Image is everything. Believe what your eyes tell you. And what his eyes were telling him was that he’d knocked up a woman (his fault, he wouldn’t shirk from that), someone in a completely different social sphere, and she’d traveled around the globe in a desperate bid to make sure that he knew about it.

So, Elio, he scolded himself. What does that look like to you, huh?

But Kayla wouldn’t do that, would she? God, he was being ridiculous! He didn’t know this woman. He’d spent a few days with her, under extreme conditions, months ago. She was as good as a stranger. He had to be brutally honest with himself and admit that of all the options, the most obvious possibility was what was actually happening.

He sank back in his chair, both depressed and relieved at the conclusion. But it was realistic. It was good business. So what now?

Well, he couldn’t just send Kayla off into the sunset with nothing. He would provide for her, of course. He had basic morals; he wasn’t just going to abandon her and the baby. He would write a check for her to take back to the States, where she could pay for the best medical care possible, and then he’d sit down with his lawyer and figure out a plan for providing for the infant throughout the next however many years. Done. Easy. Kayla would get what she needed and he would do the right thing, and they could both continue on in their respective roles in life. He just wouldn’t get to actually participate. And that was fine. It was for the best. He didn’t have time.

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