Page 34 of The Billionaire's Bad News Baby

Okay then. That was decided. He pushed himself up from his chair feeling not much of anything. Most of him had returned to that bizarre numb state that he’d entered as Kayla had caught him up on the events of the last six months. He felt outside of his body, but it was better than the chaos and panic of a few minutes beforehand. Right? Right.

He smoothed out his suit jacket and smoothed out any lingering thoughts left on his face, back to the cool, calm exterior that showed he meant business and made his way from the study back to the living room.

Kayla was nowhere to be seen, the room completely empty. Had she gotten cold feet and left? But no, Elio could see the dock from the window and the boat she’d arrived in was still there, with the helmsman flicking through his phone while leaning against the side of the hull. She had looked a little unsteady on her feet. Maybe she’d gone to lie down. He wouldn’t put it past Kayla to let herself into the guest wing and go lay down on the bed.

He made a beeline for the rooms on the eastern side of the house, letting himself in and finding… nothing. Kayla wasn’t there, and it didn’t look like anyone at all had been there in days.

The kitchen? Maybe she was hungry? Maybe he should have offered her something to eat and drink… She was pregnant, for God’s sake. He definitely should have offered her something, not to mention she’d loved being in the kitchen so much when she had stayed here with him during the storm. But Elio stormed into the kitchen and there was no Kayla. Instead, Gianna and Isabella, who had been deep in conversation, looked up at him in surprise, Isabella’s piping bag frozen in mid-air.

“Sir?” Gianna asked, her head tilted to the side.

“You haven’t seen an American woman with curly blond hair come through here, have you?” he asked, out of breath for some inexplicable reason. It almost felt like panic.

Gianna and Isabella shared a glance with each other but shook their heads.

“No, Mr. Morelli,” Isabella said. “It’s just been us this whole time.”

“Right,” Elio said. “Sorry to burst in. I’ll just keep looking.”

“Sir?” Gianna called. “Is everything all right?”

“Just let me know if you see her at all, please,” he said, and then left promptly before they could ask any more questions. The feeling in his chest wasn’t panic, definitely not, but it sure was starting to feel uncomfortable.

Moving through the house, Elio poked his head through every door on the first floor, finding nothing. He dismissed the second floor altogether, given how off-balance Kayla had been just walking on a flat surface. Desperate, he headed outside. Fresh air, that was it. She must have gone outside to get some fresh air.

He circled the house, checking the patio and the dock again. Then he saw a flash of blond curls amongst the green of the edge of the vineyard, and he changed direction. The tightness in his chest instantly loosened as she properly came into view, further away than he’d first thought. Having her vanish like that, like a puff of smoke, Elio didn’t know why it had set him on edge so badly. He was just concerned for her, that was all. She’d had a long trip. Really, that’s all it was.

In the vineyard, Kayla was sitting on the ground amongst the grapevines, only looking up as he was right on top of her and… and she didn’t look well at all.

“Are you all right?” he asked, crouching down next to her. His hand hovered over her shoulder, wanting to touch her and soothe her, but still not sure if that was the best idea.

Despite the fact she looked slightly green, she nodded with a very fake smile. “Yeah, I just needed to get some air, and it was so nice here when you brought me before, so…”

Her sentence trailed off because she was too out of breath to keep talking, as if she’d just run a marathon. Elio knew you could get winded when you were pregnant, and he knew you could get tired and need to sit down and get some air. But this was something else. The dread in his chest was back with a vengeance and alarm bells were ringing in the back of his head. Any thoughts about offering her a paycheck were quickly drowned out.

“I think we should get you inside, okay?” His voice was gentle as he took her arm and helped her up. She didn’t protest, saying nothing at all, as he pulled her up. Not to mention, she was far too listless for Elio’s liking.

“Come on,” he said, trying to catch her attention and get her to look at him because right now she seemed so far away, her gaze unfocused on the ground. “It’s too hot out here for pregnant people, all right? If you need air, there are plenty of balconies. You’re too adventurous for your own good.”

Finally, Kayla looked up at him, and Elio thought he could see some color in her face. Then, without warning, her eyes rolled back and she went limp, crumpling in slow motion as she fainted.

There weren’t any thoughts after that, only instinct. Elio caught her, one arm wrapped around her shoulders as she fell to earth while his other arms scooped her up under the knees in one smooth motion. Her hair was in his face, the sun in his eyes, but his legs knew where to go, working on muscle memory alone. He could run, but that would only jostle Kayla. It would only make things worse, so he headed for the villa with long, steady strides.

It didn’t matter that he was walking unbalanced, up a hill, littered with roots and rocks from the vineyard. Nothing mattered except getting Kayla inside and laid down. Nothing mattered other than getting a doctor here now. Elio wasn’t panicking. Between Kayla’s surprise arrival and pregnancy, and now this, he was too numb to panic. But he still avoided looking at her hanging limp in his arms, at how pale her skin had turned and how her head hung motionless against the crook of his elbow. If he was going to start panicking, it would be if he focused too much on how ill Kayla was looking. So he didn’t. All he needed to focus on was getting to the villa. Nothing else existed.

As he reached the door, arms still full and with Kayla showing no signs of regaining consciousness, Elio kicked the door as hard as he could in lieu of knocking.

“Gianna!” he shouted, loud enough to be heard by her deep in the house, kicking the door again for good measure. He never shouted at the staff, ever. Especially Gianna, who jumped at loud noises and only wanted everyone to be happy. So to suddenly hear him shouting her name, Gianna appeared at the door in record time, eyes wide and getting wider as she looked upon Kayla, unconscious in his arms.

“Call Dr. Albero,” he said.

Gianna didn’t hesitate, running back off into the house and presumably grabbing her phone because it wasn’t long before Elio heard her talking very fast in Italian. He caught snippets of the conversation as Gianna followed behind him to the guest suite; how a young lady who was pregnant had fainted, how she looked pale as a ghost, how the good doctor should get here as fast as possible.

Inside the suite, Elio laid Kayla down on the chaise longue underneath a window that he opened quickly, letting fresh sea air wash over her. His fingers were cramping the instant he let her go. Had he really gripped Kayla that hard the entire way here? She wasn’t going to bruise, was she? And she really was as pale as a ghost… Even her lips were white.

Gianna, usually so quiet and soft that Elio barely noticed her presence as she worked, burst back into the room and scuttled Elio off to the side. She laid a damp cloth against Kayla’s face and neck, washing the skin softly, the cloth smelling so strongly of lavender oil that the scent immediately filled the room.

Whatever Gianna was doing seemed to work because finally, finally, Kayla’s eyes started to flutter beneath their closed lids. Her breathing became deeper, and the faintest hint of color crept back into her face. Elio sagged against the wall in relief. He really thought… she had really looked…

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