Page 5 of The Billionaire's Bad News Baby

Despite the fact that Kayla wouldn’t come out on top and would probably end up ordering Thai food just like her mom had said, Kayla opened her mouth to argue and was rudely interrupted by her phone.

Tony’s number. Great. More work. Kayla groaned as she reached for the phone.

“Honestly, honey, you’d be happier folding shirts at this point?—”

“Ma! Hello, Tony, how are you?”

Tony Whitman was one of the best lawyers in New York, both the city and the state, and probably one of the best in the country. And Kayla was his number one go-to for telling people they were about to have a very bad time.

“I’ve got an exciting one for you, kid,” he said, traffic blaring in the background, and she assumed he must be power walking through the city somewhere.

“Exciting?” Kayla asked, feeling her eyebrows rise skeptically even if he wasn’t there to see it. “That’s not usually a word I’d use.”

“It’s a big client, and it’s going to be a big case…”

“Look, Tony, I really…” Maybe now wasn’t the best time to halfheartedly quit, but was there ever going to be a good time?

“Don’t tell me you’re already booked,” Tony said with mock hurt. “Come on, I need my most creative field agent out there. This guy is already being slippery. He’s completely dropped off the map.”

“So how am I supposed to find him?”

“Because you’re amazing.”

“Flattery is great and all, Tony, but unless you actually know where he is?—”

“How does Italy sound?”

That gave her pause. “What?” Even Liz looked over, curious, hearing the change of tone in her voice.

“He owns property out there, dual citizenship. The first sign of smoke and he was on a plane out of the country to escape the fire. Which is why I need you to be the one to serve the papers. You’ve got the smarts to get creative if you need to, and you’re so stubborn that I know you won’t give up either.”

“You’re really leaning into the flattery angle, aren’t you?” Kayla said dryly.

“Is it working?”

Kayla sighed, hating herself for folding so easily.

“That’s what I like to hear,” Tony said triumphantly, knowing her well enough by now that she didn’t even need to say the word “yes.”

“I’ll email you tickets and line up accommodation. If you need anything else, just call me. Okay, kid?”

“Yup. Will do.” She hung up feeling a strange mixture of dejected and thrilled.

“What was that about?” Liz asked, looking through a menu for the local Thai restaurant, her phone in hand.

Kayla swiveled in her chair to better look at her. “I just got asked to go to Italy to serve papers.”

Liz’s eyebrows shot up to her hairline. “That’s exciting. You’re going, right? You better go or I’ll disown you.”

“I’m going,” Kayla said with a smile, the feeling of dejection fading faster and faster as the reality of it sunk in. “But it’s a work trip, Ma. Work. So don’t expect a whole bunch of happy snaps and touristy photos, okay?”

Liz shrugged, unperturbed. “I’m glad you finally get to set foot there. It’ll be good for you to go there, even if it is for work.”

Liz had never kept her dad and his heritage a secret, even if Kayla had never met the man. Fatherhood wasn’t in the cards for him, it seemed, so Liz had raised Kayla by herself. But Liz had also been stubborn about keeping Kayla informed about her ancestry. If ever there was a school project about different countries, she’d encourage Kayla to research Italy, to learn more about the place, to take Italian in high school even though Kayla had now forgotten half of what she’d learned because she’d never had a use for it. Well… she had a use for it now, it seemed.

“I’ll be boring and have a red curry,” she said, pushing her computer away.

Liz’s grin was smug as she placed the order. Kayla stood to go and find her suitcase. If this was going to be her last time serving papers, there were worse places to do it than Italy.

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