Return of the Italian Tycoon

“Pam, pull yourself together and tell me what happened.” While Kayla hoped for the best, she steeled herself for a catastrophe.

“They canceled.”

Kayla sat up straight, knocking her empty water glass over. Surely she hadn’t heard correctly. “Who canceled?”

“The band.” Pam started to cry again.

Impossible. “The band quit?”

“Yes! What are you going to do?” She hiccupped.

“But they can’t just quit. We have an agreement—a contract.”

“That...that’s what I said. They said there was a clause or some sort of thing in there that let them back out.”

Kayla rubbed her forehead. This couldn’t be happening. What was she supposed to do about it all the way in Italy?

“I...I just can’t do this anymore. Everyone is yelling at me.” The sniffles echoed across the Atlantic. “I can’t.”

Oh, no. She couldn’t have Pam backing out on her, too. “Calm down.” Kayla’s hands grew clammy as she tightened her hold on the phone. “You can’t quit. The kids are counting on us. We can’t let them down.”

“But what are you going to do? You have to fix this. I can’t.”

Kayla wanted to yell that she didn’t know but that the whining wasn’t helping anyone. “I don’t know yet. What did the band say was the problem?”

“They got a contract with some big band to be the opening act on a cross-country tour. They leave before the concert.”

It’d certainly be hard to compete with a national tour. Most likely this was the band’s big break and Kayla’s heart sank, knowing that wild horses couldn’t hold them back. And to be honest, she couldn’t blame them. This was what they’d been working toward for so long now. But none of that helped her or the fund-raiser.

Kayla struggled to speak calmly. “Just sit tight. I’ll think of something.”

“You know of another band that can fill in at the last minute?”

She didn’t have a clue where to find a replacement. In fact, she’d totally lucked into that first band. A friend of a friend knew the band manager, who liked the idea of free publicity. Where in the world would she locate another band?

“I need time to think.” Kayla said, feeling as though the world was crumbling around her.

“But what do I tell people?”

“Tell them that we’ll have an announcement soon.”

Kayla ended the call. Her mind was spinning. She didn’t know how she was going to save the event. The enormity of the situation was only beginning to settle in. With no headline act, there was no point. The tickets would have to be refunded. The Inner City League after-school program would cease to exist.

All of those at-risk kids would be turned away.

No! She refused to fail them. Visions of Gina’s smiling face, Patrick’s pout when she didn’t have time to throw the ball with him and Lilly’s anxious look as she’d handed Kayla a new drawing filled her mind. And there were so many more faces—all counting on her to come through for them.

Something splashed her hand. Kayla glanced down to see a tear streak down the back of her hand. She lifted her fingers and touched her cheek, finding it damp. At that moment, she heard the door to the suite open. She took a deep calming breath and dashed the back of her hands across her cheeks.

“I’m back.” Angelo’s deep voice echoed through the large room. “Did I miss anything?”

Talk about a loaded question. “Um...no.” She struggled to sound normal as she kept her back to him. She blinked repeatedly and resisted the urge to fan her overheated face. “Nothing much happened around here.”

“You were right about approaching my brother.” He paused. “Kayla?”

“Yes.”

“Is there a reason I’m talking to the back of your head?”