The Billionaire’s Prodigal Wife
Chapter 35

Mackenna sat in her office on Tuesday and g*****d as her leg cramped under her desk. She leaned down and massaged her calf, cursing herself for showing off so much on Sunday during her hike. She was paying for it now two days later with muscles protesting every move she made. Her only consolation was the other four members of her hiking party were in far worse condition than she was.

Alessandro had called her the night before from his hotel room to call her a masochist and then to tell her he was resting in the jacuzzi tormenting her she had a stand-up shower and no place to soak. At no point did he make any s****l inuendo to share his tub and Mackenna admitted to herself she missed when he flirted outrageously with him. More than once, she told herself this was what she wanted to combat the sadness she was feeling.

Today he’d offered the use of his car so she and Savannah could go check out a couple of condominiums in the area. He had meetings he was attending remotely and wouldn’t need the car. He was giving her space and respecting her boundaries.

Her cell phone rang in her purse, and she pursed her lips as she recognized his number. “Alessandro, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

He gave a laugh, “well it’s a better greeting than some I’ve had as of late.”

“I’m too sore to be argumentative today.” She admitted with a laugh. “I keep getting a charley-horse in my calf. I’m so grateful for my ballet flats today.”

“Your shoes are ugly,” he said matter-of-factly before changing the subject. “I wanted to talk to you about something, but I’m concerned you will lose your temper. Do you have time to see me for a few minutes before you and Savannah go condo-hunting?”

She was still surprised he had not balked at her getting a new apartment with Savannah, entirely expecting he would tell her there was no use since he expected her to return to Milan. Instead, he had voiced his encouragement of the move and offered the use of his vehicle and his legal team for contract review if needed.

“Um, sure. How mad is this going to make me? I was in a pretty decent mood.”

“I’m praying I’m overthinking, and you will be agreeable but I’m trying to aim low,” his chuckle was teasing. “I am outside. I will be there in a few minutes.”

She spent the next couple of minutes shuffling papers around her desk no longer able to concentrate on the work in front of her and gave up as she waited for his knock on the door. She stood up and opened the door and saw him striding down the corridor with an annoyed look on his face. “Another crowd out there?”

“It is fine, I know they will eventually tire of chasing us,” he motioned for her to precede him into her office. He waited until she was seated and then he took a seat opposite her.

“You look like you could use a cigarette,” she gave a wry smile, “what is wrong?”

“Who knew giving up smoking would be so hard?” he shook his head ruefully, “Nothing is wrong, but I have a proposal for you and while I very much want you to accept it, I fear you will yell at me and throw me out of your office.”

“Oh dear,” she folded her hands neatly atop her desk. “Just get to the point then. Rip the bandage off as it were.”

“I want to pay you a monthly allowance.” Instantly he noted she shook her head already refusing his offer, but he held up his hand. “Hear me out.”

“I can take care of myself,” she said trying to remain calm.

“I am very much aware you can, you have demonstrated this without a doubt.” He spoke quietly. “However, when we married you signed a prenuptial agreement. Do you remember?”

“Yes,” she nodded. His lawyers had insisted on it, and she hadn’t been offended in the least by the suggestion.

“The agreement stated if the marriage failed, then you would be entitled to a monthly sum. There is no doubt in my mind the marriage failed, and I know you agree.” He saw her bite her l*p and look away uncomfortably. “You wouldn’t have left the country and filed a divorce if it hadn’t failed, correct?”

“Yes,” she felt the bile rising in her throat. Hearing him admit the marriage was a flop hurt more than it should.

“Then by all accounts, you are entitled to the sum for each month we have been apart.”

“Alessandro, I don’t need your money.”

“I know you don’t. You have lived modestly for many years.” He scratched his head as he tried to censor his words. “It is admirable. I understand why you have had to live as you have. I know you were trying to save the money to be able to say you did it all without any help from me. Mackenna, at the very least, you deserve every single penny outlined in our pre-nup. I beg you to allow me to instruct my accountant to transfer the money owed to you.”

“Did the pre-nup not say if we divorced?”

“No,” he gave a chuckle, “I read it myself. It clearly says if the marriage fails.” He reached into his pocket, pulled an envelope, and passed it to her. “This is a copy. You can read it if you like.”

“I don’t need it though,” she shook her head.

“Need it or not, you are entitled to it. Every penny of it.” He shifted in his seat. “Any other woman would have contested the agreement considering the hell you’ve been through and asked for so much more. It is your money Mackenna. It is a legal and binding agreement, and I would very much like you to take advantage of it.”

“Oh,” she was dumbfounded, unable to come up with a single argument against his words.

“This would allow for you and Savannah to look at places a bit more secure than the ones you’re looking at now,” he saw her open her mouth, but he spoke quickly to cut her off, “and it would allow Nuncio to sleep better at night.”

“Nice,” she commented sarcastically, “bring my best friend and my brother from another mother into it.”

He spread his hands open, “I am merely making a point your security guard is spending many a night with one eye on a thin door and he would rest better if you were in a more secure building. I know with your current budget you are likely to get a much better place than you have now but with the money owed to you,” he made sure to use the word owed to convince her, “you could potentially replace something a bit more becoming of a business professional and a doctor.”

“Can I think about it?”

“What is there to think of?” he moved his shoulders in his jacket as if he were trying to stay calm and not provoke her. “It is in black and white in a legal and binding document.”

“I just never,” she rubbed her forehead in confusion, “I never cared about your money Alessandro. I don’t feel I’m owed this.”

His smile was easy as he nodded. “I know. You married me for my body, not my wallet.”

“Oh you,” she tossed a pen at him from her desk.

“I have one other request,” he said suddenly once he realized she was truly contemplating what he was saying.

“This isn’t enough?”

“A car,” he held up his hands against his chest as she furrowed her brow at him. “I need to fly back to Milan and I do not like the idea of leaving you and Savannah without a car. I know you won’t use a car service. With the press around all the time, if you’re exiting a secured parking garage to arrive here at the hospital’s secure parking garage, it would simply be much safer. If you’re not keen on driving, Nuncio is staying behind and he can drive the car to and from. If you’re moving from your current neighborhood to a more affluent one, it will be a bit away from here. It means you either walk a longer distance or you can drive.”

He was making sense and it irked. “Why are you going back to Milan?”

“I have been able to work remotely but there are some things I need to do firsthand in my actual office. I also want to grab my older portfolios. I have a new project I’m working on and there was a specific creation I’d done some time ago and of course it’s in a sketchbook I don’t have.”

“You’re flying to Milan for a sketchbook?”

He chuckled at her question. “No Mackenna, I’m flying to do work at my own office. It is great to come up with ideas, to sketch them out but I also need to touch the fabric, see things up close. I also run a multi-billion-dollar company and I have stakeholders and members of a board I need to meet with in person. I have my calendar set with meetings for twelve hours a day for the next four days. I’ll leave in the morning and be back by Sunday.”

He studied her intently and then spoke quietly. “Ask the question Mackenna.”

She despised he saw through her so easily but couldn’t stop herself. “Will you go to her?”

“No,” he shook his head, not surprised by the look of shock on her face. “I am terribly angry with Dulce right now. The last thing I need to do is fire her in the heat of the moment. She is a valuable asset to the company. She is being managed by lawyers and my VP, but I am maintaining my distance.”

“I’m sorry, it’s really none of my business, I just can’t help myself where she’s concerned.” Mackenna’s voice was clogged with emotion.

“Hey,” he commanded her to look across the desk at her, “it is absolutely your business. Our relationship, we both agree is a mess right now, and she is at the heart of the mess. I promise you to be open and honest. If you have a question, then ask it of me. We cannot repair anything without trust.”

“Thank you,” she felt tears welling. “I’m feeling really overwhelmed.”

He stood up then. “Well, all I need is you to agree to a car and a deposit to your account and I will leave you to work.”

“Okay,” she nodded absently, aware he was leaving in the morning to fly back to Milan.

“Excellent,” he took her word as affirmation she agreed to his offers and before she could correct him, he was making his way out of her office. “My accountant will call you shortly. I’ve given him your number already. He’ll need your banking information.”

With that he was strolling out of her office, and she was staring at his retreating back. Watching him leave, knowing she wouldn’t see him again for at least four days made her heart ache in the most maddening way. She wasn’t supposed to care about what he was doing or where he was going.

Yet, since the night he’d simply sat, drank tea, and read books with her, she was acutely aware he was trying. While she knew he was taking baby steps, part of her missed the throw-her-over-the-shoulder caveman antics he was known for.

She wanted to refuse his offers but everything Alessandro had said was logical and rational and she wondered if it was simply a new tactic to getting what he wanted. In the past he would have ordered it done and insisted she comply and to hell with the consequences. Today he had been respectful, considerate and spoke his thoughts without losing his cool.

She was certain he couldn’t have even been to his car yet when her phone rang, and his accountant was calling with the request for her banking information.

An hour later, she was still staring incredulously at her bank balance when Savannah poked her head into her office to collect her for their apartment hunting.

“What’s wrong?” Immediately she stepped into the office and closed the door.

Mackenna threw her phone at her, open to her banking app.

“Um, it’s an awful lot of zeroes,” Savannah gripped the back of the chair. “Did the bank make a huge mistake?”

“Turns out the pre-nup I signed wasn’t just to protect Alessandro but also to protect me,” she shook her head again. “His accountant has deposited the money for every month we have been apart, plus interest.”

“Shut the front door,” Savannah eyed her seriously. “You’re kidding me.” Her eyes were round. “There’s over two million dollars in your bank account.”

“Yeah,” Mackenna rubbed her chest uncomfortably. “I never read the pre-nup back then. I was so naïve I thought it was about protecting him from me. Never dawned on me it worked both ways. I’ve never given it another thought until he showed up here today.”

“But doesn’t it usually only work if you get divorced?”

“Ha,” she made the sound, but it scarcely resembled a laugh, “I asked the very same question and was told the wording is “if the marriage failed” and he gave me a copy, so I went through it. It’s in Italian and my reading of the language isn’t great but it seems to be correct.”

“Now what?” Savannah asked curiously. “I feel like you should talk to a lawyer or an accountant or something about investments.”

“Right,” she nodded, still shell-shocked. “I should.” She looked at her friend suddenly. “I’m paying off your student loans.”

“No way,” Savannah put her hands up defensively. “This is your money.”

“I bloody well won the lottery and if the roles were reversed you would do it.”

“Mac, I have over a hundred thousand dollars in student debt.”

“Tomorrow you won’t. Not up for discussion. I will never spend this much money in a lifetime, and you are my sister and the only family I have left. I am sharing this with you, and you have no choice in the matter.” It was Savannah’s turn to sit down in shocked silence. “Alessandro told me you and I should get a place a business professional, and a doctor would be expected to live in.”

Savannah looked at her. “He didn’t try to tell you we shouldn’t get a place together because he wants you back in Milan?”

“Weird right?” She was reeling but she was glad to see her friend was as stunned as she was. “So, let’s look at places befitting a doctor and a business professional.”

“Okay,” Savannah said quietly.

“Okay,” she responded. Neither of them moved.