The Billionaire’s Prodigal Wife
Chapter 40

Mackenna surfaced from a dreamless sleep and found herself wrapped tightly in Alessandro’s arms and his very erect body pressed very tightly to her behind as she was spooned against him. She froze unsure of what to do, half of her wanted to race to the bathroom for a cold shower and the other half wanted to turn over and take full advantage of the situation.

“Stay still Mackenna,” his husky voice was deeper than usual from sleepiness. “I need a moment otherwise my promise to wait and repair our emotional relationship before our physical one is going out the window.”

She lay perfectly still but was incredibly aware his situation was not changing behind her and in fact, appeared to be worsening.

“Alessandro,” her voice was a hush, throaty and pained.

“It’s not working,” he g*****d as he rolled out of the bed and stomped towards the bathroom.

“Seemed to be working just fine from my perspective,” she had spent too much time with Savannah as the taunt spilled out of her mouth. She watched his nearly naked body, wearing only the briefs she’d never known him to wear to bed. As he paused, he did a slow turn in her direction, and pointed a finger at her, his eyes deep with l**t. His briefs were tented and moved of their own volition as she sat up in the bed, to watch him.

“You are a temptress bent on making me suffer but I gave my word,” he took in the image of her mussed hair, rosy cheeks from sleep and eyes matching his desire and g*****d with frustration. “Temptress,” he repeated as he turned away and disappeared.

The sound of water running in the shower made her giggle as she flung herself back against the pillows. As much fun as she’d had dancing with Alessandro, she had needed the cathartic cry in his arms as well. This morning she felt for the first time she was beginning to heal and the ache in her heart seemed less intense.

The sound of his phone vibrating on the nightstand caught her ear but she ignored it, aware as a CEO his phone typically rang day and night. Then she heard her own phone ringing from her purse in the other room. She rolled out of the bed and made her way to the living space to retrieve her phone. She recognized Savannah’s number.

“Hey Savannah, what’s up?”

“Are you still with Alessandro?” She sounded out of breath.

“Yes, why?” She stopped talking when there was pounding on the door to the room. “Hold on, there’s someone at the door.” She could hear Savannah calling her name as she looked through the peephole and saw Carlos. She opened the door and let him in, and he instantly asked for Alessandro. She pointed to the bathroom.

“Mac!” Savannah was yelling now

“I’m here. What’s wrong?” She looked at Carlos who had walked right in on Alessandro in the bathroom and was speaking in hushed tones.

“I’m at work Mac and as soon as I got here, one of the nurses ran up to me. There’s a video all over the internet of Alessandro and Dulce having s*x in a hotel room. At least, she’s saying it’s Alessandro. You can’t see who the man is, but it bears a good liking to him.”

“I don’t understand,” Mackenna rubbed her hand across her eyes.

“She released the video herself. Said she was tired of everyone thinking she was a homewrecker. The video is bad. The man is insisting she sleep with him to keep her contract.”

Alessandro came out of the bathroom and stopped as he caught sight of how pale Mackenna was. “There’s no way this is me. It never happened.”

He was holding Carlos’ phone in his hand and the video was playing.

“Savannah, I have to go. I’ll call you in a bit.” She ended her call, moved to the phone, pressed play, and watched.

“Why is she doing this?” She looked to Alessandro confused.

“Mackenna, I swear to you, this is not me in this video. I know the voice sounds like mine but,” he trailed off as she stopped the video and restarted it. “Please Mackenna, listen to me.”

She reached up and touched his cheek gently, “I believe you Alessandro.”

Had she punched him in the face he would have been less surprised.

“You believe me.”

“Yes,” she shook her head. “One the voice is like yours but it’s not your voice. Two there is a specific tattoo missing from the left scapula and three,” she paused and held his gaze, “I just know in my heart you would never do anything like this to Dulce. She’s your friend and you love her, as much as I despise the woman, she is your friend and it’s against your nature to blackmail someone.”

She hit play again and then shook her head. “She used a very good likeness though.”

“I will investigate this matter,” he said urgently but she pressed her fingers to his lips.

“No Alessandro, no. No more investigating, no more asking her why, no more getting an explanation for her. I’m tired of her and I know she’s important to you,” his curse made her pause as she realized perhaps, he and Dulce were no longer on good terms. “Alessandro, let me call Camille.”

“Your viper?”

“She’s not a viper. She’s a damn good divorce attorney but her sister is a criminal prosecutor. It’s my turn to address the tabloids.”

“No, I don’t want them attacking you.” He vehemently denied her request. “I will replace another way. I am not allowing her to drag you through the mud as well. You were able to discredit the video in about ten seconds of viewing, my lawyers will do more and further, I will start a lawsuit for slander and libel.” He roughed up his hair with his fingers and grimaced. “I just don’t understand why she is doing all of this. It makes no sense.”

“She’s obviously a very sick woman,” Mackenna said gently, “but Alessandro you need to decide whether or not you will continue to play her game or wash your hands. Unfortunately, I’ve made up my mind and,” she took a deep breath, “I will not continue a relationship with you if you continue one with her.”

“Mackenna,” he reached for her arms, but she stepped back.

“No Alessandro,” she shook her head sadly. “I gave you an ultimatum in the past and I know the outcome. At the risk of going through all the heartache I did in the past, I’m repeating it. I know she works for you and she’s your employee and there’s contracts and millions of dollars on the line so I won’t ask you to sever your employment relationship, but I will not go back to being the woman I was. I won’t ever let her intrude on my personal life again.” She pointed to Carlos’ phone still in Alessandro’s hand. “She didn’t do whatever this is, to hurt you. It’s to hurt me. She did it expecting I would react and leave you.”

“Mackenna, you don’t understand.”

“I do, it would be like you saying to me to give up Savannah. The difference is Savannah is my friend as much as I am hers and she loves me as much as I love her. She would never put you through this kind of thing because she loves me, and she knows it would hurt me. Dulce is willing to sacrifice your feelings and your heart to drive me away. The thing is Alessandro, only one person can drive me away.”

“I love you,” his voice broke as he wanted to touch her, but she was already turning to leave.

Mackenna felt strangely cold and calm as she turned to grab her purse and shoved her phone in it. “I will give you time Alessandro. You gave me three months to get sorted out but I’m not so generous. You have a week to decide. I don’t want to see you until you do.”

He grabbed her then and pulled her into his arms and kissed, sliding his mouth over hers possessively and she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. As much as he took, she gave freely, kissing him with a hunger she hadn’t known she possessed and when he deepened the k**s, his fingers delving into her scalp while his tongue slipped between her lips she m****d.

Him in his towel wrapped around his lean h**s and her wearing nothing but his dress shirt, she felt his hunger for her and hers matched his. With as much strength as she could muster, she suddenly tore her mouth from his, breathing quickly and deeply.

She put her fingers to his l*p and met his eyes, dark, ever the tiger ready to pounce and she shook her head. “One week Alessandro. I don’t need three months to know if I want to be with you. I need you to sort out if you genuinely want to be with me. I won’t have her as part of my life. I just won’t.”

She stumbled out of his arms and looked at Carlos who was standing by the door as if unsure of what he should do. “Can you get me home please?”

“Of course, Signora,” he said formally.

As he held the door open, and she was ready to go through it, Alessandro’s hoarse voice called her name and she looked back at him desperately wanting him to say he didn’t need the week and he was done with the other woman.

Instead, he shook his head. “I’m sorry Mackenna. I’m sorry for all of this.”

“I know,” she forced herself not to cry in front of him and made her way through the door.

Only when she reached her tiny apartment, through the throngs of paparazzi and past Nuncio’s concerned gaze, into her tiny bedroom where she collapsed onto her bed, did she release her tears. She cried until she had nothing left to cry and then stripped out of his dress shirt and wrapped in her robe and headed to the shower.

She heard Nuncio get off the sofa, but she moved quickly, not wanting to talk to anyone and stood under the heat of the spray until her usually endless supply of hot water turned cold and even then, she stayed until she was sure her lips were blue.

She returned to her bedroom and slipped into a t-shirt and a pair of shorts. Then needing a distraction from the intrusive thoughts, she began to slowly fill up some of the packing boxes she and Savannah had picked up the day prior when they had been out shopping.

She looked over her shoulder when Nuncio knocked on her door. “Hey.”

“Are you alright?”

“Yes, it wasn’t him in the video.” Nuncio seemed surprised and she shrugged. “Alessandro has my name tattooed on his left shoulder. He got it on a whim when we were in London. Most models don’t usually get tattoos because they get photographed in the nude a lot,” she laughed, “but we’d been married about six months. He’s always taken good care to keep it covered. The video clearly shows the man from behind and while the builds are similar, there’s no tattoo.”

She paused and looked at Nuncio who smiled softly in her direction. “I told him to get rid of her or I’m done.”

His smile vanished at her words. “Mac,” he spoke quietly, “they’ve been friends for a long time. She helped him through a rough time.”

“A rough time she caused,” she reminded him and saw he nodded in agreement. “I won’t live a life with Dulce in it.”

He said nothing and she returned to packing her boxes. She had asked for a quick closing date. Funny how money made things move and she and Savannah were moving into their new place the following Saturday with her closing date on the Friday. They had so much to do in the short time.

Nuncio spoke again. “Want some tea and something to eat? You should eat.”

“I should,” she agreed with a half-smile. “I threw up my hotdog.”

He made a face and then moved to her and offered her a hug, which she returned tightly. Suddenly she smiled and leaned back. “How did last night go with Savannah? You two a thing now?”

“I don’t know,” he shook his head, “we had a great night but then this morning I woke up in the tiny bed of hers and she was gone. No note, nothing. Just gone.”

“Nuncio,” Mackenna said softly, “I will tell you as skittish as she is, she’s worth it.” She patted her bed and made him sit with her. “She’ll be mad I told you, but I love you both and I see how you are with her, so I’ll risk it.”

“She said she came from a bad home.” Nuncio nodded. “It was worse than she suggested, wasn’t it?”

“She never met her dad. He was gone before she was born. Her mom was a raging alcoholic who beat her every day until she was removed by social services at six when the school system realized what was happening and reported it. Her mom used to accuse her of trying to steal her boyfriends when she was only three or four because she was so beautiful, so she did a lot of damage, including beatings and starving her. She went from foster home to foster home until she was placed with the Kirklands when she was twelve. They were amazing people and helped get her back on track. She flourished with them but when your formative years were full of violence, chaos and days without food, trust is a hard thing to come by.” She sighed deeply at his expression. “I’m not telling you all this, so you feel sorry for her Nuncio. She’s who she is because of what she went through. She’s tough and compassionate and observant as hell. When she falls in love, she’s all in. She jumps in two feet first into the deep end and always with the wrong type. You’re the first person I’ve ever seen her hesitate with.”

“Because she doesn’t like me? Is it because I’m a man? I know she dates women sometimes.”

“No,” she laughed. “You’re missing my point, my friend. She’s taking her time with you because she’s scared, she won’t survive the fall.” She grinned. “Let’s be real, this is her place and she left you in it and she took off. Usually, she makes them play the airplane game.”

“What is the airplane game?”

“It’s when she tells them to take off.”

It took a minute before he understood the joke and then he roared with laughter. “Thank you Mackenna. You are the only person I know whose entire world could be imploding around them who would stop to help someone else. You are good person.”

“Thanks Nuncio. Now, I need a distraction from my imploding world. Want to help me pack?”