The Billionaire’s Prodigal Wife
Chapter 44

The next morning Mackenna stretched in her bed and g*****d as she rolled over and looked at the time on her phone. It was nearly ten in the morning. After watching the horror movie, she had watched another one even more disturbing than the first and every noise in the new apartment had her jumping. Finally, around two in the morning, she had taken a sleeping tablet which had knocked her out.

Nuncio and Savannah had not come home by the time she’d gone to bed, and she was glad. They had needed the night out to behave as a couple and she had proved to herself she could function without turning into a panic-driven mess of tears. She was proud of herself for getting through the night and she smiled to herself.

She got up from the bed and after a quick shower she made a mental note of the things she needed to get done. She needed to do shopping and she needed to finish unpacking her room she thought as she kicked a box away from her walk-in closet.

The sound of Savannah’s raised voice made her pause. She couldn’t make out what she was saying but she grimaced at the tone. Perhaps the date night had not gone as well as she had expected it would. She decided to hide in her bedroom for a few minutes and bent and retrieved the box she had kicked moments earlier. Maybe she could empty the box before going to grab a coffee.

She went into her closet and started pulling the clothes from the box and made a face at each item she pulled out. The clothes were all from second-hand shops or sales racks and while they’d all served a purpose at one point, now, she could afford better clothing and she decided she was going to donate them all and go buy a new wardrobe.

“Retail therapy,” she thought with a grin. “A new wardrobe to start my new life.” She told Romeo who had suddenly appeared in the closet with her. “Maybe some new shoes too?” Romeo meowed loudly at her, and she grinned as it appeared he agreed with her.

The sound of footsteps in her room made her pause and she looked over her shoulder to see Savannah standing at her closet door, her face flushed with anger and her blue eyes icy and cold.

“I sent you out to have a good time, not fight,” she said to Savannah. “What is going on?”

“Nuncio and I are fine,” she waved her hand and stepped into the closet. “Dulce is in the living room.”

“Are you kidding me?” she stared incredulously. “Is Alessandro with her?”

“No, she’s on her own. She’s insisting she talk to you.” Savannah held her gaze. “If you want her gone, I’ll personally throw her a*s, possibly off the balcony to the hoards of press below.”

“Will you stay with me?” Mackenna asked suddenly, “I may need a witness if I suddenly lose my temper and throw Romeo at her face. I don’t want to be charged for destroying her face with cat claws.” Romeo meowed as if agreeing to be her weapon of choice and she bent down and scooped him up.

“Since we moved in here, he’s such a different cat,” Savannah griped as they moved from the closet in the direction of Dulce.

“I’m starting to think he likes living high on the hog,” Mackenna stroked his ears and was rewarded with a purr and a head butt to the chin. “Maybe he was used to living rich and we downgraded him.”

“Probably,” Savannah stroked the cat and got batted with a paw, “or he’s simply become your personal defense.” She paused her in the hall just before they reached the open concept of the living room, dining room and kitchen area and put her hand on Mackenna’s arm. “Mac, you just have to say the word and she’s gone.”

“I know,” she walked into the area and saw Nuncio standing with his arms folded over his chest angrily glaring down at the woman lounging on the big white sofa. She chuckled and patted his back. “Down boy,” she kissed his cheek and saw Dulce’s eyes raise at the movement.

“You k**s your bodyguard?”

“He’d take a bullet for me,” she grinned naughtily hoping what she said would get back to Alessandro, “I’d give him anything he wants.”

“Oh, someone get me popcorn,” Savannah said as she flopped into the oversized matching chair with a wide smirk.

“I would like to talk to you alone,” Dulce said seriously, eying Savannah and Nuncio with disdain.

“They are welcome here, you aren’t, so b***h, say what you got to say and then get the hell out,” Mackenna almost laughed when Romeo punctuated her statement with a hiss.

“It is private,” Dulce tried again.

“Listen, I’m going to tell them everything you said as soon as you leave anyway, you may as well just save me the trouble.”

“Fine,” the woman rolled her eyes, the gorgeous copper shade belying her exasperation at Mackenna’s attitude. “Can you at least sit, it’s bad enough with him hovering over me?”

Mackenna studied the woman and noted her skin, normally polished in a gorgeous mahogany glow was dull and she had dark circles under her eyes and her lips were pursed and tight. She forced herself not to care the woman appeared as if she was exhausted. “Why should I give a damn if you’re uncomfortable?”

Dulce pressed her fingertips into her eyes and sighed. “Do you not care I flew all this way just to talk to you?”

“Not really, no.” Mackenna saw Savanah’s lips twitching from the corner of her eye and her own moved. She felt powerful for the first time in her life, and it felt good. “Spill it Dulce so we can all get on with our day. I have better things to do than listen to you, for example my toilet needs to be cleaned.”

Savannah guffawed then and Nuncio turned his back, his shoulders shaking as he moved to look out the closed balcony doors.

“I never wanted to hurt you,” Dulce said suddenly, her voice whispered. “Salvatore was blackmailing me.”

“Uh-huh,” Mackenna shrugged, “I figured that.”

Dulce’s head snapped up. “You knew?”

“Just since yesterday when you gave your statement. It makes sense. I couldn’t imagine why for the life of me you felt so threatened by me all this time and then when the statement mentioned blackmail, I knew it wasn’t just the i***t who murdered my grandparents and my baby.”

At the last words, Dulce’s eyes flicked to Mackenna’s stomach, and she closed her eyes. “I’m so sorry about your family Mackenna. I knew he hated you, but I never thought he’d go to such lengths.”

“You should have told Alessandro,” Mackenna shrugged, “you could have told him years ago, he would have taken care of it, and we wouldn’t be here.”

“I have a daughter.”

Mackenna didn’t miss Savannah’s gasp or Nuncio’s slow turn back in the direction of Dulce, who was picking imaginary lint off her perfectly fitted skirt.

“No way,” Savannah gritted through her teeth. “You’re as gay as they come.”

“When I was fifteen, I had a girlfriend.” Dulce whispered, obviously struggling to recount the story, “Her father and brother found out and decided it was my fault and I needed to be punished.”

Mackenna, put Romeo onto the glass coffee table and sat at the far end of the sofa and wrapped her hands around her stomach as a feeling of nausea waved over her.

Dulce continued. “I got pregnant because of their punishment. My family is deeply religious so being gay was bad enough but having an abortion was out of the question. My mother’s sister and her husband had been trying for years to have a child and couldn’t. We did a sealed adoption. I get to see my daughter; she thinks I’m her cousin and she’s very well loved.”

She took a breath, “the first week I was in Milan, Salvatore cornered me. He found out about Yara and showed me a photo on his phone of a man at her daycare with a gun pointed at my girl.” She wiped a tear rolling down her cheek, “he told me I would do what he said, or she was dead, and he would kill my aunt and uncle as well. He also told me I was never allowed to date a woman again because it would look poorly on the company and if I did, she was dead.” She looked to Savannah, “it’s why I freaked out. I was so scared he would kill her.”

Nuncio’s curse filled the room.

“For nearly six years, he forced me to do so many things, including being his lover,”

“The man in the video was Salvatore,” Mackenna’s voice was hoarse.

Dulce grimaced, “I had hoped when it got released Alessandro would recognize him and he did, eventually.” She offered a smile to Mackenna, “I knew you would know it wasn’t him right away. He said you didn’t even hesitate and knew it wasn’t him.”

“The build was wrong, the voice was wrong, and the tattoo was missing,” Mackenna shrugged as if it was not a strong feat to sort out.

“They are the same height, walk very similarly and their voice carries the same inflection,” Dulce countered. “I released it hoping it would get discredited and Salvatore was pissed off I had the video. I told him I was desperate because you weren’t going away. I told him nobody would be able to tell the difference. He bought it completely and even said he wanted the full video for his collection.”

“He’s an i***t, I hate him so much.” Mackenna clenched her fists.

“I hate him too. Alessandro came with me to the police station on Saturday and helped me file a report. He’ll be charged with rape, blackmail and coercion.” Dulce’s breath was shaky. “Your husband is a good man Mackenna. He never left my side until yesterday when we did the press conference. I haven’t seen him since.”

Mackenna regarded the woman critically, “is this why you’re here? You thought he would be here?”

“No,” she shook her head, “he said you gave him a week and he missed his deadline. His family murdered your only remaining family and your baby. I asked him yesterday if he was coming back to you and he said he couldn’t put you through another day of the torture the Giordano House had inflicted. Mackenna, he’s devastated and hurting but he said the only way to protect you is to stay away.”

Mackenna exhaled slowly as she stared at the floor, feeling dizzy and her chest tightening. This was not the time for a panic attack and yet she felt unable to stop it from starting. He was staying away because he felt guilty. He wasn’t coming back.

“Mac,” Nuncio moved to her as Romeo jumped up beside her on the sofa and began nudging her arm with his head.

“What’s wrong with her?” Dulce whispered, a frightened tone to her voice.

“Panic attacks,” Savannah said as she moved to kneel in front of Mackenna as Nuncio stood beside the sofa and rubbed her hand between his. “Since the car accident. She had a pretty bad one last weekend when the prosecutor called her.”

“Ten,” Mackenna started counting backwards as the dizziness threatened to envelop her completely, “nine,” she whispered slowly, trying to remember what came next. She paused and heard Savannah coax her to say “eight,” she felt Romeo nudge himself onto her lap and she dug her fingers into his fur, “seven,” Nuncio’s hands moved to her shoulder and rubbed her shoulder briskly. When she finally got to one, she felt her breath even out and she exhaled slowly again one more time.

“Is she okay?” Dulce asked quietly.

“I’m fine,” Mackenna’s voice croaked as she flicked a glance to the woman. “Having a panic attack doesn’t make me weak, it just means my brain is healing,” she glared at the woman as if daring her to deny what she said. “Why did you come here today, Dulce?”

“I came to say I’m so sorry for all I’ve done. I know you can never forgive me, and I understand why. I would not be able to forgive me if I were in your shoes. I also came to say, I will stay away from Alessandro. He has been my best friend and has been the brother I never had growing up. I’ve always been so distrustful of men, but he’s always been a gentleman and a true friend and so,” she sobbed as she spoke, “I will walk away from him because he deserves his happiness, and he loves you. I beg of you go to him and make it work. I will never interfere. I will continue my contract with the company for as long as they will have me, but I will limit all interaction with him. He’s my friend and I love him enough to know he needs you so much more than he needs me.”

“Well s**t,” Savannah sat back on her heels and looked at the woman in awe. “Who would have thought you had a heart inside all your superficial exterior.”

Mackenna interrupted. “I can’t.”

Dulce gasped. “Why?”

“I called him, and he never called me back. I left him a message on his voice mail, told him I loved him and asked him to call me back and he didn’t.”

“But he missed your one-week deadline,” she protested.

“I called him after the deadline,” she saw Dulce’s eyes open widely. “I didn’t care about you, I just needed to know he was okay, and he never called me back. He never called me to tell me about his grandfather, he never warned me I’d be getting a call from the prosecutor, and then not once has he called me to ask if I’m all right,” she shook her head sadly. “No, Dulce, I appreciate your gesture, but the writing is on the wall. If he cared for me even a fraction, he would have returned my call. He did not.”

She set Romeo on the floor as she continued to regard the woman, “I forgive you, Dulce. I would have done anything to protect my child and so I understand. It will take me a long time to forget but I will work on it. If he needs you, you should go to him.” Mackenna felt the tears streaming down her cheeks, unable to stop them.

The room was silent as Mackenna stood up with the intention of heading back to her bedroom, the need to be alone and process everything suddenly overwhelming. “I need to go lay down,” she whispered to Savannah.

As she tried to navigate around her friend still sitting on the floor and the cat at her feet, her toe caught the edge of the new area rug and she tripped. She felt Nuncio grab for her, but she was already falling, arms outstretched into the new glass coffee table. She heard shattering glass as Dulce screamed and then there was nothing but blackness.