The Billionaire’s Prodigal Wife (Mackenna and Alessandro) novel Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Mackenna wanted to scream with frustration at his comment. Of course, it was all Dulce‘s fault, she grimaced angrily to herself. Heaven forbid the man take any responsibility for his own actions.

She folded her arms over her chest defensively, tightly closing her fists under her armpits lest he see how much she wanted to throw the right hook she had learned in the class she took with Savannah,

She took a breath and spoke as eloquently as she possibly could through a jaw which wanted to remain clenched tightly shut. ―I saw you with your arms around her waist and dancing provocatively, grinding on each other. I thought I would be sick, and I had to look away. It was like watching a car accident and I couldn‘t not look again. I looked back and she was kissing you and not a sweet peck on the cheek, but her tongue was in your mouth. I saw you pull away and thought this was where my husband, my husband,‖ she exaggerated the last words, ―would put a stop to it. Where I would see once and for all she was nothing to you. I was such a fool

Mackenna continued furiously. ―You didn't stop her. You didn't correct her. You didn't pull away in some romantic gesture and show her your wedding ring She felt the same pain in her chest rising as if she had just lived the experience in the current moment. ―Do you remember what you did?‖ She could see from his flushed cheeks he did. ―You laughed Alessandro and then you kissed her again. You put your lips on her and kissed her right on the mouth and it wasn‘t a little friendly kiss. You put your arms around her waist, and you pulled her to your body, and you kissed her. I couldn‘t look away until the flash of a camera went off. Like waking from a bad dream

She felt her breath shake as her lungs ached with the memory. ―I left then. I went home, grabbed my passport, my purse and left She wiped a tear off her cheek angry at herself for being so weak in front of him.

―I told my grandparents what I saw. My grandfather, oh my poor grandfather. The man who lived only for me was crushed. He thought he let me down giving you permission to marry me. He saw how hurt I was. All he wanted in the moment was to make his granddaughter stop hurting She wiped furiously at her face remembering her grandfather crying at the airport.― My grandfather paid for my plane ticket to the States and when I landed in New York, I simply boarded the first plane anywhere

She lied on the last part. She didn‘t want to tell him the how desperate she‘d been to cover

friends and we moved in together

―You should have come to me in the club He would have explained things to her then, he could have stopped her from leaving. ―Had you simply come to me and talked to me instead of

running away, I would have explained

Unbridled rage coiled from deep in her stomach at his words. She would not allow him to gaslight her into believing she had done anything wrong. She wasn‘t the one who was making out with another person after leaving their bed.

―No,‖ she looked at him then, hoping he could see the anger there. ―You should never have gone to the club Alessandro She pointed at him accusingly. ―You wanted to have your cake and eat it too. Just like your grandfather. Well, it doesn‘t work like that, I don‘t work like that.

My parents and my grandparents raised me better

―You are wrong Mackenna, you should have come to me

―No!‖ She slammed her fist on the desktop and noted he jumped at her action. She was tired of being a docile little pet. ―You should have stayed in your bed with your wife instead of traipsing off with your lover. I told you to choose, you made the choice. You would rather have your tongue down her throat than be with me

She was beyond angry now and she felt the heat rising in her cheeks. ―You can contest the divorce all you want but the truth is, in the end, I'll still get it. I would have filed it before I even left if I would have had the money to do it. You asked me last month in Milan why now?

Why did I go back then? Well Alessandro it‘s taken me five years of watching every penny and

scraping by just to make ends meet so I could do this on my own. I don‘t care if it drains my savings to the last nickel, I will have my freedom from you and your mistress

―Dulce and I were never lovers, Mackenna He spoke quietly, refuting her accusation completely for the first time. ―I know the tabloids

She wished her lips didn't burn as if she‘d eaten a handful of habanero peppers from a simple peck to the lips. The desire to stomp her feet, throw herself on the floor and throw a tantrum worthy of a toddler was strangely overwhelming. He was infuriatingly frustratingly obstinate. She shrieked in frustration, grabbed the stapler off her desk and threw it across the room.

―There is no need for temper tantrums,‖ he admonished quietly. ―You will come home to Milan. You will fly back with me when Dulce is discharged

―Not in this or any lifetime She caught him leaning down for another kiss and she felt her stomach clench nervously. She stepped backwards and turned her face away from him, but his lips still brushed her cheek. ―Get out Alessandro

―I'll be back for you Mackenna. I promise you. This is not over He pointed his finger. ―I am not sure how things became so confused but I‘m certain there is a simple explanation. Then we will put this all behind us and you will come home and be where you belong, with your husband His voice was assured and controlled as he stroked her cheek before leaving her office.

As she watched him walk away, his shoulders set back, strong, and proud, his swagger and posture demonstrating his satisfaction at himself, she had to grip the doorknob to keep from running after him and flinging her arms around his neck and beg him to deny it again. To repeat he‘d never been lovers with his protégé.

Why was his insistence he‘d never taken Dulce as his lover resounding in her head like

―Because, you‘re a stupid fool,‖ she reminded herself bitterly. It had been the first time he‘d ever actually outright denied it and she knew, deep in her soul, she wanted nothing more than to believe him. In her heart of hearts, she knew whether it be five years or fifty years, she still loved him desperately and wanted nothing more than for him to love her in return.

With tears in her eyes, she locked her office door and strode down the hall once she was certain he was no longer in her view. She needed to go home, get a grip, and have a long and serious conversation with her heart about this masochist behavior it and her libido were holding onto. If she didn‘t, then there was a very real possibility, with Alessandro hounding her, she would wind up back in his arms, back in his bed and back in Milan, right beside Dulce.