The Billionaire’s Prodigal Wife (Mackenna and Alessandro) novel Chapter 2

Mackenna trembled when she passed the woman at the gate her ticket, admitting she was frightened. In ending the marriage to Alessandro, she was admitting she had failed. She hadn’t been able to succeed at being a wife, hadn’t been able to hold onto her husband and hadn’t been able to make it work. She had given up on her marriage and was incapable of taking back her husband from a gorgeous Brazilian supermodel.

Not like it was a competition and Alessandro was a prize; he was no prize. He was the antithesis of a prize. Her marriage to him was a cost, a penalty for which she had paid much too much.

She drew a shaky breath as she boarded the aircraft and when she took her seat she was quaking like a leaf. The flight would take her almost a full twenty hours from Phoenix to Milan. Twenty hours to panic and worry somehow Alessandro knew she was coming, and he was going to meet her flight. Terrified somehow, he would convince her she was the crazy one and she would wind up on her back, in his bed and still married to him. Even with the ocean between them, she felt his s****l pull on her. She resented him for it.

She was exhausted when she arrived in Milan and more than annoyed with herself as every tall, lean, dark-haired man made her do a double take. Her heart fluttered nervously with each confirmation it was not Alessandro and his amber eyes coming to make her pay for the insult she’d bestowed on his family by walking out on him. She simply needed to get in and out of the country and since she knew from the magazine, she had read the week before, it was fashion week in Paris. He was in France, not Italy, representing his company and his label. She had planned this trip at this time for this reason. Knowing he would receive the divorce petition when she was safely back in Phoenix was the only way she felt safe.

Mackenna paused in her daydreams as she caught sight of a man she recognized, and she raced to him and flung herself into his open arms. “Nonno!” She laughed as her grandfather swung her around, lifting her clear off the ground. She hugged him tight, tears streaming down her face. “Oh, my Nonno, how I’ve missed you. I didn’t know you were meeting my plane.”

He kissed her cheeks repeatedly as he hugged her tight. “Oh, my Mackenna, I couldn’t let my only girl take the subway home.”

She laughed at his words, knowing he was proud of the company he’d worked for more than thirty years. She swung her overnight bag over her shoulder and walked tucked under his strong arm in the direction of the taxi stand. He didn’t own a car and relied on the public transportation system as did many of people who lived here.

“It is so good to see you,” he spoke happily as he escorted her into the taxi.

“I shouldn’t have stayed away so long,” she realized it now as she rested her head against his thick shoulder. “I let my imagination get the better of me perhaps.”

“Possibly,” the older man nodded quietly but he didn’t necessarily agree with the statement. He did not believe for one minute Alessandro Giordano would stop at anything to return his wife home. Even now, five years later, the man called him weekly, demanding an address he did not have. The man was obsessed with his granddaughter and although he wished it were because he loved her, he sincerely doubted it.

Alessandro had done everything in his power to ensure his marriage was kept quiet and hushed but his relationship with the model was displayed for the world to see. In his opinion he should have shown the world he was proud of his wife, not hidden her away like she was a dirty secret. As far as he was concerned, Mackenna was ten times the woman compared to Alessandro’s constant companion. Alessandro did not deserve the love his granddaughter had offered. He believed the man was a fool.

“What time is your appointment tomorrow?” He asked his granddaughter quietly.

“Nine in the morning,” she answered just as quietly as the knowledge of what she was going to do struck her. She took a shaky breath as she felt her grandfather’s hand tighten around hers. “I need to move on Nonno. It’s time.”

“I agree.” He kissed the top of her head. “You deserve happiness Mackenna. Your life has known too much sorrow and it is time for you to get on with your life and to live it the way your parents would have wanted you to.”

“I know,” she wiped a tear off her cheek. “There’s a doctor at the hospital where I work, and he asked me to dinner. I said no but he’s asked me three times since. He’s a very nice man but I want to clean up this messed-up relationship before I start on the next one.”

“You are a very smart young woman.” He commented quietly. “How do you like your job at the hospital?”

“It’s great. I really enjoy the work. It’s fun.” She smiled up at him. “I suppose I can tell you now, I’m living in Phoenix, Arizona. It’s nothing like Pittsburgh and not even close to anything like Milan but its good.” She lifted her head and looked out the window of the city she’d once called home. It was beautiful and vibrant and everything she missed when she was in Phoenix.

“Are you worried about seeing Alessandro?” He asked quietly.