The Billionaire’s Prodigal Wife (Mackenna and Alessandro) novel Chapter 26

TRIGGER WARNING: 18+ CONTENT FOR SENSITIVE MATTERS IN UPCOMING CHAPTERS

As Mackenna and her grandparents walked through the little shops in the neighborhood where they had been hiding out for the last week, she finally felt a moment of peace. There were no false sighting of Alessandro and if he had any clue where she was, he made no attempt to discover her.

It could be he was complying with a court order, but Mackenna doubted it. His lawyer had Camille in court every single day since she'd been back in Italy with one example or another of why the court order should be dismissed or why the divorce should be tossed out of the court. He was demonstrating for the court he was an overbearing bullying man, and the judge was tiring of his antics.

Earlier today, Camille had called her laughing saying the judge ordered unless Mr. Giordano was physically in his court room to address the issues, he was no longer entertaining the nonsense of the man. The court order remained in effect and the judge warned further arguments would encourage him to extend it for the duration of the pregnancy.

Mackenna however glad she was for Camille being an amazing lawyer and representing her so well, was exhausted with the proceedings. Her heart ached for the love she had for her husband aware he had spent their marriage lying to her. He would rather the entire world think he was Dulce's lover than to ever admit he had a wife at home.

Therein lay the crux of her problem, she admitted to herself. He was so embarrassed by her she was a dirty secret swept under the rug. Yet the tabloids flaunted Dulce and Alessandro on every damn cover page as a gorgeous couple and she was supposed to simply accept it. It didn't matter she now knew the truth; Dulce was gay. Alessandro was her handbag, per Savannah's description. Mackenna was alone, pregnant, and bitter about the whole thing.

Her grandmother haggled with a man over the price of fruit and her grandfather was eyeing a small gelato shop. They were relaxed and comfortable, even though

couldn't hide here forever, as lovely as the break was.

Mackenna felt a sudden frisson of awareness, as if she were being watched and she turned her head just in time to see a man take her photo and duck into an alley. She immediately pulled her phone out and called Camille.

"Someone just took my photo," she spoke quickly. "l don't want to alarm my grandparents. What should I do?"

"Go back to the house immediately, stay there until I send someone to check it out. Are you okay?"

"Yes, just unnerved." Mackenna scoured the busy area to see if she could see the man again but her first glimpse had been so fleeting, she would never have been able to identify him. She moved to her grandfather. "I'm starting to feel a bit tired.

Can we head back?"

"Of course," he patted her hand and tucked it into the crook of his elbow. He encouraged his wife to move along, and they slowly made their way back to the house. Mackenna frequently looked over her shoulder to see if she could see the man again but saw nothing of him.

Two hours later she was resting in the back garden, reading a book she had picked up in the city, but her mind kept going back to the photographer. She decided to ring Savannah.

"It's me. Safe to talk?"

"Yes," she grunted. "I'm actually home. Dulce was being discharged today and I didn't want to be anywhere near the craziness. One of the nurses texted me and said she gave a statement at the entrance of the hospital thanking all the doctors for their help and made big production about her next steps in healing."

"Have you talked to her since you two made-outp Mackenna asked curiously.

"Nope, I'm far too selfish an individual to put myself through something like Dulce. She's so far in the closet there's cobwebs blocking her exit. Besides; she hurt you, purposefully. There was never any need for her to tell you she and Alexandro were lovers other than to bait you. There's not an excuse in the world to make her She chuckled, "no he doesn't. The cat hates me even at a distance."

"Alessandro stopped here yesterday afternoon to question me and ask if I'd heard from you and Romeo tried to climb him to get him to hold him. The whole time he was here, he stroked the damn cat and the cat purred. I almost told him to take him with him. I've never seen anything like it."

"Sadistic bastards unite?" Mackenna quipped dryly causing Savannah to roar with laughter.

"You know they're heading back to Italy today, right? Also, I should have mentioned when Alessandro was here, he said it didn't matter I wouldn't tell him anything. He hired a private detective who would find you."

"Well, that explains it." Mackenna punched the cushion of her chair angrily. Seems he found me because someone snapped my photo today in the market." "Isn't there a court order telling him to stay away from you?"

"Does Alessandro Giordano strike you as the kind of guy who obeys court orders?" Mackenna scoffed. "1 may as well just move back to my grandparents' house now."

"l miss you Mac," Savannah whispered suddenly. "l wish you could come home.

"Me too," she admitted, "l love my grandparents, but I made my life in Phoenix. I feel like I'm a burden to them. They're whole life is uprooted yet again by me. I just wish I were home. I love my baby, don't get me wrong, but if I could go back in time, I

would never have started the divorce proceedings. I would have just kept my head down and kept things the way they were."

They chatted for several more minutes and then Mackenna ended the call when she saw her grandmother approaching to tell her she had a call on the house phone. Camille.

She went inside and answered the call.

"Mackenna, I wanted to tell you, Alessandro is expected to land here late this evening."

The slew of profanities Camille uttered would have made a sailor blush, but Mackenna had lived for years with Savannah. She'd heard it all. "What do I do Camille? I don't want him descending on your family home. My grandparents are anxious to go home. Should we just bite the bullet and head back?"