The Billionaire’s Prodigal Wife (Mackenna and Alessandro) novel Chapter 32

"Let me get this straight?" Savannah was leaning on the kitchen island, half perched on the stool, half sitting, an icepack to her forehead with a giant glass of water in front of her staring in amazement at her friend. "He came here. Admitted he was an asshole. Said he was in counseling. Asked to be friends and not friends with benefits, just friends and then he made you tea and you sat in our living room barely speaking until midnight reading books about grief?"

"Yup," Mackenna understood her friend's incredulity because she was right there with her. It had been truly bizarre behaviour from her husband.

"1 don't get it," Savannah grimaced as she sipped more of the water. "Is this for one day and then when he sucks you back into a feeling of comfort, he'll kidnap you and drag you to Milan kicking and screaming?"

"He said three months," she reached out with a laugh and closed Savannah's gaping mouth. "Three months with s*x off the table," she clarified and giggled at Savannah's wide eyes.

"He must be desperate." Savannah said suddenly. "Let's face it Mac, you're a catch. He knows he lost a great thing. He's going to try whatever it takes. You agreed?"

"What do I have to lose?" She shrugged. "l can't go any lower than I am now and he sure as hell can't hurt me any more than he already has. He told me the ball is in my court."

"Swing away," Savannah said pretending she was slicing a ball with a tennis racket.

"I'm not sure," Mackenna admitted quietly. "If it weren't for him, my grandparent would still be alive. He hired that maniac."

"l understand. I'd be torn as well. He certainly didn't instruct the guy to act like a fiend though. I know how much you love him Mac but the things he's done, I don't know if I could forgive it either." She pushed away from the counter and groaned. "l can't believe I agreed to go in early. I need to go shower and try to wash some of this hangover down the drain."

"Portman was making out with one of the new triage nurses. She's a clinger.

He's never getting her off him. I'd bet my last dollar she already has the names of the two children and their dog and the street name of the house she wants with the white picket fence."

Mackenna smiled sadly. "1 hope she makes him happy."

"You would have made him happier," Savannah griped. "l bet you could go to him right now and he'd be all in."

"Except Alessandro put enough money into the orthopedic wing Portman probably thinks he needs to bend over the operating table for him," Mackenna grimaced. "It was an obscene amount of money."

"It was the least he could do considering his BFF turned the entire ward in a three-ring circus." Savannah griped.

The sound of scuffling in the hall made them both grimace. Mackenna looked at her. "I'll look today online. I have enough money in my savings since I didn't have to pay Camille to put a good down payment on a condo or even buy one outright." "l can probably almost double what I'm paying now in rent and utilities so between us, we should be solid."

"I'll set up some visits for our lunch hour tomorrow if we can."

"Mac, I trust you, if you find a place for us out of the cave we are living in now, I'm happy with it."

She laughed at Savannah's words. "You say it but then when I take the bigger bedroom, you'll throw a fit."

"1 will," Savannah grinned, "l have a lot of scrubs I need to hang in my closet."

She heard Nuncio turning his key in the lock. "There's my cue, I'm out."

"Chicken," Mackenna teased her, but Savannah simply lifted her middle finger behind her head and vanished into the bathroom.

Nuncio walked into the area and grimaced at Savannah's retreating back. "What time did she get in?"

”You make worse coffee than you do food," Nuncio refused. "There's a huge congregation outside and I had to throw one of the paparazzi out of the hall. Your neighbor upstairs is furious."

She rolled her eyes. "l didn't bring them here."

"No, but they don't care. If this keeps up, I'll be protecting you against the photographers and irate people in your building."

"Tell him to go back to Italy, they will follow him, they don't care about me." She shrugged as she sipped her coffee. He was right, she did make terrible coffee. She set the cup down on the counter hating the Italian men in her life were ruining her simple pleasures.

"They have a taste for you Mackenna, they are like piranha with blood. One taste is enough to start a frenzy. All it took was Alessandro leaving here in the early hours this morning and they are camped out with hopes of a reconciliation story." He held her gaze seriously. "It isn't safe for you to leave here unescorted at all."

"Well, what do you want me to do?" She saw him open his mouth, "and don't say go to the hotel with Alessandro."

"I'm just saying it would be much easier to keep you safe if you were in a safer building." He pulled at his hair. "What if you took a room in the same hotel as Alessandro. I know he will pay for it, and I will have better access to the rest of the security team."

"No, I'm not leaving my apartment to go live in a hotel, and I don't care who pays for it."

He pointed at her in frustration. "You are a very stubborn woman."

"l know, I get it from my mother and grandmother. They were the same." She smirked. "Any other suggestions?"

"Move? Preferably a high rise building with security doors and elevator access with only a key?" He knew he was dreaming large.