The Billionaire’s Prodigal Wife (Mackenna and Alessandro) novel Chapter 33

She stood breathing angrily in the middle of her bedroom and then took her phone to the living room and sat on the edge of the sofa. She immediately called the number Alessandro had programmed into her phone months ago.

He answered on the first ring, sounding breathless. "Mackenna, what's wrong." "How did Dulce get my number?" she couldn't be bothered with pleasantries.

"l have no idea. Are you suggesting she called you?"

"Suggesting? No, I'm telling you. Why do you always ask me if I'm suggesting something when I'm telling you something!" she screamed at him through the tiny device.

"I'm sorry Mackenna, it's only a turn of phrase, please take a breath and tell me what happened. Why are you so upset?" his voice was soft and soothing.

The desire to run to him and have him tell her everything would be fine was overwhelming and she wanted to cry with the frustration of her life. "She just called me to inform me you both stayed up all night having long-distance sex."

"Mackenna, I was with you,"

As he started to explain, she cut him off. "l know Alessandro, I know you didn't have virtual s*x with her because you were here. I'm not so stupid I can't tell time." "l would never suggest you to be stupid," he replied gently.

She put her hand over her eyes. "Alessandro, why the hell is she calling me?" "l don't know. I am unsure of her end game here," he tried to reassure her.

"You know what I don't care of the why or the what-for. Call your little b* * *h off. If she calls me again, I'm going to start a lawsuit for harassment. I will call Camille and have her do her worst to the b* * *h and your damn company for putting her in my life!" She furiously hung up the phone before he could say another word. She threw the phone and it bounced off the sofa onto the floor. She stood up picked it up and threw it again at the sofa and it stayed put. She stomped her foot for good measure.

She was still steaming angry, furiously pacing in her living room trying to calm down when she heard Nuncio come back to the apartment twenty minutes later and he wasn't alone. She glowered at the man on his heels. She held her finger up at

Alessandro walked across to where she paced in her living room. "Mackenna, I would like for you to do a favor for me. Call her back but do not tell her I am here."

"What? Why?" She was confused. Every other time she had told him of this crazy behaviour he had not believed her. Today he was standing in front of her asking her to call her back.

"She thinks I am in the yrn at the hotel. In fact, I told her I was going to a very long run on the treadmill not an hour ago. I was on the treadmill when you called me. She was irritated I didn't want to sit and listen to her complain about her sister, her mother, and her physiotherapist. I presume since she figured I was indisposed it would be a good time to call and torment you. She didn't count on you calling me or me answering whenever you call. I always leave her calls unanswered when I work out," he said quietly.

She wasn't sure. It wasn't something she wanted to do. It felt very much like asking an assailant for one more punch.

"l would very much like to hear this with my own ears. Can you please humor me? Call her back. Ask her why she is doing this. I want to hear what she's up to for myself. You've told me previously she always called when I was out of the room. I want to know."

"I've never called her back before. She'll know something is up."

He nodded reassuringly, "tell her you need to know Why she's doing this to you.

Tell her you've filed the divorce and you want to know why she keeps up this charade even when you've done it."

"l don't know if I can," she wiped a tear off her cheek. "She's so cruel."

"l am right here. Nuncio is right here. Neither of us will let her hurt you."

Alessandro used his thumb to wipe a tear off her cheek. "Please Mackenna."

Mackenna looked at him, aware Nuncio was hovering as an overprotective big brother. He nodded once at her, so she lifted her phone from the sofa where she'd thrown it in anger and showed him the last number to call in.

He nodded confirming the display. "It is her personal cell number. Call her back.

It rang only once when Dulce picked up. "Mackenna, what a lovely surprise. Did you want to hear more of how Alessandro and I will be together forever, or did you want some weight loss tips or maybe the name of a good plastic surgeon to fix your love handles or your nose?"

She saw Alessandro's fists clench at the words. "Why are you doing this Dulce? You know you won. I filed my divorce. I don't understand why you must continue this game you like to play."

"You're right, I did win. You were never enough for him you know," Dulce's voice as smooth as silk cut sharp. "It's why every time we were alone, he wanted me naked and under him. Nobody wants to sleep next to a whate when they can have perfection like my body next to theirs."

Alessandro's eyebrows lifted but he put his fingers to his lips and motioned for Mackenna to keep the conversation going.

"l get it, you had s*x every chance you got with Alessandro. I just don't know why you feel you need to keep telling me about it. Telling me about it when I lived in his home back in Milan, fine, you were putting me in my place. Now, we are nothing.

We are getting divorced. Why do you keep tormenting me?"

"Do you believe he'll divorce you?" Dulce scoffed. "You're mistaken. Men like Alessandro don't let their wives just walk away. I'm making sure you know, no matter what, I will always be with him. I will sleep with him every chance I get. Once you have a taste of a man like him, well, nothing else compares does it Mackenna? The rumour mill at the hospital was my orthopedic surgeon wanted you, but you couldn't go there could you. You had Alessandro and even a good-looking doctor doesn't compare. You'll be back in Milan, but I will still be in his bed, as much as I possibly can."

"1 don't care," she tried to keep her temper under control, but the woman had a way of getting under her skin. "Just stop calling me. I don't need to know."

"But you do need to know," Dulce said condescendingly. "You need to know when he touches me, where he touches me, how he touches me. You need to know

particularly amorous, he'll simply tear his creations off my body? He'll love me for hours and hours. You need to know it Mackenna so you know, you must know, he is not yours. He will never be yours."

"And you think he's yours?" Mackenna scoffed. "You know what, I'm done with this. Let me make myself clear. You are not to call me again. If you do, I will ask for a court order protection from you and I will tell the courts you are sexually harassing me. I will make it public, and I will not ask the court to keep my application private. The entire world will be told the reason I'm divorcing my husband is because his lover is sexually harassing me."

Nuncio's grin behind Alessandro's back encouraged her. "Imagine how it would look Dulce if the real reason I was getting a divorce was because I refused your

I advances and so you made my life a living hell."

"It's a lie." Dulce's normally calm voice raised furiously. "It's not true."

"Isn't it? You called me almost daily when we first met to speak in sexually explicit detail to me. For what other reason than you were trying to get me turned on?" Nuncio was holding his sides laughing silently now as Alessandro shook his head at him warningly. "Did you hope I'd leave him for you once I knew how voracious your s I appetite is?"

"You b* * *h!" Dulce screamed into the phone.

"Leave me alone Dulce or so help me god I will paint a picture to the courts and the tabloids of a sexually perverse woman who cannot help herself around me." She didn't wait to hear the end of the profanities Dulce had started to scream into the phone before hitting the end button on the call.

"l feel sick," Mackenna said suddenly as she moved to sit in the chair.

Her phone started ringing again and Alessandro took it from her hands and answered it leaving it on speaker but said nothing.

"You b* * *h. I know you're there. You better keep your mouth shut or I will,"

"You will what Dulce?" Alessandro's voice was calm and cool as he spoke softly into the phone. "What exactly will you do to my wife if she happens to talk to a judge "Alessandro," the woman's voice was pained. "l, I thought you were at your hotel," she stammered through her words.

"1 was, now I'm not. Now I'm standing in the middle of Mackenna's living room with her security agent listening to you threaten her." He took a breath, barely in control of his temper. "If you call her again, if you so much as whisper her name or breathe in her direction, there will be hell to pay from me. Am I clear?"

"Yes," she whispered into the phone.

"We will speak when I am back in Milan. Do not call either of us until I am back." He hung up the phone and passed it back to Mackenna, but she refused to take it as if it were contaminated, so he left it on the table.

She sat rocking on the sofa with her arms wrapped around her middle. "She's insane. What did I ever do to make her hate me so much? Your mother used to say it was because she was jealous of my wedding band, but I'm not convinced."

Alessandro squatted in front of her. "l will get to the bottom of it. I do not understand myself. I wish there were an answer I could give you Mackenna.

Something doesn't feel right. I know you don't believe me but the Dulce I know and the woman who just spoke with such hatred to you are completely different people to me, She has been encouraging me for years to not give up on you. This makes no sense to me at all."

"What? Why would she encourage you to get me back if she hates me so much, she can't wait to torture me?"

"l cannot begin to guess her reasons at this time. I need to find out more. For now," he lifted her chin, "please know I will take care of this matter. I will have the company lawyers have a conversation with her."

She nodded slowly and then met his gaze. "Who gave her my number?"

His face clearly demonstrated he was as confused by this as she was. "I'm not sure but I promise you it was not me. Let me do my investigation and we will sort it out."

"Okay," she agreed, suddenly feeling as if she had someone in her corner versus Dulce for the first time in her life.

"Have you had breakfast yet?" He pulled her upright then released her hands, dropping his to his side.

"No," she hugged herself as she stepped past him. "I'm not hungry."

"Well, you do need to eat." He looked to Nuncio to confirm

Nuncio nodded. "You should definitely get something to eat Mac."

Alessandro glared at the man for shortening her name. He shrugged. "It's catching."

Alessandro shook his head with irritation and looked back to Mackenna who was pale and her eyes red-rimmed. "Why don't you go shower and get dressed and we will go have breakfast," he smiled gently as she opened her mouth. "Friends

Mackenna, just as friends. I'm truly talking about food. It is not a euphemism for anything sinister. After such a call, you need to get out of here and clear your head. If

Savannah were here, she wouldn't let you mope in the apartment, would she?" She knew he was right. Savannah would have pulled her out of the house.

"Maybe you and I can go on a hike? You can show me the trail poor Savannah could barely endure. Can we do this? No more talk today of Dulce. Agreed?" his voice was light and comforting.

"Agreed," she nodded quietly and made her way to the bathroom, feeling for the first time since they'd met, he had truly heard her side and not sure what to make of it.