The Billionaire’s Prodigal Wife

Chapter 4

Sitting in the tight confines of the limousine, aware her grandmother had no choice but to hear everything, the urge to smack the arrogance off his face was breathtakingly incredible.

“And what if this is not what I want?” Mackenna interrupted his calculating cocky commentary.

His head pulled back, evidently surprised by her comment, “are you telling me you do not want to resolve this silly dispute?”

“Oh, I want it resolved.” She was about to tell him exactly how she was going to resolve it when she felt her grandmother’s warning squeeze and she drew a breath and looked away. Suddenly she realized although Alessandro had found out she was in the city; he had no idea she had filed for a divorce. In her anger she was about to spill it all, but her grandmother was protecting her from ruining her plan; thank heavens one of them had their wits today.

He was assuming she had returned home to be with him. She felt her stomach drop like she’d swallowed an anvil. If he were being this pushy when he thought she wanted to come home, he would be unbearable once he found out she had filed a divorce. Her grandmother had sensed it before she had, and she was suddenly grateful for the woman’s presence in a way she never had been before. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against her shoulder.

“It’s settled then.” Alessandro spoke as he watched her grandmother wrap a slender arm over his wife’s shoulder and kiss her forehead. “We will go home after we drop your grandmother off.”

“No.” She sat up straight and swallowed deeply. If she went back to his estate, she wouldn’t ever make it back to Phoenix unscathed. “Alessandro, you cannot expect I would just go straight back to your house after five years. I’m not ready. I need more time.”

“We need to talk and doing this in the tiny bedroom in your grandparent’s apartment you’re staying in is not acceptable.” He shook his head at her.

She could see in his eyes talking was the last thing on his mind and she wriggled in her seat and looked away from the burning heat of his gaze. “Alessandro,” her voice was huskier than she’d intended. “I need time.”

“We will have dinner then and,” he paused as she seemed troubled. “Now what?”

“Alessandro. I didn’t think you would be here today. You were supposed to be in Paris. I had hoped to spend a few days with my grandparents before you came home. I didn’t tell you I was coming home because I knew you would want to whisk me away from them. I’ve missed them terribly. I don’t mean to be angry with you, but you’ve ruined my plans and my surprise. Please can’t I just stay with them until the end of fashion week?” She bit her lip nervously, knowing she was playing a dangerous game in letting him think she had come home for good.

He took a long breath at her rushed words and crooked his finger at her. “Come over here.”

She swallowed deeply and felt her grandmother squeeze her hand and she squeezed back reassuringly. She knew what she was doing, or at least she hoped she did. The only way to win with Alessandro was to let him think he was irresistible, and she was putty in his hands. She took his hand and let him pull her across the small space onto his lap. She played with his tie nervously unable to look him in the eye.

“Please Alessandro. I’m only asking for a few days with my grandparents. We’ll have the rest of our lives.” Well, she corrected mentally, she would have the rest of her life without him, and he would have his without her. All she needed was a few hours to find a flight and get on it.

“Let’s compromise.” He stroked her hair and decided he liked the length. “Have dinner with me tonight. We will talk a bit and I will bring you back to your grandparents for the evening. You can stay with them until I get back.” He tilted her chin and held her eyes looking for any visible sign of distress or anxiety. “You will forgive me of course if I ensure you are not going to run off and I have security at the apartment to accompany you on any further shopping expeditions.”

She stroked his tie and forced herself to hold his gaze. “Alessandro, you can put four security men on watch, and I will not be offended.” She was certainly not offended. She had every intention of running off and in his shoes, she would most definitely do the same thing by not trusting a word coming from her lips. She slipped her finger under the navy tie and through the buttons and touched the hard flesh under his shirt. She saw his eyes darken to a deep golden brown as he felt her touch.

“When will you be home?” At least she had a tiny amount of control over him she considered, feeling victorious. Satisfaction burned deep in her belly.

“Saturday.” He pressed his lips to her forehead.

“That’s five whole days,” she gave a mock pout and had to remind herself not to overdo it. She looked to the window and noticed the car was outside of her grandmother’s apartment complex. She slipped off his knee and along the interior of the car. “I’m going to walk Nona in.”

He nodded and helped both women out of the car. She felt his hand on her low back as they entered the complex and the security agent carried the bags. She followed her grandmother to her bedroom; aware Alessandro blocked any exit from the space. She saw her grandfather look up in surprise from his desk in the corner.

“You are going with him?” Her grandmother asked quietly.

“I have no choice. It is obvious he does not know yet I filed my papers. I will have dinner with him and come back here. I’ll figure out a way to get away from the security.” She took a breath.

“Camille had told me he would be notified at his estate. It is obvious he wants to get back to Dulce. If he does not get served until after he brings me back here, then its fine.” She opened her purse and felt tears begin to slide down her cheeks at the injustice of it all.

“If, however he finds out between now and the time dinner is over, he is going to do everything in his power to not let me leave. If this happens, I’ll have to find a way to go straight to the airport and board whatever plane I can. I have my passport.”

Her grandmother took her hands. “I can always ship your things to you. Do not worry if you have to leave tonight Mackenna.” Sofia pressed a kiss to her cheeks.

Enzo stood with his jaw tight. “I am not happy he chases you away from us yet again.”

She hugged him tight. “Do not worry, Nonno. It will not be long, and I will have my freedom and when the day comes, not even Alessandro Giordano will keep me from doing what I want. He can hardly chase me if I’m married to someone else, can he? I have every intention of finding a suitable husband and starting my life over.”

“Well, I hope to see you again before you leave but know we love and support you no matter what.” Her grandfather hugged her in his strong arms. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” She patted her purse. “I have my passport in case I need it. Otherwise, I’ll be home tonight with a security agent on my hip.”

She heard Alessandro call her name and she rolled her eyes. “I have to go. I love you.”

She made her way back out. “You promise to let me come back tonight?”

“You have my word. I just got off the phone and my flight will leave in a few hours and so I will need to be at the airport in short time.” He held his hand. “Let’s not waste any more time. You will spend the rest of the week with your grandparents. However, on Saturday evening I will be home, and we will go home and anything we do not resolve this evening we will before bed on Saturday. Is this understood?”

She slipped her hand into his. “Of course, Alessandro.”

She didn’t ask him where they were dining and when the limousine pulled up beside the Gallia hotel she looked down at her pale pink blouse and faded denim jeans. “Alessandro. I am not dressed for this.”

“We’ll have room service.”

His words sent a shiver down her spine, and she had the urge to run screaming down the street knowing full well food was the last thing on his mind. Panic-stricken, she was robot-like as he entered the hotel through the lobby and walked straight to the elevator. A concierge met them at the elevator and escorted them to the suite Alessandro had obviously arranged while she was with her grandparents in the bedroom.

She wrung her hands nervously in front of her as she took in the opulence of the room. She watched as he closed the door behind the concierge and then turned to face her. The lump in her throat grew epically and she considered she may suffocate. She prayed for it.

“Now,” he undid the cufflinks at his wrists and tossed them carelessly onto a dresser after throwing his jacket over a chair. “When I first saw you on the street you were pissed off. Thirty minutes ago, I had the distinct impression I would have gotten a lap dance from you had your grandmother not been in the limo with us and now you are extremely nervous. What gives?”

“I’m scared.” She wasn’t lying. She was absolutely petrified. The more layers he removed the hotter she was getting, and it was unfair.

“Why now Mackenna?” The way he said her name had always made her smile and he saw her lips turn. “You are ready to mock me already?”

“Some habits die hard.” She shifted from foot to foot.

“Answer the question.” He said suddenly, his lips tight. “Tell me why you’ve returned now.”

“I want to put this ugly mess all behind us.” Mackenna realized dealing in half-truths was not as hard as she had thought it would be.

“You didn’t feel this need a month ago, a year ago, the day after you ran away from me?”

She looked away then. “My mother was my age when I was born. She was twenty-five. I always thought I’d be like her with my first child by now.” She wasn’t lying.

“You are ready to have a family?” This surprised him. They had discussed children before, and she’d been hesitant.

“My parents died too young, and I worry if something were to happen to me, I don’t want to have lived for nothing. I work very hard, and I want a child.” It grew easier and easier to tell him the truth without revealing to him she had no plans to share any of this with him.

“Whatever the reason, I am glad you came home.” He motioned to the bed. “Sit.”

“Can’t I sit in a chair?” She started toward the upholstered armchair, but he cut her off.

“Mackenna, I haven’t made love to my wife in close to five years.”

In his speech he missed the way the color drained from her face, and she gripped the wall for support.

“Now, I don’t want to rush you or anything, but I have a flight leaving soon. The next three weeks I will be very busy, and I will only have a little bit of time to spend with you, however I am working on clearing my schedule so we can take a holiday together for a couple of weeks.” His shirt followed his jacket.

How considerate of him to pencil her in when he was trying to save their marriage, she thought nastily. “Alessandro. Unlike you, I cannot just get naked and be ready to make love.”

“You want romance? Some candles, soft music and wine?” He asked with rolled eyes. “I will give you all of those things in about thirty minutes. For now, I have needs.” He swung her up into his arms and laughed at her outraged expression. He kissed her hard on the mouth.

“Needs?” She demanded as she tore her lips from his punishing kiss. “No Alessandro.”

He lay her in the middle of the bed and trapped her there by straddling her hips and the feel of his heavy manhood resting against her pelvis was too real for her to ignore and she twisted her waist to manoeuvre away from him, but it only served to touch them more intimately and she caught her lip at the sensations curdling her abdomen.

She could feel her cervix clenching inside in anticipation and she almost screamed with a sudden very real and very intense s****l frustration. His hand slipped between them and rubbed the tender spot concealed by her denim. A low moan caught in her throat and when his other hand slipped under her blouse and plucked at the n****e hardening against his hand, the sound whooshed from her lungs. She closed her eyes against the feelings and fought against them. “Alessandro, please stop. You said we would talk, and I believed you. I don’t want to have sex.”

“Yes, you do.” He lifted a pair of dark eyebrows high onto his forehead at her words. “Your hips are wiggling under me.”

“Fine, my body wants to have s*x, but I don’t. My mind is telling me this is not a good thing. We cannot just fall into bed after all this time.”

He sighed loudly as if he was discussing matters of importance with an imbecile. “We are married, and we can most definitely fall into bed. You were the one who threw the temper tantrum and ran away from home like a spoiled teenager.” He shook his head. “My grandfather said I gave you too much freedom.”

Fury seared her like a branding iron, and she gave a hard shove toppling him off her. “You inconsiderate jerk! Your grandfather is an overbearing pompous ass who treats your grandmother like a second-class citizen. Your own father says it! And do you know what? You’re just like him. You look like him and you act like him, and you may as well be his doppelganger because you are a pathetic excuse for a husband just like he is.”