The Billionaire’s Prodigal Wife
Chapter 47

Mackenna smiled as Alessandro entered her bedroom without knocking.

“You’re still awake,” he seemed surprised to replace her sitting up.

“Yes, the drugs are wearing off so I’m not so groggy.” Her stomach took the moment to grumble, “I’m also getting pretty hungry.”

“How’s your pain?” he asked as he lifted a small pill bottle in his hand and shook it. “I picked these up on my way back.”

“So far, not so bad. It hurts, I won’t lie but it’s tolerable.”

“Do you feel up to coming to eat at the table or would you like me to bring your dinner to you here?”

“Would I be a princess if I said in here? Nuncio walked me to the bathroom earlier and I was pretty damn dizzy and uncomfortable.”

He bent and placed a k**s to her lips. “You are not a princess. You are my queen and I’d be happy to serve you dinner in bed.” He turned on his heel and headed back to where he had come from. She heard him talking to Nuncio again and she closed her eyes as she listened to the sound of men laughing in her home. She could get used to the sound of happiness.

Romeo who had vacated his position at the end of her bed when Nuncio had sat down jumped back on the bed and moved to paw at her hands. “Aww, poor baby. Did nobody feed you yet?” She stroked his ears gently. She considered getting up to do it but as she started to rise from her prone position, she felt lightheaded and grimaced. “Sorry buddy,” she accepted his head butt to the chin, “I’ll see if Nuncio will do it.” She called for him and heard him walk briskly in her direction.

“What’s wrong?” he eyed her curiously.

“Nothing, other than my bodyguard is hungry and wants to be fed.” She patted him as he crawled onto her chest and hissed at Nuncio.

“He is vying for my job,” Nuncio pointed at the cat. “Come on Romeo, I’ll feed you but you’re not going to like it.”

Alessandro stepped past him into the room balancing plates in his hands and almost tripped as Romeo jumped down and twisted himself through his legs. “Why does he hate me suddenly? Also, why does he love you so much?”

Mackenna and Nuncio exchanged a glance and Alessandro immediately noted it. “What happened?”

“I’ll leave you to tell him,” Nuncio pulled a face, “I’ll feed the beast.”

He rounded the bed and crawled up beside her. “Nice bed. I’m so happy to see you upgraded.”

She grinned. “Look at the size of this room. I couldn’t put my tiny little bed in here. It had to be king sized.”

“You and Savannah picked a great place, I like it.” He helped her position a plate on her lap and propped her up with some pillows behind her back. “Nuncio is grateful for the security building.”

“Thanks. It’s starting to feel like home but not quite yet,” she looked at the plate on her lap. “Where did you replace risotto?”

“The hotel, I called and asked them to prepare it and I grabbed it when I left Dulce’s room. I thought it would be easiest since knife and fork might be an issue for a bit.” He motioned to her arm.

“How is she?” Mackenna cast him a side glance as she used the spoon with her left hand to lift the food to her lips. Her hand was shaky and some of the risotto fell to her chest. “Damn,” she set the spoon on the plate with a clang and used her fingers to pick the risotto off her chest.

He laughed as she ate the spilled rice off her chest. “Hungry?”

“Yes, stop avoiding the question. Did you talk?”

“We yelled,” he stared at his plate, “I’m incredibly angry she didn’t trust me enough to come to me sooner. She let him destroy so much because she wouldn’t come to me. She says I am her best friend, but she tortured us both by not confiding in me.”

“She was afraid for Yara,” Mackenna recalled the child’s name with ease.

“I could have protected them all,” Alessandro puffed his chest angrily, “there is no excuse.”

“I’m simply saying Alessandro, as far as excuses go, hers is pretty damn good.”

“Not good enough, and enough talk of her for now otherwise we’ll both be up all night with indigestion.” He motioned at her spoon. “Eat or I’ll feed you myself.”

She picked up the spoon and took a mouthful, chewing thoughtfully.

“Why is my favorite cat in the world suffering from a personality change?”

She shifted against her pillows. “I’ve been having panic attacks.”

He remembered her mentioning having a panic attack previously but wasn’t quite sure what it meant or what it entailed. Somehow, he knew what she was about to say was not going to be good for his peace of mind.

“Since I left Milan the first time. I struck out on my own with no support. I met Savannah and she helped me a lot and eventually they went away. When I flew to Milan the first time to file the divorce,” she noted his lips thin at her words, “I had a pretty bad one on the flight back home.”

She knew he was waiting for her to finish the mouthful of food to continue her story. “I didn’t have another one until we had the fight in the hospital when you said you would sign off on the papers.”

“I regret my actions that day,” he spoke softly.

“I know,” she took a breath. “Since then, everything has been so chaotic and out of control. The medications my doctor gave helped, but I also work with a counsellor, and I had been doing really well until last weekend.”

Mackenna pushed the food around her plate, “then the prosecutor called.”

Alessandro exhaled slowly, as he suddenly realized why the cat was protecting Mackenna. “You had a panic attack as a result?”

“I had a bad one, a really bad one,” she admitted quietly. “I’ve never had one so bad, not even when I was in the hospital in Milan after losing my grandparents and the baby. Derrick and Padma were here helping me move in otherwise poor Nuncio would have been in a mess.” She took a breath, “I knew the investigator had caused the accident, but I still thought it was a careless accident. To learn he did it on purpose because someone hates me so much, he would want to make sure I don’t have your baby, it was overwhelming.” She gave a shaky breath as her heart thudded painfully against her chest, “I didn’t even know who it was, all the prosecutor said was it was a senior member of the Giordano family. All I knew was someone in your family hated me so much they killed my grandparents and our baby.”

She felt his arm wrapped around her shoulder as he pulled her to him and kissed the top of her chest. They sat in silence for a moment.

She continued her story, “I had a panic attack and since then, Romeo is my shadow, and he doesn’t leave me alone and he even sleeps at the foot of my bed. He has scratched Nuncio a few times and he swatted at Savannah just this morning.” She giggled at the memory and remembered something she and Savannah discussed earlier. “Or we are giving him too much credit and he’s not empathetic. Our alternate theory is he didn’t like living in poverty and now we have him in this apartment he feels it better fits his station.”

Alessandro’s chuckle rumbled in his chest and rocked her. “There could be truth to your theory. He’s a snob.”

“He is,” she agreed.

They sat eating in silence until Mackenna g*****d and pushed her plate away. “I’m so full.”

He lifted his arm from her and collected the plates. “I’ll take these out and I’ll be back. Don’t go anywhere,” he teased.

“Well, I was thinking of going to run a marathon but since you insist, I sit here, I’ll just behave.”

“There’s a first,” he smirked at her as he walked away from the bed, earning him a pointed finger in his direction.

He returned a few minutes later and went into her bathroom carrying a small paper bag and the sound of water running caught her ear. “What are you doing Alessandro?”

“Running you a bath,” he called back to her. “I picked you up some bath salts.”

“I can’t get my arm wet,” she said loud enough for him to hear, and he poked his head out of the room and grinned. “What are you grinning for?”

“I was going to say we can keep your arm dry while we get the rest of you wet but then I heard Savannah in my head being dirty.”

She giggled at his words. Savannah absolutely would have found something dirty about his words. “Alessandro, I’m starting to think you’ve been hanging around her too much.”

“I like her. I like how she has encouraged you to be a much stronger feistier woman, not afraid to stand up for herself. She’s good for you.” Alessandro smiled at her from across the room before disappearing back into the bathroom.

She would miss Savannah when they went back to Milan. She sat there thinking of her friend not noticing Alessandro had moved back to the door to observe her.

“Mackenna are you alright?” his voice was soft and curious.

“Yes, just getting tired I think,” she met his gaze.

“Well, lets get you cleaned up, back into bed and you can get some sleep.” He stepped into the room and scooped her up in his arms.

“I can walk,” she protested weakly.

“But this makes me feel manly,” he retorted with a smile.

“Nobody could ever accuse you of being anything but,” she rolled her eyes but let her head rest on his chest as he carried her the few feet to the bathroom. She inhaled deeply. “It smells so good in here.”

“Lavender,” he kissed her head and gently set her on her feet. “You’re okay if I help you undress?”

She eyed him in stunned silence. “Since when do you ask to undress me?”

“I’m trying to be respectful.”

She snorted at his words. “You have no respect for boundaries ever, why are you starting now?”

“Your disposition has not improved with a crack to the head,” he grimaced at her.

“Alessandro,” she touched his arm gently, “I just need you to be you please. I need you in all your brash, pain in my backside glory. I need my husband.” She thought she saw his eyes water at her words, but he turned away to turn the taps of the tub off.

He cleared his throat, “let’s get you out of those clothes and in the tub. I’ll put a towel down on the edge of the tub for you to rest your arm.”

Tenderly he helped slip her out of the t-shirt, cursing under his breath with each wince and m**n of pain she made. Finally, he had her standing in front of him naked and for the first time since he met her, his mind wasn’t on taking her to bed. Her torso was full of tiny slices and scrapes where she had been cut from the table. A large bruise ran up her ribcage and he traced it with a sad expression. “Mackenna, no wonder you are so sore and tender.”

“I’ll be fine,” she whispered touching his cheek gently. “Help me get into the tub please.”

Gently he held her as she sunk lowly into the free-standing tub, and she sighed blissfully as the heat enveloped her. “I’m so glad I have a tub now,” she whispered.

She closed her eyes as he used a loofah and began meticulously washing her body being incredibly careful to keep her injured arm dry and protected. The smell of lavender encouraging her to relax. He rolled his sleeves up before pulling her foot up out of the water and washing her feet. He looked to her face, eyes closed, the lump on her forehead not as prominent in size now but was developing into quite bruise. “How are you doing my love?”

“I’m in heaven,” she whispered as he massaged her foot gently. “Don’t stop.”

Alessandro continued rubbing her toes before moving to the other foot, cleaning it up with lots of suds before gently massaging her sole. He dropped a k**s to the top of her foot before sliding it back into the warm water. “I’ll leave you to soak a minute. I’m going to get the bed ready for you. Do not get your arm wet.” He warned her with a tap on the nose.

“Mm,” she mumbled as he left the room. She heard the bed sheets being tussled and she wasn’t sure what he was doing in her bedroom, but she was unbothered. All she cared was he was there, and he was taking care of her, and he had promised he wasn’t going anywhere.

“Mackenna,” he whispered in her ear, causing her to jump. She had started to doze off in the tub and hadn’t heard him come back in. “Come, my love. Let’s get you out of here and dried off and into bed.”

He helped her rise from the tub, taking great care to protect her injuries, towelling her off gently, before scooping her naked body up in his arms and carrying her through to the bedroom. He lay her in the bed and pulled the blankets up to her chin. He kissed her mouth softly as she sighed and snuggled into the soft sheets. “I love you Mackenna.” He whispered against her cheek.

“I love you too,” a happy smile on her lips as she drifted off to sleep.