Chapter 107: The Billionaire’s Prodigal Wife

He was quiet for a moment at her question and then he let out a long slow breath. “I would be lying if I said I was. I am trying awfully hard to be strong, to be objective and rational but the things I’ve learned about my friends and my family over the last several months have me questioning my judgement. I am trying to take lessons from you, to surround myself with, as your friend Derrick said, good people but I’m finding myself questioning all the people I’ve had in my life and I’m regretful to have allowed them a place in my heart. I should have seen the truth of my grandfather by the way he treated my grandmother, but I turned a blind eye because he was my grandfather. In doing so, I’ve put the rest of my family at risk. I should have protected my grandmother better. I should have protected my mother and my wife and our unborn child. Now he’s out enjoying whatever freedom he’s just found, and I am sick for it.”

She lay with her cheek pressed against his bare chest and listened to his heart thudding quietly beneath her ear.

“I have not been a good husband, a good son, a good grandson. I put my business and a friendship above you all and listened to the little lies the old man sputtered in my ears for so long I was turning into a version of him,” he kissed the top of her head as his fingers trailed through her hair. “The day we met in Milan when you went to file your divorce papers, you told me I was no better than him and you were right. I wasn’t.”

He spoke sadly, “I danced with Dulce and kissed her in a nightclub for a laugh and while on my part, it was as innocent as a kiss you would share with Savannah, it was inappropriate, and I know it now. My actions hurt you. I am so sorry Mackenna for the hell we put you through. I wish I had been the son my mother raised me to be and to treat you better than I had. Maybe if I had, I would have seen what Salvatore was doing to Dulce and I could have helped her too. I just feel,” he paused, “I feel responsible for all this mess. I am so sorry for all the hurt I’ve caused you. I am so sorry.”

Mackenna felt her heart swell as he took responsibility for the pain she’d gone through. She swallowed the lump in her throat clogged with tears and lifted her chin to face him. “I forgive you Alessandro.”

“You shouldn’t,” he shook his head. “Tallulah was right. Any other woman would have dumped my sorry ass and moved on.”

“Good thing I like your ass,” she joked and saw the tiny edge of a smile pull on his lips.

“Mackenna, I never want to lose you again but if you said to me, you never wanted to see me again, if you told you felt it was truly over, I would let you go. Knowing my family had hurt you so deeply, I was ready to let you go and move on because you deserve only happiness in your life. I cannot live another day knowing I continue to hurt you. I cannot keep hurting you. I am trying to be a better man, to be the man I know you deserve but I find myself lacking. Even yesterday I got carried away and put you in danger by pushing you too hard.”

Mackenna adjusted herself so she could look at him better. “Alessandro, you asked me if I wanted to go to dinner. You didn’t order me to go. I chose to go. It was my choice. If we are being honest, if you hadn’t been here yesterday morning, I would have gone to work. I would have worked a full day and would have come home just as exhausted.”

He stroked the curve of her jaw with a cupped palm, his thumb stroking her cheekbone. “I adore you, mi amore. I have never loved anyone like I love you. I do not deserve you and I know it. I will keep trying to be the man you deserve if you let me.”

“You are all the man I ever want and need Alessandro. Besides,” she turned her cheek into his hand, “who else would be my dance partner? After dancing with you, nobody else would compare. It’s like having sex with clothes on.”

He leaned his head back and laughed at her comment, exposing his long neck to her and she lurched forward and planted a hot kiss where his pulse throbbed. His hands found their way to her, one along her waist and the other in her hair as he groaned as she swirled her tongue and suckled gently.

“Mackenna,” his amber eyes were molten lava as she paused and lifted her eyes to meet his. “You are supposed to be resting.”

“I’m feeling much better after a night of sleep.” She wriggled her fingers in a demonstration of her recovery, “I even have movement in my fingers.” She shifted her body, so she sat atop him straddling him. She stared down at him from her perch and caressed his cheek. “I love you, Alessandro. I think we’ve done much too much talking so early in the morning.” She looked down at the pale pink silk nightgown skimming her thighs. “Besides, I’m wearing an Alessandro creation and it feels divine,” she lifted his hand and placed it on her breast and ran it over the swell of her mound. “Doesn’t the silk feel incredible?” Mackenna’s eyes glinted with desire as she felt the burgeoning of his body’s response beneath her bottom.

“It is not the silk that feels so incredible,” he lifted his other hand so he could palm both her breasts in his hands, his thumbs taunting her nipples into hard peaks through the soft material. “As beautiful as this gown is, your body needs no adornment. It is perfection without it. I much prefer your skin to silk.” He groaned as she wiggled her hips to pull the dress over her head and tossed it away.

“Like this?”

“Yes, absolutely like this,” he closed his eyes as she ground her hips against him.

She made a face. “Why must you wear briefs now? They need to go.”

He chuckled, “you have a roommate, and I wasn’t going to the living room to talk to my father stark naked. The last thing I need is Nuncio trying to kill me because his woman is jealous of what you have, and she doesn’t.” his eyes were teasing and happy as she threw her head back and laughed. He watched with a wide smile as she tried valiantly to remove his briefs with one hand. Her hair falling in her face, her cheeks flushed with excitement and her breathing uneven as she tugged until he was free of the encumbrance of clothing. “You are so beautiful,” his voice hoarse with emotion.

“I’m also ravenous for my husband,” she eyed him and licked her lips. When he went to protest her actions, she put her finger on his lips. “Hush, don’t you know the saying, happy wife, happy life? Let me have what I want.”

As she lowered her head to his now exposed body he groaned loudly and dug his fingers into her hair. Happy life indeed.