Chapter 113 - The Billionaire’s Prodigal Wife

Her phone ringing in her bedroom caught her ear and she groaned and made her way back to the bed. She immediately felt her stomach drop. She recognized the number as her counsellors and realized she had missed her session. “Damn,” she muttered and pushed her bangs out of her face and answered the phone.

“Mackenna, it’s Farrah. Just checking in. It’s not like you to miss a session.”

“Ugh, I’m so sorry. I was up late last night and then overslept and then forgot all about the appointment. Even my security agent, who knows my calendar better than I do, forgot. I apologize Farrah.”

“Well, are you open to having a telephone consult instead of in person?”

She sat on the edge of the bed and scratched her temple. “Yes, as a matter of fact I am. I’m feeling out of sorts this morning and maybe another perspective can help.”

“So how have things been since we saw each other last week?”

“A lot has happened,” she admitted. She gave a quick recap of the last ten days and then sighed. “And after all of this, even know Alessandro is coming home to me, I’m feeling,” she paused, “I don’t know what I’m feeling.”

“Well, let’s talk it through. It’s a lot to unpack and I’m glad I called.”

“Me too,” she admitted quietly.

Mackenna spoke with her therapist for another forty minutes and when she was done, she admitted she felt better. She also felt she had a better plan and more in control.

She stepped into the living room after getting dressed and motioned to Ari. “I’m going to try to use Nuncio coffee maker.”

He looked at her in confusion from his seat on the sofa.

She grinned, “I’m telling you just in case I blow the place up.”

“It cannot be so hard,” he made a face as he rose to follow her to the kitchen.

The pair of them stood there staring at the contraption. Mackenna turned a handle thing and looked at the buttons. “I’m sure we can figure this out.”

“There is no we,” Ari said backing up, “if you break it, Nuncio will kill you and I don’t want to be part of this.”

“Mac!” Savannah’s voice shrieked outside the door as she struggled with the latch on the other side. She finally got through the door and lunged in her direction and only Ari stopping her from jumping into Mackenna’s arms stopped her from toppling them both over. “Right, you’re injured. Oh my god. He proposed. Mac, he proposed.”

Mackenna grinned as she slunk under Ari’s arm and wrapped her good arm around her friend and hugged her tight. “I’m so happy. You said yes, right?”

“Well, when I stopped crying, I said yes.” She leaned back and her swollen bloodshot eyes revealed how much she’d been crying. She leaned her forehead against Mackenna’s. “I never thought I was good enough,” she half-sobbed.

“Pfft, it’s whether he’s good enough for you,” Mackenna winked at him over Savannah’s shoulder as she hugged her friend. He looked like he’d been crying a bit too. His hair was also really tousled, and she knew he’d been running his hands through it over and over with nerves.

“Mackenna is right, you are too good for me,” Nuncio kissed Savannah’s head as he walked past them to the coffee maker. He glared at Mackenna. “Did you touch my baby?”

“She touched the handle.” Ari tattled and Mackenna glowered. “I warned her to touch nothing.”

“You,” she pointed at Nuncio, “make coffee.” She dragged Savannah to the living room. “I want all the details. Show me the ring.”

Mackenna sat on the sofa and held Savannah’s trembling hand in hers. “I asked him last night if I could see it and he said only after you saw it. He wanted you to be see it before anyone else.”

Savannah turned surprised eyes to Mackenna. “You knew?”

“I guessed when he came back last night, and he confirmed. I’m so happy for you Savannah. I know how much you two love each other.”

“He wants to take me to Milan to meet his family.” She whispered fearfully. “What if they hate me?”

“Not possible, besides you will never outdo me in the bad in-law’s department.”

Savannah wrinkled her nose. “I can’t argue there. I called my mom and told her. She’s coming this weekend for a visit.”

Mackenna squeezed her hands. “I can’t stop smiling and staring at that ring. It’s magnificent.”

“I know. It was his grandmother’s. She said it was a good luck ring because she and her husband were married sixty years.” She grimaced, “with my emotional baggage, I’ll need all the luck I can find.”

“Savannah, with Nuncio, you don’t need luck. He loves you with all the good and the bad and despite your potty mouth.”

She wriggled her eyebrows, “he loves me for my potty mouth.”

“True,” Mackenna giggled.

“And what I can do with my potty mouth,” she elaborated naughtily, and they both laughed when he commented from the kitchen, he could hear every word they were saying.

They sat in silence for a few moments enjoying the moment and then Savannah asked, “did you hear from Alessandro yet today?”

“No, but I know he was landing in New York in the early hours of the morning and then he had a layover before the flight here. I did have a good chat with my counsellor though.”

“Damn,” Nuncio dropped a cup. “I forgot your appointment.”

“It’s okay Nuncio, so did I. We did a call and it worked out well. I feel like I made a big breakthrough today. I just need to talk to Alessandro about it when he gets home.”

“Really?” Savannah pulled her head back. “Is everything okay?”

“Yes. Great, actually.” She shrugged, “Alessandro’s always protected me, and it’s always made me feel like he is hiding me. He lives in this big dramatic world and I’m in the shadows. I don’t necessarily want to be in the limelight, but I need him to know he needs to stop protecting me. The tabloids aren’t going to go away. It’s time for us to step out together and not hide anymore. Everyone knows when he runs to Dulce, but nobody ever knows when he comes back home to me. It makes me feel like I’m the side chick. Just for once, I want a photo of me making out with my husband in a club.” She made a face, “it sounds stupid doesn’t it.”

“No.” Savannah disagreed. “It doesn’t sound stupid. It sounds normal. You’re not ashamed to be with him in private or in public. There’s no logical reason to keep you hidden from the world.”

She had an idea suddenly and she looked to Nuncio who was talking to Ari in the kitchen. “Nuncio, how much would it annoy you, if I completely hijacked the entire security team for the next couple of hours?”