The Billionaire’s Prodigal Wife (Mackenna and Alessandro)

Chapter 8

Mackenna considered the gorgeous orthopedic doctor in front of her was purposefully antagonizing her. She wanted to throttle him and would have if he wasn‘t so damn cute. She forced herself to maintain her annoyance with him otherwise he was going to pull this crap all the time and she‘d be stuck cleaning up his mistakes forever.

―Doctor Portman, you can‘t just randomly assign codes to your billing. You have to use the correct ones.ǁ Mackenna glared at him where he lounged carelessly against the doorframe. ―I have sent you multiple emails with the codes. Read the emails.ǁ

“Ah, but my devious plan worked.ǁ He winked overtly, ―You got angry, you called me to your office and we‘re having a conversation instead of me watching your retreating back every time I approach you.ǁ Derrick couldn‘t help but grin at her. She‘d been hiding from him since he‘d asked her out at lunch on Tuesday. It was Thursday now. Two days of her ducking into bathrooms to avoid him. He didn‘t know if he was flattered or insulted.

―I could have billed these people for an x-ray instead of the MRI they had. There‘s a difference of two hundred and fifty dollars for the billing.ǁ She tried not to smile at him, but his smile was sweet, his dimples were deep, his eyes were blue, and she was losing their battle. She hadn‘t heard anything more from Camille since Tuesday morning and slowly she was starting to relax and get back to the world where Alessandro was simply a memory.

―Yeah, but you called me to your office.ǁ He repeated the sentence as if it justified his behavior laughing outright as she cursed under her breath at him. ―Did you know when you‘re annoyed, your eyes change from a blue-slate to a deep blue? They remind me of the mountains back home. Dare I also mention how pretty the pink lacy thing you have on under your suit

jacket is? Very sexy. Pink suits you. So does lace. You should wear it more. In fact, you could take the jacket off and give me a better view.ǁ He looked her up and down devilishly and laughed again when she squirmed in her chair.

―Doctor Portman, you‘re bordering on s****l harassment.ǁ She looked down at her desk to keep from laughing at him. ―Stop messing up my billing codes.ǁ She pointed her pen in his direction warningly.

―Have dinner with me tonight.ǁ He ignored her command. ―I‘ll cook you a pasta dinner as promised.ǁ

―No,ǁ she looked up at him then, her smile wide on her face. ―I don‘t date men who can‘t write numbers correctly on forms. It‘s a requirement I have. If you can‘t figure out the difference between a one and a seven, it‘s a problem for me. Such a turnoff.ǁ It was her turn to as if mortally wounded. She giggled at his theatrics.

―Well, it‘s like this; you shared my lunch the other day. I think you owe me dinner

―Wow, you're really digging deep,ǁ she laughed at his words. ―I ate your apple.

―I am but a guys gotta do what a guys gotta do. Besides, it was my lunch, and you know, got hungry later and I had no apple.ǁ His blue eyes danced, and he wondered what she was doing when she pulled her bottom drawer of her desk open. He reacted quickly to the green fruit she whipped in his direction, catching it with one hand. Without hesitation he bit the apple and gave her a toothy smile. ―I feel like Adam. You‘re a temptress. Wanna be my Eve?”

―You‘re a nut.ǁ She leaned back in her chair no longer able to hide her smile from him. He was too charming for her own good. ―Get out. I have work to do. I have to redo your billing.ǁ

―Ah, but you‘ll be thinking of me the entire time you‘re doing it.ǁ He was laughing as he exited her office leaving the door open at her request.

He smiled at the man coming down the hall. The man was the employer of his complicated surgery the day prior. ―Is there a problem?ǁ

―The young lady at the nurses‘ station told me I could come down and talk to someone named Mac to discuss billing my employee‘s accounts directly to my company.ǁ

―She doesn‘t have an insurance carrier?” Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

―I do but considering my employee fell while performing her work duties I feel it is my responsibility to cover the costs of her treatments.ǁ

Derrick pointed behind him. ―Mac is right through the door at the end of the hall. Anything you want done; Mac can do it. She‘s the best in all thing‘s

numbers. Though I'll warn you, I made her mad mucking up some codes so tread lightly.ǁ The men shared a knowing laugh as

―Thank you,ǁ he held the papers in his hand and moved toward the door. He knocked once on the partially closed door.

―Doctor Portman, if that‘s you, get lost.ǁ Mackenna was bent down in her desk digging for new forms so she could redo the billing.

―I am not Doctor Portman. I have an employee staying in the hospital and I need to set up billing. The nurse said you could set it up?ǁ The man‘s voice was low and sounded slightly irritated.

Mackenna froze in her position, squatted behind her desk, and wondered what she had

when she was already struggling was just cruel. She spoke quietly. ―Have a seat and I‘ll be right with you.ǁ She stood up and kept her back to the stranger while she dug through the filing cabinet for the forms to set up billing for non-insurance claims. She took the time to regroup and remind herself not all Italian accents belonged to her ex-husband.

―Mackenna?ǁ Alessandro could not believe his eyes. She was here. In the hospital Dulce had been flown, where they had been told the best orthopedic surgeon to deal with her fractures had performed surgery on her the day before.

Mackenna slowly turned around and felt the blood drain from her face. ―Alessandro?ǁ She felt the cold permeate her bones as everything in her stopped, her heart no longer beat, her lungs no longer expelled air and her body no longer moved. She wondered if she was dying

Suddenly she remembered the conversations with Savannah and Derrick. ―Dulce is Doctor Portman‘s patient?ǁ

―Yes,ǁ he moved closer to her but stopped when she took a step backward, ramming her back against the open door of the filing cabinet. He stopped moving wondering if she was going to find a way to run from here as well.

She nodded at him and then sat at her desk. She had to keep professional and not lose her cool. She would not lose her job for the second time in life because of him. She ignored the way he towered over her desk, staring down at her, his amber eyes not leaving her. She waved to the chair. ―Please, sit down and we can do up the billing. Do you have her insurance papers?

―Mackenna, look at me.ǁ He commanded furiously, stunned she barely acknowledged him.

He was her husband, and she was treating him like she was a stranger!

―Alessandro, I am working, and I don‘t have time to play your games. I have several things I must have completed before five o‘clock and the insurance sites shut down. I really don‘t want to work late this evening or need to be here too early in the morning. If you want to set up billing then let‘s do this, otherwise you are wasting my time and yours.ǁ

―I don‘t remember you being so cold. Damn you Mackenna Giordano, look at me!ǁ Alessandro slammed his hand on the desk. ―Is this where you‘ve been hiding from me all this time?ǁ

She looked up then, her eyes cold and controlled. ―Alessandro, I repeat, I am here to work. ǁ When she had seen him the month before in Italy, she had done her best to keep from staring but now he was in her office, and it was difficult. She tried to ignore his hair was still jet black,

of golden honey. She attempted to ignore the fact his skin was bronzed, or his teeth were perfect and white, and his suit was tailored to fit his lean frame to perfection. She tried to forget the way his hands felt when he touched her and the way he used to whisper her name when he loved her, long before that horrendous night a month before. Instead, she forced herself to remember he was here because his precious Dulce was lying in a bed upstairs healing from surgery.

―Do you want to do this or not?ǁ She held up the forms.

He could barely control his rage as she spoke so condescendingly to him, and he repeated a question he‘d asked her once before. ―When did you become such a b***h?

―Thankfully, this time when you call me a b***h, my poor grandmother is not within earshot.ǁ Her eyes barely flicked a glance in his direction. ―I'm not a b***h Alessandro, I simply have a job to do and you‘re intruding in my workspaceǁ she dropped the forms onto her desk and as his mouth opened, she held her hand up just as her office phone rang. She picked it up. ―Mac Keebler.

―Mac, its Savannah, okay, don‘t freak out but I just got wind of...

―Save it Doctor Kirkland, I already know.ǁ She took a breath and spoke into the phone.

do handle billing for the entire hospital. I‘m sorting through it now. Are you coming home tonight?

―I was supposed to double-shift, but I can try to switch it.ǁ Savannah‘s voice was concerned. ―You okay Mac?

―Fine, fine. Um, Great, that would be great if you can get it switched. I think it would be helpful for sure. I‘ll see you when I get home then. Bye.ǁ She hung up the phone, leaving her hand on the receiver for a moment as if she wished she could touch the woman on the other end. She could use the support in this moment. Her heart was racing much to quickly for her to be still breathing but she forced herself to inhale and exhale as she looked back to the papers on her desk.

―You have a lover?ǁ Alessandro hissed angrily.

She ignored the irritating sound and began correcting the forms Derrick had messed up.― It‘s none of your business, Alessandro.ǁ She wondered what Savannah would think of someone thinking they were lovers. She smiled at the thought. Savannah would ham it up and play the part, she was sure.

Her smirk infuriated him, and Alessandro moved around the desk and hauled her from

behind it and shook her into his arms. ―You are my wife and therefore it is most certainly my business.

―Not for long, Alessandro. The divorce will be final soon enough.ǁ She wished she were stronger because his grip on her biceps was painful, but she wouldn‘t admit to him, but she wanted to pull free and couldn‘t. ―Let me go Alessandro. Take your hands off me!ǁ

―There will be no divorce. I will never let you go again, Mackenna. You have managed to stay hidden for a long time, but not any longer. You will come back to Milan, and you will resume your

role as my wife, and we will carry out your plan to have a family. This divorce nonsense is simply that; nonsense.

She held his gaze with as much bravado as she could muster, her body, even after all this time, strangely responding to his strength and machismo. ―I would rather spend the rest of my life alone, childless and penniless, than ever go back to Milan with you. I don‘t care if God himself spoke to me and said I had to go back. I will choose my own self-respect and dignity a thousand times over playing second–fiddle to your mistress.ǁ

She saw the stunned surprise in his eyes, and she realized in the moment he had believed deep- down she would capitulate to his demands as she had on every other occasion when they were together and do as he bid. She used his surprise to her advantage and pushed his hands off her arms. She flung herself back into her seat and wheeled her chair to tuck her neatly under the desk.

―Now, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I have a job to do. Where am I setting up Dulce's billing to be sent?