My Second Marriage with the Mafia Kingpin

As usual, Lucian went on with the rest of his day, letting Ashley do her thing with Primo. But by the time he finished his work, it was slightly later than usual. Hence, he didn’t linger and headed straight to the bedroom.

The second Lucian opened the door and stepped in, he stopped right then and there.

His eyes drifted down, spotting Ashley lying flat on the floor. His brows drew together as he saw her just staring at the ceiling with a dead expression. The bed was only a few steps away.

As his lips parted, she suddenly spoke,

"Don’t..." she trailed off, not taking her eyes off the ceiling. "I am dead tired. I don’t even have the strength to get up anymore... or shower—damn it!"

She clenched her teeth, grinding them in frustration. "I did everything the way they said, but... they still said I look too awkward."

From what she remembered, she had passed this before—after a lot of drama she herself had caused. Ashley knew for a fact that she didn’t need these lessons. All she needed was to recall the memory.

But what was this?

How did they suddenly become so strict?

"Not to mention, I had to get my measurements done, try on a few dresses and shoes to match them," she scoffed, turning her head toward the pair of high heels given to her by her strictest instructor. "And I’m supposed to walk around in those for days until the ball."

Her head throbbed, not because she was complaining about what she had to do and learn, but because of the pressure.

Lucian let out a shallow breath as he finally approached, stopping right beside her. "I’ll send them away."

"Huh?" She blinked at him, refocusing her attention on him. "Why would you do that?"

He didn’t answer, but he gave her that look-at-youlook.

She scrunched up her nose. "Boo, you might not relate to this, but sometimes people need to complain first before getting things done. That’s how normal people function."

"Ah."

"I’m not complaining because I don’t want to learn. I’m complaining because how come I still don’t get it?" She clicked her tongue and sighed, half expecting she would be able to send her instructors away with pride because their job was done.

Lucian stared at her, wanting to tell her it was because she hadn’t had the chance to learn such things growing up. She had priorities, just like him. And that she was already lucky she had made it this far.

Slowly, his arms reached out to her.

Before she knew it, his arm slipped under her head and legs, and she was swiftly lifted off the floor into his arms. Ashley flinched slightly, her eyes widening as she refocused on him.

"What are you doing?" she blurted in shock.

Lucian stared down at her, his only response a deep exhale. Without a word, he carried her away... straight to the bathroom.

The moment Ashley realized where they were headed, her mouth fell open as she stared at him in horror.

"I’ve seen everything," was all he said without looking at her, kicking the door open as he brought her to the bathtub.

There was no need for her to look at him as if he were a monster about to devour his prey.

Without removing anything from her, he gently placed her into the tub. Then he sat on the rim, reaching for her foot to remove her socks.

Lucian said nothing, working in silence as usual. Meanwhile, Ashley shook her head, snapping out of it—but by then, he had already taken off her other sock and turned on the faucet, placing his hand under the running water to check the temperature.

Once satisfied, he pushed himself off the rim and gathered the necessities—soap, shampoo, and everything she needed—and placed them beside her.

"..." Ashley tried to say something, but her voice seemed stuck in her throat.

All she could do was watch him do things she never thought he would. If the people in Dominion saw this, they would probably drag her to their improvised guillotine. Because... how dare she? To their master?

While she was distracted, Lucian turned back and noticed the water had risen to her stomach. Her shirt clung to her body, and the unintentional splashes on her chest that revealed what lay beneath made him freeze.

"Call me once you’re done," his low, naturally cold voice said, snapping her out of her thoughts.

Ashley looked up at him in confusion, only to see him already walking away as quietly as ever. He closed the door—but not completely—so he could hear her call.

Thump... thump... thump...

Slowly, she raised a hand to her chest. Her cheeks were flushed, but her expression was mostly confused.

"My body feels hot," she whispered, glancing at the warm water filling the tub. For her, that explained it.

But then her attention shifted to her heart pounding against her chest. She puffed her flushed cheeks, touching them with the back of her hand.

"That fool," she muttered with a pout. "He didn’t have to be so gentle—tsk."

She preferred it when he was rough, like usual. At least then, her racing heart made sense—it was nervousness. Things were clearer that way.

But now... her heart raced for a completely different reason, especially whenever he did things she never expected in either lifetime.

"Well," she shrugged, not dwelling on it much as she leaned back and watched the rising water.

Her lips curled into a satisfied smile as she hummed, "Thanks, Lu~!"

Little did she know, Lucian hadn’t simply walked away after stepping out of the bathroom.

The moment he did, he staggered against the wall beside the door. His face was buried in his palm, but it wasn’t enough to hide the redness spreading across his cheekbones and ears.

That was close, he thought. That was very close.

If he hadn’t stepped away, he would have grabbed that flimsy shirt of hers and torn it off. He had come dangerously close to stripping every piece of fabric from her body.

He had nearly lost control... and his mind.

And yet, all he could hear was her sweet voice, "Thanks, Lu!"

Lucian glanced at the door, hearing the faint sound of water. "Seems I’m the one who needs it."

But instead of warm, he needed ice cold shower.

Surely, this was getting very troublesome for him.