My Second Marriage with the Mafia Kingpin

Ashley and Primo stood on the side of the road, staring at the car’s rear in silence. After a moment, Primo tugged at her hand to get her attention.

"Hmm?" Looking down, she caught Primo’s inquiry.

[Should I keep my distance from Elliot?]

She blinked and stared at Primo, smiling as she bent down. Ashley rested a hand on her knee, her other hand stroking his hair.

"Why would you do that?" she hummed. "Elliot is a great friend, isn’t he?"

Primo shrugged.

"Primo, not all cops are bad," she said. "Well, Dominion has a complicated relationship with them, but don’t worry about it."

She kept her advice short and simple, since she didn’t know what to say or do in this situation. She didn’t even think she believed what she said, but her lack of hope for the justice system was something she didn’t want to pass on to Primo.

Growing up, Ashley tried to get help from cops. Sadly, the ones she met were under Marshal’s payroll, and they never helped her at all. If anything, she remembered that the people who returned her to Marshal when she escaped as a child were police officers, assisting Scott.

As an adult, on the other hand, the cops she had met were people who had all the reasons to lock her up. Even when she got locked up once before this marriage, she knew if they had more evidence, they would have asked for maximum punishment.

Hence, complicated.

She smiled at Primo. "Okay?"

[Okay!] Then, he smiled in reassurance.

Satisfied, she held his hand and straightened her back. At the same time, another car pulled up in front of them.

Red instantly jumped out of the front passenger seat, opening the back seat door for them. Ashley let Primo in first, then paused and faced Red.

"That man —"

"Tank already got info," he said quietly, his expression making her furrow her brows. So, Red leaned a little closer and whispered, "Do you know the Mad Dog of Interpol?"

Slowly, her brow rose as she looked at him in dismay. Meanwhile, Red rocked his head and whispered,

"Apparently, that guy’s the Mad Dog," Red shared quietly so Primo wouldn’t hear. "We requested more information from Gin, and he’s working on it."

Ashley drew a deep breath, her neck looking a little taut. After a second, she nodded and didn’t say another word as she joined Primo in the car.

As for Red, he jogged to the front passenger seat before their car rolled away to the neighborhood, which was slightly farther from this area.

Silence dominated the car with Ashley stroking Primo’s hair until he nodded off, leaning against her. She carefully guided Primo’s head to her lap, stretching his legs across the seat. When Ashley was sure that Primo had fallen asleep, she snapped her eyes ahead.

"You mean Julius is the Mad Dog of Interpol?" she asked again, just to be sure.

"Yes." Red looked back, this time handing her a tablet. "Gin sent me copies of the background checks. There’s little information in it, but there’s enough."

Just the title alone was enough, though.

Everyone in Dominion — or rather, everyone in the underground world — knew about the Mad Dog of Interpol.

Julius was called that for one obvious reason: he was like a mad dog.

Just going after Dominion so openly was mad. But the drastic measures this Mad Dog had taken, even arresting some of the biggest names in the underground world, had earned him quite a reputation.

In other words, Julius was a nightmare to those in the underground world. He was already a problem for the big organizations, but even more so for the smaller ones.

Ashley read the information Gin had managed to get about Julius. It was not easy information to get, since little was known about Julius.

"I’m surprised you got this information so easily, almost immediately," she intoned, and Red looked back at her.

"Thanks to the current movements in the underground," he said. "With the master down, everyone’s being reckless."

"Huh," Ashley rocked her head, glancing at the profile.

All that was in it was the information they already knew about Julius and a little bit of his personal life.

"So, someone knew he had a kid?" she hummed, pressing her finger against her temple. "Red."

Red was already looking back at her, waiting for her orders.

Ashley drew a deep breath as she thought for a second. "Can you arrange someone to follow Elliot?"

"Huh?" Red frowned. "You mean the Mad Dog’s son?"

"Yes."

"..." For a second, Red just stared at her. Not because he didn’t want to carry out the order, but because he couldn’t believe the conclusion forming in his head.

He shouldn’t question her, though. Red and his crew had decided to join the Madam faction, and their role was to execute her orders without question.

"It’s not like that," she breathed out faintly. "It’s just that the small detail about his son in his profile resurfacing in the underground told me it’s best to keep an eye on the child."

"I’m sorry, but he’s the Mad Dog." Red cleared his throat. "If we send someone lingering around the kid, he’s going to find out it’s us."

"No," she shook her head. "If information about his personal life and his kid is out there, that means the people who have a grudge against him will automatically reach for the weakest link."

Red went quiet, looking at her. Even Tank, who was behind the wheel, stared at her through the rearview mirror.

"The Mad Dog has always been a headache for Dominion," she continued. "And he’s known for his relentless pursuit of justice. He’s not one to bribe, but I think... he would not ignore what he owes. If bribery doesn’t work, then make him indebted."

She fluttered her lashes, her eyes sharp. "I don’t want him to be our headache right now, considering our plate is already full. Send one or two people, keep it to a minimum, and make sure the kid doesn’t get caught up in these adult problems."

A moment of silence fell before Red lowered his head.

"Yes, ma’am."

Having said that, Red readjusted himself in his seat and reached for his phone to get that set up. Meanwhile, Tank couldn’t help but smile as he refocused on the road ahead.

Ashley, on the other hand, stared at Julius’s photo on the tablet and nodded to herself.

Luck or not, we can’t miss an opportunity, she told herself as she stroked Primo’s hair.

Looking out the window, another shallow breath escaped her.

I wonder if Khan and Gustav have already moved Lucian out of the hospital?