My Second Marriage with the Mafia Kingpin

Another long silence settled over the room as Ashley held Scott’s gaze, refusing to let him look away.

"You can answer me now, can’t you?" she added under her breath.

Deep in her heart, she hoped he would finally give her at least one honest answer.

"You finally looked at the results of the test you took before?" he asked instead of answering her.

Ashley remained silent. She was waiting for an answer, not another question.

Scott drew a deep breath and was about to speak when a knock suddenly came from the door. He and Ashley turned toward it, finding two people standing outside.

Lucian and Tommy.

For a moment, Scott was surprised to see Tommy. However, the surprise was short-lived, quickly replaced by relief.

"Him," he whispered, staring at Tommy as he entered with Lucian’s assistance. Scott turned to Ashley and almost jokingly added, "Small world, huh?"

Ashley held her breath as her shoulders tensed, carefully studying his expression. When she saw the softness in his eyes, her own expression softened as well.

"You’re not lying?" she asked quietly.

Scott didn’t answer.

Still, his silence and the look in his eyes told her everything she needed to know.

She had spent more time with this man than with anyone else in her life. She knew when Scott was lying.

By then, Lucian and Tommy had reached Scott’s bedside.

"I’ll wait outside," Lucian said as he helped Tommy into a chair. Then he cast Ashley a look and nodded.

She smiled at him while Tommy thanked him and sat down. None of them said anything until the door closed behind Lucian.

"It seems you’ve already asked him," Tommy remarked. Judging by the smile on her face, she must have received good news.

Tommy shifted his gaze toward Scott.

"It’s been a while, Scott."

Scott studied him. Tommy looked visibly older than he remembered, but he still carried the same authoritative air around him.

"It has," Scott replied. "How is Julio?"

Tommy let out a low chuckle, resting both hands on his cane. "Still as aggressive as ever."

"He needs to take it easy."

"That’s what I told him, but I suppose this is already him taking it easy," Tommy quipped.

Despite supposedly being enemies, neither man showed any hostility toward the other. That didn’t surprise Ashley at all.

"Mija," Tommy called, turning to her. "Could you give us a moment?"

Ashley nodded with a small smile. "Of course."

She rose from her chair and gazed down at Scott.

"Don’t kill him."

Tommy chuckled, while Scott didn’t react. Scott watched her glance at Tommy before walking away, following her with his eyes until she disappeared behind the door.

Even after she was gone, both Tommy and Scott continued staring at the door for several seconds.

"She asked me who her father was," Scott said, breaking the silence as he shifted his gaze toward Tommy. "I believe she asked because she already knew the answer."

He wanted to tell Tommy that Ashley had always been like that. However, he didn’t want to sound as though he were rubbing it in Tommy’s face that he knew Ashley better than her own father did.

"And judging by your expression..." Scott continued, studying him carefully. "You already knew."

"Lucian noticed something strange about my story and my daughter’s," Tommy explained with a shrug. "He ran a test without our knowledge."

Scott nodded. "I see."

Tommy studied him in return. The look on Scott’s face made it clear that he had expected the results to be a match.

Scott didn’t realize it, but he had already answered Tommy’s question.

"You don’t have to keep me alive," Scott said, snapping Tommy out of his thoughts. He stared directly into the other man’s eyes, almost encouraging him. "I’ve done what I’ve done, and there is no justification for the sins I’ve committed."

Even if others told him otherwise or pointed out the good things he had done over the years, none of it would ever be enough to outweigh the atrocities he had allowed to happen.

Marshal’s reign of terror would never have gone so far without him.

Scott was just as guilty as Marshal.

Tommy offered him a faint smile. "I would have killed you, but—"

"If you’re going to thank me for helping your daughter survive this world, save it," Scott interrupted before Tommy could get any foolish ideas. "I was carrying out an order. It was nothing personal."

Another wave of silence swept through the room as the two men stared at each other.

"I asked Julio to investigate your history with Marshal and find out how you ended up with the Di Carpios," Tommy said before the silence could stretch any longer. His voice was quiet but still authoritative. "It wasn’t easy, but we managed to get information from one of Julio’s contacts."

He paused, staring intently at Scott.

"He told me about your sister and nephew."

The moment those words left Tommy’s mouth, Scott’s eyes widened.

No one knew about his sister and nephew. Even they didn’t know he existed.

Their mother had fled an abusive home with her infant daughter in her arms, leaving Scott behind with his deadbeat father.

By the time Scott found them, he was already too deeply entangled in the underground—the only world he had ever known. He could only watch his sister and nephew from a distance. He couldn’t bring himself to appear before them and drag them into his problems.

Especially since his nephew had a serious medical condition.

Still, Scott had helped his sister from afar, particularly because her son needed constant medical attention.

"That’s how Marshal controlled you, isn’t it?" Tommy asked quietly, watching Scott look back at him. "He threatened to drag them into this hell if you refused to obey him. He told you he would kill them if you ever killed him."

Scott’s shoulders sagged as he lowered his gaze.

"My mother did her best to raise my sister differently from how I was raised," he whispered. "Her son has Down syndrome and other medical conditions, but they have a loving home. My sister even graduated from college—or so I heard."

He paused before meeting Tommy’s eyes once more.

"If becoming one dog’s servant kept them away from the hell I had buried myself in, then I was willing to bark." A bitter smile touched his lips. "Wouldn’t you have done the same, Tommy?"

Tommy would have.

The underground was a world they knew how to navigate. They had even ruled parts of it, but never without difficulty. The names they had made for themselves were not something either man could take pride in.

The more powerful and feared a person became in the underground, the more danger followed them.

That was why even Lucian had been pushing for Dominion’s complete legalization, hoping to leave the underground behind for Primo and Ashley’s sake.

One undeniable truth about life was that no one remained strong forever.

Sooner or later, the younger generation would surpass them. New organizations would emerge, and even more formidable people would enter the game.

"Enjoy your retirement," Tommy said, letting out a sharp breath as he gripped his cane and rose to his feet.

He turned his back to Scott but paused before walking away.

"Scott," he called, glancing over his shoulder. "Thank you... for looking after her."

He held Scott’s gaze for a moment. "I won’t kill you because of that. But I hope you never appear in our lives again."

As he walked away, he added, "May we close this Chapter of our lives here."