My Second Marriage with the Mafia Kingpin

Meanwhile, after the shooting, Tommy dragged himself toward where Marshal lay.

He stopped just a step away from the man.

"Impressive," he whispered, staring down at Marshal. "Even after taking all those bullets, you’re still clinging to life."

Blood trickled from Marshal’s mouth as he stared back at Tommy. Yet even as his life slipped away, the corners of his lips curled upward.

"I..." he choked out, keeping his eyes fixed on Tommy. He gasped with every breath but still managed to say, "...still won."

Marshal coughed a few more times before the life in his eyes faded. His body stopped moving, his struggles coming to an end, but his dim, lifeless gaze remained fixed on Tommy.

Still won, Tommy thought.

He stared at Marshal for several seconds before shifting his gaze toward Ashley and Lucian. His throat tightened, and his jaw clenched.

It wasn’t difficult to understand what Marshal’s final words meant—words that would probably haunt Tommy for the rest of his life.

Because if Marshal’s claim was true, then he had won against Tommy, whatever competition Marshal had concocted inside his head.

Tommy could never take back the years Ashley had spent under Marshal’s control. He could never erase the pain she had endured beneath Marshal’s roof. And the mere thought of it made him wish he could somehow take all that pain away from her. Whether she was his daughter or not.

"Tom."

Julio’s voice came from beside him.

Tommy looked up at him and swallowed the lump in his throat. "Take care of everything here."

With that, he limped toward Ashley, Lucian, Raka, and the people gathered around them. Judging by their expressions, it was almost as if the hostage situation had never taken place.

Before Tommy could say anything, everyone turned toward him.

"Julio will clean everything up here," Tommy said, his gaze lingering on Lucian before shifting to Ashley. "There are some things I want to discuss with the two of you, but for now, we need to leave this place."

Tommy cleared his throat. "In case you aren’t aware, Interpol is here as well. They’re on the other side of the city."

"My men will take all of you back," he added with a faint smile. "You can rest easy now."

Lucian and Ashley exchanged glances before nodding.

"Thank you," Lucian said before turning to Gustav. "You heard him."

"Yes, sir." Gustav nodded and quickly stepped aside to relay the message.

Raka, however, furrowed his brows. "Why would you run away from Interpol? Aren’t you—"

"How about we get out of here first, huh?" Red suddenly grabbed the back of Raka’s collar and hauled him to his feet. "Mister Raka, we can talk in a bit. Standing around all these bodies is... unsettling."

With that, Lucian helped Ashley to her feet while her men dragged Raka away—only to knock him unconscious when he started asking too many questions.

Ashley and Lucian remained standing in front of Tommy. He offered them a faint smile and nodded.

Before any of them could say more, Lucian carefully released Ashley’s hand and stepped aside.

"I’ll assist Gustav and supervise the evacuation," he told her. He then turned toward Tommy. "Can you look after my wife?"

Tommy let out a quiet chuckle and nodded.

With that, Lucian walked away without looking back. Once he was some distance away, Tommy returned his attention to Ashley.

"Your husband truly is a good man," he commented.

Ashley pursed her lips and touched the back of her neck awkwardly. "Yeah..."

"Do I make you uncomfortable?"

"What? No, of course not, Uncle Tom." She bit her tongue as a conflicted smile crossed her face. "I’m just... I mean, what are you doing here, anyway? I didn’t hear that you had already woken up."

"Things have been rather hectic, I believe." Tommy shrugged. "But here I am. I couldn’t let the kids clean up the problems I left behind because of my negligence, could I?"

Ashley pursed her lips.

"It isn’t your problem," she said, her voice quieter than she intended. "Marshal is my business too."

Tommy’s lips parted, but no words came out.

For the next few seconds, an awkward silence settled between them. They stared at each other, their mouths occasionally parting, but neither of them managed to speak.

It was strange.

They had never felt awkward around each other before. If anything, they had been comfortable with one another from the very beginning. This unfamiliar tension between them felt almost unnatural.

Finally, Tommy forced out a single word.

"Sorry."

Ashley’s brows rose.

"I’m... sorry," he whispered, his throat tightening.

He didn’t explain what he was apologizing for, but that single word was enough to shatter the awkwardness between them.

Ashley’s expression softened as she bit the inside of her lower lip. Tears finally began forming in the corners of her eyes—tears that hadn’t come even when Marshal died.

Tommy released a ragged breath as he reached for her hand. His face twisted as his heart clenched, his grip on her tightening until his hand began to tremble.

There were a thousand things they could have said, yet they simply stood there in silence.

There were questions they should have asked and explanations that needed to be given.

But there was nothing.

Only silence.

When Tommy lifted his gaze and met hers, he saw tears trickling down her cheeks. He released his cane and reached up to wipe them away.

"It was frightening, wasn’t it?" he murmured, his voice breaking. "From the start until now."

Ashley chewed on her lip, forcing the words out. "A little."

"Brave girl." A faint smile appeared on his face as he gently stroked her hair. "I’m sorry I was late."

Ashley lowered her gaze. She wanted to tell him that he had nothing to apologize for, but she couldn’t. She knew that if she forced out even one more word, she would start sobbing.

"Come here," he breathed, gently pulling her into his embrace.

The moment his arms wrapped around her, Ashley buried her face against his shoulder.

In that instant, Tommy’s heart threatened to burst beneath the weight of his emotions.

His mind might not have known, but his heart had always recognized her.

He simply hadn’t listened to what it had been screaming from the moment he first saw her. He hadn’t allowed himself to dwell on how much she reminded him of a younger Liza or on all the little habits they shared.

He had convinced himself that he simply missed the daughter he had never even gotten the chance to hold.

But now, his heart ached over every tiny detail he had chosen to overlook.

Before he could stop himself, he whispered—

"Mi hija."

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!