My Second Marriage with the Mafia Kingpin-Chapter 27: A Meeting Of Their Own

Earlier...

When Ashley arrived at the hotel, she quickly settled into her room and checked her phone. Time had passed quickly while spending it with Liza and Tommy. Not only had they fed her a good home-cooked meal, but they had also genuinely helped her with her garden.

"Auntie is really an expert," she muttered, lying on the bed as she held her phone above her face. "Even Uncle Tommy is interested."

She smiled from ear to ear, thinking about the warm couple.

"Such nice people," she chuckled to herself, shifting her attention back to her phone. "And wow... these people are really that interested in the soil."

Since distributing the samples, Ashley had also left her contact number with them.

Now, her phone was blowing up with message after message and email after email, asking for an official meeting about the soil.

It wasn’t like she planned to supply everyone. If she did, the price would drop — the basic law of supply and demand.

"Good thing Lucian tortured me by making me study back then," she said. "At least I know these things."

Ashley was not the smartest.

At a very young age, all she cared about was survival and being useful to her father. That was why she did all sorts of things for Marshal. She already knew a thing or two when she married into Dominion, and the rest she learned because Lucian forced her to read books and learn new skills.

That didn’t mean she didn’t have valuable skills before. It was just that compared to the Di Carpios and Dominion, she had to pick up a few tricks here and there.

"Back then, I thought Lu was mocking me because I was known as illiterate," she mumbled. "But I guess... these are also some sort of survival skills. He should’ve just said so."

She clicked her tongue and didn’t dwell on it, continuing to read the emails and messages.

"If that expert botanist, the wife of that important bigshot, already received the sample... I’m sure they would’ve heard about me," she muttered. "It would be nice if my gift reaches his wife."

But deep down, Ashley knew the gift she told Lucian to give that important person would not be handed over to his wife, for personal reasons.

And she was right.

Right now, Tommy had already decided to keep it from his wife.

"I guess... I’ll just have to wait a bit more," she told herself, checking the date on her phone. "If I remember correctly, the meeting will fall through, and the man will reject Dominion’s offer. But Lu will stay around a little longer and try to win him over."

She had time, albeit a short window.

Ashley sat up on the bed, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.

"This district is already protected, so I don’t think they’ll ambush this hotel," she whispered to herself. "But I should stop Lu from coming to the city until I can give him a hint that some people are already waiting for the perfect opportunity to kill them."

She raised her finger and made circles on her temple, wondering how she could give that hint without looking strange.

Or worse, suspicious.

She couldn’t just say it outright.

First, no one would believe her. Second, it might backfire. These people never trusted anyone easily, especially her, after everything she had done.

Just as Ashley was thinking about it, a knock on the door halted her thoughts.

Her brows rose in surprise, not expecting anyone to visit her at the moment.

Knowing there were guards around the hotel, Ashley opened the door without hesitation.

To her surprise, the person standing outside was someone she had been with just a few hours ago.

"Auntie?" Ashley furrowed her brows as she looked at Liza. "Why are you here so early? Didn’t you say you had some things to do and we’d meet for dinner?"

She checked the time and her mouth parted. "Oh, it’s almost dinner."

Though it was still earlier than the time Liza had said she would return to the hotel.

"Ashley, my dear," Liza drew a deep breath, looking at Ashley sternly. "We need to talk."

Seeing the serious look on Liza’s face, Ashley furrowed her brows and tilted her head to the side in confusion.

"Auntie... did I do something that upset you?" she asked nervously, her heart already thudding. Ashley panicked a little, not wanting to offend Liza since she liked the woman.

Liza, on the other hand, huffed heavily before smiling at her. "No, it’s nothing like that. Can we talk?"

"About what?"

"Business."

"Business?" Ashley blinked. "Huh?!"

*

*

*

Moments later, outside the hotel...

Tommy and Lucian stared at each other in surprise and silence, as if wondering what the other person was doing there.

Just an hour ago, they had been in a completely different location.

Lucian had stayed in the restaurant a little longer, deep in thought. Meanwhile, Tommy had left earlier after saying his piece. And yet, they were now arriving at the same place at the same time.

No, actually — why were they here in the first place?!

Tommy frowned deeply, clearly not pleased to see Lucian.

"Mr. De Luca — hah. For a moment, I thought you were better than this. However, it seems you are also someone who cannot take no for an answer."

"..." Lucian didn’t respond, simply staring at Tommy.

As for Gustav, who had opened the door for his boss, he panicked slightly.

"Sir, it seems you are misunderstanding something —"

"Misunderstand?" Tommy scoffed. "What is there to misunderstand when the Don of Dominion is standing in front of such a humble hotel? Far away from his other business in the country?"

Gustav and the other members of Dominion, who were also staying in the hotel, cringed internally.

How were they supposed to explain that?

That a certain walking omen threw a tantrum and demanded they change hotels?

Tommy’s eyes glinted, feeling deceived and disappointed by Lucian’s actions. He truly thought Lucian was better than he expected, but this only proved that Lucian was no different from the men of the underground.

But before Tommy could say more and chase Dominion away, a voice from the hotel caught their attention.

"Sir, you’re back —"

Red jogged toward the entrance, only to stop when he noticed the person Lucian was staring at.

Everyone whipped their heads toward Red, only to see confusion spread across his face.

"Huh?" Red blinked, darting his eyes between Lucian and Tommy. He raised a finger and pointed at Tommy, then looked at Lucian with even more confusion.

When his gaze landed on Tommy again, he tilted his head.

"Sir Tommy? You’re here?"

Tommy?

Everyone furrowed their brows, flabbergasted by how Red addressed the man.

"What... what is going on?" Red wondered, unaware that Tommy was the very person Lucian and the entire Dominion had come to this country for.

"I should be the one asking," Tommy replied, looking at Red and then at Lucian. "What is going on here?"

Lucian and the others exchanged confused gazes.

But that confusion would soon be answered once Tommy and Lucian reached the buffet area and stood beside the table where Liza and Ashley were seated, already having a meeting of their own.

The meeting included Liza lightly slapping Ashley’s hand and lecturing her about proper business practices.

"Ashley, that’s not how you do business," Liza lectured. "You cannot just give away something I want for free just because you like me."

The Dominion members who rushed after Lucian and Tommy froze.

Everyone: "????"

Lucian and Tommy: "..."

Ashley looked genuinely distressed.

"But I don’t want Auntie to pay me! Please keep that money away from me!"

She waved her hands in panic as if Liza were trying to shove poison into them.

And yet... her eyes were twinkling and clicking like a cash register.