My Second Marriage with the Mafia Kingpin novel Chapter 377

Chapter 377: Doesn’t End Up Handicapped

"You’re here."

Gustav paused as he opened the door to his office, finding Lukas standing by the floor-to-ceiling window with a cup of coffee in hand.

Gustav shrugged and walked inside, heading straight for his desk.

"You sure you should be here?" he asked while checking a file he’d picked up from his department. "From what I know, you should be somewhere else getting yourself together."

Lukas rolled his eyes and turned toward him. "It’s my shift today."

Gustav paused and frowned.

Their eyes met.

The tension between them was almost tangible.

"I’m not going to screw it up." Lukas broke the silence and jerked his chin toward the thin file he had placed on the other side of the desk.

Then he walked toward the door.

"I’ll get myself together, but..." He glanced at Gustav over his shoulder. "That doesn’t mean I’m going to go easy on her. I get that she saved us once, but that doesn’t mean I have to like her. For some reason, I just can’t."

With that, he resumed walking.

Gustav followed him with his eyes before speaking.

"Lukas." The latter didn’t stop. "Nikki and Tinie are here. I wouldn’t be surprised if Jony shows up soon."

This time, Lukas halted.

"You better make sure that if you’re going to criticize her, you do it the same way you’d criticize the Master," Gustav warned, his eyes dangerously sharp. "Because if you let your feelings cloud your judgment again..."

His voice lowered. "...I’ll have to end you myself."

This wasn’t just about Ashley.

It was about Dominion.

"The High Chamber is already watching her," Gustav added. "Don’t become the crack they can use to bring her down."

Lukas clicked his tongue and glanced back.

For once, he didn’t argue.

At this point, he had no right to, considering the papers he had sent to Ashley.

"Don’t worry," Lukas said as he resumed walking. "My work won’t become your burden."

"I wasn’t the one burdened by those papers," Gustav replied, staring at Lukas’s back as the man reached for the doorknob. "It wasn’t my workload that increased."

His eyes darkened.

"It was hers. She’s the one staying late because you failed to do your job properly."

Lukas’s jaw tightened. He glanced back but said nothing.

Then he walked out.

Gustav watched him through the transparent wall of his office, seeing him head straight toward Ashley’s office.

A deep sigh escaped him.

"I doubt he sees the difference," Gustav muttered. "He only looks at the surface."

Still, that wasn’t his problem right now.

"If anything, he’s going to lose his mind once he finds out she’s transferring authority over that project."

The dynamics within the office had changed drastically.

Back when Lucian was around, Gustav and Lukas often argued. But those arguments had been about work.

Now things felt personal.

And Ashley sat at the center of it.

Gustav sighed for what felt like the hundredth time before picking up the file Lukas had left behind.

The size alone felt familiar.

After all, only files of this thickness ever made it out of Lukas’s office and onto either Gustav’s desk or Lucian’s.

Normally, Lukas rejected almost everything at first glance.

Only during the rare periods when he worked day and night did he produce this much.

When Gustav opened the file, the corners of his lips lifted.

"I guess a day was enough." Then he frowned again. "I just need to make sure Nikki’s presence doesn’t affect him."

*****

Meanwhile, Ashley sat behind her desk, working through the documents before her.

Unlike her first few days in the office, the pile had shrunk dramatically. Now the files looked like proper reports worth reviewing rather than mountains of clutter.

A knock sounded at the door.

"Come in," she said without looking up.

The door opened. Then closed.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify