My Second Marriage with the Mafia Kingpin novel Chapter 411

Chapter 411: Almost... at Home.

Ashley let out a slow breath and closed her eyes.

Her arm rested at her side, a plastic tube connected to the needle in her vein.

When she opened her eyes again, her gaze drifted to the blood bag slowly filling above her.

A heaviness settled over her chest, as though a massive boulder were pressing down on it.

For some reason, she felt like crying.

Ashley slowly closed her eyes again, trying to silence the dark thoughts threatening to surface.

Instead, her mind drifted to Liza and Tommy.

The first time she met Liza.

How strangely easy it had been to talk to her, as though they had known each other for years.

Building relationships—whether friendships or simply working alongside others—had always been difficult for Ashley.

Even when she worked as part of a team, she preferred being alone. Not because she thought she was better than anyone else.

She simply didn’t know how to be around people.

Friendship?

She had never truly had one. June had come the closest.

Every relationship that might have become genuine had eventually been destroyed by the Di Carpios.

Over time, Ashley had become awkward, guarded, and unsure of herself.

Yet none of that happened with Liza.

Everything had flowed naturally from the moment Ashley collided with her in the small hotel owned by Liza and Tommy.

For the first time, she met someone she could simply... be herself around. She grew so comfortable that she stayed far longer than she had intended.

That day, Lucian had nearly turned the entire city upside down, convinced she had run away again.

Then Liza introduced her to Tommy.

Just like Liza, Tommy welcomed her without reservation.

Ashley never once felt uncomfortable around either of them.

If anything, she felt warm.

Safe.

Almost... at home.

Time always seemed to pass effortlessly whenever she visited Liza’s flower shop.

They never made her feel nervous.

Never made her wonder whether she was too quiet... or too much.

The insecurities she usually carried simply disappeared around them.

Even after Ashley left the country with Dominion, they never failed to check in on her.

Liza regularly sent snacks—and especially tea—for both her and Lucian.

Ashley, in turn, constantly called them to tell them about the things she had done... and the things she planned to do.

When she excitedly told Tommy she was finally opening her first office, he had been the proudest.

So proud, in fact, that he kept telling everyone he met. Only to be scolded by Liza every single time.

They were such little things.

Yet to Ashley, they meant everything.

None of them shared the same blood. Neither had known her for very long.

Yet they cared for her...

For Primo...

And for Lucian...

As though they had always been family.

Tommy rarely left the country. Not only because of his age, but because doing so put his own safety at risk. Yet he hadn’t hesitated to attend her event.

He came to celebrate one of the biggest milestones of her life.

And now, he was lying in an operating room because of it.

*****

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify