My Second Marriage with the Mafia Kingpin novel Chapter 442

Chapter 442: Buy Her More Time

"Where is Memphis?"

Confusion quickly spread across everyone’s faces at Lucian’s question. Even Gustav had no idea what was going on.

Everyone except Lucian and Memphis.

Memphis’s breath hitched beneath the crushing weight against his throat.

A moment later, Lucian finally lifted his foot.

Memphis immediately coughed, one hand reaching for his throat while the other remained pressed against his gunshot wound. He exhaled heavily before lifting his gaze back to Lucian.

"How did you..."

"Where?"

Memphis held his breath.

The unbearable ache in his chest was growing worse. His body was slowly turning cold and numb, and he could already taste blood inside his mouth.

Remembering Lucian’s offer, he finally gave in.

"I don’t know," he breathed between jagged breaths. "All I know is that I was supposed to come here... and the chamber would protect me."

Lucian let out a dry laugh.

"Fool."

He turned toward Gustav and gave him a single nod before walking away toward his car.

Behind him, Memphis exhaled heavily. He closed his eyes for a second before forcing them open again.

"Lucian, you’re going to help me—"

He never finished his sentence as another man approached.

Memphis’s dilated eyes slowly shifted toward the figure standing over him.

A pistol was pointed directly at his face.

His mouth barely opened when —

BANG!

The bullet drilled between Memphis’s brows. Blood slowly pooled beneath his head, his eyes remained open.

But the life in them had vanished instantly.

*

*

*

"Master, what’s going on?" Gustav looked back at Lucian from the passenger seat row. "What did you mean when you asked where Memphis was? Wasn’t that Memphis?"

Lucian drew a deep breath.

He didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, he lowered his gaze and silently reorganized his thoughts. His eyes narrowed as he remembered the look on Memphis’s face.

That was undoubtedly Memphis.

Or at least... he looked exactly like him.

When Lucian walked into the High Chamber, the first thing he’d noticed was the shock on Memphis’s face.

Although Memphis had only recently secured a seat in the chamber, everyone knew exactly how he’d gotten there.

He had eliminated his own father.

Then, somehow, he’d managed to convince the rest of his family to acknowledge him and follow his lead.

Lucian had only met Memphis a handful of times in the past. The most recent had been during the vote regarding Lucian’s position.

And just like every other time, Memphis had been Memphis.

Smug.

Sharp-tongued.

Annoyingly confident.

The man Lucian encountered in the High Chamber tonight looked exactly the same. But something was wrong.

Perhaps it was the subtle change in his voice.

Or perhaps it was simply the air around him.

Even when the man smirked at Lucian from across the chamber, something felt off. And once again, Lucian’s instincts had been right.

"I thought Memphis would take shelter in the High Chamber," Lucian finally broke his silence.

He lifted his eyes and met Gustav’s gaze through the mirror. "I expected him to use that sweet tongue of his to coax the elders into protecting him."

If Lucian were being honest, he’d arrived tonight prepared to spill far more blood.

He expected Memphis to give the elders every possible reason to stand against him: logical arguments, political leverage, and anything.

Anything that would make protecting Memphis more beneficial than surrendering him — not those foolish accusations and flimsy arguments.

"Master..." Gustav paused. "Don’t tell me that Memphis was a proxy?"

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