My Second Marriage with the Mafia Kingpin novel Chapter 488

Chapter 488: Joint Operation

"He’s dead—poisoned. By the time they found him, he was already gone."

Another wave of silence fell over the room as everyone stared at Lucian. Their eyes widened in surprise, while a few of them held their breath.

Lucian gave a small nod.

"The person who did it also blew his own head off. That’s how I found out Memphis already created another faction within Dominion... or if not him, then whoever is backing him."

"He’s dead?" Vodka whispered in disbelief. "I can’t believe he just died like that."

Then again, this was their world.

One moment, a person could be perfectly fine. The next, they were dead.

Lives in the underground were often shorter than those outside of it. Every day, they walked with one foot in the grave.

So hearing that Tinie had been poisoned before he could say a single word told them exactly what kind of enemy they were dealing with.

One had prepared a double.

Another had been silenced with poison.

"Wow," Ashley breathed. "I didn’t expect that."

None of them had.

"Tinie’s poisoning raised the stakes," Lucian continued. "That’s how Gustav and I ended up digging through the entirety of Dominion."

He paused. "We found strange movements within the organization going back several years. Small details that were easy to overlook, even with our regular screenings."

Everyone listened closely as he explained.

According to Lucian, several members of Dominion who had supposedly quit or gone AWOL were still posing as active members.

Because the organization had grown so large, keeping track of every single person—especially those at the bottom of the hierarchy—had become difficult.

Besides, underground organizations were generally more lenient when it came to nameless, low-ranking members.

"They seized safe houses and other properties owned by Dominion," Lucian continued. "They killed the caretakers and guards stationed there. But because they knew Dominion’s usual protocols, they continued sending regular reports to headquarters and used those reports to hide what they were doing."

He glanced around the lobby. "That’s what we’ve been doing all night. Taking back our properties and investigating what they were using them for."

Ashley’s lips parted. "That’s why you’re here?"

Lucian shrugged. "You asked if you could use the safe houses. I had to come here."

"And you..." She pointed toward the bodies scattered around the room. "You took all of them down by yourself?"

"We needed to divide the work," Lucian replied. "And I didn’t trust anyone else."

Even though Gustav and Lukas had opposed the idea, the three of them had no choice but to split up. Lukas was injured, but even he hadn’t been given the luxury of sitting this out.

Ashley frowned. "What about the guards? You didn’t bring anyone with you?"

"They were here earlier," Lucian said. "I sent them to survey the surrounding area."

"I see." She let out a relieved breath. "For a second, I thought you seriously came here alone. That’s dangerous! You don’t just walk onto a battlefield by yourself. It’s not like you’re some kind of superhuman. That would be crazy."

As she continued nagging him, her men stared at her in disbelief. Especially those who had worked closely with her the night before.

"That’s rich coming from her," Gin mumbled.

He still remembered the building they had raided for weapons after Tank blew up the armory.

If anyone here was reckless... or crazy, it was Ashley.

Besides, Red’s crew was certain that Lucian would have been fine even if he had come alone.

They knew because they had worked under him for years—before they were assigned to babysit Ashley and before becoming the first members of the Madam’s Faction.

"But that’s only the general situation within Dominion," Lucian continued after calming his wife with a gentle caress of her cheek.

He leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs.

"Other than discovering that a new faction has been forming inside Dominion, there’s one person who might know about Memphis’s plans." He paused, then shifted his gaze toward Ashley. "Or at least, we’re betting that he does."

Ashley blinked as her husband stared at her. It took her a moment to realize what he meant.

"Marshal," she whispered.

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