The Mafia Lord's Secret Lover-Chapter 451: The Mafia Lord

"As for mercenaries..." Axel continued gently, "We do not provide mercenaries. We only provide security teams for high-profile clients who are not criminals."

His voice remained steady and reassuring.

Inside his mind, however, he had already made a silent decision; Evelyn must never know about the real mercenary operations connected to Wright Group.

That world was too dangerous.

Too violent.

If she knew the truth, she could easily become a target.

And Axel would never allow that.

Fortunately, Evelyn visibly relaxed when she heard his explanation.

"I feel relieved," she admitted quietly.

For days, she had been worried that Axel might secretly be involved in something that could destroy their lives.

Axel chuckled softly. His fingers brushed gently along her cheek again.

"Why do you look so frightened?" he asked.

Evelyn hesitated before answering. She looked slightly embarrassed. "Because my trusted informant said..." she murmured.

Axel waited.

"...that my husband is actually a hidden mafia lord."

Axel froze.

Then he almost choked.

"A mafia lord?" he repeated in disbelief.

The words sounded so ridiculous that he did not know whether to laugh or be offended.

Evelyn looked away awkwardly. "That’s what he said..."

For a moment, Axel stared at her. Then he burst into laughter.

"My wife," he said between chuckles, "those are only rumors."

He pulled her gently into his arms.

"I’m not a mafia lord."

He kissed the top of her head.

"I’m just a businessman."

He paused slightly.

"A very successful one."

Evelyn rested her head against his chest.

"But I almost believed it," she murmured softly.

Axel raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Why?"

Evelyn looked up at him with suspicion. "Because your body has several scars. Like the actor in my drama, the Mafia Lord usually has many scars on their body. So do you..."

"Oh... those?" Axel stifled a laugh, glancing at her amusing expression.

"Yes, those," she said firmly.

Axel waved his hand casually.

"Those scars are from when I was young in my rebellious phase," he said with a faint grin. "And also from sparring with my security team."

Evelyn’s eyes widened. She grasped his arms. Eyes staring at him sharply, "Wait! Axel, you spar with your security team?"

"Of course," Axel replied casually. "I need combat training."

"Why?"

"So if someone tries to kidnap me, I can defend myself without relying too much on my bodyguard," he answered calmly.

Evelyn blinked.

Axel continued speaking as if he were discussing exercise.

"When we train, they attack me like real kidnappers or assassins. They use real weapons..."

Evelyn suddenly pushed him away. She stared at him with wide eyes.

"You’re kidding... right?"

Axel looked genuinely confused. "What?"

"You fight your security team with real weapons? Gun? Blade? No... How could..."

Axel shrugged. "Do I sound like I was kidding? No. I’m serious. Those scars in my body come from them. They are skillful and powerful... I still need to work harder to not injure myself when sparring with them."

Evelyn gasped. Unable to believe it. Somehow, his words are both absurd and strangely logical.

Axel smiled faintly, then said, "You remember that time I came home with a wound on my arm?"

Evelyn froze, recalling that night when he returned home with a wound on his arm. She helped him clean and carefully wrap it.

She slowly nodded. "Hm, I remember. I’m so scared to see you injured that night. But, this is too much for me to believe that your people have the privilege to injure you in training."

Axel’s smile widened slightly.

"My wife, maybe one day you should visit my training ground," he suggested. "You can watch us train."

Evelyn simply stares at him. She still could not fully believe what she had just heard.

But after a long moment... She slowly nodded.

She wanted to see for herself whether his people were truly capable of hurting her husband.

...

Silence slowly returned to the back seat of the car.

The city continued moving outside the windows, but inside their small space, everything felt calm and warm again.

Evelyn remained nestled comfortably in Axel’s arms, her head resting against his chest while his arm wrapped around her.

For a while, neither of them spoke.

They simply stayed that way, enjoying the quiet moment after their strange, slightly intense conversation.

The steady rhythm of Axel’s heartbeat beneath her cheek felt oddly comforting, like a quiet reminder that everything was still normal.

Evelyn closed her eyes briefly.

Despite the strange news about the Martinez family and the serious conversation about Wright Group, she felt surprisingly peaceful now.

But that peaceful feeling lasted only for a moment. Suddenly, Axel leaned closer and whispered softly into her ear.

"My wife... tell me something."

Evelyn hummed quietly, still relaxed against him.

"Hmm?"

"Who is your trusted informant?"

Her entire body froze. For a split second, Evelyn wondered if she had heard him wrong.

But when she slowly lifted her head and saw the suspicious smile on Axel’s lips, she realized she had heard perfectly well.

Her mind immediately went into panic mode.

’No. No. Not this conversation again...’

She quickly tried to act innocent.

"Trusted informant?" she repeated casually, though her voice sounded slightly unnatural even to her own ears. "What informant?"

Axel didn’t answer right away.

Instead, he simply looked at her with the kind of expression a teacher might use when watching a student attempt a very bad lie.

Then he spoke again, sounding almost too casual.

"Is it Oscar Jennings?"

Evelyn’s eyes widened. Inside her mind, she was practically screaming. ’Oh, my God! How did he find out?!’

She quickly pulled her head away from his chest and stared at him in shock. Her lips parted slightly as if she wanted to deny it.

But strangely, no words came out.

Axel watched her reaction with quiet amusement.

His smile slowly grew wider.

"If you can’t say it loudly," he continued calmly, "just blink twice to say yes."

Evelyn stared at him.

For several seconds, she didn’t move at all.

Her brain was running through every possible escape plan. But none of them seemed useful—Axel was too confident.

And Evelyn knew exactly why... Axel had his own powerful hacker. Someone who could probably discover secrets faster than Oscar himself.

Realizing she had no way out, Evelyn finally sighed softly.

Then she blinked.

Once.

Twice.

Axel immediately grinned like a man who had just won a very satisfying game. "I knew it!" he said proudly.

Evelyn sighed.

"You look way too happy about that," she muttered.

"Well," Axel whispered, "it’s not every day I get confirmation that my wife and her informant are secretly exchanging intelligence like real-world spies."

"That sounds worse when you say it like that," Evelyn complained.

Axel chuckled softly. But she quickly looked at him seriously.

"But you can’t say anything about it to anyone," she said firmly. "Promise me."

Axel raised his eyebrow.

"Why?"

"Because he will scold me if he finds out, you know," Evelyn explained. "And, he will probably disappear for three months and refuse to answer my calls. And, he would likely go off-grid to Alaska or somewhere very remote. So please never reveal anything about it..."

Axel laughed quietly at the mental image.

"Fine," he said. Then his expression softened slightly as he looked into her eyes. "I promise not a word."

Satisfied, Evelyn relaxed again.

Axel gently pulled her back into his embrace, and this time she didn’t resist at all.

She rested her head against his chest once more, feeling the steady warmth of his body and the familiar comfort of his arms around her.

A soft smile appeared on her lips.

For a long time, she had carried that small secret in her heart.

It had never been something serious, but hiding it from Axel had always made her feel slightly guilty.

Now the secret is gone.

Everything between them felt clear again.

And strangely... lighter.

Evelyn closed her eyes and listened to the quiet rhythm of the car moving along the road toward home.

For the first time in a while, her heart felt peaceful.

Work was waiting for her tomorrow.

The future of Walters Group rested on her shoulders.

Their family would continue to face challenges.

But somehow, none of those things felt frightening anymore.

Because she knew one simple truth. She and Axel were facing everything together.

And that made the future feel a little brighter.