Echo immediately clutched her chest, her face showing exaggerated pain as she looked at Ryan. “I’m not fully recovered. My chest still hurts.”
Across the table, Bill and Cobra couldn’t help but chuckle, and even the usually stoic Hawk cracked a smile, amused by Echo’s antics.
Ryan’s cold eyes swept over Echo’s pained expression before glancing at the food in front of her.
Echo quickly changed her tune. “You know what, I think I’ll stick to eating this,” she said with a forced smile, gritting her teeth as she started to eat the nutritious, but bland, food in front of her.
If eating meant going to the battlefield, she’d rather endure the bland diet. Better to suffer a bit now than to risk her life for a meal.
Ryan watched as Echo obediently ate the food in front of her, and he nodded in satisfaction. Turning to Hawk, he coldly asked, “How much of that stuff has the Street family produced? Is there any way to counter it?”
Ryan wasn’t afraid of facing off against the Street family-both sides had been trying to destroy each other for years, which was an open secret. However, it was unforgivable that the Dark family hadn’t known about this new product the Street family had developed.
Hawk shook his head. “No, Tiger only found out about the Street family’s involvement because of this new product. There’s no way to counter it yet.”
Ryan’s face darkened at this, and Cobra, catching on, shot a glance at Echo, who was angrily eating her food.
Ryan’s expression softened slightly as he slowly turned to look at Echo. She had been the one to discover it that day. If she could figure it out, there was no need to go searching for a solution elsewhere-an expert was right in front of him.
“Echo, about that-”
“Not giving it to you.” Echo cut him off without even looking up.
She hadn’t been fully paying attention to their conversation, but the voices were loud enough to catch her ear-not her fault.
So, they weren’t really here to let her eat; they wanted something from her. Sure, she could give it to them, but there would have to be terms.
Ryan’s eyes turned cold as he stared at Echo. “Say that again.”
Echo scoffed, finally lifting her head to glare at him. “I could say it a thousand times-it’s still a no. You don’t even let me eat properly, and now you want something from me? Not a chance.”
Cobra and the others were speechless. They had thought Echo’s boldness today came from some newfound strength, but it turned out it was just about a meal. Talk about making a big deal out of nothing.
Ryan’s eyes flared with anger, and as he glared at Echo, it was like a storm was about to break.
Echo huffed, turning her head away. No means no-staring wasn’t going to change her mind. The self-restraint she usually prided herself on completely vanished in the face of Ryan’s fury.
“Ouch!” As soon as she turned her head, a strong force yanked at her arm, making her body tilt to the side.
She felt herself being pulled off balance, expecting to hit the ground, which caused her wound to throb with pain. She couldn’t help but gasp.
But in the span of a single breath, instead of being thrown to the floor, she felt the force shift, and when the movement stopped, she realized she was sitting in Ryan’s lap. The pain in her arm turned her face pale as she gasped for air.
Ryan frowned as he looked at Echo in his arms. He had initially intended to throw her aside, but when he saw her face twist in pain, he unconsciously shifted his grip, pulling her onto his lap instead.
Seeing her struggling to breathe through the pain, he was silent for a moment before placing his hand over her chest and asking quietly, “Does it hurt?”
Echo’s chest wasn’t hurting much-it was her arm that had been painfully grabbed by Ryan.
But when she saw him press his hand against her chest and ask in a low voice, a lot of her anger dissipated. She nodded, “Yeah, it hurts.”
Ryan frowned slightly at that, thinking he might have pulled too hard earlier. He pulled Echo closer, letting her lean against him, and without another word, started unbuttoning her shirt to check if she was hurt.
During the days of her recovery, it had always been Ryan changing her bandages. At first, it made Echo angry, then embarrassed, and eventually, she just got used to it-she barely felt anything anymore.
So when she saw Ryan about to unbutton her clothes, she didn’t really react, figuring there wasn’t much to see since her wounds had already scabbed over. She just looked away.
But then, she suddenly found herself locking eyes with Hawk, Cobra, Panther, and Bill-all of them giving her looks that were both amused and impossible to read. Her mind went blank, and her face flushed a deep red. Without thinking, she grabbed her shirt and tried to leap out of Ryan’s lap like a fish trying to escape a net.
How embarrassing!
“What are you doing? Sit still.” Echo moved fast, but Ryan was faster. As soon as he felt her spring up, he tightened his grip and pulled her right back down.
Echo’s face was very hot. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts to wriggle free, she gave up and buried her face in Ryan’s chest, mumbling, “I should be asking you that.”
Ryan frowned, “Sit still. What’s wrong with you?”
He was just trying to check her wound. What nerve did she think was being hit?
Echo clung tightly to Ryan’s shirt, refusing to let go. When Ryan got more insistent, she bit down hard on his chest and muttered angrily, “There are people watching.”
Ryan looked up at Hawk and the others, who all had their heads down, trying not to laugh. He frowned slightly and then glanced at Echo, whose face was still beet red.
After a moment, he relaxed his grip, patted her back gently, and said, “Alright, tell me what you want.”
Echo, still burning with embarrassment, blinked when she realized Ryan was asking her what she wanted in exchange for the earring. She couldn’t help but smile a little to herself-this was exactly the moment she had been waiting for.
Ignoring her shyness, she quickly sat up and said, “I want to know where Skye is.”
Ryan’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Echo, his expression turning cold. “You’re in good spirits. Not in pain anymore, huh?”
Seeing Ryan’s hard gaze, Echo quickly pointed to the bruises on her arm and said, “It hurts, of course it hurts.”
Ryan’s expression grew even darker, and Echo raised an eyebrow, thinking to herself that it wasn’t her fault he’d misunderstood where she was hurting. But this sudden shift in Ryan’s attitude, from cold to concerned, made her think it would be a waste not to take advantage of it-especially since she got injured because of him in the first place.
Ryan stared at Echo coldly and said slowly, “Very good.”
Echo looked at Ryan, who was still holding her tightly, his grip on her waist growing firmer. She cursed under her breath, but her face showed a hint of sadness as she said, “I’m not lying.”
Ryan saw the look of sorrow on Echo’s face, and he snorted coldly, though he did loosen his grip on her a bit, holding her gently in his lap. “No.”
“No? What do you mean, ‘no’? Mr. Ryan, if you don’t tell me where Skye is, I’m not giving you the earrings.” Echo’s sadness vanished in an instant as she glared at Ryan.
Ryan looked down at Echo, who was frowning slightly, and a flash of anger crossed his face. In a low voice, he said, “Don’t forget, you belong to me, and so do your things.”
With that, he tightened his arm around her, holding her close, while his other hand reached out to take the earring from her.