Ryan’s face darkened immediately, and Echo quickly backtracked, “Okay, okay, forget it. I don’t want anything.”
The room fell into silence.
Bill, who had been watching the video, suddenly noticed that people who were supposed to be hidden were also caught on tape. He turned around, shocked, and stared at Echo, asked, “You could see that?”
His question shattered the brief silence.
Hawk and the others all looked up, while Ryan gave Echo a cold stare. His eyes swept across the room.
Echo glanced at Bill and pouted, “If you’re gonna pick someone to infiltrate, at least pick someone skilled. I hacked back in so easily it’s embarrassing for you.”
The room went silent again.
After a beat, Hawk looked at Bill, whose face had darkened, and said, “Looks like you need to work on your skills.”
Cobra whistled and said, “Impressive,” with a playful grin toward Echo.
Echo noticed that Hawk, Cobra, and even Bill, who was driving, were watching her through the rearview mirror, their eyes full of intense curiosity.
She shivered and quickly buried her head in Ryan’s chest, muttering, “I only know a little bit, so don’t get your hopes up.”
Ryan looked down at Echo, who had buried herself in his chest like an ostrich, thinking that if she hid, everything would go away.
Ryan couldn’t help but give a rare, slight smile as he gently massaged around her injured chest.
In his earlier anger, he’d forgotten that even though he’d lessened the force of his grip, Echo was still too fragile to handle it. That one hit to her chest had been too much, even though she’d run into it herself. Seeing her pale face, he could tell how much it hurt.
He’d been so angry earlier-an anger he hadn’t felt in a long time.
Since becoming the boss of the Dark family, his emotions were always kept in check. Not because he was great at controlling them, but because nothing really made him feel joy or rage anymore.
But earlier, he’d felt truly furious, all because Echo had lied to him.
The anger had been so strong that he couldn’t hold it in, leading to his harsh interrogation.
Ryan raised an eyebrow, realizing that it had been a long time since he’d felt that kind of emotion.
As Ryan massaged Echo’s chest, the pain eased a bit, and she couldn’t help but grumble to herself. If she had known, she would’ve made adjustments before handing it over.
Now, with Ryan’s anger thrown into the mix, she had no idea what new trouble she’d end up in. As she stole things, she’d become Ryan’s lock picker; as she raced cars, she’d become his driver; now that she was hacking systems, would she end up being Ryan’s spy?
Her future seemed bleak and worrying.
The phone rang, messages came in, and orders were issued, making the small space feel unusually lively. But it wasn’t really lively-everyone’s faces were expressionless.
Seeing the topic move away from her, Echo lifted her head.
Hawk and the others were giving orders about annihilation, killing, and annexation, all very brutal topics.
Echo raised an eyebrow; Ryan hadn’t said a word, acting like such small matters were beneath him. He remained completely cold.
Echo shifted slightly. The pain in her chest had lessened, but Ryan’s hand was still massaging her. At first, she didn’t think much of it, but now with Hawk sitting nearby, even though he wasn’t paying attention, her face flushed red.
She quickly grabbed Ryan’s hand and whispered, “It doesn’t hurt anymore.”
Ryan frowned slightly and said in a deep voice, “Sit still.”
Despite her words, his hand continued to massage her chest. He knew better than she did just how severe the injury was; the pain from a gunshot wound could be worse in recovery than when it was first inflicted.
Echo gritted her teeth and held onto Ryan’s hand, saying, “Can you change my position? My back hurts.”
After being held tightly by Ryan, she wasn’t lying about the pain.
Ryan let out an impatient grunt but switched hands, adjusting Echo’s position so she was facing away from Hawk, toward the car door.
Echo let out a sigh of relief.
Ryan’s massage was purely mechanical, without any added emotions, so Echo didn’t feel embarrassed.
Sometimes, habits could be quite frightening.
Looking out the window at the passing scenery, Echo suddenly asked, “Where are we headed?”
“Airport,” Ryan replied.
Echo’s face lit up. “We’re going back? We won’t have to stay in this hellhole anymore?”
She was thrilled at the thought of returning to the U. S., where Skye was likely being held by Ryan. They had parted ways there, so returning would surely offer better opportunities than staying in this war-torn place.
Ryan noticed Echo’s sudden excitement and, with no change in his tone, said, “I don’t have time to stay in one place. Coming here personally was already a huge concession to Southeast Asia. It’s wasted too much of my time.”
Echo glanced at Ryan and said, “A huge area like this wasted your time? You really are something.”
Ryan patted Echo’s head and said slowly, “If this land was for drug business, it would be acceptable. For other businesses, having one more or less doesn’t matter. I don’t care about it.”
Echo raised an eyebrow. “Then why did you want this land in the first place?”
If it was such a trivial asset, why did Ryan even bother with it?
Ryan raised an eyebrow coldly. “Just because it’s useless to me doesn’t mean it’s useless to others. What’s iron to me might be a diamond to someone else. It’s better to keep such things in my own hands. Controlling others’ lifelines is even more useful than confronting them directly.”
Echo couldn’t help but twitch her lips at the remark. This kind of thing was a bit over her head.
Seeing the cold look on Ryan’s face, she was relieved that her previous decisions had been spot on.
She could do whatever she wanted, go wherever she pleased, and live freely without worrying about territory or enemies.
The freedom felt amazing.
Skye, as long as I find you, I’ll run as far away as I can. Even going to Africa to live with the locals would be safer than staying near Ryan. He’s too dark, destroying so many families and forces just to control those who pose a threat to him.
It’s messed up.
Echo reaffirmed her decision: staying away from Ryan meant staying away from destruction, and getting close to him meant walking toward it.
“Stop thinking about it. If you don’t stick with me in this life, you might as well follow the Grim Reaper.” His cold words were devoid of any emotion but carried an unmistakable hint of anger.
Echo was startled by Ryan’s words.
She was confident that her thoughts hadn’t shown on her face; she’d been in the game long enough not to let anyone see through her.
Why would Ryan say that?
She looked up at him and said, “Mr. Ryan, I really have no other intentions.”
Ryan gave a cruel smile, tilted Echo’s chin, and said coldly, “Your little tricks don’t work on me. If I couldn’t see through this, I’d have been dead a long time ago.”
Echo felt a cold sweat break out.
Was Ryan human or a god?
Her eyes stayed calm and unchanged, though.
Ryan slowly formed a cruel smile and, while patting Echo’s back, said, “Remember, don’t lie to me, don’t try to deceive me. Otherwise, you’ll be the one who suffers.”
His icy tone carried a heavy threat.
Echo lowered her head.
Ryan was too domineering and overbearing.
However, her intentions were clear-she wanted to save Sky and leave.
There was plenty of time, so they could just drag this out.
“Blow it up and move the people from the villa back to Europe. Do whatever you need to do…”
Echo, with her head down, shivered slightly at Hawk’s indifferent voice. She looked up at Ryan’s cold eyes.
Such a grand villa being blown up-it was so extravagant and so ruthless.
This must be the kind of method Ryan was talking about, although she wasn’t sure what its purpose was.
Knowing that she was in no real danger, Echo finally relaxed and drifted off to sleep in Ryan’s arms. Ryan noticed and waved his hand coldly, signaling for Hawk and the others to lower their voices. He adjusted Echo’s position, making sure her chest wasn’t too constricted so she could rest comfortably against him.
At the brightly lit airport, Ryan carried the sleeping Echo onto his private jet.
Under the cover of night, they took off, heading for his next destination on the other side of the ocean.
Rome, Italy-a land of ancient kingdoms, rich culture, long history, countless heroes, and endless tales of glory and ruins.
But none of that mattered to Echo. When she opened her eyes and realized where they were, her head started to ache.
Italy.
She knew this place far too well-so well that it made her a bit uneasy.
“Why are we in Italy?” Echo asked as she sat in the back of the long Cadillac.
She didn’t care why Ryan had such a preference for this type of car; instead, she stared up at him with wide eyes, waiting for an answer.
Ryan glanced down at her, stroking her hair as he replied nonchalantly, “As long as you’re with me, no one will dare touch you.”
Ryan wasn’t clueless. He knew Echo was from the Theft Organization.
After capturing her last time, he figured out her identity and knew she was a wanted figure in the underworld.
Italy was likely the last place she wanted to be, the place she feared most.