Without saying much more, Ryan simply clarified that he was shielding her under his protection.
Hearing Ryan’s arrogant words, Echo raised an eyebrow, but she surprisingly felt reassured.
After all, Ryan was the ruthless, powerful boss of the Dark family. If he couldn’t protect her, he might retire and become a farmer.
When Echo didn’t respond, Ryan assumed she was still worried. With a cold grunt, he turned to Hawk and said, “Destroy it.”
Hawk immediately responded with a nod.
Though neither of them said what they planned to destroy, Echo had spent enough time with Ryan to understand his intentions. She quickly grabbed Ryan’s arm, shaking her head. “No, don’t destroy them.”
Ryan shot her a sharp look, his brows furrowing slightly.
Echo noticed his expression and, after a brief silence, said, “The people there, I grew up with them. Not everyone is against me, and not everyone wants to stay in this line of work. I don’t want to ruin everything just because of me. Mr. Ryan, I’ll settle the score with those who have a problem with me. I hold grudges, but I won’t force harm on people who have no beef with me. You don’t need to step in on my behalf. I can handle this myself.”
Ryan didn’t respond right away, and Echo stared at him, forcing a smile. “I didn’t survive all these years for nothing. Don’t ruin my reputation in the underworld, okay? Mr. Ryan?”
Ryan glanced at her, seeing the way she was trying to butter him up. After a moment, he let out a slight, cold snort and said, “Don’t come to me again in the future.”
“Okay, I’ll handle my own problems and won’t come running to you, boss,” Echo said with a light laugh, knowing Ryan had agreed.
Sure, maybe without the Theft Organization, her life would’ve turned out differently, but now that she was on this path, she couldn’t deny the group had treated her well. As for the people who schemed against her, it wasn’t everyone. She wasn’t in a position, nor did she hold enough hatred, to take down the entire organization for revenge.
“Reputation? What reputation do you have? In which world, the legal or the illegal one?” Bill, who was driving, grinned through the rearview mirror.
Cobra, sitting beside him, also broke into laughter. Echo? She wasn’t part of any world-they didn’t even see her as part of any scene, and yet here she was talking about a reputation.
Echo shot Bill a glare and raised an eyebrow. “Better than yours, at least.”
Sure, she didn’t have a name in the legal world, and not really in the illegal world either, but she did have a little bit of a reputation. If she had to put a name to it, she’d say she was in the “gray world”-not entirely legal, but not purely illegal either.
As she thought it over, she realized calling it a “gray world” wasn’t really satisfying. Before she could say it out loud, she had already lost her confidence in the term.
What even was that? It didn’t sound impressive at all.
Frustrated, she leaned on Ryan’s shoulder, frowning.
She could feel Ryan gently stroking her hair, and it reminded her of how someone would pet a cat.
Immediately, her expression turned cold. “I’m not a pet.”
“I don’t keep pets.” The idea of keeping some strange, furry creature held no appeal for him at all.
Looking up, Echo noticed Ryan’s indifferent expression, his eyes showing a flicker of impatience and disdain.
She sighed. It was her mistake, talking about pets to a man who didn’t even like people. Changing the subject, she asked, “Boss, where are we going?”
“Mafia.”
“What?” Echo’s eyes widened in shock as she stared at Ryan.
Could the word “mafia” really be said in such a calm tone?
Ryan saw the look of surprise in Echo’s eyes, and the shock was so obvious that it was hard to miss. His brow furrowed slightly. “Don’t look like you’ve seen a ghost. I won’t tolerate being embarrassed.”
Echo blinked, and Cobra, who had been stifling a laugh, couldn’t hold back. “The Mafia, that’s all. Is it really worth being so shocked? It’s just another organization.”
Echo noticed the irritation in Ryan’s eyes, as if her reaction had somehow embarrassed him. Meanwhile, Cobra’s amusement made her wonder-was the Mafia really not a big deal? Had she overestimated the Mafia or underestimated Ryan?
“They may be powerful, but they’re not some unstoppable force. You might not know this, but in the underworld, there are various factions, and each does its own thing with its own leaders. But generally speaking, the arms dealers are the ones at the top of the food chain. And we, the Dark family, are the biggest arms dealers.” Hawk, sensing Echo’s confusion, explained calmly.
Echo knew Ryan was a top boss in the underworld, but she hadn’t realized his rank was this high. This was the first time she’d heard about this hierarchy.
Echo raised her eyebrows, grinning at Ryan. “So, because you control the weapons, you can just wipe out whoever doesn’t please you? That’s why you have so much power and influence, huh?”
Cobra and Bill burst out laughing at Ryan’s words, and even Hawk cracked a rare smile and shook his head.
Echo raised an eyebrow, glancing at Ryan.
A rare hint of amusement flashed in Ryan’s eyes as he looked at Echo and said slowly, “You could say that.”
Echo let out a whistle and said, “Pretty cocky.”
Hawk couldn’t help but smile, seeing Echo actually believe it.
Ryan, clearly pleased, pulled Echo closer with a grin and patted her back. Hawk had never seen Ryan smile like this in all these years-this girl really had something special.
Hawk smiled and added, “Do you think we’re rulers of the planet or something? Just blowing up whoever we don’t like? I mean, I’m not happy with the leader of a certain country right now, should I just take him out with a missile? Don’t start thinking that way. If you get into trouble and can’t clean it up, we’ll toss you out.”
As soon as Hawk finished, Bill, Cobra, and the others laughed out loud.
Echo shot Ryan a glare, but Ryan just smiled back at her and said, “If someone really gets on my nerves, even if it’s a world leader, I’d still take him out.”
Echo was speechless for a moment. Knowing Ryan’s temper, he just might be crazy enough to do it. She glanced at Hawk, Cobra, and the others, finally understanding what Hawk meant.
Ryan was the boss, and he could do whatever he wanted. She, on the other hand, was just the driver-no matter how mad she got, she wasn’t in any position to blow anyone up. So, it was better to just play it cool and follow orders.
The Italian Mafia, was a gang with deep history and notoriety.
Echo followed Ryan into a grand and elegant castle that oozed sophistication, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that the people living here were even more impressive.
“Long time no see, Ryan.” As soon as they entered, a blond, blue-eyed man with chiseled features and a dazzling smile came over to greet them.
The guy was undeniably handsome.
Ryan’s face turned cold as he glanced at the man with his arms wide open and said coolly, “Adolph.” His voice was calm, but full of warning.
Adolph stopped in front of Ryan, shrugging with a grin. “Ryan, you’re always so distant. Not exactly warm for an old friend, are you?”
Echo raised an eyebrow at that-Ryan had friends? That seemed both perfectly normal and incredibly strange at the same time. She took a good look at this guy, Adolph.
Adolph had already noticed the woman with Ryan. He glanced at Echo with curiosity, then shot a look at Ryan’s icy expression before smiling warmly at Echo. “And who’s this beautiful lady?” he said, spreading his arms for a friendly hug.
Echo, seeing how friendly Adolph was-and how good-looking he was, too-reached out to return the hug.
But the moment Ryan saw it, his expression darkened, and he grabbed Echo, pulling her to his side without a word. He ignored Adolph and headed further into the castle.
Echo, used to Ryan’s possessive moves, followed along without missing a beat.
Adolph was taken aback, staring at Ryan’s arm wrapped tightly around Echo’s waist. He blinked in surprise and tapped Hawk on the shoulder, nodding toward Ryan. “Did I just imagine that?” he whispered.