The moment Bill walked into the dispensary, he found Adolph, Hawk, and the others waiting for him.
Adolph looked up and asked, “How’s it going?”
Bill let out a dry chuckle. “The blood’s a match. No signs of rejection so far, so we should be in the clear.”
The others visibly relaxed at the news.
Adolph slumped onto the couch, exhaling deeply. “Man, I hope Ryan doesn’t hold too much of a grudge. I did it for his own good.”
Bill shot him a half-smile as he walked over to grab some supplies. “Mr. Adolph, I hate to break it to you, but I don’t think that’s gonna happen. Boss is really mad this time. The second Echo woke up, he tore into her. And trust me, she’s not getting off easy. So you can imagine what’s coming for you.”
Cobra chimed in right away. “Wait, what do you mean?”
Tiger frowned slightly and rolled his shoulder with a grimace. “Isn’t the Boss all about protecting Echo? I mean, we got the crap beaten out of us, and wasn’t that just to vent for her sake?”
Before Bill could respond, Hawk gave a faint smile. “The reason we got punished is twofold: one, we didn’t follow Boss’s orders, and two, we meddled where we shouldn’t have. None of that had anything to do with Echo.”
He paused for a moment, then continued, “As for Echo, she’s getting punished because she disobeyed Boss too. Throwing her life away like that-yeah, the consequences for her are probably worse than ours.”
When Hawk finished, Cobra and the others exchanged wry looks.
Adolph let out a bitter laugh. “Ryan’s a stubborn one, isn’t he? I just wonder if that thickheaded girl will ever get it. Will she finally learn to trust him completely? To take his words as law, no questions asked?”
Panther, who’d been silent until now, spoke coldly. “Absolute trust and obedience.”
Cobra shook his head with a faint smirk. “Echo’s smart, but she’s got this strange way of being both clueless and brilliant. Sometimes she’s sharp as a tack, and other times she’s totally dense. If Boss thinks she’s gonna understand his roundabout way of showing things… well, odds are she won’t get it at all.”
Hawk chuckled lightly. “Whatever Boss is planning, that’s not our problem. Now, are we gonna talk business, or are you guys just gonna keep chatting?”
The moment Hawk finished speaking, everyone in the room shivered.
Boss never let them meddle in his personal business-mostly because he never had any personal business.
After all these years working with him, they were used to handling everything for him. But now, with Echo in the picture, they had been dragged into the mess too.
The result? Forty lashes and an unknown number of punishments still waiting down the line.
If they kept prying, they might not have any skin left by the end of it.
Best to focus on their jobs instead.
Honestly, even trying to care about this felt awkward.
In unison, the group shook their heads, deciding to drop the subject altogether.
Seeing their reactions, Hawk straightened up and said seriously, “We can’t all stay here at the same time. Mr. Adolph, since you’re already here, why not stick around a few more days?”
Adolph rolled his eyes at that.
The four leaders under Ryan had never gathered at the Dark Family’s base all at once, especially not for extended periods. Anybody with half a brain or a sharp nose would sniff out that something fishy was going on.
With Ryan’s strength not yet fully recovered, he needed people around him for protection. But since all four four couldn’t stay together, that left the responsibility squarely on Adolph’s shoulders.
Raising a brow, Adolph smirked and said, “Fine, I won’t argue with you. Since I’m here, I’ll hang around for a couple more days.” With that, he stood up and made his way out of the room.
The others gave small nods. Even though they were inside the Dark Family’s home base, there was no room for complacency. They agreed it made sense for Adolph to stay by Ryan’s side. With his skills, he was more than capable of acting as Ryan’s bodyguard.
Time passed quickly.
With the blood transfusion from someone with the same blood type, Echo’s complexion improved day by day.
Within a few days, she was back on her feet. Her injuries were mostly external, and the bruises and swelling weren’t serious. The blood loss had been the biggest issue, but with the fresh transfusion, she recovered even faster.
Ryan, on the other hand, healed even quicker than Echo. Within two days, it was like nothing had happened. However, his stamina was still oddly slow to return.
Bill and the others figured it had to be internal trauma. Even though the organ damage had stopped progressing and he was on the mend, it was a deep injury.
Recovery from that kind of damage takes time, and it wasn’t something that medical equipment could easily detect. That’s why his strength hadn’t bounced back right away, though it wasn’t anything too serious-he just lacked energy.
Meanwhile, Echo slipped right back into her old habits, with Ryan handling everything for her. She barely lifted a finger-her meals were served, her clothes laid out.
But despite his calm demeanor, Ryan’s simmering anger only seemed to grow worse. On the surface, Ryan appeared composed and in control, even to Bill, Adolph, and the others, who were around him all day. But Echo? She could feel it. There was no way to ignore the storm brewing behind his eyes.
It became especially obvious when Ryan tended to her wounds. Every time he saw the dark bruises on her arms, his face grew darker. His expression alone was enough to make Echo’s heart pound with fear, turning every meal into a nerve-wracking experience.
Part of her desperately wanted her injuries to heal faster, just to get it over with. But another part of her hoped they’d heal slowly, dreading what kind of punishment Ryan might have in store for her once she was fully recovered.
Just looking at his cold, angry face was enough to send a shiver down her spine.
******
That morning, sunlight spread across the land, filtering through swaying treetops as birds chirped from the branches.
It was a rare, peaceful day with perfect weather.
But instead of enjoying it, Echo found herself stuck in a dim, empty room, glaring at Cobra.
What the hell was she doing here?
Her injuries weren’t even healed yet.
Why couldn’t she just enjoy the sunshine and take a walk to recover?
But no-Cobra had dragged her straight to this underground room.
Seeing the frustration written all over Echo’s face, Cobra shrugged. “Boss’s orders. If you don’t want to follow them, be my guest.”
The moment she heard it was Ryan’s idea, Echo rolled her eyes.
So, the punishment was finally here.
He hadn’t mentioned it in the past few days, and she had hoped maybe he’d let it slide. Clearly, that was a mistake. If Ryan said something, you could count on it. No exceptions.
“Alright,” she said, raising an eyebrow. “What’s the punishment?”