Echo smiled brightly and nodded eagerly, “Yeah, I’m done! Just give me one shot at redemption. Don’t send me to Dark Prison! Think about it-if you send me there, you won’t have a good pillow to hug at night. I’m a pretty good pillow! If I end up in Dark Prison and come back missing a limb, that wouldn’t be comfortable for you, right?”
It was probably the first time Ryan had seen this side of Echo.
Ryan raised an eyebrow and replied, “No, I’ve been alive for thirty years.”
Echo’s eyes narrowed at that. Oh, so he’s not buying my act? She thought she’d been pretty sincere, even if there were layers to it. Sure, she messed up this morning, but Ryan had forced her to get up!
Her smile faltered, and she glared at Ryan. “Boss, you…”
She swallowed the words don’t go too far, biting her tongue. She wanted to explode right then and there, but the potential consequences made her hold back.
Ryan noticed the dissatisfaction and hesitation on her face. He could sense it, even if she was trying to hide it. He shot her a cold look and said flatly, “I didn’t ask you.”
Echo was taken aback by Ryan’s nonchalant comment. It dawned on her that he wasn’t even concerned about her morning antics. Why had she been going on about it? She realized she’d been acting out an entire drama for no reason.
Once the realization hit, her face fell. “I thought you were going to call me out on it.”
Great, she’d laid it all out there, and it turned out Ryan didn’t even care.
She sighed inwardly. Ryan was anything but ordinary; she had to stop seeing him through a regular lens. From now on, she needed to keep her mouth shut until she understood what he was getting at.
But that cold glare he had when he looked at her? It was clear he wasn’t thrilled to see her.
“Why are you here?” Ryan noticed the flash of regret on Echo’s face, and for once, his anger and coldness eased a bit.
It wasn’t often he saw Echo this determined to avoid Dark Prison. He gave her a brief glance and asked calmly.
Echo straightened herself, taking a deep breath. This was Ryan’s main concern, not the earlier incident-he wanted to know why she was showing up now. All the cleverness and obedience she’d mastered before were useless with him.
Clearing her throat, she answered, “I’m here to deliver a message.” She handed over the piece of paper she’d been holding.
Ryan’s eyes narrowed instantly, and a sharp, dangerous aura radiated from him. He didn’t take the paper. Instead, a cold glint flashed in his eyes as he stared at her. “Why are you bringing it? Where’s Hawk and the others?”
Echo caught the subtle shift in his expression, like he knew something. His gaze cut through her, cold and probing, as if he was trying to read her mind.
She coughed and decided to be blunt. “They were too scared to give it to you, so they sent me.”
Doesn’t matter if she play it safe or not-either way, she’s taking the hit, she thought. She was done beating around the bush.
Ryan’s face darkened in an instant, and the temperature in the room seemed to drop. His sharp, predatory energy flared-his eyes were cold before, but now they looked wild, filled with anger and loathing, like a caged beast ready to strike.
Echo froze in shock. Ryan had clearly figured out who the message was about, but his reaction was terrifying.
What the hell does the Silver family mean to him?
She’d never seen him look this furious-like he wanted to tear someone apart.
“Get out,” Ryan growled, his voice ice-cold, simmering with rage.
He kept his head down, not even looking at her.
Echo had never heard Ryan say that to her before. She noticed his fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles had turned white, and the sheer force of his suppressed anger sent chills down her spine. The deadly tension in the room was palpable.
Without hesitation, Echo tossed the paper onto the couch in front of him and bolted for the door. She wasn’t about to stick around. When the boss told her to leave, she listened.
She barely made it to the doorway when a loud crash behind her stopped her in her tracks. Whipping around, she saw that the coffee table in front of Ryan had been shattered into pieces. It wasn’t just cracked-it had been completely smashed, reduced to glass and metal shards by a single punch.
Echo’s heart raced as she stumbled through the doorway. Ryan had lost it.
As soon as she rushed out, she ran straight into Hawk and the others waiting just outside. Looking up, she saw Hawk, Cobra, and a few others standing there, frowning anxiously, as if they wanted to go in but didn’t dare.
Bill pulled her aside, shivering slightly at the sound of more things breaking inside the room. The loud crashes came one after another, and he leaned in, whispering, “Did something go wrong?”
Echo shook her head slightly. “What do you mean?”
Panther gave her a once-over, frowning. “Boss didn’t hit you?”
Panther looked her up and down, clearly expecting to see bruises. Even though she appeared unharmed, Panther couldn’t help but ask-he knew from experience just how bad things could get.
Echo looked a little surprised and said, “Nope, he just said one word-‘Get out.’ What’s up with that?”
Cobra and Hawk exchanged a look before Hawk answered, “Seven years ago, Panther delivered news about the Silver family to Boss. He didn’t say a word to him-just beat him half to death, broke his arm, and threw him out.”
Echo’s expression turned furious as she glared at them. “Oh, so that’s how it is, huh? You guys set me up to take the fall! Fine, I’ll remember this.”
She’d only thought Ryan might be in a bad mood, and that’s why Hawk and the others didn’t want to deliver the message. She hadn’t expected this. She wasn’t even close to Panther’s skill level-if Ryan had snapped and started beating her without a word, she’d have been done for today.
Tiger, seeing Echo’s anger, said coldly, “Well, you’re still in one piece, aren’t you?”
Bill nodded. “We knew Boss treats you differently-that’s why we sent you. And we were waiting out here the whole time. If something went south, we’d have jumped in. Even if we couldn’t stop him, we’d have pulled you out no problem. So relax.”
Ryan didn’t hold back when he lost his temper, and the fact that he let Echo walk out with nothing more than an order to leave meant he hadn’t really intended to hurt her. Bill and the others understood that, and they figured Echo did too.
Echo’s anger cooled just a bit. Bill’s explanation made sense-if they didn’t care about her, there was no reason for all five of them to wait outside. She let out a breath, her temper settling slightly.
As the sounds of things breaking inside Ryan’s room continued, she asked quietly, “Who the hell is the Silver family? Why does Boss hate them so much?”
“The Silver family is Boss’s mom’s side of the family,” Hawk explained, frowning a little. “Clement, the guy mentioned in that message, is his uncle. As for why Boss hates them so much-we’ve got no clue.”
Echo raised an eyebrow at that. How’s there no word on the underworld about this? She hadn’t known anything about Ryan having maternal relatives. The idea of him having a grandpa, grandma, or uncle just didn’t seem real.
She said, “With Boss’s temper, other people have to put up with him-he doesn’t tolerate anyone. If he had a problem with the Silver family, he’d just wipe them out. I don’t believe there’s any family loyalty left there.”
The thought of Ryan caring about family seemed impossible.
The previous generation of the Dark family had all been killed by Ryan-that’s how he’d taken his position at the top.
The Silver family was just his mother’s side of the family. If Ryan really hated them this much, they’d be long gone. No way he’d let them live this long-it didn’t make any sense.
Tiger shook his head. “We don’t get it either. Wiping out the Silver family would be easy for us. But it seems like Boss put the word out that they’re under his protection. No clue if that’s legit or not, though. But nobody’s touched them all these years, and Boss doesn’t seem interested in taking them down.”
Echo frowned, her confusion deepening. What the hell is going on? This didn’t feel like Ryan’s style at all.