The scar-faced man while feeling stunned watched as the woman who should still be in the abandoned warehouse swaggered towards him. However, the surprise on his face only lasted a few seconds as he was able to quickly collect himself before shifting attention to the men walking alongside her while putting her in a protective circle and immediately had a guess as to how the woman had been able to leave that place.
Also, observing the men further, he noticed the familiar aura on their beings and immediately turned back to look at Dan and Justin who didn't look surprised at all to see either the woman or those men, in fact, they had an expression of relief on their faces instead.
On the other hand, Ryan had long since lost his calm on seeing the woman. He stared fixedly at her as he took tentative steps forward towards her while clenching and unclenching his fists with a complicated expression on his face.
Guilt, remorse, self-blame, anxiety and some expectation among others.
He wanted to walk towards the woman he had been pining for all this while and hug her tightly in his embrace, but...
He seemed to be afraid.
It would sound ridiculous and unbelievable to the ears of his friends and enemies but he... was indeed afraid.
When he left that place he never thought of as home since his mother left, back when he just turned 18, he felt no fright even though he knew very well that he would be facing an unfamilair and cruel world outside.
When he was thrown into that hellish place together with Dan and some other children and teenagers, he still felt no fright at all even on understanding that he might end up not leaving the place alive and become one of the countless young bones buried underneath that place.
Faced with his enemies guns and knives, he never cowered. Not even once!
But he... he... was really afraid at this moment.
Afraid that she would blame him for taking so long to find her.
Afraid that she would hate him after knowing he was the direct cause of her getting kidnapped.
Afraid that she had decided to really remove all traces of his existence in her heart after he accepted her decision to break-up.
He... was afraid of many things and this made him unable to take that last step towards her, making it seem like it was a galaxy seperating them.
Meanwhile, Selena watched as the man who has been on mind all this while walked slowly towards her before finally coming to a stop in front of her. She looked at him through blurry eyes and felt the wetness on her face, not knowing when she even began crying.
Just like in the countless imaginations she had had ever since she had been captured, he had really came down like a shining knight and saved her, and it was only upon seeing him standing in front of her that she really believed that she was saved.
Selena selectively ignored the fact that it wasn't really him who had came to her rescue.
Anyways, she thought to herself. He was the one who had sent his men over.
Ryan had no idea of what was in her head. He only saw her silent tears and instantly panicked.
"I... I am sorry. Please don't cry.." He said anxiously and incoherently, no longer able to think straight on seeing his beloved woman cry.
At this moment, Ryan couldn't help but begin thinking if he was really the right man for her and if it was okay for him to want to keep her selfishly by his side.
In the long years they have been together, she had always acted strong in front of him and he barley saw her cry. The first time he had seen her cry was on the day they broke up through the surveillance camera. The second time... was today... right at this moment.
And in both situations, he was the direct cause!
Yet, he couldn't even bear the thought of letting her go.
Let her go and what?
Watch as she smiled happily beside another man and showed off that she could be happy without him?
No! Over his dead body!
As long as he lived and breathe, he would make sure that Selena was his when alive and his ghost when dead!
"Ryan!", A happiness filled call followed by a soft feeling in his embrace however made the violent thoughts in his head instantly mellow down.
He looked down with eyes widened in disbelief at the woman hugging him while rubbing her face all over his chest his chest with attachment and Ryan felt some part of her heart which had been hollowed out since the day of their breakup instantly filled up.
"I missed you.."
Although Selena had said those three words very softly, Ryan still heard them clearly and for the first time since he could no longer remember, his eyes turned red around the rims with a suspicious moisture appeared in them.
He never knew that those particular three words could be so touching.
Ryan quickly buried his head in her shoulders to hide his loss of composure, though he could hardly keep count of how many times he had lost the composure he had always been proud of today.
The two spent a heartwarming silence for a while before the sound of clapping came to their ears.
Pa! Pa! Pa!
Both Selena and Ryan raised up their heads in unison upon hearing the claps. His arms then went around Selena's waist possessively before they turned back to look at the culprit.
Dan laughed teasingly on seeing them looking at him. "You guys don't really pay attention to the occasion at all, do you?", he said while gesturing to all the people who had long been regarded as invisible by the duo.
Only then did Selena remember that there were quite a number of people around, including those people who had captured her. Her fair face instantly blushed crimson when she thought of the fact that they had all seen her cry and act like a little woman.
'Argh! This is so f*cking embarassing!', She screamed inwardly to herself before glaring angrily at Ryan in the next moment.
"This is all your fault!", She whispered furiously.
"Yes. Yes. It is all my fault", He answered cooperatively with tenderness and obvious pampering in his voice but the next instant, he turned to glare at the people in the surroundings, which included the men he had brought along and the scar-faced men as well. Meeting their gossipy and some of their constipated faces, he asked dangerously.
"Is it interesting?"
His men hurriedly shook their head on hearing his question and averted their gazes from their boss and his woman without him telling them. It was true they wanted to see such a different boss and gossip but more than that, they cherished their lives more.
On the other hand, the scar-faced man and his men's teeth twitched severally in unison with the same constipated expression on all of their faces.
"He is really bullying us!", One of the men couldn't help but whisper to the scar-faced man indignantly. He had never seen such an arrogant person in his life!
He came to rescue someone from them, yet he threatened them and even after he finally got the person, they didn't leave immediately and just had to torture them with their PDA.
The scar-faced man agreed very much with his man's words but who made the other party stronger than them. So, even if he thought so in his heart, he didn't dare to speak it out, especially when Ryan's sight landed on them. He didn't dare say anything even more.
Sigh. They were really quite pitiful.
Ryan only withdrew his gaze from the scar-faced men's group after seeing them avert their gazes obediently.
"My goodness! My teeth really hurts from all this sugar! Please stop all this public display affection!", Dan screamed exaggeratedly.
Selena who had gotten a hold of herself rolled her eyes in return to his clown-like actions, though she doubted there would ever be such a 'beautiful' clown, while Ryan didn't even bother to spare him a look.
"Wow. Both of you really deserve to be together considering how you are alike in abandoning people after using them!"
At this moment, not even Justin could stand Dan's exaggerated performances any longer though he knew that the only reason he was acting this way was not to make Ryan think too much about everything. Ryan also knew this and that was why when he looked at Dan with some imperceptible warmth in his eyes.
That aside, Justin quickly dragged Dan to the side and stopped him from saying anything more and obviously also knowing when to stop, Dan allowed him to drag him to do so without struggling. In the middle of dragging him away, Justin suddenly turned around and said to Selena with a relieved smile on his face.
"It's good to see you safe. Remember to call her, she has been very worried after hearing the news."
Selena didn't need him to elaborate on who the her in his words was and hurriedly nodded in reply to his words. "I understand. And... thank you too, Justin."
Justin only smiled at her thanks and threw a glance at Ryan who was standing beside her before replying with a faint smile, "There was never a need for thanks between us and never will there be. I ...no.. we.. were only doing what we should."
The three men shared an understanding glance that only they understood and Selena also kept quiet accordingly as she knew very well that Justin's words wasn't directed towards her.
"Let's be on our way?", Dan asked seconds later to which both Ryan and Justin nodded to.
It was really time for them to get back considering they have been running around since early morning and it was already late afternoon and almost evening at the moment.
The four of them headed outside the abandoned refinery followed by the other men brought by them, including the Nighthawk team without even taking so much as another glance at the scar-faced man and his subordinates. The scar-faced man wasn't bothered by their disregard of him and his men but rather felt happy about it since the more that they didn't take them seriously, the stronger he believed that theh wouldn't be retaliated at at the end of the day.
Therefore, he watched while his heart bubbled with happiness and the joy of surviving as Ryan and his group left and didn't even dare make any noise for fear that it would make them remember their existence. Only after they left their sight did let out the breath he had been holding.
Although he had gotten a promise from them that they wouldn't be retaliated against, he still couldn't fully relax until those people leave completely, after all in the underworld, a promise was hardly relevant.
Turning to his men, the scar-faced man had a solemn look on his face as he addressed the men who had accompanied for many years. He told them that there was a probability that their employees, the Anderson father and son would no longer have the time to care about them after today.
He instructed some of them who had gotten tired of all the killings and whatnot to take the money they had received for this job and change their identity and try to live and ordinary life. For those who still want to be involved in this occupation, he told them to lay low for a while and only look for another employer after everything dies down.
He knew that some of his men who didn't know Ryan and Dan's identity were puzzled over his actions and instructions and could only try to reveal those two's identity to them as vaguely as possible, but even the vague idea he revealed scared some of them so much that they hurriedly said their goodbyes and soon disappeared from this place.
The scar-faced man breathed out a sigh of relief after the last one of his men disappeared.Then, he gazed skywards as he hoped to himself that Ryan's group keep his promise and spare their lives. And even if they decide not to, he hoped that the arrangements he made today was able to save some of his men if not all...