For some reason, Echo was sure that they'd be taken to Luke's house but instead, they were now in a very impressive, if somewhat cold, apartment.

"Marco, what was all that?" Nadia asked. She was perched on a stool, holding a warm towel over her scraped up arm.

"We don't know." Marco said, "At least not yet but don't worry- We'll take care of it."

Echo was leaning against the counter in the kitchen, her arms crossed in front of her as she replayed the incident.

"Do you want me to take a look at that?" Nadia asked, glancing at Marco's lip.

"Don't worry..." He said, glancing over at Echo with a smile, "I can take punch, even if it was surprisingly good."

Echo didn't say anything, she just continued to stare at the floor blankly.

"Remind me to warn Luke he should never make you mad." Marco said but Echo still didn't budge.

"What about you, Echo? You feeling okay?" Nadia said, glancing over at her. "You hit the floor hard a couple of times."

Echo shook her head.

"I'm fine." She muttered.

"You don't look fine... Jesus Christ." Luke said, slamming the door behind him and moving towards them. Echo glanced up, watching him as he reached out for her hand where her knuckles were now swollen and bruised. "Look at your hand."

Echo flinched as he touched her, practically yanking her hand away and holding it against her. She was surprised by the pain, having almost forgot as she processed everything.

"Hey..." Luke said, placing a hand to her chin and inspecting her face. "Are you okay?"

"I think." Echo said, her voice raspy and strange even to herself. She nodded and turned to Marco.

"I'm sorry." She managed to say and he shook his head.

"It's fine... I'm not made of glass." He said with a wink.

"I got here as fast as I could." Luke said, trying to get Echo to focus on him but she straightened herself up suddenly, moving away from him.

"I should get some ice on this." She said, circling the counter and going towards the freezer. Everyone watched as she fumbled around in the kitchen, opening drawers and cabinets.

"How are you?" Luke said, moving to Nadia. She smiled and stood up, only wincing a bit.

"I'll be very sore in the morning but... I'll be fine." She said. "I'm a nurse, I'll go home and take something strong and call it a night. Echo..."

"I'm fine. Thank you." Echo said, finally finding a clean dish towel and going back to the freezer. "Jesus there's nothing in here."

She threw the towel on the floor before slamming the freezer door shut.

Nadia and Marco exchanged glances as Luke stared at Echo, completely surprised.

"How about I take you home?" Marco said, signalling to Nadia.

"Yes, sounds like a good idea." Nadia said with a nod.

"Get some rest." Luke said, never taking his eyes off of Echo as she leaned with her head against the freezer door. "I'll check on you tomorrow."

When they were alone, Echo moved towards the sink, letting the cold water run over her hand silently.

"Hey." Luke said, walking around to stand next to her.

"What?" She replied, not bothering to look at him.

"Echo, look at me." He insisted but she continued to look down. "ECHO, look at me."

Echo turned, a big frown on her face.

"WHAT?" She repeated, holding her head up haughtily.

"You're upset." Luke said, reaching towards her. "I'm so sorry I wasn't there..."

Echo stepped back.

"Doesn't matter- Marco was there." Echo said, "and I was lucky to have run into Nadia."

"Echo, please. You've been through a lot, just let me..." He said, reaching out yet a gain and Echo stomped her foot.

"Your cousin and I were just snatched up off the street in the middle of broad daylight." Echo said with a sarcastic chuckle, "But i guess I'm okay."

"I'm sorry, Echo. We're going to figure out who did this." He said, running a hand through his hair.

"It was unbelievable." Echo said, pacing around. "Just, seriously... out of nowhere."

"Echo, I'm sorry you were in danger." He said.

"This is what you do, Luke?" She asked, suddenly looking at his face. "Is this what your business is like?"

"It's not an easy life, Echo, but I can guarantee that as long as you have me, there will always be someone nearby." He said. Luke was nervous, he'd gotten here as fast as could when he heard what had happened. He'd almost driven out to meet them but as it was he was in South town when everything went down. He reached out, placing a hand near her cheek but she stepped back.

"I suppose I should feel lucky that your men thwarted my kidnapping?" She said. "Do you know what I was thinking of the entire time? Your scars, Luke. I couldn't stop thinking of your scars."

Echo had a sudden image of her, tracing the scars on his face and shoulders with her fingers, kissing the skin gently as he'd made love to her. Luke frowned.

"I kept wondering how many more you'll get in over the years... it terrifies me." She said.

"There's nothing I can do about that. If my scars disturb you so much, maybe you should leave." He said and she shook her head.

"It's not about the scars, damn it. It's about you... " She said, loosing her temper. Luke groaned.

"What now, Echo? Now what's wrong with me?" Luke said, pounding his fist on the counter and then letting out a groan. "Damn it."

Echo stared at him as he shook his hand, obviously regretting what he'd just done. She placed her good hand on her hip and sighed, shaking her head.

"I'd hand you some ice for that but there's none." She said, reaching to let the cold water run again.

"I got it." He said, trying to push her hand away.

"Where are we? Whose apartment is this?" She said, looking around.

"It's mine." He replied.

"Why do you have an apartment when you have that big house." Echo asked, raising her brow.

"It was my mother's house, It's disrespectful to take strange women there." He said simply and Echo snorted.

"This... is your bachelor pad. Oh my god, this is where you bring girls?" She asked, laughing.

"It was." He said, shrugging his shoulders indignantly.

"Don't tell me you're upset. I'm the one that got pulled into the back of a van. That's the type of thing girls get warned about all their lives, you know." Echo said.

"I already said I was sorry." He said turning towards her. The stared at each other for a second. Echo leaned over and turned off the faucet.

"You too me to your house." She said softly.

"You're different." He replied. Echo met his gaze.

"I'm scared." She said and he nodded.

"The last thing I want is for you to get hurt." Luke said. "I'm going to keep you safe but I can't guarantee it won't be scary sometimes."

"All the time, Luke." She replied, reaching for the towel on the floor and bringing it to his hand.

"I know it doesn't seem like it but it's very rare for situations like that to come up." He said, "and you'll always have someone nearby if you need them."

Echo shook her head.

"I'm not scared for me, Luke- I was saved before the van even moved. I'm scared for you." She said so softly she could barely hear it. Luke watched her, surprised.

"You're scared for me, little Echo?" He asked, putting his hand to her face. She closed her eyes, enjoying the contact.

"It scares me to think that's what your life is like... that you could be hurt." She said.

"That's how we met, you know." He said and Echo sighed.

"I know, it just was never real to me until now." She said. Luke felt his chest tighten, it ripped him to pieces to see her so miserable.

"You can leave, Echo. If you want, if this is too much, you can go right now. I won't look for you anymore and you can go one with your life." He said but he didn't take his hand away. He couldn't bring himself to move away. Echo stepped back... and he felt his heart sink to his stomach. She was going to leave.

"You're an idiot." She said suddenly, reaching out and wrapping her arms around him. "I'm not leaving. I know that your work is dangerous, it doesn't mean i have to like it. I'll always worry."

Echo let out a soft gasp as she was suddenly lifted up off the floor.

"Luke, what are you doing?" She asked as he carried her towards the bedroom.

"Guess." He said, smirking.

"Owww... careful." She teased as he placed her on the bed.

"Don't worry..." He said, climbing over her, "I'll be gentle."

---

"I just can't believe they made a move like that... middle of the day." Marco said. Luke was standing by the blinds at his window. He stared out with his eyes narrowed, as if he was suspicious of everyone and everything... even the blinds.

"It was bold... and fucking stupid." Luke said. "Those clowns did that on purpose."

"Got their men caught on purpose?" Marco asked and Luke nodded.

"What other outcome do you think they could have expected? They send six men, six obviously inexperienced men out to pick up my cousin in the middle of the day, in my own territory." Luke said.

"In the city where they would also have the police to deal with." Marco added, understanding. "So then, you think they were just trying to get your attention?"

"Yeah... that and maybe get a couple of men behind enemy lines." Luke said.

"To feed us lies? I doubt they have anything good or real to tell us." Marco said.

"I do too but you know the drill. We question them, we get rid of them." Luke said, "And we make sure Nadia has someone nearby now too."

"She won't like it." Marco said with a sigh. "Echo might be a little more patient when it comes to these things, but Nadia has always refused protection."

"She doesn't need to know." Luke said. "What about the Reids?"

"We put someone outside their office and two men outside the home. Short of put an escort on each of them, there's not a whole lot more we can do." Marco said.

"Then we'll do that." Luke said with a nod.

"You want me to put a man on each of them?" Marco asked, surprised.

"Until this situation with the Russo brothers is taken care of, I'm not taking chances." Luke said, "Put one man on Alice and Michael, another for Vera and Romy, and one for Lena and Maru. It goes without saying that someone is always right behind Echo."

"Right." Marco said, "Although, I gotta say- she does well in a fist fight."

Luke turned to him and chuckled.

"I can't believe she busted your lip." Luke said.

"She's full of surprises." Marco replied. She really was and Marco found himself wondering often what else there was that they didn't know. "How's she doing?"

"I don't know. I texted her yesterday, still hasn't replied. I called twice today and she didn't pick up. Straight to voicemail. I'm about ready to drive to her house." Luke said and Marco nodded.

"Right, I forgot to mention..." Marco said, reaching into his jacket and pulling out the busted remains of Echo's phone. "This is hers."

Luke stared at the phone.

"I can't believe she still had a flip phone." He said.

"I can't believe she hasn't tried getting a new one- it's been like three days. Most girls are on that immediately." Marco replied.

"Damn it, Echo." Luke said, running a hand through his hair. It was obvious he was stressed, obvious this worried him. He wasn't sure if the Russo brothers knew who Echo was or not but he knew that they'd do what they could to hurt him.

"You're doing everything you can to keep her safe." Marco said as if he could read his thoughts. Luke shook his head.

"No. It's not enough. I won't get any sleep unless I know where she is at all times." He replied.

"We can do that." Marco replied.

"No, I need more." Luke said more to himself than to Marco.

"Where are you going?" Marco asked as Luke suddenly put his jacket on and grabbed his keys.

"I'm going to go see Echo... maybe pick up a couple of things first." Luke said as he moved out the door.