Steve wiped the spray of saliva from his face.
Looking at the bound Slater, his face showed no sign of anger.
Instead, he had a smile on his face, his indifference tinged with a bit of composure.
"How could I bear to kill you!"
Steve reached out, gently stroking Slater's delicate cheek.
Slater jerked her head away in disgust, trying to break free from his lewd touch.
Unfortunately, she was currently just a prisoner.
Bound as she was, Slater had no way to resist right now.
She could only glare at Steve, allowing his fingers to continuously stroke her cheek.
Fortunately, Steve had never been a lustful man.
No!
To be more accurate, money was far more important to Steve than women.
"Truly beautiful!"
"No wonder Charlie has been pining for you all these years."
After teasing Slater for a while, Steve finally withdrew his lewd fingers.
Then he picked up a nearby napkin and wiped the foundation from his fingers that he had just picked up while stroking Slater's cheek.
Steve no longer felt the panic he had felt before.
Because he knew that Charlie Clock had always had feelings for Old John's daughter.
Before Steve betrayed his companions, he was also a member of Charlie Clock's team.
He had worked with Charlie, Old John, and the others for several years.
In the past, although he hadn't seen Slater...
...he had heard that Charlie Clock liked Old John's daughter.
Because of this, now that Steve had captured Slater...
...his panicked heart, which had been racing because his two safes containing most of his wealth were missing, finally recovered somewhat.
Currently, Steve was still filled with rage toward Charlie Clock for daring to steal his property.
But he was also confident that as long as Slater was in his hands...
...based on Steve's understanding of Charlie Clock, that guy would definitely come and find a way to save Slater.
When that time came, he could not only take back his two stolen safes containing most of his wealth...
...but Steve could also, once and for all...
...deal with Charlie and the remaining members of his team.
Once they were dealt with, Steve would no longer have to live in hiding and could fully enjoy the pleasant life brought by wealth.
Slater glared at Steve, her mind filled with fear, anger, and confusion.
She didn't know how this guy, Steve, had found her.
Slater was very certain that before her father passed away...
...and even before Charlie came to see her, she hadn't met Steve once.
The reason she could recognize Steve was that Charlie had told Slater years ago...
...that her father had died at the hands of the traitor Steve during their last heist, and he had shown her a photo of Steve.
And after over a year, when Charlie found Slater again...
...and hoped to use her Lockpicking skills to seek revenge on Steve together.
If possible, Slater actually wanted to kill Steve with her own hands.
Her mother had died very early, and although her father had been imprisoned multiple times for theft, missing the most important decade of Slater's growth...
...the bond between Slater and her only living blood relative, her father, was still very deep.
But also because of her father's concern, Slater had been sent to relatives and foster homes to be raised since she was a child.
When she grew up, she became deeply aware of the harm caused by the crime of theft.
Under Old John's guidance, she had mastered various complex Lockpicking knowledge and techniques.
But Slater didn't use them for evil; instead, she opened a locksmith company and actively helped government departments and agencies like the police and banks.
Because of this, although Slater hated Steve to the core...
...the education and sense of justice she had received made her unable to strike a lethal blow against this person.
This was the reason why Slater eventually accepted Charlie's invitation and decided to help Charlie and the others steal Steve's gold to get revenge.
She just didn't expect that before the operation even started...
...it seemed they had already been exposed!
"Damn it, where exactly did things go wrong?"
Slater could only use anger to express her unease.
She didn't know if Steve's claim that Charlie had a crush on her was true.
And her current situation obviously left Slater with no room to care about such things.
Steve quickly walked back to his seat and picked up the walkie-talkie on the table.
Then he turned it on and asked, "Report on the situation around the villa. Have any suspicious persons been spotted?"
A reply quickly came from the other side of the walkie-talkie.
"Boss, there are no abnormalities near the main entrance for now."
"Over by the cliff, the surveillance cameras haven't detected anything unusual either."
Steve frowned and glanced at Slater.
He then said into the walkie-talkie, "Understood, continue to observe and stay alert."
After turning off the walkie-talkie, Steve looked at Slater again and gave a contemptuous smile.
"Miss Bridger, it seems your charm isn't as great as I imagined."
"Until now, it seems Charlie and the others haven't even noticed you're missing."
Slater's expression changed slightly, and she was just about to speak...
...when suddenly, her phone, which had already been taken by Steve and placed on the dining table, suddenly rang.
The attention of both people in the room was immediately drawn to the ringtone.
Steve walked quickly over, picked it up to take a look, and a smile immediately broke out on his face.
He waved the phone at Slater and then said apologetically, "Sorry, I take back what I just said."
"Miss Bridger, your admirer has finally noticed you're gone."
"The call is coming through."
After saying that, Steve didn't even try to avoid her.
He answered the call right in front of Slater.
"Hello, Slater. Where are you now?"
As soon as the call connected, a man's urgent voice came from the other side.
Steve recognized it; it was indeed Charlie's voice.
He had worked with Charlie for several years and was all too familiar with his former companion's voice.
The smile on Steve's face grew wider as he spoke directly, "Hi, Charlie."
"Are you surprised to hear my voice?"
On the other end of the line, Charlie's voice stopped abruptly.
At the same time, heavy breathing could be heard from the other side of the phone.
After a good while, Charlie's voice, full of gritted teeth, came through.
"Steve, it's you?!"
"Heh heh!"
Steve smiled triumphantly, "That's right, it's me."
"Didn't expect that, did you, Charlie!"
"Although you successfully stole my gold the night before last..."
"...I've also caught your weakness!"
"Isn't it good to be alive?"
"I was originally going to let you all go."
"It was just one old man who liked to preach who died, was it really necessary to chase me for over a year and then steal that gold from me again?"
"You succeeded."
"Even now, I still haven't figured out how you managed to bypass my villa's security system and transport the gold away in such a short time."
"However, I may have lost to you, Charlie."
"But you haven't exactly won either!"
"The woman you've been pining for, Old John's daughter, is currently in my hands."
"I'll give you 24 hours."
"Wait for my call tomorrow, and bring the things you stole to exchange for her."
"Otherwise, get ready to collect her corpse."
After saying that, Steve didn't wait for Charlie to speak again.
He pressed the end call button and immediately turned off the phone.
Having done all this, Steve looked at Slater again, the smile on his face hideous and triumphant.
"Didn't you refuse to talk to me?"
"It doesn't matter!"
"Tomorrow..."
"The things you stole will be returned."
"Don't worry, for the sake of that gold..."
"I won't torture you!"
"But after tomorrow, I can't say for sure."
After saying that, Steve laughed wildly...
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