Brianna stared with her eyes wide open. She had never thought that the mysterious owner of Turn On Bar was someone so good-looking.
"We are a proper bar, not a gangsters' club. Why would I ever have anyone to beat up our customers? Well, well, I have to say, your friend is something. He can take punches well." Jake said with a mocking sneer.
"Don't give me bullshit, Jake Moore. What if I insist on taking these guys?" Scott said icily.
"Then you have to defeat me. If you win, then you can take them, but if you lose, then I take three percent of your company shares." Jake smiled a victorious smile. Three percent of The Anderson Corporation shares meant billions.
Despite the pain, Jacob spoke, "Scott, don't. If he gets three percent of your shares, then Jameson will have almost the same amount as you. Also, if the Moores has the company's shares, it will put us at risk." What Jacob really worried about was that Jake Moore and Jameson would work together against Scott. If Jameson had more shares then, he would probably try to kick Scott out and take over the company.
"Jake Moore, if I win, I get three percent of The Moores' shares and take these guys away, and if I lose, then you get three percent of The Anderson Corporation's shares," Scott said calmly.
"Isn't that unfair?" Jake sneered and pointed at Brianna, "Three percent of the shares, and you take the guys while I keep the girl. How's that?"
Startled, Brianna stepped behind Scott to hide away from Jake's sight.
"Would you ever give your woman away?"
"I don't know, actually. I don't have a particular woman that I fancy yet. Well, if you want to keep the girl, then I can have your friend. He's probably half-dead anyway."
"As you said, he's my friend. I never betray my friends. If you win, you can have Andersons' biggest shopping mall in the center of Las Vegas."
The shopping mall was probably worth no less than three percent of the company shares. Both Brianna and Jacob were shocked by Scott's offer. They stared at Scott in disbelief, then looked at each other, both with eyes wide open.
Brianna was rather surprised by the fact that Scott considered her as important as his best friend, Jacob, while Jacob was disappointed to know so and for which, he resented Brianna even more.
Scott left Jacob to the care of the bodyguards and stood up to face Jake. They were fighting with bare hands and alone. The bodyguards stood aside, watching, alert.
The two were both quick and sharp with their kicks and punches, sending the chairs, glasses, and everything within reach flying around. Brianna stepped on broken glass and cut her feet, but everything was happening so fast and violently that she didn't even have time to acknowledge the pain.
A few times, she almost got punched. Under the bodyguards' cover, Brianna backed off. She was shivering and sweating out of fear. She found it extremely difficult to believe what she was witnessing, yet she noticed that the bodyguards seemed accustomed to it.
She glanced around anxiously and didn't see Angela around. Perhaps she didn't come back here to work. Brianna thought. Then she heard another loud scream. Scott had just kicked Jake's chest, and there came a cracking sound of bones, at the same time, Jake threw a lower kick at the side of Scott's waist, and a bone cracked. Scott staggered a bit, and just before he managed to regain his balance, there came the sudden sound of flying bullets. A few bodyguards dropped dead, including the one that was holding Jacob.
Meanwhile, the huge ceiling light came crashing down onto the floor, and it took Brianna a while to adjust to the sudden dimness. Just as she looked towards the door, she saw a guy in black aiming his gun at Scott, frightened and to her own surprise, she ran and jumped at Scott, and the bullet flew right into her back as they both fell over.
She felt a sharp pain and soon fainted. Scott cuddled her and rolled over to a corner behind the bar, dodging the bullets. Fortunately, the bodyguards reacted quickly enough and got Jacob and Scott out of the bar safely.
Decisively, Scott demanded to get the police involved despite the possibility that it would affect the stock market. When the police arrived, half the gang had escaped, and a few of both Scott's and Jake's bodyguards were killed or seriously injured.
Levi was sent to the police to deal with the rest and to try to diminish the negative impact on the stock market.
Jacob and Brianna were taken into the ambulance immediately. Jake was badly hurt but was mainly cut and blood loss. Luckily, he wasn't in danger. The doctors cleaned his cuts and stopped the bleeding of his calf quickly. However, it was much more difficult to deal with Brianna's injury.
The doctors struggled to get the bullet out, so they couldn't stitch the cut, and blood kept oozing out. Brianna's face looked ashen. She was unconscious.
Scott kept wondering why Brianna risked her own life to save him. She's always wanted to leave me, to be free from my control, but why? Why did she save me?! The question bothered him very much, and he wanted to ask her, yet she had lost consciousness.
Jacob watched Scott quietly. He saw the worries on Scott's face, and it hurt him. He had the feeling that from now on, Brianna would not be just a replacement for Sol to Scott anymore as she had risked her life to save him. My Scott will probably be hers for real from now on.
***
As soon as they arrived at the Andersons’ Private Hospital, Jacob and Brianna were taken into two different operating rooms. Scott wasn’t too badly hurt compared to them, so he sat outside and waited till both operations were finished and they were sent to the ICU, then he went into the operating room himself to receive treatment.