Take My Breath Away

"What? So she's Evelyn Huo. Then we're out of here. I'm not going to piss her off."

"That's Carlos Huo's daughter? No wonder she looks so sure of herself. Let's avoid her."

"This is above my pay-grade. Let's jet! C'mon, Roscoe! Get a move-on!"

Roscoe cast a sidelong glance at Evelyn and whispered, "Yeah, she's Carlos Huo's daughter. So what? She's bad luck for boyfriends, most of them have died. Who's going to date a girl like that?"

"Seriously? Was she your brother's..." The man wasn't bold enough to finish his sentence.

A brief, weird silence followed. Roscoe's brother had been dead for several years. Many of Roscoe's friends knew how he died.

"Yeah, she's the woman who jinxed my brother and got him killed." Even after so many years, Roscoe still held a grudge against Evelyn, his voice thick with hate.

If it weren't for this woman, his brother would still be alive.

Roscoe's friends all chose to remain silent. They didn't dare to anger either Roscoe or Evelyn, so they made their way to the doors of the restaurant. They intended to leave.

Roscoe held too much bad blood towards Evelyn. Arguing with him wouldn't make things any better, so she turned and went back to the booth.

She didn't see what happened next.

Just as Roscoe turned around, two men stepped in his way, blocking the hallway.

One of the two men wore a silver-grey suit and the other was in a suit of dark blue.

Obviously, they knew who Roscoe was, and wanted to make sure he didn't go anywhere.

"Mr. Fan! What a surprise! What can I do for you?" Roscoe tilted his head toward the man in the gray suit. "And who's he?" Roscoe asked impatiently.

Not all of Roscoe's friends had made it out of the restaurant.

The closest one ran up to him and whispered, "That's the new CEO of Theo Group, the younger Mr. Tang."

Roscoe didn't know Sheffield.

But he knew Theo Group had a new CEO. He couldn't avoid knowing. It was all over the news.

Knowing how powerful Theo Group was, Roscoe decided to show the new CEO a little respect. So, he started over and greeted Joshua and Sheffield politely, "Mr. Tang, Mr. Fan!" Then he bowed his head to each of them in greeting. They weren't friends, so Roscoe's tone was cold and formal.

Toothpick in his mouth, Sheffield asked Roscoe, "Who were you talking to just now?"

Dumbfounded, Roscoe looked in the direction of Evelyn's private booth. "Evelyn Huo. Why?"

"Nothing. Mr. Qi, I have something to ask you!" Sheffield smiled.

Roscoe moved two steps forward and asked, "About what?"

Sheffield also stepped forward. When he was close enough to Roscoe, he suddenly grabbed his collar, leaned his hip in, and knocked Roscoe to the floor.

Caught off guard, Roscoe cursed, "What the fuck—"

Sheffield stepped on the man's chest before Roscoe could scramble to his feet and looked down at the man with furious eyes. "Who did you just say was bad luck for boyfriends?"

Roscoe thought about it for a bit before he answered. Finally, he asked, "You know Evelyn Huo?"

"Bingo, she's my sweetheart!" Sheffield replied frankly.

Roscoe sneered, "Come on, man! Everyone says that! What's the big deal? Aren't you afraid she'll jinx you too? Argh!" As soon as he finished speaking, Sheffield put more of his weight on Roscoe's chest. The man on the ground groaned in pain.

Roscoe's friends wanted to help him, but they didn't want to run afoul of Theo Group, so they hesitated and stood there.

"Dude, seriously? What century do you think we're living in? Jinx? How stupid are you?" Sheffield looked at him with mockery in his eyes.

Outraged, Roscoe tried to pry the man's foot off his chest. But Sheffield didn't budge even a little. Roscoe used every last bit of his strength to no avail. He glanced at his frightened friends standing around and said, "What the fuck are you all doing there? Get this asshat! Before he kills me!"

His growl brought several of his friends back to their senses. They swarmed to Sheffield and tried to drag him away.

It wasn't a quiet affair, and people in private rooms began to watch the spectacle.

Sheffield kept his foot on Roscoe's chest. With his martial arts skills, he could take down four or five men alone. Although Joshua wasn't as skilled a fighter as his friend, he could handle himself in a fight.

Joshua went for easy takedowns. He'd grab someone and slam him to the ground—hard. If that didn't do it, he'd pop them in the face. Sheffield grabbed one guy and put an arm around his throat. If anyone got too close, he'd maneuver this man between himself and another attacker. Then, he could hit anyone who got too close. Soon, the corridor was filled with cursing and whining.

After handling Roscoe's minions, Sheffield hauled Roscoe up from the floor and punched him in the face.

Roscoe was no match for Sheffield, so all he could do was slump in Sheffield's fists, bleeding.

When Sheffield was done beating him, he pointed at the man's nose and warned him, "Don't let me hear you talking shit about Evelyn again. I might not be so nice next time."

Roscoe spat out a mouthful of blood and declared defiantly, "Three of her boyfriends are dead! One is an accident, two is bad luck, but three?"

"And? What's your point?" Sheffield glared at him.

"My brother was her second boyfriend. And he's dead! Why did she get my brother killed?" Roscoe stared at Sheffield, eyes red from resentment.

Sheffield snorted, "That's between her and your brother. It has nothing to do with you. Did your brother blame Evelyn? Besides, Evelyn didn't kill your brother. If you're man enough, find out who did. What's the point of harassing innocent people?"

"I couldn't find the damn murderer, neither could Carlos." Roscoe started to laugh, but ended up hacking from the blood sliding down his throat. "So you're her boyfriend. Good luck with that. Hope you survive it!"

"Don't worry about it. I've pulled myself out of some pretty bad scrapes. But as for you, quit trash-talking my girlfriend. Capiche?"

"So not only is she bad luck, but she also is a witch. She sure has you under her spell." Roscoe's brother had it bad. No matter what, no matter who, his brother would pull out all the stops to be with her.

"A witch? Bruh! Looks like you don't know how to respect women. Let me teach you!" Sheffield grabbed him by the hair, and punched him again.

"Sheffield!" It was Evelyn's voice.

Sheffield turned to face her. She was walking towards him rapidly, looking anxious.

She grabbed Sheffield's hand to stop him. "Let go of him."

"Just a minute. I don't think he's learned his lesson, and I'm the one to teach him." He reached out his left hand and pulled her into his arms.

Evelyn glanced at Joshua and urged, "Do something!"

Finally, Joshua came over with Felix, and the both of them dragged Sheffield away.

Looking at the bruises on Roscoe's face, Evelyn ordered Felix, "Get someone to take Mr. Qi to the hospital. I'll cover the bill."

"Yes, Miss Huo." Felix began to make a phone call.

Sheffield was still clutching Roscoe, refusing to let go. "Not yet! He has to promise me something."

Evelyn clasped Sheffield's hand and said patiently, "Stop it, Sheffield. This isn't cool with me."

Gasping for air, Roscoe leaned against the wall and said, "So, you're Sheffield Tang, huh? You'll pay for this."

"Really? Maybe I'd better kill you now." Sheffield dashed towards him again.

Evelyn wrapped her arms around his waist and said, "Damn it, don't you listen to me anymore?"

At that time, two bodyguards came over. One bodyguard took one arm, the other guy put Roscoe's arm over his shoulders and asked, "Mr. Qi?" Roscoe nodded. "We'll get you to the hospital!"