"Mr. Franklin, I'm sorry about the disturbance," the manager said. "As a gesture of goodwill, your meal is on the house." He knew Debbie was a nice girl, and he couldn't let Bruno hurt her.
"Bah!" Bruno punched the manager in the nose.
Staggering back, the manager clutched at his nose and bent over. Bright red blood oozed out from between his fingers.
"You don't have a bloody clue, do you?" Bruno said arrogantly, towering over him. He stuck his hands in his pockets. "Well? What do you have to say now?"
"Mr. Franklin, Debbie's my employee, and I'm responsible for her," the manager choked out.
Scowling, Bruno raised his right foot and kicked him right in the head, knocking him to the ground.
The manager spat out two teeth, and a cut on his head dripped blood down his face.
Bruno didn't hold back. He lifted his leg, preparing to stomp on the man's face. No matter how much damage he did, he knew there would be no consequences.
"Mr. Franklin, I'll do it! I'll do it!" the manager said hurriedly, holding up his hands. He didn't have a choice. He couldn't take any more of this beating, not even to protect Debbie.
"I'm glad you've finally seen sense." Bruno smiled as he lowered his foot to the floor.
"Go and get Debbie," the manager ordered a waiter. "Tell her she needs to come and wash Mr. Franklin's clothes."
The waiter headed toward the kitchen, but a man stepped in front of him, blocking his way.
Alex gently pushed past the waiter.
"Well, if it isn't the crazy guy," Bruno mocked Alex, while his henchmen also started to laugh.
"Since you're clearly insane, I'll let you go. Just this once," Bruno said. "Go on. Get out of here." He turned back to the waiter. "Why are you still here? Bring me the girl!"
But Alex still stood in front of the waiter, refusing to move.
"Do you have a damn death wish? Get lost!" Bruno said angrily.
Alex smiled and walked toward him. As he passed a table, he picked up a bottle of red wine and a glass.
"He seems to have found his courage," one of the men snickered. "Didn't he just flinch when Bruno yelled a moment ago, and now he actually dares to approach him?"
"No, I think he's found his brains," another man answered. "Didn't you see him pick up the wine? He must be about to make amends by toasting Bruno or pouring him a drink."
Bruno noticed that Alex didn't seem as angry as before. After Alex gave him the wine, he would hit the kid a couple of times, and then maybe he would take him on as an underling. He might even be useful.
As Bruno considered what he was going to do, Alex walked up to him and poured some red wine into the glass, filling it right up to the rim.
"You're an idiot," Bruno said, reaching out to take the wine. "How am I supposed to drink this when it's so full?" His hand never made contact with the glass.
Alex threw the full glass of red wine into Bruno's face, and it hit him right in the eyes and went up to his nose. He spluttered, and bent down, trying to get rid of it.
"Ack." Bruno wiped his face. He couldn't open his eyes properly without them stinging, so he could only squint at Alex. "I'm going to kill you!"
His vision was blurry, so he only saw a black shadow attacking him. Before he could react, he heard a smashing sound and felt a sharp pain across his forehead. More wine flowed over his face, and this time, it was mixed with glass fragments.
"Ah!" Bruno screamed and collapsed on the ground. He touched his hand to his forehead, and it came back completely red.
Alex was still holding the broken wine bottle in his hand, while the other pieces of glass were scattered on the floor.
"Why are you all just standing there?" Bruno shouted at his men. "Kill him!" His men simply looked at him with troubled expressions, not daring to take any action.
Alex's unexpected behaviour had stunned them all, and they hadn't yet regained their composure. They were staring at him with respect, not even daring to breathe too loudly.
Alex casually threw away the broken bottle, shocking everyone present.
Sneering, he walked slowly toward Bruno, who was growing scared. No longer caring about keeping up appearances for his men, the gangster used his elbows to edge backwards, trying to keep his distance.
"I'm really curious. How did someone like you end up in charge?" Alex placed his foot on Bruno's face. He looked down at him and coldly said, "If I ever see you again, I'll make sure you regret it."
He ruthlessly put more of his weight on the man's face to teach him a lesson. Then he reduced the pressure and took two steps back.
"Wait. I want to stay and finish eating before I go," Bruno said.
Alex turned around and saw Bruno looking at him, his expression respectful.
Alex laughed.
"You expect me to believe you?" He looked around at everyone's faces and guessed Bruno's intention: he was simply going to hang around and wait for another opportunity to attack Alex.
Alex sighed, knowing he couldn't walk away. If he didn't completely defeat Bruno now, then it would cause trouble later. Not only for him but also for Debbie and this restaurant.
Fine then, Alex thought. If you want to play, then let's do this.
"My name is Alex Ambrose," he said. "And I'm just a student at Preston University." He kept his manner relaxed but allowed a trace of contempt to remain. "But you still need to show me respect."
"And here I thought you must be someone important to dare to insult me. But you're merely a second-rate student!" Bruno hadn't expected Alex to take things so far. If Alex was just a student, then why was he pretending to be someone powerful?
"If you don't start showing me some respect, then I won't be able to resist kicking you," Alex said with a faint smile.
"Really?" Bruno asked. "However hard you hit me, I'll pay you back with interest. And then you won't be able to walk out of here." His face was covered in blood, and when he smiled, he looked extremely scary.
He looked at his henchmen and said, "I'll call Sam Woodsworth right now and ask him to send a few heavy-duty thugs over."
Hearing that Bruno knew Sam Woodsworth, the other people in the crowd looked at Alex with a worried expression.
"Who? Sam Woodsworth? Who is that?" The name sounded familiar to Alex, but he couldn't quite place it.
"Kid, Sam is the boss at the Berkeley Hotel," one of the men said. "He has more power than the police around here."
"Maybe you should beg Bruno for mercy?" someone suggested. "When Sam's guys arrive, things will get ugly, and there will be no point in calling the police."
When he realized who they were talking about, Alex couldn't contain his laughter.
"Idiot, aren't you even smart enough to be afraid?" Bruno sneered. "If you dare to come at me, you'll regret it!" He pointed to the floor in front of him. "Get down and grovel at my feet. Call me 'Master' and beg for my forgiveness three times. Then, when you've cleaned the floor with your tongue, I might consider letting you go."
"I've already warned you to be respectful when you speak to me," Alex said as he walked up to him and kicked him in the leg. When Bruno bent over, Alex kicked him in the head.
"You…" Bruno was dazed, trying to shake off the blow to the head. "That's it. I'm calling Sam. You've done it now!"
Alex crossed his arms and looked at Bruno as if he were looking forward to watching a good show.
When the call connected, Bruno sneered at Alex.
"Mr. Woodsworth, I'm Bruno. No, not him… No, Barry is a car salesman. I'm Bruno, not Barry. Right. Mr. Woodsworth, do you remember that night a few weeks ago… I was at your place, and I was carrying a suitcase…" It took a long time, but he finally got Sam to remember him.
"Sorry for disturbing you," Bruno said, his tone respectful. "But I have a small problem. I was hoping you could send a couple of your guys to come here to deal with someone… Who is he?" Bruno was only able to ask for assistance because he had recently given Sam some money. Sam definitely wouldn't help him to deal with anyone powerful but on this occasion… Bruno glanced at Alex and grinned. "Not some big shot or anything. He's just some student at Preston University. Alex Ambrose."
Alex had been watching Bruno, and when he heard Bruno reveal his name, he couldn't help but burst out laughing, even though he had known what would happen.
"Why are you still laughing?" Bruno demanded. "I'm going to make you kneel down and lick my boots later." He sneered at Alex as if he were nothing.
Just as Bruno took a step closer, a roar came from the phone: "You little bastard! You hit Alex Ambrose? You idiot! Do you want to die?"
Bruno's ears were ringing, and his heart skipped a beat.
"Mr. Woodsworth? What's wrong? What's going on?" His mind was in chaos, and his heart began to pound.
Alex casually lifted the phone out of Bruno's hand.
"Um…" Bruno looked at Alex in a daze, not knowing what to say.
"Mr. Woodsworth, don't worry. I'm not hurt," Alex said lightly into the phone. "In fact, Bruno here made an excellent suggestion earlier, and I think we should let him try it out." He glanced over at Bruno, who still didn't understand what was going on and was growing nervous.
"He said to get down and grovel at his feet, while calling him 'Master' and begging for his forgiveness three times. Oh, and then I had to clean the floor with my tongue." Alex listed Bruno's demands. "But I think he should be the one to do those things for me, don't you?"
"Mr. Woodsworth wants to talk to you," Alex said, handing the phone over.
Bruno put his phone to his ear. "Hello, Mr. Woodsworth…"
As he listened to what Mr Woodsworth said, Bruno's heartbeat sped up, and he swallowed hard. By the time he had finished speaking, Bruno felt sick to his stomach.
Every part of him trembled, and his legs felt weak. He wanted to kneel on the ground and beg for mercy. "Mr. Ambrose, I'm so sorry," he said. "I don't deserve to live. I offended you because I'm worthless and stupid. Please have mercy on me."