Chapter 8

Dante POV

Seeing Roman storm toward Sienna like a rabid animal triggered a lethal instinct deep inside my chest. He was taking the concrete steps two at a time, entirely consumed by a violent narcissistic rage that demanded immediate blood. I did not even bother finding the bench door to exit the rink properly.

I gained massive speed on the freezing ice and launched my heavy frame entirely upward. I grabbed the top edge of the thick plexiglass and vaulted violently over the tall barrier with absolute athletic precision. My heavy carbon skates crashed down brutally onto the thick rubber mats covering the concrete floor, sending a loud echo through the silent arena.

Roman was completely blinded by his own wounded pride to hear me land heavily right behind him. He continued his aggressive, stomping march up the narrow stairwell toward the terrified girl trapped in the bleachers. Sienna tripped over the cold metal seats in her frantic attempt to escape his incoming reach, scraping her hands badly against the hard steel.

Roman raised his heavy fist, entirely prepared to strike the fragile girl who had just publicly humiliated him. I did not shout or offer any verbal warning as I closed the massive physical distance between us. I simply let the pure violence rolling through my veins take complete control of my immediate actions.

I cleared the bottom of the staircase in three enormous, terrifying strides that chewed up the distance instantly. Roman was just two steps away from her when I finally reached his back and struck. I grabbed the thick fabric of his expensive collar and ripped him violently backward down the steep concrete stairs.

Roman let out a breathless choke as his feet completely left the solid ground beneath him. I spun him around forcefully and slammed his back hard against the concrete wall of the arena concourse. The heavy physical impact echoed loudly in the freezing air, instantly halting his violent rampage and knocking the air from his lungs.

"I told you to leave her alone," I snarled, dropping my cold facade for a fraction of a second to reveal the monster underneath. I pressed my heavy forearm directly against his throat, pinning him completely and utterly to the rough block wall. "You will never raise your hand to her again as long as I am breathing."

Roman clawed frantically at my arm, his eyes entirely wide with a mixture of absolute shock and sudden terror. He struggled to draw a clean breath under the immense physical pressure I applied to his crushed windpipe. I leaned closer to his face, letting the sheer murderous intent radiating off my body suffocate him entirely.

"She does not belong to you," I stated, my voice dropping into a lethal, quiet register that promised absolute pain. "She just dumped you in front of this entire empty arena and shattered your pathetic ego. You have absolutely no claim over her life anymore, and you never will again."

Sienna watched us from the upper metal bleachers, her chest heaving rapidly as thick tears streamed down her pale cheeks. She looked incredibly small and entirely shattered, yet she possessed enough hidden strength to finally tell him no. I felt a massive surge of dangerous protectiveness burn fiercely through my cold heart, erasing my corporate mission entirely.

"You are dead," Roman choked out, kicking his heavy boots against the rubber floor in a pathetic attempt to escape my hold. "You think you can just walk into my school and steal my property right in front of me? I will ruin your entire academic career and bury your future."

I released the pressure on his throat just enough to let him pull a ragged breath into his burning lungs. I did not step back, keeping our massive athletic frames locked in a brutal, suffocating physical confrontation. He was an inch taller, but he lacked the cold, sociopathic restraint my father had violently beaten into my soul for two decades.

"You do not have the power to ruin me, Roman," I whispered darkly, staring right through his incredibly empty threats. "I just dismantled your best enforcers without breaking a single sweat on the freezing ice tonight. Imagine exactly what I will do to you in the dark if you ever touch her again."

Roman glared fiercely into my pale eyes, desperately searching for any hesitation or bluff in my violent threat. He found absolutely nothing but the hollow, freezing promise of his own inevitable destruction looking back at him. His violent bravado finally fractured under the intense weight of my absolute, unwavering certainty.

He realized he was completely outmatched in every single physical and psychological category imaginable. The golden boy champion was nothing more than a terrified bully pinned helplessly to a dirty concrete wall. He stopped struggling against my heavy grip and let his arms drop in utter defeat.

"She is a manipulative liar and a completely broken toy," Roman spat viciously, his face twisting into an ugly, defeated sneer. "She brings absolutely nothing but drama and baggage to anyone stupid enough to care. You can have my pathetic leftovers if you want her so badly."

I shoved him backward one final time, stepping away from the wall in absolute disgust at his pathetic words. "Do not ever speak about her like that again," I commanded, my voice carrying the lethal authority of a corporate executioner. I turned my back on the seething champion, completely dismissing his existence from my reality as if he were a ghost.

I walked up the concrete stairs and stopped right in front of the trembling girl. Sienna was shaking violently, her dark eyes entirely wide with raw adrenaline and lingering emotional terror from the near assault. I reached out slowly and wrapped my warm hand gently around her freezing fingers to ground her entirely.

"Are you hurt?" I asked softly, instantly dropping the aggressive monster persona I had just used on Roman. I scanned her pale face carefully, looking for any physical marks he might have inflicted before I arrived.

She shook her head slowly, unable to form a coherent sentence through her frantic, uneven breathing. I pulled her gently to her feet and tucked her securely against my warm side to shield her from the freezing air. She melted into my protective embrace instantly, trusting me completely despite the absolute violence she had just witnessed me commit.

Roman watched us from the bottom of the stairs, his entire body shaking with pure, unadulterated jealousy. "Where do you think you are taking her?" he demanded loudly, trying desperately to reclaim his shattered authority in the empty building. "She has early classes tomorrow morning, she is not going anywhere with a total stranger."

I did not even look back at him as I carefully guided Sienna down the cold metal bleachers. I kept my heavy arm wrapped securely around her small waist, shielding her entirely from his toxic, suffocating presence. "Sienna is officially my academic tutor now," I declared loudly, pulling her away from a seething Roman.