Blade

Chapter 23: Reckless

Sienna

The world stops spinning around me, my feet rooted to the spot as Marcello chews harshly on my bottom lip, searching for an entrance that will never be granted. My eyebrows shoot up in shock as his body is violently ripped away from me and thrown across the hall, colliding with a nearby table.

Blade towers over him, his stance rigid and deadly. His stormy grey eyes blaze with fury as he grabs the collar of Marcello's dress shirt, lifting him until his feet dangle in the air. A furious growl escapes him, forcing everyone to take a cautious step back. Blade lands a brutal punch on Marcello's jaw, sending a couple of teeth flying and drawing a grunt of pain from him.

"How dare you kiss my wife?" Blade roars, his nostrils flaring hotly as he flashes murderous glares at the older man.

To everyone's surprise, Marcello lets out a loud, ringing laugh. A cocky smirk slowly spreads across his bloody lips. "Oh, I apologise, Armani," he mutters with heavy sarcasm, raising a teasing brow at Blade's furious expression. "I never knew the girl mattered to you more than a casual hookup."

Blade's fist connects with Marcello's jaw again, this time a sharp crack echoing through the silent hall. "Look at her." Blade points directly at me, and instantly all eyes snap toward my trembling form.

I rub my arms awkwardly, acutely aware of the mixture of stares-some judgmental, some curious, and some lingering on my exposed skin. Oddly, though, I don't feel nervous. Instead, a strange heat of defiance courses through me, making me feel almost alive in the scrutiny.

Marcello glances at me, the look he flashes my way makes my stomach to churn in disgust.

"No one is allowed to touch her but me. No one is allowed to press their lips to hers but me. No one lays a hand on what's mine and lives to see another day."

My heart seizes in my chest as Blade wraps his hand around the older man's throat, squeezing the life from him.

Panic surges through me as I scan the crowd. No one moves to separate them. Everyone watches in horror as Marcello gurgles and nearly goes limp.

I have to do something. If Blade kills him, a bloody war will erupt, one neither of us is ready for.

Swallowing past the lump in my throat, I take a few cautious steps forward and place my hand on Blade's shoulder, careful not to startle him.

My mouth forms an 'o' in surprise as I feel his tense muscles loosen under my gentle touch. His eyes snap to mine, the fury blazing within those beautiful orbs making me flinch, and then, as if something inside him gives way, the anger softens, the wildness in him dimming like a storm finally spent.

I lean close, letting my lips brush his ear, ignoring how his cologne sends my heart racing, fluttering like a hummingbird's wings. "Please, don't kill him, Blade. He isn't worth starting a long-lasting war."

His gaze roams over my face, lingering as if reading every thought, before he finally releases Marcello, who collapses onto the floor with a heavy thud.

My eyes widen like saucers as Blade grips my chin, staring deep into my eyes. "He might not be worth a damn, but you are. I'd go to war for you without a second thought." His words make my heart race so fast that my breathing becomes ragged. Something inside me melts into a puddle as the steel walls I built around my heart begin to crack. Oh no.