His Ruthless Claim

Chapter six-Out

CHAPTER SIX

Golden lights spilled across the velvet booths and polished glass tables, reflecting on bottles of expensive liquor stacked behind the bar.

Music vibrated the marble floors like a second heartbeat, heavy, loud, and relentless.

In here, the world belonged to wealth, power, and the secrets whispered over champagne. At the center of it all sat Alessandro Valentis.

He occupied the private chamber above the dance floor, a space reserved only for men who owned the city rather than merely lived in it. From there he could see everything, the swirling bodies.

The quiet exchange of envelopes and nods between men who understood that this club was more than just entertainment.

A glass of whiskey rested untouched in his hand. He wasn’t in the mood for alcohol or women tonight. Alessandro leaned back against the leather seat, his gaze moving swiftly over the crowd without truly seeing any of it.

Weeks had passed since the attack at the port. The wound in his side had mostly healed, though the scar still pulled tight whenever he moved too quickly. But the real irritation wasn’t physical, it was the uncertainty.

Across the table from him, Marco watched carefully, “You should be celebrating,” Marco said after a moment.

Alessandro lifted an eyebrow. “For what?”

“You survived an assassination attempt.”

Alessandro took a slow sip of whiskey, “Barely”

Marco leaned forward slightly, “And whoever planned it hasn’t tried again.”

“That’s not comforting,” Alessandro replied calmly. “It means they are waiting.”

His gaze drifted down toward the crowded dance floor. Music thundered through the room as bodies moved beneath the flashing lights.

Everyone believed they were safe inside this building, but they weren’t. Nothing in this city was ever truly safe. Alessandro’s mind wandered somewhere else entirely.

Back to the night at the harbor, the look on Kathryn’s face when she realized he had been ignoring her, her anger surprised him. Most women in her position would have remained quiet and obedient.

But Kathryn DE SANTIS had stood in the middle of the docks, her eyes blazing as if she had every right to challenge him… Alessandro almost admired it.

Marco followed his gaze thoughtfully. “You are still keeping her at the estate?”

Alessandro didn’t answer immediately, the truth was more complicated than he liked. After the confrontation at the harbor that night, he had taken her back to the Valentis estate on the cliffs outside Sicily, not because she asked nor because he had softened but because leaving her near the docks had become too dangerous.

He could still remember the drive home. Kathryn had sat beside him in silence, the dark Mediterranean stretching endlessly beside the road. She hadn’t asked any questions, she didn’t look at him, but the distance between them inside that car had been louder than any argument.

When they arrived at the estate, he had given only one order…“Stay here.”

She had laughed softly at that, not a warm laugh but a bitter one, “As if I have a choice.”

Alessandro ignored the comment, since then, he had done exactly what he believed was necessary. He stayed away, he buried himself in business, women sometimes, meetings, shipments, security arrangements. Everything except the one thing that waited for him back at the estate… Kathryn.

Marco broke the silence again, “You know she thinks you are avoiding her.”

Alessandro’s jaw tightened slightly. “I am.” He replied bluntly.

“Why?” Alessandro looked at him as if the answer were obvious.

“Because the less she’s connected to me, the safer she is.”

Marco leaned back with a small shake of his head, “You married her.”

“That doesn’t mean she belongs in my war.”

The music in the club swelled louder, shaking the crystal glasses on the table, but Alessandro’s thoughts had already drifted far away from the noise and light.

The truth was simple, the closer Kathryn came to him, the more dangerous her life would become. And Alessandro Valentis had built his empire on one rule: protect what matters, no matter what or who it was, even if it means keeping it at a distance.

Marco watched him carefully, “You can’t ignore her forever.”

Alessandro finished the whiskey in his glass, “Yes,” he said quietly, “I can.”

But even as he said it, something in his chest felt strangely uncertain, because deep down Alessandro knew one truth for certain… Kathryn de Saintis was not the kind of woman who would remain silent forever.