His Ruthless Claim

Chapter four-The port

CHAPTER FOUR

“Did I really make the right decision coming here?” Kathryn asked no one in particular.

She stood by the narrow window of the small stone house overlooking the harbor. From where she stood, she could see the distant cranes of the port slicing through the sky like silent giants.

Ships drifted slowly across the water beyond Palermo, their horns echoing across the restless sea.

This place was nothing like the grand Valentis estate. No marble floors, no ocean-view terraces, just stoned walls, narrow hallways and the noise of men shouting orders somewhere outside.

She had been there for two days and still she had not seen her husband. The guards stationed outside the door barely spoke to her.

Meals arrived cold and silent. Every time she asked to see Alessandro, she received the same answer.

“Not now.”

At first, she tried to make excuses for him, believing there was a reason he hadn’t made out time to see her.

“He was busy.”

“There had been an attack.”

“A Mafia business — dangerous and complicated.”

But as the hours stretched into another lonely night, a bitter reality began to grow in her chest, or maybe he simply didn’t care.

Kathryn wrapped her arms around herself as the wind slipped through the half-open window. The harbor was alive with movement — unloading cargos, trucks rumbling across the docks, guards patrolling with sharp eyes.

This was the real world of the Valentis empire. Not the elegant illusion of the Cliffside estate in Sicily. Here, power smelled like fuel, sweat, and danger, and she knew she didn’t belong here.

The door behind her opened suddenly. Kathryn turned quickly.

One of the guards stepped in carrying a small tray with bread, olives, and a cup of coffee. He set it down on the table without looking at her.

“Eat”, he muttered.

Her frustration finally broke through, as she queried, “I want to see my husband.

The guard shrugged.“Not my decision.”

“You’ve been saying that for two days!”

But he didn’t respond, he simply walked back towards the door.

“Wait,” she said sharply.

The man paused but didn’t turn around.

“Is he even here?” she demanded.

Silence hung between them, then the guard spoke.“Signor Valentis is very busy.” The door shut behind him.

Kathryn stared at the wooden surface long after he was gone. Her chest tightened

The word echoed in her mind like a cruel joke.

She thought about the night at the study. The way Alessandro had kissed her. The way his voice had softened when he moaned her name.

Had that meant nothing?

Maybe she had imagined the warmth. Maybe she had been foolish enough to mistake a mafia boss’s interest for something real.

Her eyes drifted back to the harbor. Down below, black SUVs were parked along the dock. Men moved around them quickly, speaking in tense voices, something serious was happening.

And here she was, locked away like a secret no one wanted to deal with.

Anger began to replace the sadness creeping into her heart.

“I’m his wife,” she whispered bitterly to the empty room. As if trying to respond to the walls that held her captive, she screamed, “I’m his wife!

Slowly she slipped and lay on the floor, she felt less like a wife and more like a hostage.

The afternoon sun faded slowly, turning the water a deep shade of copper as evening approached.

Kathryn had just begun to pace the small room again when voices erupted outside the house.

She moved hastily to the window, two black cars had pulled up beside the building.

Men rushed forward, opening the doors, and then she saw him, the man addressed as her husband, Alessandro Valentis, stepping out of the first car.

Even from a distance, she recognized the sharp silhouette of his broad shoulders, the controlled authority in the way he moved.

His white shirt was stained with blood. A lot of it. Two men followed close behind him as he walked toward the main warehouse near the dock. One of them was speaking urgently, pointing towards the harbor.

Alessandro didn’t even look towards the small house, not even once. Kathryn’s heart twisted painfully in her chest.

He was only a few hundred meters away, and yet it felt like he might as well have been on the other side of the world.

Her fingers curled into fists, so this was what being married to Alessandro Valentis truly meant.

Waiting for a man who ruled an empire but couldn’t spare a moment for a woman he had sworn to protect. A single tear slid down her cheek before she could stop it.

Outside, the sky over Palermo darkened as the sun disappeared beyond the sea.

And somewhere inside the busy warehouse, at the edge of the port, Alessandro was fighting for his life.

But the thing he didn’t realize yet was this: the woman he had locked away for her safety was beginning to believe she had made the worst mistake of her life. And what happens when love suddenly turns into resentment…

It can become a weapon far more dangerous than betrayal.