His Merciless Redemption novel Chapter 152

Chapter 152

Dominic’s POV

The warehouse office was quiet now, too quiet.

The echo of gunfire still rang in my ears even though it had been nearly an hour.

Isa sat across from me on the worn leather couch, wrapped in one of the jackets one of my men had handed her. Her hands had stopped shaking, but her fingers were still curled tightly in the fabric.

I hated that look on her face. Fear. And I hated even more that I had put it there.

She lifted her eyes to mine. “Why did this happen suddenly?” There was no accusation in her voice. Just confusion. And that made it worse.

“It’s not sudden,” I said quietly.

She frowned. “Then what is it?”

I exhaled slowly and ran a hand through my hair. “This was one of the reasons I didn’t want you moving out with Mateo.”

Her expression hardened slightly. “So this is because of you.”

“Yes.”

There was no point pretending otherwise.

I leaned forward, elbows on my knees. “I’ve been letting people off too easily lately.”

She blinked. “What does that mean?”

“It means,” I said, jaw tightening, “that every time there was even a hint of suspicion about someone being the mole, I removed them.”

“Removed?”

“From operations. From sensitive routes. From meetings.”

Her brows drew together. “That’s not unreasonable.”

“It is,” I said flatly. “Not when you do it repeatedly. It created instability. Made me look unsure.”

She understood immediately. “You looked weak.”

“Yes.” The word tasted bitter. “Add to that the fact that my home life has been visible.”

Her lips pressed together. “They think you’re divided,” she said quietly.

“They know I am.”

That was the part I didn’t say out loud. They’d seen the miscarriage. The suicide attempt. The penthouse

move.

They’d seen cracks.

And in our world, cracks were invitations.

“They’ve been intercepting my shipments for months,” I continued. “Small disruptions. Testing boundaries.”

“And you retaliated,” she said, probably remembering the attack I’d mentioned in one of my many letters to her before this whole nightmare with Alessia began.

“Yes. Enough to hurt.”

She swallowed. “And they’re retaliating now.”

“They think I’m distracted. That I won’t respond aggressively.” My jaw clenched again. “They also think the fastest way to destabilize me is through you.”

Her shoulders stiffened slightly at that. “So they tried to kill me.”

“No,” I said firmly. “If they wanted you dead, you’d be dead.”

Her eyes flashed at that bluntness.

“They were sending a message.”

Silence settled between us.

Heavy. Strategic. Cold.

She leaned back slowly.

“I can work from home,” she said after a moment. “For a few days. Until things calm down.”

“I was going to suggest that.”

“And Mateo can skip school.”

I hesitated. “He’ll hate that.”

“I don’t care,” she said sharply. “I’d rather he be annoyed than dead.”

That landed hard.

“I’ll increase guards at the villa,” I said. “No one goes in or out without clearance.”

She nodded. Then she looked at me again.

There was something else behind her eyes.

“Maybe I should talk to them.”

I stilled. “To who?”

“The Vitellis,”

“No.”

“Dominic-”

“No,” I repeated, sharper this time.

She held my gaze steadily. “We had a deal. They said as long as I provided information, they wouldn’t touch

me or Mateo.”

I leaned back slowly. “That deal is over.”

“How do you know?”

“Because they haven’t contacted you in weeks.”

She went quiet.

“They were trying to use you,” I continued. “To get inside information.”

“I know that.”

“But now,” I said carefully, “they don’t need you.”

Her eyes flickered. “Why?”

“Because whoever the real mole is,” I said quietly, “is giving them better access than you ever could.”

The silence after that was suffocating.

“So I’m useless to them now,” she said after a long pause.

“You’re leverage,” I corrected.

Her expression darkened.

“They know I won’t let anything happen to you. So instead of negotiating with you, they’re using you to pressure me. It’s obvious they think it’s better to use you as a way to pressurise me than to use you for information.”

Her jaw tightened. “And what do they want?”

“Surrender.”

“Of what?”

“Territory. Routes. Control.” I rubbed my face. “And if I bend, I lose everything.”

She stared at me. “And if you don’t?”

“They escalate.”

She looked down at her hands. “And this is escalating.”

“Yes.”

She was quiet for a long moment. Then she said softly, “I hate that our lives keep getting dragged into this.”

I closed my eyes briefly. So do I.

I hated that Mateo’s school schedule was now a tactical discussion. I hated that Isa couldn’t go to work safely. I hated that every time I looked at her, I saw the weight of decisions I had made. And I hated that I still didn’t know who the mole was.

Months. Months of investigations. And nothing concrete.

I didn’t tell her that part.

I didn’t tell her that every failed lead made me feel like I was bleeding from somewhere invisible.

Instead, I said, “This will be contained.”

She looked at me like she wanted to believe that. “Will it?” she asked softly.

“Yes.”

Even if I had to burn half the city down to do it. She shifted closer to me on the couch.

“You look exhausted,” she said.

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not.”

Her fingers reached for my hand. I thought she would entangle our fingers together. But she stopped at the last moment.

“For what it’s worth,” she said instead, “I don’t blame you.”

I looked at her sharply. “You should.”

“I don’t.” Her gaze softened. “You didn’t ask for this. And you’re trying to protect us.”

Something tightened in my chest. Because protection had become the only thing I seemed capable of offering her. Not peace. Not normalcy. Not simplicity. Just survival.

“I don’t like that they think I’m weak,” I said quietly.

“You’re not weak.”

“They think I am. I won’t let them use you to get to me.”

“And I won’t let them use me to scare you into surrendering,” she replied.

A faint smile almost touched my lips. Stubborn. Always stubborn. There was steel in her that most people didn’t see.

“Stay home,” I said finally. “For now.”

She nodded. “And you?” she asked.

“I fix this.”

“Be careful.”

I held her gaze. “I always am.”

That was a lie.

Because if I had been careful about who I trusted, if I had been careful about who I let into my inner circle, we wouldn’t be here.

And somewhere in the back of my mind, a thought settled like a shadow, that the Vitellis weren’t just testing

They were confident, too confident. Which meant the mole was still active. Still feeding them. Still close.

And until I found that person, Isa would never truly be safe.