His Merciless Redemption novel Chapter 153

Chapter 153

Dominic’s POV

I drove Isa back to the villa myself. I didn’t trust anyone else with her. Not after today.

When we pulled into the gates, she looked calmer than she had in the warehouse, but I could still see the residual fear in her eyes.

“I’ll call you once I reach,” I said quietly.

She nodded. “Be careful.”

I wanted to kiss her. Instead, I brushed my knuckles lightly against her cheek.

“I will.”

I watched her walk inside. I waited until the doors shut behind her. Only then did I pull away. I had planned to return to the penthouse. Review routes. Reassign men. Prepare retaliation. And then I’d pick Mateo up from school myself when dismissal came.

He had guards. He was safe. But halfway down the road, something twisted in my gut. Not logic. Instinct. A deep, animal kind of alarm.

I gripped the steering wheel harder.

He has guards. He’s safe. I reminded myself. But the image of Isa scared in the back seat as bullets hit metal flashed through my mind.

Then Mateo’s face.

The Vitellis are escalating. They’re confident.

And suddenly the idea of waiting until dismissal felt wrong.

I turned the car around without thinking.

“Change of plan,” I said into my phone. “We’re going to the school. Now.”

Two SUVS fell in behind me. The drive felt longer than it was. My pulse didn’t slow. It didn’t matter that I wasn’t easily shaken. Isa and Mateo were different. They weren’t business. They weren’t strategy. They were everything.

When I reached the school, I didn’t park neatly. I stepped out before the engine fully stopped and walked straight inside.

The receptionist froze when she saw me.

“Mr. Russo-”

“Mateo. Classroom.”

She didn’t argue.

I walked fast down the hallway, my men spreading quietly behind me. I knocked once before pushing open the classroom door.

Mateo wasn’t there.

The teacher looked up, startled. “Mr. Russo?”

“Where is Mateo?”

Her expression shifted slightly. “He- he was called to the principal’s office.”

My stomach dropped. “For what?”

She hesitated. “Someone came to take him. Something about his mother not feeling well”

The air left my lungs.”What?”

“They had signed authorization papers,” she rushed to explain. “From his mother. Everything was verified.”

My hands curled into fists. Verified. With forged documents.

I turned on my heel and walked out without another word.

The hallway felt too long.

I reached the principal’s office and didn’t knock this time. The principal stood up immediately. “Mr. Russo-”

“Where is Mateo?”

“They just left,” he said quickly. “We had signed documents granting-”

I slammed my hand on his desk. “You let a stranger walk out with my son.”

“They had the paperwork!” he insisted. “It matched his mother’s signature!”

My heart was pounding so violently I could hear it in my ears. “What exit?”

“The rear parking lot.”

I didn’t wait for another word. I was already moving.

“Lock down the school,” I barked into my phone. “No one leaves. No one.”

I pushed through the rear doors. The teacher’s parking lot sat behind the building.

And there, I saw him.

A man gripping Mateo’s wrist, walking quickly towards a dark car.

Mateo looked confused more than scared.

“Dominic?” he called out when he saw me.

Everything inside me went red. I walked forward slowly.

“Let him go.”

The man stiffened.

He turned slightly, trying to position himself between me and Mateo.

“Back away,” I said calmly.

Mateo looked at me. “Are you taking me home?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said without taking my eyes off the man. “Come here.”

The man tightened his grip. I took another step forward. “Hand him over.”

The man’s eyes flickered. Then he tried to run. That was his mistake.

I moved fast, grabbed his collar and pulled him backwards. He swung at me. But I barely felt it.

All I saw was my son inches from being shoved into a car.

I hit him once. Twice. Hard.

Mateo stumbled backward, frozen.

“Mateo,” I said sharply without looking at him. “Inside. Now. Go.”

“But-”

“Go!”

He ran.

I heard the school doors slam shut. And the moment I knew he was inside, I pulled my gun.

The man tried to scramble towards his car.

I shot him. Once. Clean.

He dropped instantly.

Silence fell over the parking lot.

My breathing was ragged. My hands were shaking.

uom soldier. He was

They hadn’t been bluffing. They had been seconds away from taking my son.

Seconds.

If I had waited until dismissal, if I had trusted the guards, if I had ignored that instinct-

I closed my eyes briefly.

No.

I refused to imagine it.

I holstered my gun and walked back towards the building. The doors opened before I reached them. Mateo was standing just inside, his teacher kneeling beside him.

His small hands clenched into fists, he looked up at me. “Are we going home now?” he asked quietly.

I dropped to my knees in front of him, pulling him into my arms. I held him so tightly I thought I might break. He stiffened for a second. Then he hugged me back.

“I’m fine,” he said softly.

“I know.”

My voice wasn’t steady.

“I know.”

He pulled back slightly. “The man said Mama was sick.”

My chest tightened violently. “He lied. Your Mama is fine and she’s waiting for us at home.”

“Is that why you hit him? For lying?”

“Yes,” I replied.

Mateo nodded slowly. “You came to get me?”

Yes.

I came.

And I almost didn’t.

The weight of that realization crushed me.

I kissed his hair, his forehead, his cheeks.

He squirmed slightly.

“Dominic,” he muttered.

I let out a broken laugh. “You’re okay.”

“Yes,” he replied, looking genuinely confused by my intensity.

I stood slowly, keeping a hand on his shoulder. We walked out together.

My men were already handling the body, cleaning the scene, erasing the evidence. But I barely saw any of it.

All I could think was that they touched my son. They almost took him. The Vitellis hadn’t been escalating randomly. They were sending a message. And it was clear.

“You can’t protect them.”

My jaw tightened.

No.

I understood something with terrifying clarity then.

This wasn’t about pride anymore. This wasn’t about territory. This wasn’t about ego.

This was about survival.

If I didn’t end this decisively, next time, I might not arrive in time.

And that would destroy me completely.