His Merciless Redemption novel Chapter 155

Chapter 155

Dominic’s POV

The penthouse doors opened before I reached them.

Alessia was already there.

She rushed towards me the second I stepped inside, her arms wrapping around my waist as if I had just returned from war.

“Where were you?” she breathed. “I’ve been calling. No one would tell me anything. What happened? Why were you gone so long?”

Her fingers tightened on the fabric of my jacket.

I stood still for a moment before placing my hands lightly on her arms.

“I had work,” I said evenly. “Things to take care of.”

Her face lifted, searching mine. “You disappeared without telling me.”

“I don’t disappear,” I replied. “You know I have responsibilities. I can’t stay here all day.”

My words came out sharper than intended.

After the day I’d had, this was the last conversation I wanted.

She flinched slightly but didn’t let go.

“I know you have to work,” she said quickly. “I’m not saying you don’t. I just-” Her voice trembled. “I get anxious when you leave.”

Of course she did.

“What if you didn’t come back?” she continued. “It’s not like I have reassurance. Not really.”

Internally, something tightened. Reassurance.

My son had almost been taken from me an hour ago. Blood still crusted under my nails. And I was being asked for emotional reassurance.

My life seemed like a big joke to me right then. And it felt like everyone except me was laughing.

I forced myself to breathe slowly.

She is fragile, I reminded myself. Her emotional state is unstable. You cannot snap.

I exhaled through my nose.

“Alessia,” I said, keeping my tone level. “You have my word. I’m not going anywhere.”

Her eyes softened, but uncertainty lingered. “You promise?” she whispered.

“I promise,” I replied, but the word tasted heavier than it should have.

She nodded slowly, though her fingers still twisted in my sleeve.

“You have to trust me,” I added. “I won’t abandon you.”

Alessia nodded slowly and finally released me.

“Did you eat?” I asked automatically.

“A little.”

From the sitting area, her mother spoke up gently. “She ate today, Dominic.”

Her father remained silent, watching. Always watching.

I nodded once. “Good.”

Before anything else could be said, my phone vibrated.

Eduardo.

“Excuse me,” I muttered, already walking towards the study. I closed the door behind me and answered.

“Yes.”

“We’ve secured the school footage,” Eduardo said. “Local authorities have been redirected. No official report filed.”

“Good.”

“The man you shot, he’s not Vitelli core,” he continued. “But he’s trained. Former military. Contract level.”

“They’re outsourcing,” I said.

“Yes.”

“Trace the shell companies tied to his payments.”

“We’re on it.”

“And the school documents?”

“Forged. High precision. Whoever did it had access to authentic samples.”

Of course they did.

Chapter 150

“Keep this contained.” I said. “No internal panic.”

A pause. “You suspect someone close.”

“I suspect competence.” I replied. Which was worse,

“I’ll call you in an hour with updates,” Eduardo said.

“Do that.”

I ended the call but didn’t immediately move. I leaned back in my chair and stared at my hands. They were still swollen.

Mateo’s small voice echoed in my head.

Dominic hit him.

He had said it so simply. As if violence were just another tool. This life was bleeding into him. That thought unsettled me more than the kidnapping itself.

A soft knock came at the study door.

It opened before I responded.

Alessia’s father stepped inside, closing it quietly behind him.

He didn’t sit. He rarely did unless invited.

“I know where you were this morning,” he said calmly.

Of course he did.

Information travels fast.

“Mateo,” he continued. “Is he alright?”

“He’s fine,” I replied, noticing how he didn’t even mention Isabella. But I didn’t say anything.

Then he gave a measured nod. “That is fortunate.”

Fortunate.

I watched him carefully, wondering what he was here for.

He clasped his hands behind his back, posture relaxed. “You see the pattern, Dominic,” he said. “The Vitellis are no longer probing territory. They are testing weakness.”

“My son is not weakness.”

“No,” he agreed smoothly. “But perception matters more than truth.”

I said nothing.

“You intercepted a shipment a few days back,” he continued. “Publicly. Expensively. You embarrassed them.”

“Yes.”

“And today, your household appears divided. Your former wife is visible. Your son nearly taken. Alessia emotionally fragile.”

My jaw tightened at the phrasing.

“Rivals are watching,” he added. “They smell instability.”

I leaned forward slightly. I knew all that and I didn’t need him throwing it to my face like that. “Get to the point.”

His gaze didn’t waver. “You cannot protect them alone anymore.”

The statement wasn’t an insult. It was strategy.

“I have protected them so far,” I said evenly.

“And yet,” he replied gently, “they reached your son.”

Silence stretched. He let that sit between us.

“If this continues,” he said, “the Vitellis will escalate. Others may follow. The narrative becomes dangerous.”

“What narrative?”

“That Dominic Russo is distracted. Divided. Emotionally compromised.”

Emotionally compromised.

Because Isabella was back.

Because Alessia was unstable.

Because my son existed.

“This can be corrected,” he said.

There it was. What he was truly here for.

“How?”

“A formal alliance.”

I held his gaze.

“You and Alessia.”

The room felt colder.

“Our families consolidate publicly,” he continued. “Security doubles. Resources merge. The message becomes. clear.”

Unified. Strengthened. Untouchable.

“The Vitellis lose leverage,” he added. “They cannot exploit division if none exists.”

“And you believe a marriage solves this?”

“In our world?” His expression was calm. “Yes.”

I leaned back slowly. Images flickered in my

mind’s eye uninvited.

Isabella’s tear-streaked face. Her voice shaking. Her saying that she refused to put Mateo through this.

And now this.

A marriage.

Not for love.

For optics. For deterrence. For survival.

“A marriage would stabilize perception,” he continued. “It would silence rumors. Strengthen alliances. Secure your son.”

Secure your son. That was the lever. And he knew it.

“I won’t rush into anything,” I said.

“I’m not asking you to rush,” he replied. “I’m asking you to consider the cost of inaction.”

He stepped closer to the desk.

“You saw how close they came,” he said quietly. “Next time, they may not fail.”

My hands clenched slightly on the armrests. He wasn’t threatening. He was calculating.

And he wasn’t wrong about one thing, that the attempt had exposed vulnerability.

If alliances hardened, escalation might slow.

Marriage could be a protective shield.

“And Isabella?” I asked before I could stop myself.

A flicker crossed his eyes.

“She is already seen as a complication,” he said. “A past chapter.”

My jaw tightened. “She is the mother of my son.”

“Which is precisely why stability matters,” he replied smoothly. “A unified public front protects everyone.”

Protects everyone.

But at what cost?

I almost lost my son today.

If signing papers prevents that from ever happening again-the thought settled heavy and dangerous.

I met his gaze again. “I will think about it.”

That was all I could give him.

He inclined his head. “Think quickly.”

He turned towards the door, pausing only briefly.

“You are a father first now,” he said without looking back. “Act like one.”

The door closed behind him. I remained seated.

Father first.

Leader second.

Lover somewhere beneath both.

My instinct had saved Mateo today. Instinct told me something else now.

This was about survival.

And survival sometimes requires choices that look like betrayal.

I stared at my bloodied knuckles.

If a marriage guarantees his safety…

How much of myself am I willing to sacrifice?

And worse-

How much of Isabella?