His Merciless Redemption novel Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Isabella’s POV

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I hadn’t even finished my first sip of coffee at the office when the knock came.

Sharp. Too urgent for a normal workday.

My heart stuttered.

I opened the door to my office, expecting Luca. Instead, it was the PI we had hired only yesterday.

“Ms. Bianchi,” the PI said, slightly breathless. “I need a moment.”

The investigation was supposed to take forty-eight hours.

It hadn’t even been fifteen.

“Did you find something?” I asked, stepping aside.

He didn’t wait for the door to close before he laid a folder on my desk, flipping it open with fingers that weren’t entirely steady.

“This is the registration on the vehicle that’s been following you,” he said. “And confirmation of ownership.”

At the top of the page, stamped in stark black letters, was a name I had hoped not to see.

Vitelli.

The world dropped out from under me.

My knees actually buckled, and I gripped the desk to keep from collapsing.

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“They’re a criminal syndicate,” he continued, unaware that the blood had drained from my body long before he spoke. “Very dangerous organization. If they’re trailing you, it’s not by accident.”

I swallowed hard, the sound scraping like glass.

“What do they want?” My voice barely existed.

“That’s what concerns me,” he admitted. “If they only wanted to observe, they’d be less obvious. You and your son need to be extremely cautious until-”

“I have to go,” I choked out.

I snatched my bag, ignoring the look he gave me as I fled. The hallway blurred, my pulse roaring in my ears.

Mateo.

I had left him at school like everything was fine.

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Chapter 17

…

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Like I wasn’t being hunted.

I sprinted across the street and down the block, nearly tripping over uneven cobblestones, for once thankful that the school I’d picked for Mateo wasn’t too far from my office. Pedestrians stared, but I kept running, lungs burning, heart slamming against my ribs.

When I burst into the school, Mateo’s teacher blinked at me in surprise.

“Is everything alright? He’s doing so well today—”

“I need him,” I gasped. “Right now. Please.”

Something in my expression must have terrified her, because she hurried to get him. Mateo ran out moments later, backpack bouncing, eyes bright.

“Mamma! Did you come to see my rocket again?”

I crushed him to me before he could take another breath. His tiny arms wrapped around my neck in confusion.

“We’re going home,” I whispered, voice raw.

“Okay…” he murmured, sensing the fear in me. “Is it another storm?” he asked, probably remembering the only other time I’d come to get him in a hurry like this when there had been forecast for a storm coming up in a few hours.

“Yes,” I lied, because the truth was so much worse.

When we reached our apartment, it was too quiet. Every creak made my nerves scream.

I paced the living room with Mateo glued to my side, holding a mug of untouched tea. I had texted Luca, begging him to hurry.

But even with him here, where was safety now?

I couldn’t run again. Not easily. Not without destroying everything Mateo knew.

Yet staying felt like sitting on a ticking bomb.

My phone buzzed. My entire body jolted.

It was an unknown Number.

“No,” I whispered.

I declined the call.

A second later-

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

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Chapter 17

The intercom.

I froze.

…

“MammA?” Mateo asked, voice trembling slightly.

The buzzer sounded again.

And then-

A 49

BOOM BOOM BOOM

Pounding on the door.

My breath nearly stopped.

“Isabella!” A voice snarled from the other side. Male. Loud. Not Dominic.

No, no, no.

“Open the door!”

I grabbed Mateo, dragging him back, my heartbeat pounding so violently I thought it might crack

The lock rattled.

Someone was trying to force their way inside.

“No, please-” My voice shook so hard I barely recognized it. “Luca—”

But the pounding stopped abruptly.

A thud. A grunt.

Then, Silence.

I didn’t dare move.

“Isa?” a deep voice called.

Dominic.

Relief threatened to steal my balance, but fear kept me rooted to the floor.

“Isabella, open the door,” he said more firmly. “It’s safe now.”

My hands shook violently as I undid the locks one by one, until the door cracked open.

my

ribs.

Dominic stood there, eyes sweeping the space like a storm no one could contain. Behind him, two of his men dragged a bound, unconscious figure down the hall.

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Chapter 17

He saw Mateo clinging to my shirt. His fury sharpened.

“They were at the door,” I whispered. “They were going to-”

“You don’t finish that sentence,” Dominic cut in, voice like steel wrapped in fire.

His gaze softened only when it fell fully on Mateo, and my heart cracked all over again.

“Come here,” he said gently.

I hesitated.

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Then a sharp yell echoed from down the hall, one of the men subduing the intruder, and Mateo whimpered, pressing his face into my side.

Dominic stepped forward, hands open, palms up.

“I’ve got you,” he murmured, not to me. To Mateo.

Mateo’s fear crumbled into instinct.

He reached for Dominic.

Dominic lifted him off his feet like he weighed nothing, tucking him against his chest protectively. One hand cradled the back of Mateo’s head, fingers tangling gently in his curls.

“Shh,” he soothed. “I’ve got you. You’re safe.”

Safe.

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The word wrapped around me like a memory I hadn’t allowed myself to feel in years.

Dominic looked at me, voice low and urgent. “Both of you need to come with me. Now.”

I wanted to argue. To fight. To push him out.

But the door that had been nearly broken in still shook against its frame.

And Mateo’s small fist clutched Dominic’s shirt.

“Okay,” I breathed.

Dominic didn’t waste another second. He grabbed my bag, keeping one arm wrapped securely around Mateo, and practically carried us down the hall.

His car waited directly outside, three black SUVS surrounding it like a shield.

His world. Surrounding mine.

He opened the backseat door and settled Mateo inside, then looked at me.

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“You sit with him,” he said.

He didn’t try to touch me. Didn’t demand anything. Just protected.

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I climbed in next to Mateo, who slid into my lap, face hidden in my shoulder. My breathing still hadn’t steadied, and it didn’t help that Dominic sat across from us in the same vehicle, his eyes fixed on me in a way that made the chaos inside me roar louder.

The door slammed shut.

Engines started.

The convoy moved.

I finally found my voice, small, and cracked. “Where are we going?”

Dominic leaned forward, eyes never leaving me.

“To my home,” he said. “Where no one touches you.”

Mateo’s fingers were curled around mine.

My heart pounded with terror.

And something else.

Dominic’s gaze softened as he looked at his son, our son, asleep now from sheer exhaustion and fear.

He spoke like a vow.

“You and Mateo stay under my roof. From now on, your safety is my responsibility. No one gets to threaten my family.”

Family.

My breath caught.

He said it like he believed it. Like it was a truth written in blood and bone.

I didn’t answer.

Because for the first time since the day I fled five years ago, I had no idea what the right choice was anymore.

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