His Merciless Redemption novel Chapter 171

Chapter 171

Chapter 171

Isabella’s POV

Milan felt different from Florence.

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Florence always wrapped around you like history with its narrow streets, old stones, and centuries of memory pressing in from every corner.

Milan on the other hand, moved faster.

It was sharper, more modern. Glass buildings beside centuries-old cathedrals, sleek cafés filled with people talking about business and art and fashion all at once.

And somehow, this pace suited the life I was trying to build now.

Our arrival had been surprisingly smooth.

Two fully furnished apartments were waiting for us in a quiet residential building not far from the city center. Luca had arranged everything before we even arrived.

When I stepped into mine for the first time, I actually laughed.

“It looks like our old apartment back in Florence,” I told him.

He leaned casually against the doorway. “That was the idea.”

The color palette was similar to my old apartment with warm tones, soft lighting and comfortable, kid friendly furniture instead of sleek minimalism.

It felt familiar. And even a small speck of familiarity in an otherwise completely new place gave me comfort. Suddenly, I was even more grateful than before that Luca was here with us, too.

“You didn’t have to go through all this effort,” I said to him.

He shrugged. “I figured it might help.”

And it did.

It definitely helped make the transition easier.

Marco had come with us as well. His apartment was on the floor below mine. Dominic’s security arrangements had followed me here whether I liked it or not.

While I didn’t love the idea of guards quietly watching our movements, I didn’t argue either. Because I knew exactly why they were there.

Mateo.

His safety mattered more than my pride.

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Chapter 171

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Maria had done all the unpacking pretty much on the first day itself. And a week’s worth of groceries had already been arranged by Luca to have delivered to us the day we landed. So moving hadn’t felt as big of a hassle as I’d thought it would. And it was a good thing, too because work had begun almost immediately

There were several meetings already lined up with Milan curators for discussions about the next phase of the Renaissance Revival project. I’d prepared a list for venue scouting and one for all the arts I wanted to loan.

The pace kept me busy.

And being busy helped.

It kept my mind from wandering too far into places I didn’t want to go during the day.

Evenings belonged to Mateo. No matter how long my day had been, I made sure I was back by dinner. Sometimes we stayed in. Sometimes Luca convinced us to go out.

Three days in, we had already discovered two incredible restaurants, a gelato shop Mateo had declared “the best in the world,” and a park where he could run freely for hours.

Maria loved Milan too. She had already met her son the day we had arrived and was planning on inviting him to dinner during the weekend so the rest of us could meet him, too. I had, of course, happily agreed.

“Ah, the food here,” she sighed one evening while setting plates on the table. “My son Marco says I’ll gain five kilos before I leave.”

Mateo giggled. “You should!”

We all laughed.

Dinner had become a routine with Luca, Maria, Mateo and me.

It felt easy. Simple. The kind of domestic calm I hadn’t experienced in a long time.

Sometimes, when we walked through Milan’s lively streets, I even caught myself smiling without forcing it.

Freer.

That was the word.

Here, I could breathe.

I could focus on my career. On my son. On rebuilding a life that wasn’t defined by the chaos Dominic had dragged us through.

But Milan had its traps too.

The city was full of couples, people walking hand in hand through the piazzas, sharing wine across candlelit tables, laughing softly together in quiet corners.

And every time I saw them, my heart twisted slightly.

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Chapter 171

Because no matter how hard I tried to move forward, one truth refused to disappear.

Dominic Russo was the only man I had ever loved.

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And sometimes, in quiet moments, the memory of him came rushing back. The way he would look at me across a room. The warmth of his arms around me. The intensity of his love when he let himself show it.

Those thoughts were dangerous. So every time they surfaced, I’forced them away.

No.

That

part of

of my life was over.

I had to move on.

Even if my heart was slower to catch up.

***

Dominic’s POV

Milan was three hundred kilometers away.

And yet it felt like another universe.

The Villa in Florence felt emptier than it ever had. So much as I hadn’t set foot in there since they left except one time when I went to see my mother.

I had never realized how much Isabella’s presence filled a space until she was gone. Every room reminded me of her. The kitchen where she used to argue with me about Mateo eating too much sugar. The living room where she would curl up with a book after long workdays. Even the hallway where we had once said goodbye.

My phone buzzed.

Marco.

I answered immediately. “Yes.”

“Update,” he said.

“Go ahead.”

“Everything’s quiet here.”

My chest loosened slightly.

“She’s doing well,” Marco continued. “Meetings all day. Evenings with Mateo.”

I closed my eyes briefly. Good. At least she was safe.

Marco gave me regular updates every day. Those reports had become the only thing keeping me remotely

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Chapter 171

sane.

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“Anything unusual?” I asked.

“No.”

“Security holding?”

“Yes.”

“Good.”

The call ended. And I stared at the phone for a long moment.

Three days. Three days since she had left Florence. Three days of trying to function normally. Three days of failing miserably.

Because no matter what I did, my mind kept returning to one place.

Milan.

Isabella.

What she was doing. Whether she was happy. Whether she thought about me even half as often as I thought

about her.

Eduardo stepped into my office then. “You look like hell.”

“Thank you.”

He sat across from me. “Any news from the investigation?”

I shook my head. “That’s the problem.”

The trap we had set should have produced results by now.

We had given three different pieces of sensitive information to three different men in my inner circle. Three shipment routes. Three opportunities for betrayal.

And nothing had happened.

None of the shipments had been intercepted.

None of the intel had leaked.

Eduardo frowned. “That could mean one of two things.”

“I know.”

“Either those three men are clean…”

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Chapter 171

“Or someone found out what we were doing.”

The second possibility made my stomach twist.

“Or,” Eduardo added carefully, “the Vitellis are backing off.”

I leaned back in my chair. “Because of the alliance.”

“Yes.”

Russo and Moretti together were a formidable force.

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If the Vitellis believed attacking us now would start a full-scale war, it was reason enough to hesitate.

But something about that theory didn’t sit right with me.

“They weren’t cautious before,” I said quietly.

“No.”

“So why would they suddenly become cautious now?”

Eduardo didn’t answer.

Because we both knew the truth.

The mole was still there somewhere. Waiting.

“So what’s the next step?” he asked.

I looked down at the list on my desk.

Three more names.

Three more trusted men.

“We repeat the process,” I said. “With the next three.”

Eduardo nodded slowly. “Understood.”

He stood to leave, but before he reached the door, he paused. “You should rest.”

I almost laughed. “Rest?”

“You’re not sleeping.”

“I’ll sleep when this is over.”

The door closed behind him.

Silence settled around me.

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Chapter 171

I leaned back in the chair and stared at the ceiling.

Milan.

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For the hundredth time that day, my mind drifted back to her. To the moment at the airport when she walked away without looking back. To the way her eyes had hardened when she told me she didn’t need anything from me anymore.

The memory twisted painfully in my chest.

I had faced enemies my entire life.

But losing Isabella felt like the only battle I had ever truly lost.

And the worst part was, I had done it to myself.

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15:46 Thu, Apr 2