His Merciless Redemption novel Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Isabella’s POV

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49

Morning light filtered softly through the guest room curtains as I slipped out of bed, careful not to wake Mateo who was still sprawled across the mattress with his arms wide and mouth slightly open. Peaceful. Safe.

But peace was just an illusion here.

I showered quickly and got dressed in the same clothes again, nerves buzzing under my skin. Last night had been chaos, fear, adrenaline, decisions forced upon me faster than I could process them. But now, with sunlight creeping into the room, the questions I’d shoved aside returned like a storm.

And Dominic owed me answers.

I found him in the kitchen, sleeves rolled, drinking coffee like he’d been up for hours. Of course he had. Dominic Russo probably didn’t sleep, he just plotted.

His eyes flicked to me immediately, sharp, assessing, yet somehow soft.

“Morning,” he said.

“Don’t,” I said, my voice cold.

His brows lifted. I wasn’t here for small talk.

“What happened yesterday—”

“I need answers,” I cut him off. “No evasion. No commands. Just the truth.”

He set the mug down slowly, folding his arms. “Ask.”

“Why were the Vitellis watching us? What do they want with me? With Mateo?”

He hesitated, the smallest pause, but enough for fury to flare up in my chest.

“It doesn’t matter,” he said finally. “All you need to know is that I’ll keep you safe.”

A cold laugh escaped me.

“That’s your answer?” I stepped closer, heat rising in my voice. “A man tried to break down my door, where my son sleeps, and I’m supposed to just not worry about why this is happening?”

His jaw clenched, expression darkening.

“Isabella-”

“No!” The sharpness in my voice startled even me. “No more secrets, Dominic. You did this before- shut me out of everything. Kept me ignorant about your world. Your enemies. Your danger. You made me powerless.”

…

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Chapter 19

His eyes flashed, pain, guilt, pride, everything tangled.

“That was then.”

“Then, now, what’s the difference?” I demanded. “You still think you get to control what I know.”

“It’s not about control,” he said, voice low. “It’s about keeping you out of things you shouldn’t have to carry.”

My laugh came out brittle. “You don’t get to decide what I can or can’t handle.”

“You wouldn’t understand,” he argued.

“Oh, God,” I breathed. “That again.”

49

All the old wounds tore open, every silent night, every moment he’d walked away without explanation, every secret that had left me drowning alone.

“I wish,” I whispered, voice shaking with anger, “that you’d let me decide what I can or cannot understand.”

Dominic’s throat bobbed. He looked like he wanted to reach for me, to bridge the gap between us, but I stepped back before he could try.

I

“How long are we staying here?” I asked stiffly.

“As long as necessary.”

“Wrong answer.” My voice was ice now. “Mateo and I have a life. School. Work. Friends. We’re not prisoners here. So whatever this is, you fix it. Fast.”

I didn’t wait for his reaction.

I turned and walked away, ignoring the burn of his stare on my back. My heart ached so violently I thought I might collapse, but I held myself together as I climbed the stairs.

Because Mateo was waiting. And Mateo came first.

He was sitting up in bed, hugging his knees when I returned.

“Mamma?” he asked, uncertainty quivering in his voice. “Are we going home today?”

I sat beside him, pulling him close. “Not today, sweetheart.”

“Why?”

I smoothed his curls back gently. “Do you remember the bad man from yesterday?”

His face scrunched. “The one who tried to come inside?”

“Yes. Until he’s gone, we have to stay somewhere safe. Think of it like a short vacation.”

He perked up a little. “Like the beach?”

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Chapter 19

“I wish,” I smiled weakly. “More like a castle with too many guards.”

He giggled. “We should get Leo so he can protect us, too.”

Oh, my heart.

“We will,” I promised. “Very soon.”

A soft knock came from the doorway.

༡

49

Dominic stood there, hands tucked into his pockets, gaze flicking between us and landing on Mateo with something that looked like awe.

“Morning,” he greeted Mateo more gently than I had expected.

“Hi! Mommy says this is a castle,” Mateo announced proudly.

Dominic’s smile was faint but real. “A secure one.”

Mateo considered him. “Do you live here?”

“For now,” Dominic said. “And so will you.”

I stiffened. We hadn’t discussed that. At all.

Mateo leaned forward eagerly. “Do you have toys?”

“No toys,” Dominic admitted. “But we do have a pool.”

Mateo gasped like he’d just learned Santa was real.

“A pool?!”

Dominic nodded. “You can play in it. And I can teach you how to swim.”

Mateo whipped his head to me, eyes huge. “Can I, Mamma? Please please pleeeaaase?”

I opened my mouth to say no, instinctive, protective. But Mateo’s hopeful face demolished every prepared argument.

Still, Dominic teaching him how to swim? Dominic, whose world was danger and shadows, who hadn’t even wanted a child in the first place, teaching my baby anything?

“I can teach him,” I said quickly. “If you go get our things from home.”

Dominic stared at me for a moment. And then he surprised me by simply nodding.

“It’s already taken care of,” he said. “They’ll be here within the hour.”

Of course it was.

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Control. Always control.

Mateo clapped happily. “Yay! Pool time!”

Dominic’s eyes softened at the sound, and he crouched a little, closer to Mateo’s height.

“Do you like pancakes?” he asked.

Mateo nodded so hard his curls bounced.

“Good,” Dominic said. “Because Maria makes the best ones. Blueberry.”

Mateo gasped again, like this house might actually be magical.

I fought a smile, and lost a little.

Dominic stood and looked at me. Just me.

“Eat,” he said softly. “Rest. I’ll handle everything else.”

I stared back, a war raging behind my ribs.

49

For the first time, I noticed the exhaustion on his face. The way his shirt was still rumpled from last night. The way his eyes had shadows beneath them, not from work, but from fear. Fear for us.

Somehow, that made this worse. Because it made him human again. And humans could break my heart.

He turned to leave, pausing only to add, “You don’t have to trust me yet.” A pause. Then, “But you will.”

And then he was gone.

Leaving me with a son smiling about blueberry pancakes and a heart trapped between the past and the

present.

Dominic’s POV

I heard their laughter as I walked down the hallway, a burst of childhood joy echoing against cold marble.

It hurt.

Not because it was pain, but because it was everything I’d denied myself.

And everything I’d been denied.

I leaned against the wall, breathing through the tightness in my chest.

She hated my secrecy, of course she did. It had cost me everything.

But secrecy was what had kept her alive too.

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How could I explain that the Vitellis wanted me dead? That they saw my loved ones as leverage? That Isabella and Mateo weren’t hunted because they existed, but because they belonged to me.

I closed my eyes, anger flaring.

If I hadn’t been so blind five years ago…

If I hadn’t shoved Isabella away….

If I had believed her…

We would have had a first family breakfast years ago.

First swim lessons years ago.

First “Daddy” years ago.

Instead, everything was firsts and fear.

Eduardo approached quietly.

“The attackers have been taken to an off-site location. Waiting for your orders.”

“Hold them,” I said, voice dead calm. “I’ll deal with them after I get my family settled.”

He nodded. Then, “The team has retrieved everything from Isabella’s apartment. Her and the boy’s belongings will arrive shortly.”

I swallowed.

Their belongings. Their lives. Moved here.

There was no going back now.

“Good,” I said.

Eduardo hesitated. “And Isabella?”

“She’ll want to leave,” I murmured. “And I’ll let her.”

His brows shot up.

“But not until the threat is gone,” I continued, steel hardening my voice. “Not until she knows this house, this life, is safer for them than anything outside.”

Eduardo nodded once. Trusted the resolve in my voice.

He left me in silence.

I looked back towards the guest room. Heard Mateo’s faint giggles. Isabella’s soft voice.

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