His Merciless Redemption novel Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Dominic’s POV

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49

The second I saw Marco’s posture change, something cold slid into my veins and every instinct I had honed since I was a teenager roared awake.

“Take him,” I told Isabella.

She was already moving closer, arms outstretched.

I turned Mateo carefully and lifted him toward her. “Stay with your mother.”

“What’s happening?” she asked, eyes wide, already knowing she wouldn’t like the answer.

“Probably nothing,” I lied. “Stay here.”

I eased myself out of the pool, water dripping down my clothes, but I barely felt it. I strode towards Marco, who was scanning the perimeter beyond the hedge line.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Perimeter cameras picked up a vehicle slowing near the south entrance,” he said. “Same model. Same plate pattern. We’re running it, but-”

“The Vitellis,” I finished for him.

My hands curled into fists.

They were testing the boundary. Again.

“Get everyone on alert,” I ordered, voice hard as steel. “No one gets in without my explicit order.”

“Yes, Boss.”

“And move two more men to the poolside,” I added, glancing back at Isabella and Mateo, who were now sitting at the edge with their feet in the water, trying to pretend nothing was wrong.

Mateo was talking, animated. Isabella was nodding, but her jaw was tight, her shoulders tense.

She wasn’t fooled.

“Do we pull them inside?” Marco asked.

“Not yet,” I said. My gaze stayed locked on them. “Let him have this. Just a little longer. If there’s real movement, we move fast.”

Because if I let fear rob him of everything, even something as small as this in our own home, then what was the goddamn point of all the blood I’d spilled?

21:46 Wed, Jan 14 ..

Chapter 22

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Eduardo’s voice came through on my phone a moment later.

“They did a slow pass,” he said. “Didn’t stop. Didn’t turn in. Just letting us know they’re watching.”

“Yeah, well,” I answered, “now they know we’re watching too.”

“You want me to hit them back?” he asked.

49

“Soon,” I said. “Not yet. I’m not tipping my full hand until Isabella and Mateo are somewhere even the devil’s afraid to knock.”

When I walked back to the pool, Isabella stood up immediately.

“What happened?” she demanded.

“Nothing you need to worry about,” I said automatically.

Old habit.

Wrong choice.

Her eyes flashed. “Do not do that. Not here. Not after yesterday and this morning.”

I exhaled slowly. “A car slowed near the gate. Same make as before. Likely the Vitellis taking a look.”

Her face went bloodless.

“And you let us stay out here?” she hissed.

“My men are everywhere,” I said. “Anyone takes one step too close, they’ll be gone before they breathe wrong.”

“That’s supposed to comfort me?” she snapped.

Mateo looked between us again, his small face tightening. “Are you fighting now?”

Isabella shut her eyes for half a second, pulling herself together.

“No,” she said, softer. “We’re just…. talking loudly. Again.”

I sank down into a crouch so I was eye level with him.

“Remember what I told you?” I said gently. “Bad men sometimes try to scare good people. My job is to make sure they never get to you.”

He studied me with serious eyes. “Can they come in here?”

“No,” I said firmly. “Not while I’m here. Not while all these people are here to help me.”

He considered that. Then nodded, reassured.

“Okay,” he said. “Can we keep swimming?”

21:46 Wed, Jan 14

Chapter 22

Isabella stared at him, torn in half, then at me.

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I held her gaze. “Say yes,” I said quietly. “Let him have this. I promise you, if there was real danger, you’d already be inside.”

I could tell that she hated it. Hated needing my word. Hated trusting it.

But after a moment, she nodded. “Just a little longer.”

“Just a little,” I agreed.

She sat down again, legs in the water. I joined them, the three of us shoulder to shoulder now at the pool’s edge.

Mateo kicked happily, splashing us both.

“You’re getting your mamma all wet,” I teased.

He laughed harder and kicked again.

She huffed, but there was a hint of a smile buried in it.

(49)

Soon, Mateo jumped into the shallow end of the pool, his floaties keeping him afloat as he splashed around.

For a few minutes, it was peaceful again. Fragile, but real.

Then Isabella spoke, voice low so only I could hear.

“This is one of the reasons I left,” she said.

I turned my head.

“You,” she continued. “Your enemies. Your secrets. Your danger. You think you can pull us in close without consequences, but the second we stepped into your orbit, we became targets.”

My jaw tightened. “You were a target the second you married me. Leaving didn’t change that. It just made it harder to protect you.”

She flinched.

“You didn’t protect me,” she whispered. “You dismissed me. You doubted me. You made me run alone.”

Old guilt surged up like bile. I looked out at the water, at my son’s reflection breaking in the ripples.

“I know,” I said, the words tasting like broken glass. “And I’ve been paying for that mistake for five years.”

“Then why won’t you tell me what’s going on?” she pressed. “Why the Vitellis want you so badly they’d cor to my door? Why they care about me?”

I clenched my teeth. The truth was ugly. Complicated. Laced with betrayals and blood and choices I regretted.

21:46 Wed, Jan 14 d.

Chapter 22

“They think you’re leverage,” I said finally, “They think anyone I care about is leverage, You, Your son. My son

She went very still at that.

“What did you do to them?” she asked.

“What I had to,” I answered. “And I’ll do it again.”

She shook her head, frustration and fear warring across her face.

“You can tell yourself you’re protecting us by keeping us in the dark,” she said. “But it just feels like you’re deciding for me.”

“I’m trying to keep more blood off your hands,” I murmured.

“It’s already on my doorstep,” she shot back. “In my son’s life. So it’s too late for that.”

Mateo squealed as he managed to float for half a second on his own. The sound pierced through the tension like light through storm clouds.

“Did you see that?” he shouted. “I did it! I did it myself!”

“You did,” I said, pride swelling almost painfully. “You’re a natural.”

He beamed.

Isabella wiped her eyes quickly, hiding the tears before he could see.

I saw.

And I felt something I wasn’t used to feeling.

Not the cold rush of power.

Not the familiar buzz of violence.

But a deep, hollow ache, the kind that only came when you realized you might have already ruined the best thing that ever happened to you.

I looked at her.

“I can’t change what I did,” I said quietly. “But I can decide what I do now.”

She didn’t answer.

Her fingers drifted through the water, just inches from mine.

Close.

But not touching.