His Merciless Redemption novel Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Isabella’s POV

The movie had just ended when chaos shattered the illusion of safety.

A loud crash. Shouts. Footsteps thundering down the hall.

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The home theatre door slammed open as Marco and another guard burst inside, weapons raised.

“Get behind us!” one barked.

Dominic was already moving, pushing Mateo and me behind the reclining seats.

“What’s happening?” I whispered, heart in my throat.

He didn’t answer. His gun was already drawn.

“Stay down,” he breathed.

Then he was gone, disappearing into the hallway with lethal precision.

Gunshots rang out. Loud. Too loud.

Mateo buried his face into my chest, trembling.

“It’s okay,” I whispered, holding him tight even as my own body shook. “I’ve got you. I promise. I’ve got you.”

Minutes or hours later, I couldn’t tell, Dominic returned, jaw clenched, blood streaked across his temple that clearly wasn’t his.

He holstered his gun and moved to us quickly, crouching.

“You’re okay?” he rasped.

I managed a nod.

Mateo reached out to him instinctively, hugging him tight around the neck, whispering, “Don’t leave again.”

Dominic closed his eyes, the relief in his expression pulling at something deep within me.

“I won’t,” he murmured, and this time, it sounded like a vow carved in stone.

Our room was crawling with security when we were escorted back. Dominic sent everyone out and locked the door himself.

“Get him ready for bed,” he said quietly.

There was something in his voice when he spoke, like a decision already made.

19:02 Thu, Jan 15

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Chapter 28

I didn’t have the strength to decipher it.

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Mateo clung to me through his shower, through brushing his teeth, through the bedtime story that my voice could barely handle. I stroked his hair long after his breaths softened into sleep.

Dominic stood near the door the whole time, arms crossed, gaze fixed on us like he needed proof we were still real.

When I finally slipped out of Mateo’s tiny embrace, easing the blanket higher over his little shoulder, Dominic exhaled. Just once.

“Is he asleep?” he whispered.

“Yes,” I murmured.

We stepped into the adjoining sitting room, leaving the door cracked, just enough to hear if Mateo stirred.

And the moment it closed behind us, everything that had been suppressed erupted between us.

“What happened?” I demanded.

“The Vitellis tried to get in,” he said. “They didn’t get far.”

“That’s not reassuring.”

He shook his head. “They won’t stop now that they know the truth.”

“The truth?” I whispered. “Is it about Mateo? Who he is to you?”

His jaw clenched. “Yes.”

I grabbed his arm right enough to bruise, all my protective and motherly instincts coming to the surface at once as I looked at him. “So what do we do?”

His eyes shuttered, as if preparing for a blow. “We leave Florence.”

My heart dropped straight to my feet. Leave? Run away? Mateo was just a child. How could I just uproot his entire life like it’s nothing? I couldn’t do that. Wouldn’t. There has to be another way.

“No,” I said to Dominic.

“It’s the only way.”

“This is our life,” I choked out, shaking my head. “Mateo’s school. My work. Our home. You can’t expect us to abandon everything-”

“I can if it keeps you alive.”

His voice was like steel, hard and unmovable.

“And where do we go?” I demanded. “Some bunker where Mateo never sees the sun? He misses his friends.

19:02 Thu, Jan 15

Chapter 28

His school. He cried today because he wants normal!”

“And I want him breathing!” Dominic snapped.

The room pulsed with raw fear.

We both froze.

Then he stepped closer, lowering his voice to something that shook.

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“I almost lost you once,” he said. “When I thought you died, it destroyed me. I won’t survive it again.”

I swallowed hard. “But this isn’t living, Dominic. It’s hiding.”

“It’s surviving.”

“For how long?” I challenged. “Days? Weeks? Years?”

His silence was the answer.

He didn’t know.

Didn’t have a plan beyond running.

And I couldn’t do that again.

“I won’t go,” I said firmly. “And Mateo won’t go. This is our home.”

He looked at me like those words were knives.

“I am trying to protect you,” he repeated, quieter now. Almost pleading.

“And I am trying,” I whispered, “to give our son a life. There has to be another way, Dominic. I can’t just uproot Mateo’s entire life like that. He’s only a child.”

We stood in a standoff of fear and love and desperation, both right, both wrong.

Finally, Dominic rubbed his forehead, stepping back as though gathering himself.

“You’re exhausted,” he murmured. “You’re shaking.”

I realized I was, my body pumped full of adrenaline, and terror, and rage,

He disappeared briefly into the kitchenette, returning with a tall glass of orange juice, cool condensation dripping down the sides.

“Drink,” he coaxed. “It’ll help calm your nerves.”

I stared at the glass, letting out a tired sigh.

There he goes again, being all kind and comforting.

19:02 Thu, Jan 15

Chapter 28

A

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He had carried our son like he was made of light, held Mateo’s hand in the pool, stayed for dinner and bedtime stories. And then this.

He was trying so very hard to make things right. But he had to understand my point as well.

“Thank you,” I whispered, accepting the glass.

I took a long sip.

The taste was bright, citrusy and something faintly sweet.

Dominic’s relief was immediate. He sat beside me on the couch, close enough that our knees brushed.

“I know you hate this,” he said gently, “but I can’t lose you.”

“You won’t,” I murmured, tiredness pulling at me.

“You don’t understand,” he whispered, voice cracking. “I will burn the world down to keep you both alive.”

My vision wavered.

The edges of the room blurred.

“Dominic?” My voice slurred. “Why does everything….feel heavy?”

He caught me before I slumped sideways, arm curling under my knees, lifting me like I weighed nothing.

My heart thrashed against my ribs.

“You….you drugged me,” I breathed, horror spreading slow and thick throughout my body. “You lied,” I whispered, aghast.

Tears clung to his lashes.

“I’m sorry,” he said, and he sounded like a man confessing to a sin he’d commit again. “But you weren’t going to come willingly.”

I clawed at his shirt weakly. “You can’t…. take my choices…”

His hand cupped the back of my head, tender, protective, devastating.

“I’ll deal with your anger later,” he whispered. “I’d rather have you hate me alive than love me dead.”

The room tilted fully now, my vision narrowing in a tunnel.

I heard Mateo shifting faintly in the next room, unaware.

My breathing slowed.

Dominic pressed his forehead to mine, eyes closing.

19:03 Thu, Jan 15

Chapter 28

“I will keep you safe,” he vowed, voice soft as a prayer. “Even if you never forgive me.”

The world slipped away, colors dissolving into black.

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My last thought before everything went black was a sharp, breaking thing- He hasn’t changed at all.

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