His Merciless Redemption novel Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Isabella’s POV

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Mateo was sprawled across the rug with his crayons, tongue poking out in concentration as he colored the same rocket he had drawn earlier for the third time.

“Blue fire this time,” he announced seriously. “Rockets need blue fire.”

I smiled faintly. “Of course they do.”

My phone buzzed on the table beside me.

Dominic.

My heart reacted before my mind could stop it, a small, traitorous leap.

I hesitated only a second before answering the video call.

His face filled the screen, familiar and unfamiliar all at once. He looked tired. Dark shadows under his eyes, jaw rough with stubble. Work did that to him. It always had.

“Hello, bella mia,” Dominic greeted me softly, before his gaze shifted past me. “Hey, champ,” he said, louder this time.

Mateo looked up instantly. “Hi!” he said brightly, scrambling closer. “I made another rocket.”

“I see that,” Dominic replied, smiling. “That one looks even faster.”

Mateo beamed. He launched into a breathless explanation of engines and planets and why this rocket could go all the way to the moon and back, and Dominic listened, really listened, asking questions, laughing at the right moments.

I sat just outside the frame, watching them interact quietly.

It was still strange to see how easily they fit together. As if something dormant had clicked into place the moment Dominic learned the truth. Mateo didn’t seem intimidated by him. Didn’t seem unsure. Just comfortable.

Too comfortable, maybe, given how little time had passed.

But I couldn’t deny it did something to my chest, watching my son light up like that.

Eventually, Mateo wandered off to show Caterina his masterpiece, leaving me alone on the screen.

Dominic’s attention shifted back to me.

For a moment, neither of us spoke.

“You look tired,” he said gently.

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Chapter 36

“So do you,” I replied.

A small smile tugged at his lips. “I miss him.”

The words were simple. Honest.

“I can tell,” I said quietly.

“And you?” he asked. “How are you holding up?”

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I shrugged. It had been two days since he had left. “We’re okay. The sea helps. Caterina keeps Mateo busy.”

“And you?”

The question lingered, soft, but careful.

“I’m managing,” I said. It wasn’t a lie. But it wasn’t the truth either.

For a few seconds, it felt almost normal. Like this could be a thing, him checking in, us sharing space across distance, slowly rebuilding something fragile.

Then movement flickered behind him.

A woman’s silhouette crossed the background.

My stomach tightened before my brain could catch up.

“Dominic?” a voice called, light and familiar. “Did you want me to-oh.”

Alessia stepped into view.

She was barefoot, her hair loose, wearing what could only generously be called a nightgown-silk, thin, clinging in all the wrong ways.

And very clearly in Dominic’s bedroom.

My breath caught, sharp and sudden.

“Oh,” she said again, smiling when she noticed the screen. “You’re on a call.”

Dominic turned, frowning slightly. “I thought you’d gone.”

“I forgot my tablet,” she said lightly, crossing the room. “You wanted the updated figures, remember?”

She didn’t look at me directly. Didn’t need to.

Her presence said enough.

Dominic glanced back at the phone. “I’ll be right there.”

“To finish?” she asked, her tone too intimate, too familiar.

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Chapter 36

“Yes,” he replied.

I watched it all like a bystander to my own slow undoing.

He turned back to me. “Sorry. Work.”

“Of course,” I said quickly. Too quickly. “I understand.”

He hesitated, like he sensed something had shifted. “We were just-”

“It’s fine,” I cut in, forcing a small smile. “You should go.”

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Something flickered across his face, confusion, maybe concern, but Alessia was already moving away, tablet in hand.

“I’ll talk to you later,” he said. “Okay?”

“Sure,” I replied, my voice even.

The call ended.

The screen went dark.

And so did something inside me.

I sat there for a long time, phone still in my hand, staring at my reflection on the black screen.

I shouldn’t care, I told myself.

I had no right to.

We weren’t together. We hadn’t been for years. Whatever Dominic and Alessia were, or weren’t, wasn’t my business.

And yet, the image wouldn’t leave me.

Her in his room. At night. Comfortable. Familiar. Belonging.

Had she always been there?

Even when I wasn’t?

I stood and walked to the window, the sound of waves drifting up from below. Sicily was quiet tonight. Peaceful.

Too peaceful for the storm in my head.

He had said he wanted to be part of Mateo’s life.

He had said he would fight for his family.

19:10 Thu, Jan 15

Chapter 36

But he had never said me.

Not explicitly.

Not as his wife.

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Was that what this was? A practical arrangement? A father stepping up because it was the right thing to do?

Did he want us, or did he just want his son?

And the question that scared me most-

What did I want?

I had loved him once. Deeply. Foolishly. Enough to break myself trying to earn scraps of affection while he gave everything else to another woman and a world I could never enter.

Had I really healed from that?

Or had I just learned how to survive without him?

The jealousy surprised me with its sharpness. Not because I wanted to claim him, but because some part of me still remembered what it felt like to be his wife.

But I also remembered how lonely that had been.

I wrapped my arms around myself, the cool night air brushing against my skin.

If he stayed in our lives, everything would be complicated.

Dangerous.

Messy.

And if he didn’t, Mateo would lose something he had only just begun to have.

A father.

I closed my eyes, overwhelmed.

I didn’t know if I wanted Dominic Russo back as my husband.

But I knew one thing with terrifying clarity- I wasn’t strong enough to watch him choose someone else again.

Not after everything.

And not if he expected me to stay.