His Merciless Redemption novel Chapter 39

Chapter 39

Isabella’s POV

Nearly two weeks had passed.

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I counted them in small, humiliating ways-laundry cycles, the online classes Mateo attended, emails sent and resent, sunsets watched from the same stretch of balcony.

Dominic had texted a few times.

‘Running longer than expected.’

‘Still dealing with a fallout!’

‘I’ll explain when I’m back!

It was always about when he was back.

But he never told me when that would actually happen.

There were no video calls, no real conversations, just small fragments, enough to remind me he existed, but not enough to feel connected to him.

Mateo had adapted better than I had.

Children were resilient like that. I had told his school that a family member was unwell and we had to be out of town temporarily. The same excuse had worked for my office and his nanny, too. It felt as if Chiara, Luca and Lucia had seen right through my lie. But they were fine as long as I talked to them every other day over the phone and let them know we were both still alive and kicking. Mateo attended classes online in the mornings with headphones slightly too big for his head, waving enthusiastically at classmates who asked when he’d be back. He always told them he’d come back ‘soon’ like I told him to.

I didn’t know if I was lying to them, or to myself.

While he attended his classes, I went downstairs to learn self defence like Dominic had asked me to before leaving.

The training was much brutal than what I’d initially assumed, but I tried my best to learn all that Paolo taught

In the afternoons, Mateo played by the beach with Caterina or practiced writing his name in uneven letters while I worked remotely,

Life went on. Quietly. Safely.

But underneath it all, I was waiting.

For footsteps in the hall. For his voice in the house. For certainty.

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Chapter 39

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I thought about calling Dominic more times than I could count. My finger hovered over his name more than

once.

But every time, something stopped me.

What right did I have?

We weren’t together. We weren’t even clearly anything.

He had said we were his family. He had said he wanted to be part of Mateo’s life. But he had never said he wanted me, not the way I needed him to.

So I waited. And hated myself a little for it.

That afternoon, Caterina had taken Mateo inside for a snack when the sound of heels echoed through the courtyard.

I looked up instinctively.

Alessia.

She was alone.

Perfectly dressed, perfectly composed, sunglasses perched on her nose like she’d just returned from somewhere important, somewhere I clearly hadn’t been invited to.

My stomach tightened.

“So,” she said lightly, slipping off her sunglasses. “It’s just you.”

I didn’t rise from the chair. “Apparently.”

She smiled faintly. It wasn’t kind, but not cruel either. Just…. knowing.

“Dominic’s still in Florence,” she said, as if I hadn’t noticed. “Things are complicated.”

“They usually are,” I replied coolly.

She tilted her head. “He didn’t tell you?”

There it was.

The small, precise cut.

I met her gaze. “What he tells me is between him and me.”

Her smile widened, just a fraction. “Of course. I forget sometimes that you don’t really know how his world

works.”

Heat flared beneath my skin at her words.

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Chapter 39

“I know enough,” I said evenly.

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“Do you?” she asked softly. “Because from where I’m standing, you’re waiting in Sicily while he’s fighting wars in Florence. That’s not a role many women last long in.”

I stood then, slowly. “If you came here to insult me, you’re wasting your time.”

“I came to check on Dominic’s mother,” she said smoothly. “But I won’t pretend I’m not surprised to find you still here.”

Still here.

Like I was temporary.

Like I always had been.

“You don’t belong to that world,” Alessia continued, almost gently. “And Dominic, no matter how much he wants to believe otherwise, does.”

I clenched my hands at my sides. “And you do?”

Her gaze didn’t waver. “I understand it.”

The implication was clear.

She always had.

I never would.

“And when this is over,” she added, “he’ll go back to what he knows best. He always does.”

The words landed exactly where she had intended for them to. Alessia had a way of saying things in a way that made me feel so very small, insignificant. Like I didn’t matter.

She always struck me right where I felt the most insecure.

I tried not to let it get to me. But there was only so much I could handle before I started believing her, especially when every word hit so close to home.

I forced a breath through my nose. “If that’s all, I have work to do,” I said, deciding I didn’t want to be a part of this conversation any longer.

She studied me for a moment longer, eyes sharp, almost as if she was assessing the damage she’d done.

Then she nodded. “Of course. Take care, Isabella.”

And just like that, she walked away.

I remained there long after she disappeared inside the house.

Her words echoed louder than I wanted to admit, much longer than I wanted them to stay in my head.

19:11 Thu, Jan 15

Chapter 39

I was waiting.

I was in the dark.

And the worst part?

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On Dominic’s last visit, he had felt different. Open. Present. Like maybe something had shifted.

And now?

Now, he was gone again. Silent. Distant.

One step forward.

Two steps back.

The pattern was so familiar it hurt.

I hated that Alessia could talk to him so easily. That she knew where he was, what he was doing, how things were progressing, while I pieced together my understanding from half-sentences and delayed replies.

Jealousy curled in my chest, bitter and unwanted.

Not because I wanted her life.

But because I wanted clarity.

I sank back into the chair, exhaustion washing over me.

Maybe Dominic cared about Mateo. Maybe he even cared about me.

But caring wasn’t the same as choosing.

And I had lived once already as the woman who waited while someone else mattered more.

I wasn’t sure I could survive being her again.

Not now. Not after everything.

I closed my eyes, the sea wind brushing my face.

And for the first time since he’d left, I wondered if waiting for Dominic Russo was costing me more than it

was worth.

19:11 Thu, Jan 15