His Merciless Redemption novel Chapter 63

Chapter 63

Isabella’s POV

The text comes in while I’m tying Mateo’s shoelaces.

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I hear the ping, indicating I had a message. Almost didn’t want to look. But I knew I had to, so I did.

It was from a different sender this time.

He’s an easy target at that school. If you care about him, prove it. Help us take Russo down.

My vision blurred for a second, but I forced myself to blink.

There was another message.

We know you’re smart. Be smart now. Work with us. We’ll leave the boy out of it.

A cold tremor crawled up my spine.

They didn’t just want chaos. They wanted cooperation. They wanted me.

Because I mattered to Dominic.

Because Mateo mattered to both of us.

I straightened slowly, my heartbeat punching against my ribs. Mateo looked up, confused by my frozen hands.

“Mama?”

“I’m okay,” I whispered, kissing his hair. “We’re fine.”

But we won’t be. Not like this.

I went to Dominic’s study after school drop-off, the driver had dropped us off today. I almost hadn’t wanted to leave him, but then Dominic had made sure to send extra bodyguards, ones who stayed at his school. So it was easier to leave him there.

Every step towards his study room feels like stepping deeper into some version of myself I never imagined, a version who would fight back.

He stood with his back to me when I entered, his phone to his car, his brows drawn tight.

“Yes,” he snapped. “If they make a move anywhere near her office or his school, I want to know before they even breathe in that direction.”

He turned, saw me, and the hard line of his jaw softened like a reflex.

“I’ll call you back,” he murmured to whoever’s on the other end.

13:00 Sat, Jan 17

Chapter 63

The moment the phone clicked, I hold mine out to him.

He took it. Read. Went still.

When he spoke, it was a low growl. “No.”

“You don’t even know what I’m-”

“You’re going to suggest something reckless,” he bit out. “I can see it all over your face.”

I inhaled, steadying myself. Because if I didn’t speak then, I won’t be able to.

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“I have a plan,” I said. “I tell them I’ll work with them. That I’ll give them information. Not real information, just enough to get them talking. Enough for you to figure out what’s going on and how to shut it down.”

His

eyes

widened, shock, betrayal, fear, a mix of emotions on his face.

“You think I’ll let you walk in there and pretend to betray me?”

“It’s not betrayal if you know,” I replied. “This is strategy.”

“They won’t believe it.”

“They will,” I whispered. “Because they think I’m angry. Hurt. They think I want out. They think you’re something I survived.”

His breath left him in a harsh exhale.

“And what do you tell them?” he demanded. “That I ignore you? That I don’t care? That you want them to burn me alive? What happens when they ask you to prove it?”

“I’ll lie,” I said, voice cracking. “For Mateo, I’ll lie through my teeth.”

A muscle in his jaw jumped. “They might test you. They might demand something that crosses a line you can’t step back from.”

“Then I won’t cross it,” I said. “Because you’ll be there.”

He shook his head. “There is no version of this where you walk into a meeting with the Vitellis.”

“I’m not asking permission,” I said, and the words tasted like steel. “I’m telling you I’m going. With or without your help.”

His eyes snapped to mine, furious. “Don’t say that.”

“It’s the truth.”

“No, Isabella, you listen to me.” He stepped closer, voice low and shaking. “I can’t- I can’t lose you. The thought of them touching you-”

His voice fractured. I’d never seen him unravel like this.

13:00 Sat, Jan 17

Chapter 63

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“Dominic,” I whispered. “This keeps Mateo safe. If I play along and pretend I want to help them, it buys us time. It takes the target off him. Off us. You finish this from the shadows. Like you always do.”

He stared at me. And in that stare is something I can’t decipher, devotion, fear, heartbreak, rage, all tangled and dangerous.

“You don’t even flinch anymore,” he said quietly. “When did that happen? When did you become someone who walks into the fire?”

“When I became a mother,” I answered. “When I realized no one else was coming to save us.”

Something in him shattered, then.

He turned away, and ran a hand over his face.

I waited.

Seconds stretched into a lifetime.

Finally, he asked quietly, “Where?” Not a demand but a surrender.

“I’ll ask them,” I whispered.

I quickly typed the message.

I’ll meet. Tomorrow. Tell me where.

The reply came seconds later.

Midnight. Club Nero. Come alone.

My hands trembled as I looked at my phone. Steadying myself, I showed it to Dominic.

“Club Nero,” I said “They want to meet tomorrow night.”

He nodded once, like every cell in his body was screaming against it and he was choosing to ignore them.

“You don’t go near that entrance until I say it’s clear,” he said. “You don’t sit with your back to a door. You don’t drink anything. You don’t let them move you to a second location. If you feel watched, you touch your necklace. That’s the signal. I’ll come in then.”

“Okay.”

“If they lay a hand on you, I’m ending it there,” he snarled. “I don’t care who sees.”

“Okay.”

He stepped closer then, too close, and looks into me like he’s memorizing every line in case he never saw me again.

“This is the worst plan I’ve ever agreed to.”

13:00 Sat, Jan 17

Chapter 63

“No,” I whispered. “It’s necessary for now.”

He closed his eyes and breathed in slowly.

“For Mateo.”

“For Mateo,” I echoed.

But as I stepped away, I felt it.

:

Fear and strength and sheer grit, they all felt like the same thing then.

Tomorrow, I would step into their world.

And I didn’t know who I’ll be when I walked back out.

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