His Merciless Redemption novel Chapter 98

Chapter 98

Isabella’s POV

“Isabella, wait!”

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I was already halfway across the parking lot by the time Dominic came after me. I didn’t stop. Didn’t turn.

My heels struck the pavement hard, each step fueled with the need to simply get away from him, from all the chaos that came from being in his world.

I needed to step back and think for a while, think of what to say before I talked to him again. My thoughts were too confused, too jumbled up. There were too many emotions bubbling up in my chest, and I knew that if we talked then, it wouldn’t be pretty.

“Isa!”

His voice followed me, sharp and urgent, cutting through the night air. I kept walking until my vision blurred, until the sound of the club behind me felt like it was miles away.

“Isabella!” He grabbed my arm, stopping me and making me turn around so I was looking at him.

“What?” I snapped. “Why are you coming after me now when you weren’t ready to listen to me in there?” The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them.

Dominic stared down at me, chest heaving, eyes dark with something that looked like fury tangled with panic, not saying anything.

“That-“I gestured wildly towards the building when he didn’t say anything. “That could have been handled calmly.”

He stared at me like I’d spoken another language. “Calmly?”

“Yes,” I said, taking a deep breath and trying to reign in my temper.

Okay, if we were going to talk right away, I had to calm myself down or this conversation could get real ugly, real fast.

He was only trying to protect me and had gone too far in anger, I tried to reason with myself internally. If I just explained my point to him without getting agitated, he would understand.

We both had to understand that our worlds weren’t the same. And we both had to adjust a bit if we wanted to make whatever this was between us work.

“Look Dominic, what I mean is that you didn’t need to pull a gun on him. You didn’t need to make a spectacle out of it. You could’ve just told him to stay away from me and that would’ve been just fine, too.”

His jaw tightened. “Nico put his hands on you. Disrespecting you is disrespecting me. I couldn’t just let him walk away after doing that, especially when he knows who I am and what I do,” he replied.

His words made my eyes widen. What the hell? So, this was about his ego and not protecting me? He had only done all of that to maintain his image as a powerful Don?

Suddenly, all my pep talk about trying to handle this calmly flew out the window, anger flaring hot and heavy.

“So this was about your ego, then?” I said, the words ripping out of me before I could soften them. “You didn’t do that for me. You did it because someone dared to touch what you consider yours.”

*

His eyes flashed. “You are mine.”

“You don’t own me, Dominic,” I snapped. “I thought you reacted that way because you care about me like you’ve claimed so

many

times before and had just gone too far in anger. But no. You didn’t see a man harassing your woman in there, you saw a man disrespecting your organization.”

“That’s how it works,” he shot back. “I can’t let anyone think they can threaten my people and walk away.”

“Your people,” I repeated, feeling bitter now, my thoughts spiralling fast. So, that’s why his reaction had been so extreme tonight. Not because he was trying to protect me. But because he was trying to assert dominance, trying to show how powerful of a man he was. “Not me. Your people. Your reputation. Your power.”

His voice dropped. “It’s the same thing.”

“No, it’s not,” I said fiercely. “You tried to kill him to prove you weren’t less than anyone else. To put on a show. That wasn’t protection. If it was, I could’ve still talked to you about it, tried to explain my point. But I don’t even know what to say when this was nothing but an ego trip.”

His hands fisted at his sides. “What do you want from me, Isabella? This is how my world works. Power. Strength. It comes with the job. I can’t afford to show any weaknesses. And you’ll have to learn to live with it.”

His words made me pause.

Fucking hell. I hadn’t thought of it that way.

Was he right? Was I overreacting? Was I not seeing his point?

Or was he in the wrong?

I didn’t know.

I opened my mouth to reply, not knowing what was going to come out of my mouth then, but the door behind him burst open before I could.

My breath caught.

C

Nico stumbled out into the parking lot, eyes wild, face flushed, fury rolling off him in waves. He laughed when he saw Dominic.

O

“Still barking orders?” he sneered. “Thought you were done playing king tonight.”

Dominic turned slowly, his entire body going rigid.

“You should’ve stayed inside,” Dominic said coldly.

Nico shrugged. “Figured I’d finish the conversation.”

“Go,” Dominic said. “Now.”

Nico stepped closer instead.

Something in Dominic snapped.

He moved first.

The fight was brutal and fast, fists slamming, bodies colliding, the sound of bone and breath and rage. I screamed his name, but it drowned under the violence.

Nico fought dirty.

There was a sharp clatter, metal skidding across asphalt.

རང་ས་ན་རྟོག་”

Dominic’s gun.

My heart slammed into my throat.

Nico lunged for it.

“No!” I screamed.

He got there first.

He turned, breath heaving, and raised the gun, pointing it at Dominic.

Time slowed.

Dominic froze, hands slightly raised, blood at his lips, eyes locked on the weapon pointed at his chest.

One bullet.

That was all it would take.

My legs felt numb. My thoughts raced, frantic and useless.

Think. Think.

Nico’s laughter cracked, unhinged. “You know what?” he said wildly. “The Vitellis were right about you.”

My stomach dropped.

“We should’ve listened to them from the start,” he continued. “Everyone thinks you’re untouchable. A god.”

He sneered. “You’re not.”

He lifted the gun higher. Steadier.

“They’ve been trying to kill you for so long. But I could end you right fucking now, get them exactly what they wanted. Would definitely get me a shit ton of money.”

Dominic didn’t move, simply glaring at Nico.

I couldn’t breathe.

This wasn’t a threat.

This was intent.

My mind scrambled desperately, and then it hit me.

The weight inside my small clutch.

The gun Dominic had given me yesterday.

My hand was already moving before fear could stop it.

I pulled it free, raised it with shaking arms, sighting down the barrel like I’d been taught, like instinct had taken over.

“Nico,” I said, my voice barely my own. “Drop it.”

He turned, startled.

I stepped back, shaking my head, suddenly feeling overwhelmed.

Why did he have to create such a big deal out of this? Threatening to kill a guy just because he tried to grab my hand?

I shook my head again. I knew he sometimes got too angry. I knew his world was a lot different from mine. But this felt like it was going too far. I couldn’t stand by and watch him do this..

I turned and walked out.

Didn’t look back. Didn’t wait.

The cool night air hit my face like a slap, but I welcomed it. My hands were shaking, unable to fully process what had happened inside.

My mind went back to the first night I’d met with the Vitellis outside Club Nero. Someone had tried to grab me then, too. 1 Dominic had hit that man. Hard. But I’d been too rattled that day. If anything, I’d been grateful for the protection. And even then, he’d simply scared the man off. Not threatened to kill him or anything. Then why the extreme reaction tonight? Why the gun?

Seeing him ready to kill a guy just because he said a few bad words and grabbed my wrist somehow didn’t feel justified to me. He could’ve hit Nico a bit, and maybe I wouldn’t have minded so much.

But pointing a gun at him and threatening to end his life just for grabbing me felt like a little too much.

I knew there were women out there who would be glad that their man was ready to kill for them at the drop of a hat. But I just wasn’t one of those women.

If this was Dominic’s regular world, I didn’t know how much longer I could stay in it.

D

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