His Ruthless Redemption (Isabella and Dominic) novel Chapter 14

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It wasn’t just a city anymore. It was the place where my son lived. Where Isabella breathed. Where five stolen years waited like a wound, still open and bleeding.

I stood in the living room of a protected Russo-owned house my father had bought years ago, a space to relax and unwind for a few days if need be. It had also been a safehouse of sorts, a place to get away to if need be. I, however, had come here to settle an issue with one of our enemies back home who had their base here. But the documents related to that scattered over the desk meant nothing. I couldn’t focus on anything but the truth in that damn folder.

Mateo. My son.

Every instinct in me screamed to go to Isabella’s apartment. To knock down her door if I had to. To see him. I’d already asked the driver to bring the car around to the front so I could go.

I moved towards the door, ready to leave, when the door opened and Eduardo strode in without knocking. He looked tense. Hesitant. Rare for him.

“What?” I snapped, already irritated at anything keeping me from Isabella and Mateo.

“We’ve confirmed something new,” he said. “About a car that’s been tailing them.”

My blood stopped cold.

“You’ve been watching them for two days,” I said slowly. “I know that.”

Eduardo’s jaw twitched. “Yes. And he noticed that a car had been tailing them continuously. We didn’t want to jump the gun until we were certain who they were. But now we are.”

The silence stretched. I could feel the threat before he spoke it.

“The car belongs to the Vitellis.”

Cold fury sliced through me.

The Vitelli family. The very reason I had come to Florence in the first place, to crush the last of their operations, to make sure they never threatened the Russos again.

And now they were tailing Isabella and Mateo.

My vision sharpened like a blade.

“You’re telling me this now?” My voice was quiet, too quiet. “You waited two days?”

Eduardo held his ground. “I wanted solid intel first. The Vitellis are smart, they’re using local proxies to avoid

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Chapter 14

detection. But there’s no doubt now.”

Rage burned under my skin.

“How much do they know?” I demanded.

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“We don’t think they know the kid’s yours,” Eduardo answered carefully. “If they did, they wouldn’t be keeping distance.”

He didn’t need to say the rest.

If the Vitellis knew about Mateo’s bloodline, they would’ve already gone for leverage. For a kidnapping. For

power.

My hands curled into fists.

“I won’t let them get close,” Eduardo added.

I walked to the window, staring at the bright sun outside.

“They shouldn’t even be in this equation,” I said. “Isabella should be safe from all of this.”

He didn’t respond, because we both knew why she wasn’t.

Me.

It always led back to me.

I exhaled, breath shaking despite my best control.

For the first time in years, I actually felt fear. Not for me, no. But for the family I’d only just found.

“I’m not afraid of dying,” I muttered out loud. “But them? If something happened to Isabella or that boy, I would tear this city apart. I would burn everything down to get them back.”

The admission settled like lead in my chest. Heavy. Brutally real.

“They’re your family,” Eduardo said.

My family.

I had spent so long convincing myself I didn’t need one. That love was weakness. That vulnerability got people killed.

But Isabella and Mateo existed. They were real. And they made every belief I had clung to feel like ash.

Conflicted didn’t even begin to cover it.

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