His Ruthless Redemption (Isabella and Dominic) novel Chapter 35

Dominic’s POV

38

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Florence at night wasn’t the city tourists adored in postcards. It was sharp corners and darker intentions. A perfect hunting ground.

And tonight, I wasn’t the prey.

I stood in an abandoned textile warehouse overlooking the Arno, the air thick with dust and old cotton. My men were positioned throughout, guns ready. We had tracked a key Vitelli shipment here, weapons they planned to flood the streets with.

If we cut this off, we took a limb. The next step would be the throat.

Eduardo approached me from the side. “They’ll be here in five minutes.”

I nodded, eyes fixed on the loading bay.

“Any word from Sicily?” he asked.

My grip tightened around the gun.

“Mama sent a photo,” I said. “Mateo was building sandcastles. Isabella looked….” I paused. Searching for the right word.

Untouchable.

Far away.

Mine.

“….fine,” I finished.

Eduardo hummed knowingly. “You miss them.”

“I don’t have the luxury of missing people,” I muttered.

It was a lie, and he knew it.

Because every heartbeat, every breath was punctured by the absence of a small boy with my eyes and the woman whose heart I had already broken one too many times.

I knew me being away for work, me breaking promises of coming home to her, me giving priority to everything else but her had hurt Isabella more than I’d realised back then.

But it had been necessary at the time.

If I were being completely honest, if given a chance to re-do things, I would still work just as hard.

19:09 Thu, Jan 15

Chapter 35

38

55 vouchers

The one thing I would do differently, however, was to keep Isabella in the know how, to tell her things so she would understand better.

I’d always thought that I was sparing her the heartbreak and worry by not telling her how tough surving in a world like ours was.

But I’d been wrong.

In trying to protect her, I’d only ended up hurting her. So now, I vowed quietly to myself to keep her informed. Not everything, no. Some things were better left unsaid. But I’d tell her enough that she felt included, like she belonged in my world, too.

Because she did.

I’d lost her once because I’d been too hard headed. There’d be no greater fool than me in this world if I lost her for the same reasons again.

I wasn’t perfect, not by a long shot. I knew I’d still make mistakes and fumble, but I also knew that I wasn’t giving up this time. Not even if it cost me my life.

I’d rather die than go through losing my family again.

The sound of engines cut through the silence, effectively pulling me out of my thoughts.

A black truck slid into the warehouse, headlights off. Men spilled out, armed, and alert. Vitelli colors.

The trap snapped shut.

I nodded once.

“Do it.”

The lights cut off. Men shouted. Gunfire exploded, sharp and furious. My pulse thrummed as I moved with purpose, each shot measured, each target precise.

Two Vitelli men rushed me but I dropped them before they could clear their safeties.

The ones who survived scrambled to escape but Eduardo’s team cut them off. Within minutes, the warehouse was silent again.

Except for one man, the driver, who sat bleeding against a crate.

I crouched in front of him.

“Tell me where Vitelli is hiding,” I said. Calm. I didn’t need anger to be lethal.

He spat blood on the ground. “You’re too late. The boss has plans of his own.”

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