His Ruthless Redemption (Isabella and Dominic) novel Chapter 38

Isabella’s POV

It was late into the evening and I was playing in the courtyard with Mateo when I felt it.

Without anyone having to tell me, I just knew that Dominic was back home again.

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It was almost as if there was an imperceptible shift in the house, a quiet hum of movement, guards. repositioning, Caterina’s footsteps quickening down the corridor.

And then Mateo suddenly bolted past me like a missile.

“Dominic!”

I turned just in time to see him collide with a tall, familiar figure at the entrance of the courtyard. Dominic barely had time to drop his bag before Mateo flung himself at him, arms tight around his waist.

“I missed you so much,” Mateo said breathlessly. “I did drawings every day and I went to the beach and Nonna let me have gelato before lunch and—”

Dominic laughed, a real sound, low and warm, as he lifted Mateo effortlessly into his arms.

“I missed you too,” he said. “Sounds like you’ve been busy.”

Mateo nodded vigorously. “I’ll show you everything!”

He dragged Dominic towards the bench by the garden, dumping a stack of papers into his lap full of rockets, waves, suns, and lopsided stick figures that were apparently all of us. Dominic listened like each drawing mattered, like every story about the beach and the shells and the castles was the most important thing in the world to him right then. Even more important than his work.

I stood a few steps away, arms folded loosely, watching.

Five days.

That was all it had taken for Mateo to grow this attached.

At one point, Mateo’s voice softened.

“I miss home too,” he said quietly, “My room. And my school.”

Dominic’s expression changed, not dark, not tense, but thoughtful.

“We’ll go back soon,” he said gently. “I promise.”

Mateo brightened instantly. “Really?”

“Yes,” Dominic said without hesitation. “Soon.”

19:10 Thu, Jan 15

Chapter 38

A

38

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Satisfied, Mateo hopped down, announcing he was going to tell Nonna that Dominic was back, and ran off again.

The quiet that followed felt heavier.

I turned to Dominic, my voice sharper than I had intended. “Don’t make promises to him you can’t keep.”

His gaze met mine, steady. “It wasn’t a false promise.”

I frowned. “Dominic-”

“I hit two of the Vitellis’ prime locations,” he said calmly. “Hard. In the last five days.”

The words landed heavier than he had probably meant them to.

“If everything continues the way it’s going,” he added, “we should be able to return to Florence in about a week.”

I stared at him.

Not because of the violence, though that never sat easily with me, but because he had just told me everything. There was no evasion, no half-truths, no dismissive you don’t need to knows like he had always done.

“You’re telling me this,” I said slowly.

“Yes.”

It struck me then how different this was from before. How much he was offering without being asked. This was transparency, real transparency, something he had never given me in our marriage.

“I’m trying,” he said quietly, as if reading my thoughts. “To do this differently.”

Something in my chest tightened.

Then he shifted gears, straightening slightly. “There’s something else.”

I braced myself for the worst. Nothing was ever simple when it came to him.

“I want you to learn self-defence.”

I blinked. “What?”

“Proper training,” he continued. “Not just basics. Enough that you can protect yourself if you ever have to.”

Mateo’s laughter rang from inside the house behind us just then, and I cleared my throat, taking a small step away from him.

He noticed, but didn’t say anything.

Then the other shoe dropped.

“I’m leaving again tomorrow morning,” he said.

My heart sank before I could stop it.

“Oh,” I said, too casually. “Already.”

“I only came back because I missed….. my family,” he said.

Family.

19:10 Thu, Jan 15

Chapter 38

Not me.

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Still, the fact that he had flown all this way, risked time, momentum, and danger, just to see us made something soften painfully inside me.

“That was nice of you,” I said lightly.

He studied my face, like he wanted to say more.

But he didn’t.

And I told myself not to read into it.

Because wanting to be part of Mateo’s life was one thing.

Wanting me, truly, fully, as his wife again, was something else entirely.

And I didn’t know which one he meant.

Or which one I was brave enough to want.