His Ruthless Redemption (Isabella and Dominic) novel Chapter 63

Chapter 63

Isabella’s POV

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

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 ear, 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 ine, 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.

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.”

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1:03 pm

Chapter 53

“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.

“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.

“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.

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1:03 pm

Chapter 63

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.

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