Novels by Odessa Blue

CHAPTER ONE HUNDREDEPILOGUE (Eight Months Later)ARIA“Maximo,” Dr. Marini said, adjusting her glasses as she peered at him from across the table. “We’ve talked about this. You can’t solve everything with threats.”Maximo, sitting beside me in a perfectly tailored suit, crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “I don’t threaten,” he said smoothly. “I give options. It’s not my fault people don’t like the consequences of the second one.”I stifled a laugh, earning a sharp look from Dr. Marini. She was one hell of a woman. Soft when she needed to be, but also scary nonetheless. It was why she was the only woman in the Cosa Nostra who could call my husband by his first name. I still wasn’t sure how I should feel about that.“Aria,” she turned her attention to me, “how do you feel when Maximo behaves this way?”“Honestly?” I said, tilting my head. “It depends. Sometimes, it can be infuriating..."“I didn’t even do anything,” Maximo grumbled beside me. “Do you know what other dons do

CHAPTER NINETY-NINEARIAThe sting in my hand was nothing compared to the ache in my chest. Maximo stood frozen for a moment, his cheek reddening from where my palm had connected. And then, to my utter disbelief, he laughed—a low, bitter sound that rumbled deep in his chest.“Wow. And here I was thinking you would be happy I’m offering you an easy way out,” he murmured.An angry snarl slipped past my lips as my hand shot up again, ready to slap him a second time. But before I could bring my hand down on his cheek again, he caught my wrist in midair. His grip was firm but not rough, and despite everything, a small, pathetic part of me was happy that he was touching me again.Piercing, grey eyes bored into mine with a mix of frustration and something else I couldn’t quite place.“Aria,” he said sharply, his voice edged with irritation, “I thought you’d be pleased.”“Pleased?” I yelled, my voice rising as tears burned in my eyes. I wrenched my hand free from his grasp, glaring at him th

CHAPTER NINETY-EIGHTARIAIt had been five days. Five days since Maximo killed Lorenzo. Five days since Maximo last spoke to me or looked at me.The house felt colder than usual, and the silence pressed down on me like a suffocating blanket. I’d spent the entire day trying to distract myself from the ache in my chest, but nothing worked.I had tried cleaning the kitchen even though everything was already spotless, scrubbing every surface until my hands were raw. Maria panicked when she saw me, and when she tried to shoo me away from the kitchen, I reminded her that I was her boss’s wife. I did it a little too harshly, I’ll admit, but I’ve been on an uncomfortable edge ever since.I prepared lunch with the rest of the kitchen staff. At first, there was an uncomfortable silence due to my presence in the room. But after I urged them to ignore my presence, a soft conversation amongst the maids followed, and I drowned myself in the city gossip I never knew could distract me.By mid-afterno

CHAPTER NINETY-SEVENMAXIMOA sharp scream pierced the room as Aria crouched to the floor. My heartbeat thudded in my ears as Lorenzo’s head snapped back, crimson blood staining the wall behind him as his body crumpled to the floor.Silence followed, but it was so loud that it felt like a roar.I stared at the lifeless heap on the ground, at the way his blood—my blood—pooled beneath him. My hand stayed clenched around my gun, trembling as I tried to make sense of what was in front of me. The pure rage that had driven me seconds ago evaporated. It was now replaced by a hollowness that spread through my chest like poison.I did it. I killed my brother.The realization ripped through my chest, leaving behind a void so vast that it threatened to swallow me whole. Lorenzo’s face was frozen in a blank state. I stared at his once-sharp features—features that were almost identical to mine—and the slack and lifeless face stared back at me. His eyes—eyes that used to glint with mischief, love,

CHAPTER NINETY-SIXMAXIMOI stood there, gun in hand, staring at my brother as his smirk spread and his mocking laughter echoed around the room. It wasn’t the laugh of someone remorseful or regretful. It was the sound of someone who had nothing left to lose.“You’ll have to be more specific,” I said through clenched teeth. “What exactly did you mean when you said you’ve been behind everything?”Lorenzo tilted his head, his smirk widening. “Do you really want me to go into detail? Are you sure your heart would be able to handle it?” He asked with a mocking pout.My anger burned hotter in my chest, and I tightened my grip on my gun. “Start talking.”“Fine,” he huffed, but then his eyes glinted with malice as he began to speak. “Do you remember when we were boys? How I did everything right? I trained harder, studied more, followed all the rules of the Cosa Nostra, and yet..." He waved a hand as his voice took on a bitter edge. “Yet you—the reckless, weak son—were chosen to lead.”“Yo

CHAPTER NINETY-FIVEMAXIMOI couldn’t wrap my mind around what Aria had just said. Her words echoed in my mind, loud and jarring like a bullet through the air. It didn’t make sense. It couldn’t be true.“I don’t believe you,” I finally said, and I saw the way her eyes fell.“I’m telling the truth, Maximo. What will I gain by lying about this?”I gritted my teeth and stepped away from her, needing to clear my head. The woman I loved just told me that my own blood brother, whom I’ve known my whole life, is planning to have us killed. What the fuck was I supposed to make of that?She took a step towards me, and I raised my head to look at her again. My eyes narrowed at her as I tried to understand if she was lying, if she had misheard something, if this was some kind of sick joke. “Have I ever done anything to break your trust?” She asked, and I could hear the hurt in her voice. The fear in her eyes and the slight wavering in her voice were too raw to be fake.“Are you sure?” My voice

LEON The next day, Salvatore calls to inform me that Tomaso had fixed a meeting in an upscale hotel in the Upper East Side of Manhattan. I join him at a random parking garage we planned to meet at, and he smirks at my appearance. “How old are you again? You look younger without your goatee and mustache.” I had a clean shave this morning to look the part of a cold and dangerous bodyguard, although I don’t have to try too hard. I am already cold on the inside and dangerous to people who had been unfortunate enough to experience my wrath. Tomaso is about to be one of those people. I ignore Salvatore and slip in beside him at the backseat of his car. The driver, a buff, bald hunk of a man, is wearing thick, black goggles, but I know he’s staring at me through the rearview mirror. The man in the passenger's seat only turns to glance at me briefly before turning his focus back to his front. The drive to the hotel is a short one, and throughout the drive, I try to tame my murderous u

LEON As soon as the words leave my mouth, the room goes still. Everyone looks at me like I’ve lost it. Shit. Maybe I have. Ivy is the person to break the silence. “You’re joking.” “I’m not.” She stands up and starts to pace around the room. “You want to play bodyguard to the daughter of the man you’ve wanted to kill since you were a child?” Dante exhales. “I can’t lie, that’s dangerous. A lot of things could go wrong.” “I said we needed a way in. This is it. She’s the key. If I’m around her, I’ll know everything about Tomaso. Where he goes, who he talks to, the people he trusts the most,” I say, looking around at their faces. “We’ve never been able to penetrate him. His men are loyal to a fault, and he’s the only target we’ve never been able to get an inside man on his team to feed us information. So I’ll be the inside man.” “That makes sense,” Kai says with a nod. “It’s not the worst plan. It’s actually smart.” “Smart?” Ivy scoffs. “It could get him killed.” She turns to m

LEON I never miss. No matter the target, the distance, or the chaos in my head, once I point my gun at my prey, I always hit. But I just did, and it’s all because of a girl. “Fuck!” I let out an angry growl before slinging my rifle over my shoulder. Thumping footsteps echo behind me, and just then, Dante bursts out onto the rooftop, already ripping his mask off his face. “We’ve been spotted,” he says in an urgent voice. I knew this would happen the moment my assasination attempt failed. Tomaso’s men would be on our tail. Without sparing another second, we bolt, our legs pounding against the concrete rooftop as we sprint toward the fire escape. We rush out of the building, cornering into an alley where Ivy and Kai are waiting for us with the engine of our getaway car already running. The cold air whooshes past us, biting against my skin as we near the car. “Get in!” Ivy yells, and just then, I spot two of Tomaso’s men arrive at the back end of the alleyway. I throw the r

GABRIELLA A few hours later, I’m in a sleek, off-the-shoulder dress, my makeup done lightly, sitting in the backseat of my father’s car while his driver takes me to Dine, an upscale restaurant in the heart of the city. The drive to the restaurant is quiet, as always. None of Papa’s employees are allowed to speak to me unless spoken to, and I don’t feel like making small talk. We arrive in no time. The restaurant is dimly lit and way too formal. But it’s Papa. I’m not surprised. When I step inside, I spot him almost immediately. He’s sitting at a table close to a window at the far right corner of the room. As always, he’s in a black suit, his greying hair is slicked back, and he is nursing a glass of wine. As I approach, I notice his men scattered around the room like they’re just regular customers. You would think this is a business meeting and not a birthday dinner. I sigh and slide into the seat across from him. “Do you really need men stationed at every corner like this is a

GABRIELLA “I can’t believe you won’t be attending your own birthday party.” A frustrated sigh leaves my lips at Nicole’s statement. It’s my twentieth birthday today, and for the past two weeks, they’ve been planning what would be the party of the year, my first party ever, only for all my plans to be ruined by my father. “She never said she won’t be attending,” Lisa tells Nicole, but her eyes, expectant and hopeful, are on me. “You just have to meet up with your dad for dinner and you’ll join the party later, right?” “Hopefully I’m able to—" “Yay!” She interrupts me with an excited squeal. “Now, that’s more like it.” I shake my head at her with a small smile playing on my lips. “It’s not that simple.” “It could be if you’d just come up with an excuse to skip dinner with him,” Nicole says with an eye roll. “You’re twenty, not twelve.” I chuckle at her words. “I can’t. My father will flip. Hell, he could send me back to Italy just because of that.” “Okay, that’s a bit overboar