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

LEONBy the time dawn breaks through the sky, I’m already up. It was pointless forcing myself to sleep after the nightmare, so I spent the remaining hours of the early morning staring blankly at the ceiling. At the first streak of light, I got up, freshened up and stepped out of the room.The apartment is quiet as I head over to the kitchen to make breakfast. Gabriella never has anything solid for breakfast. She usually takes a single fruit or a few spoonfuls of yogurt before rushing out of the apartment.Today, I decide to make a proper breakfast, one that consists of eggs, toast and sliced tomato. She probably won’t eat it, yet I make it anyway, mostly because I'm genuinely tired of eating whatever Gabriella manages to mix up in this kitchen. Her cooking has gotten slightly better, but still has a long way to go. And importantly, I’ll be handling everything in the kitchen from now on, moving forward to prevent another drugging incident from happening. I’m mad at her. I hate her.

LEONI lie on my back, staring at the ceiling, and sleep refuses to come anywhere near me.It's been two hours since I closed myself off in this room, and in those two hours I haven't stopped seeing her face. The image in my head is not the angry version of her, the one that was screaming at me in the parking lot and demanding answers I was too angry to give. The image in my head is the face that came after, the one that stared back at me as everything I tried to bottle up inside me cracked open and a single tear slid down her cheek before she could stop it.I close my eyes, and the image is still there. I shouldn't have said it. Any of it. I knew the words were going to break her the moment they left my mouth, and I said them anyway, because some part of me wanted them to break her. I wanted to hurt her the way the last few days had hurt me, the helplessness of standing in that room watching her sleep off a drug some boy gave her, the fear that still hasn't fully left my body even

GABRIELLAI make it three steps outside her office before the tears come.I hold them as long as I can, blinking hard against the burn behind my eyes, and by the time I round the corner into the main hallway, I've lost most of the battle. Nicole and Lisa are waiting by the lockers, and the second they see my face, whatever they were talking about stops."What happened?" Lisa asks, already reaching for me."I was stupid." “Gabby…” Lisa wraps an arm around me. “What went on in there?”My voice comes out wobbly. "I explained my situation to her and asked if she could take me as a private student,” I sniff. Saying it out loud makes me sound even stupider. “But she said I'm not someone she can work with right now. Or maybe ever."Lisa's face falls into something sympathetic, but before she can say anything, Nicole laughs.It's not a kind laugh. It's short and sharp."You thought she'd take you?" She asks like the whole idea is genuinely funny to her. "Gabriella, she trains the best dancer

GABRIELLABy Monday morning, the apartment walls feel like they are closing in on me.The feeling has been building since Saturday morning. The unease and silence from Leon, Nicole and Jack.The tension between Leon and I has taken on a physical quality. It feels like a third presence moving through the rooms with us. He hasn’t stopped cooking for me, and that presence sits at the table between our plates, filling the hallway when we pass each other without speaking, and occupies the space between us as we remain at opposite ends of the apartment, avoiding each other. So this morning, I get dressed faster than I ever have and head to the parking lot before he can enter the kitchen to make breakfast. When he sees me leaving, he follows silently behind me.The car drive is more torturous than any other drive I’ve ever been on. I practically jump out of the car as we arrive at the school parking lot and rush to my first class of the day.Nicole is already at our usual spot when I get to

GABRIELLAThe first thing that hits me is the lights.It comes through my curtains in harsh stripes, directly on my face. It drags me out of my sleep. My eyes open slowly, and then I wince and cover my face again, blinking to adjust to the brightness of the room. My head aches as I glance around me. The ceiling above me is familiar. I’m in my room. My bed. I can’t remember getting in here. I look down at the stuffed rabbit tucked under my arm, which I don't remember reaching for.I lie there for a moment, waiting for my brain to catch up.Then I turn, and I see him.Leon is sitting on the small sofa in the corner of my room, his elbows resting on his knees and his head bent forward into his hands. He hasn't noticed I'm awake. He's just sitting there, still as everything else in the room, and the sight of him is so wrong that for a long moment I just stare and try to figure out if I'm still dreaming.He's never been in my room before. He’s never even been on my side of the penthouse a

LEONThe moment I jerk awake, I know something is wrong.First, my head is pounding. The terrible ache makes it almost impossible to open my eyes, but I do, equally forcing myself to stand from the sofa.The second thing I notice is that my legs take a second longer than they should to cooperate. I brace myself against the armrest and wait for the room to stop spinning. The apartment is dark except for the city light coming in through the curtains.Thirdly, the house is quiet. It always is, considering there are just two of us living here, but something about this particular silence makes my back stiffen.My hand goes to my waistband out of habit, my fingers closing around the gun I always keep there, and I step forward and try to remember how I ended up asleep on the sofa. My neck aches from the angle my head had fallen asleep in, and my body feels unnaturally heavy.I look at my watch. It’s a few minutes past midnight.Without thinking, I move to Gabriella's side of the apartment.I