Novels by Odessa Blue

LEON“I think this search is fruitless. We have found absolutely nothing.”Kai tosses a thin manila folder onto his desk, his frustrated expression illuminated by the light from the large computer screens before him.“I know I might be a pro at technology and all, but it’s hard to find someone if you don’t have a name or a face. It’s like chasing a ghost, which, technically, that’s exactly what this is because the woman is dead.” He sighs, rubbing his eyes and spinning his revolving chair to face me. “This is a complete waste of time.”I lean forward, resting my forearms on the desk, my eyes moving from the useless printouts to the images of the dozens of dead ballerinas we’ve scanned over the past few hours. If Ivy were here, we wouldn’t have even spent that much time on this in the first place. She’s out on one of her solo runs today, leaving just Kai, Dante, and me to sift through the dead ends.Dante pushes off the brick wall, crossing his arms over his chest, his expression as br

LEONThe car ride to school the next morning is suffocating, but it is not because of the bitter coldness that usually sits between us. The air in the confined space of the SUV is thick, heavy, and humming with electricity. Every time Leon reaches down to shift gears, my eyes track the movement of his hands, my mind instantly flashing back to the kitchen.I can’t stop thinking about the hard, tattooed lines of his bare chest. The image is engraved in my mind. I can still feel the radiating heat of his skin, the roughness of his calloused hands gripping my waist as he lifted me onto the marble counter. I remember the sharp hitch in my breath when our mouths were inches apart.We almost kissed.The realization settles in my stomach and knots my insides with a frustrated, desperate ache.I wish we had.The moment he pulls up to the campus curb, my heart is hammering so aggressively against my ribs that I practically jump out of the passenger seat just to escape from that suffocating sile

GABRIELLAThe ticking of the digital clock on my nightstand reads 2:14 AM. I roll onto my back, staring up at the dark ceiling as my eyes refuse to drift close to sleep and my mind refuses to turn off.My thoughts drift to my friends. Or my current lack of friends.I miss Lisa and Nicole. It stings to admit it, even to myself, but the silence in my life outside of dance class is deafening. We haven't spoken since our last argument, and despite how passive-aggressive they’ve been acting, I hate this isolation. I miss having friends to text about stupid things. I miss feeling like a normal twenty-year-old girl.My thoughts linger in that direction for a few minutes, before they drift, as they inevitably do these days, to Leon.Before I can stop it, a ridiculous, silly smile splits across my face in the dark. I quickly press my palm over my mouth, feeling foolish, but the warmth in my chest lingers. Things are different between us now. Ever since the night he massaged my bruised feet an

LEONHer words are a whisper, but they hit me like a physical blow. Anger immediately flares in my chest that she would even think that about herself. My jaw clenches, but I force myself to remain quiet. She tells me everything. The difficulty she’s been facing in school, the weight of the upcoming New Dance ceremony, the pressure to prove herself to her professors and everyone who thinks she secured her slot in her class because of her father’s money.The more she speaks, the more I realize I was totally wrong about her.Gabriella is not spoilt. She doesn’t expect to get anything she wants easily just because she was raised in wealth. She’s someone who clearly values hard work and integrity.I’ve been judging her harshly, the same way everyone else in her live has. It makes me feel like shit. When she finally stops venting, her breathing is slightly ragged."You’re not a failure, Gabriella," I say firmly, making sure she hears the certainty in my tone. "Far from it."She scoffs qui

LEONI wake up with an unfamiliar feeling in my chest. It’s a strange lightness, and I refuse to admit that it’s a pleasant feeling. I force myself through my routine, splashing cold water on my face and aggressively shutting down any lingering thoughts of last night. The way she cried. The way she pressed her lips to my cheek. The truce. Things are obviously going to be different between us now, and I have no idea how I’m supposed to navigate it.I head down to the car to wait for her, drumming my fingers against the steering wheel. When she finally steps out of the building, my breath catches. I expect her to pull open the back door like she’s done every single day for the past two months. Instead, the passenger door clicks open and she slides into the front seat right beside me.Her fragrance, something sweet and floral, instantly floods the tight space of the car, wrapping around my senses. She buckles her seatbelt, her bright pastel sweater practically glowing against the dark le

GABRIELLA The floor is cold against my palms and I stay there for a moment, just breathing, letting the shock of the fall settle before I try to take stock of the damage. My right leg is throbbing. My toes feel like they are about to fall off. The music is still playing in the studio, the same song I’ve been playing over and over for the past hour while torturing myself with the spin I’m trying to perfect. I reach up to kill the music on my phone but my arm is shaking too much to do it smoothly.But I barely register all of this, not when the studio doors slam open and Leon marches across the room in a few strides. He crouches down before me and silences the music from my phone on the floor across from me. I look up at him and the words come out before I can even think about it.“Get out.”He ignores me.“The studio is off limits for you,” I continue, my voice carrying less authority than I’d like, mostly because I’m still on the floor trying to remember how to breathe. “This is my s

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