Novels by Elodie

The smoke clung to her lungs like poison. Valeria staggered through the wreckage, clutching her daughter’s hand, coughing as every breath burned. Her eyes watered, the night around her a blur of fire, falling ash, and shadows that moved like monsters in the trees.“Mommy, it hurts,” her daughter whimpered, her little voice thin, frightened.Valeria knelt quickly, pulling the girl close, forcing calm into her voice though her heart thundered. “I know, baby. Just a little longer. We’ll get out. I promise.”But even as she spoke, a voice slid through the smoke—deep, mocking, cruel.“Promises, promises. You always make them, Valeria. And you always break them.”Her blood turned to ice.Damien stepped into view, his figure towering, his coat glinting with sparks. The fire painted him in shades of hell, orange, red, black, like he belonged to the flames themselves. His eyes locked on her, sharp and burning with hunger that wasn’t just anger.Valeria pushed her daughter behind her, straighte

Max dragged Elena out into the snow, his arm locked around hers. She stumbled, coughing hard, her hair wild, face streaked with soot. The bitter cold hit them like a slap, but behind them, the blaze burned hot enough to sear their backs.“Keep moving!” Max barked, half-pulling her toward the tree line. “We can’t stay here!”Elena wrenched her arm free, spinning to face him. Her chest heaved, eyes wide, reflecting the fire. “Valeria, she’s still out there! With her daughter!”Max’s jaw clenched. His clothes were torn, his knuckles raw. He looked like a man made of stone, but his voice cracked just slightly when he spoke. “I know. I’m going back for her.”“No,” Elena snapped, grabbing his coat with both hands. “That’s what Damien wants! He’ll use her to draw you in. You’ll be walking into a trap.”Max shoved her hands away, his eyes burning hotter than the fire. “I don’t care if it’s a trap. I’m not leaving her to die.”“You’ll die with her!” Elena shouted back. Her voice carried across

The night was so quiet that Valeria could hear the crackle of the ice under her boots. Her breath came ragged, steaming in the bitter air. She gripped the empty rifle with trembling hands, but her strength was gone. Her knees wanted to buckle.And then he appeared.Damien stepped onto the frozen stream as if he owned it. His black coat brushed the snow. His boots crunched softly, steady, unhurried. The faint glow of the burning cabin painted him in flashes of orange. In his hands, a sleek rifle gleamed, still smoking from the last shot. The man he killed lay at her feet, blood staining the ice red.“Get up, Valeria,” Damien said again, his voice even, almost calm. “You’re not finished yet.”Her mouth went dry. She forced herself to straighten, though her body screamed with exhaustion. “Stay away from us.”Damien’s lips curved in a shadow of a smile. “Us? You mean you and the little one hiding over there?” He tilted his chin toward the trees, where a small figure clutched the trunk of

The men stepped out of the shadows, their boots crunching on the snow. Flashlights blinded Valeria for a moment, white beams cutting across her face. She squinted, branch gripped tight in her frozen hands.“Well, well,” one of them sneered. “The lady of the hour.”Another chuckled. “The boss said bring her in alive. Didn’t say anything about the condition.”Valeria’s heart hammered, but she kept her chin high. “If you touch my daughter, I swear I’ll....”The first man cut her off with a laugh. “Your daughter’s already running scared. Easy pickings. We’ll find her in no time.”Rage flared hot in her chest. “You won’t touch her.”One of them raised his gun lazily, pointing it toward her chest. “Then drop the stick, sweetheart. You’re not scaring anyone.”Valeria’s grip only tightened. Her voice trembled, but her eyes stayed locked on his. “You’ll have to kill me first.”The man smirked. “That can be arranged.”He started forward.Valeria swung. The branch cracked against his arm with a

The night swallowed them.Snow crunched under Valeria’s boots as she pulled her daughter through the trees, every step sharp with cold. Behind them, the cabin burned brighter, flames climbing into the sky like a beacon. Shouts carried through the woods. Damien’s men. They were spreading out, searching.“Mommy....” the little girl’s voice was a fragile whisper, broken by her panting.“Shh,” Valeria hushed, crouching low, her breath clouding in the freezing air. “Quiet now, baby. Quiet.”Her daughter nodded, though her eyes were wide with fear.Valeria knelt, pulling the girl against her chest, and glanced back. Orange light flickered between the trees. Shadows moved, men with rifles, their voices sharp.“They went this way!” one shouted.Valeria’s stomach dropped.She pressed her lips against her daughter’s ear. “We need to keep moving. Stay close to me. Don’t let go of my hand, no matter what.”The girl clutched tighter. “I won’t.”Valeria took a breath, steadying her shaking limbs, a

The first blast shook the cellar like thunder. Dust rained down from the beams, and the single lightbulb above them flickered before plunging into darkness.“Mommy!”Valeria pulled her daughter closer, wrapping her arms around her trembling little body. The darkness pressed in thick, suffocating, broken only by the sound of boots, gunfire, and fire crackling above them.“It’s okay,” she whispered, kissing her daughter’s hair. “It’s okay, baby. I’ve got you.”“But it’s so loud,” the little girl whimpered. “Are they coming down here?”Valeria’s throat tightened. “No,” she said firmly, even though she didn’t know if it was true. “They won’t find us. We’re safe here.”Another explosion rocked the ceiling. More dust fell, coating her hair and the floor. The air smelled of smoke now, seeping through the cracks.Her daughter buried her face in her chest. “I’m scared.”Valeria closed her eyes, forcing her breath steady. “I know. I’m scared too.”The words slipped out before she could stop the

The mansion was quiet.Not the uneasy quiet that had settled after the bloodshed, but a different kind—gentler, deeper. It was the hush of a house learning peace again, of walls no longer echoing with betrayal, rage, or secrets. For the first time in what felt like a lifetime, Alessio could breathe.The heavy weight of vengeance had lifted, leaving behind something fragile but honest. Gabriella remained close, not out of obligation or fear, but out of something they’d both fought hard to reclaim: trust.A week had passed since the night of reckoning. The bodies had been buried. The halls scrubbed clean. The old tapestries—once embroidered with the legacy of the Martini name—had been taken down. Alessio didn’t want reminders. Not of the man he had to become, and certainly not of the empire his brother had twisted into something monstrous.One bright morning, Gabriella stood at the bottom of the grand staircase, dressed simply, one hand resting gently on her belly. Alessio watched her f

Gabriella's Pov The sound cracked through the night like a curse. One shot—sharp, final.I spun around.“Leonardo!” I screamed, as my brother’s body crumpled to the ground, his breath hitching as if the air had betrayed him. Blood poured from the wound in his back, dark and thick, staining his shirt like ink spilled from a shattered bottle.I caught him before he hit the stone floor. His weight folded into me, heavier than I remembered, like the life was already ebbing out of him. Gabriella dropped to her knees beside us, hands trembling, eyes wide with disbelief. Her voice caught in her throat as she tried to speak, but no words came out—just a gasp, choked and broken.Vandel stood across the room, still holding the smoking gun. His face was stone. No regret. No hesitation. Only hatred.I cradled Leo's head against my chest. “Stay with me,” I begged, my voice breaking. “Just hold on. Please, Leo…”He coughed, and a thin line of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. “No... it’

Gabriella's Pov The night was supposed to be over. We had escaped. I thought we were safe—just for a second. Alessio’s hand gripped mine tightly, his other hand on the wheel, speeding through the darkened street like he could outrun the world. But safety, I was learning, was just an illusion. And illusions don’t last.Two headlights suddenly swerved into view behind us, fast and aggressive. My stomach twisted before my brain could catch up."Alessio..." I murmured, my voice already trembling.He glanced in the rearview mirror, his jaw tightening. "I see them."Another car came at us from the left. That’s when I knew—we weren’t being followed. We were being hunted.Gunfire cracked through the silence.Glass shattered.“DOWN!” Alessio barked.Without thinking, I threw myself across the console and lunged at him. We dropped below the dashboard as bullets punched through the windows, glass raining down in jagged pieces. I could hear my own heartbeat pounding in my ears, deafening me.“I

Alessio's Pov My heart jolted like someone had driven a knife straight through it. Unborn child—that was what Martini had just said. The words echoed in my head, bouncing around with disbelief, confusion, and something dangerously close to hope.I stared at Gabriella.Everything else—Martini’s gun pointed at my forehead, the sweat dripping down my back, the pounding in my ears—faded into the background as I searched her face for the truth. Her lips parted slightly, her eyes shimmering with something raw. Something real.“Yes,” she whispered, barely audible. But I didn’t need her to say more.She was pregnant.With my child.I blinked. My vision tunneled, not from the pressure of the gun still threatening my life, but from the gravity of her words. She was carrying my baby. Our baby.A tremor ran through me, knocking the air from my lungs. I hadn’t seen this coming—hadn’t even considered it. But as shock gave way to awe, a warmth bloomed in my chest. A fierce kind of joy. The kind of

Alessio's Pov She looked like she hadn’t aged a second—but she wasn’t the same girl I once knew.Gabriella stood across the room, framed by the long shadows of dusk bleeding in through the tall windows. The light touched her skin like it belonged there, softening the lines of worry etched into her face. But I could still see it—the fear hidden beneath the surface, the way her fingers curled around the edge of her coat just a little too tightly. She was nervous. And she should be.Because I didn’t trust her.Not anymore.I had no idea what game she was playing by coming here again, by standing beside Martini of all people. That bastard had never shown mercy a day in his life. I didn’t even know how she’d ended up in his custody—or why she hadn’t tried to escape.I studied her face, looking for something familiar, something real.And that’s when it happened.She winked.A slow, subtle flutter of her eyelid. Barely noticeable, but unmistakable.I froze.It hit me like a punch to the gut

Gabriella's Pov The morning sunlight slipped through the thin curtains like golden fingers, brushing against my face, warming my cheek. I blinked slowly, my lashes fluttering against the pillowcase as I stirred, trying to resist the gentle nudge of daybreak. My body ached in places I didn’t even know could ache, a dull soreness clinging to every limb like a second skin. Sleep had claimed me like a thief in the night, but it hadn't been kind—just necessary. I felt as though I'd fought a war in my dreams and lost.For a long moment, I just lay there, staring up at the ceiling, trying to remember how it felt to wake up without dread pressing on my chest. The events of the past few days had blurred into one tangled mess of adrenaline, pain, and fear. But there was something else too—something sharp and persistent beneath it all. A name. Alessio.Just the thought of him sent a shiver down my spine. I hated how his presence lingered in my mind, how the memory of his voice could still echo