Innocent is her debut novel and her way of grabbing you by the hand and immersing you into the ruthless, twisted, but exhilarating world that the Omertà series will bring to life.
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"Inhibited"snippet
He went back to the basis of his knowledge. If he couldn’t figure out the solution just by looking at the facts, he needed to see the incremental changes. The killings had a pattern, but each pattern was known to have a clear beginning. So did the murderer’s plan.
A wide number of sequences flashed in his mind, making him analyze each data. False and true. True and false. Nothing could be exactly the same. People always make mistakes and learn from them. Improve. They get better because they know what the wrong way looks like. No one can reach a satisfying level from the start. It’s just not possible. And, as a killer himself, he knew it better than anybody else.
There was no use lying in bed and hoping that sleep would come. It never did on nights like these. With a heavy sigh he got up and shambled into his living room. Reaching for a notebook, he ripped out a few pages and put his thoughts on the paper. All the names, the way the girls had been murdered, information he had on them due to the background check he'd done before. Each small detail could be vital.
As he was perfectly well-versed in maths, he tried using what he knew of vector analysis to interpret the killings. Coming up with so many ideas all at once that it was sometimes hard to even messily scribble down everything. The letters, words and numbers all mixed together.
If he only knew what he was looking for exactly.
He registered muffled tiptoes echoing through the hall and straightened to his feet at once. His hand automatically moved to his side as to draw his weapon. But he didn’t have a holster with him as he wasn’t used to needing it inside his apartment. He swept through the room for something to use. Anything to help him fight off a potential assailant.
And as his eyes settled on the kitchen and the knife lying on the island, he realized that he wasn’t alone anymore here on a regular basis.
Anastasia.
”You may come in,” he murmured, relaxing a bit. His shoulders slumped.
The movements outlined a slim silhouette in the dark part of the apartment and the girl came out of the dimly lit spot. Her long light brown hair was messy from sleep.
She regarded him, bracing herself on the wall across from the man. Her deep blue eyes watchful, intense, but also sleepy. She was dressed in a t-shirt and a pair of shorts, baring her long lean legs to his eyes. There were still a couple of scars on them as well as on her arms, but they were finally healing and slowly fading away.
The anger built up in Flavio, realizing once again why she had them. It always happened when he looked at her. He glanced down at his notes, trying to go back to his prior work. Nothing good ever came out of allowing his emotions to see the light of day. Ever.
Numbers loomed up again. But now they were blurred by the thought of Anastasia standing there, looking at him still.
”You hardly ever sleep.” she whispered.
Flavio looked up at her curiously. He wasn’t aware that she had been able to observe it. His problems with sleeping for more than a few hours weren’t a secret, but also not a topic that he ever wanted to discuss with anyone.
”Sleep requires peace which I haven't had for a very long time.”
It had been a mistake to mention anything because it made the girl join him. She usually wasn’t the one to reach out to him, still unable to trust that she was safe. She kept to herself and only ever talked to him if it was absolutely necessary. Her perception of her situation had been as dark as it could get when she'd got here. Thoughts of getting killed, or worse had run wildly through her mind. But neither Noah nor him wanted to hurt her. As a person, a woman involved in the mafia world, she had a hard enough life as it was. Made Men had it much easier no matter what. There was no reason to make it worse for her.
”If your demons keep you up at night, perhaps that means you have to change the way you do things.”
”My demons and I are getting along just fine, Anastasia. And the way I do things is most possibly the only time I feel at peace. Don’t judge my darkness, without admitting to your own first.” he drawled out and observed the girl’s expression change. She got lost in her thoughts and clearly tried to forcefully push them out of her head. She wasn’t ready to face her fears, so why would he?
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
CHAPTER 38
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 40
CHAPTER 41
CHAPTER 42
CHAPTER 43
CHAPTER 44
CHAPTER 45
CHAPTER 46
CHAPTER 47
CHAPTER 48
CHAPTER 49
EPILOGUE
