Saints of St. Odessa

He destroyed her family. Now he's her only hope.Elena Petrova has spent eleven years trying to forget the night Dante Volkov murdered her parents. The ice-blue eyes. The calculated violence. The way he looked at her in the courtroom, empty of remorse, empty of everything.Now her brother's been kidnapped, and the only person who can navigate St. Odessa's criminal underworld is the reformed enforcer who became her family's executioner.Dante walked away from the Russian syndicate. Found God in a prison cell. Spent years building a new life as church security, convinced redemption could erase the Wolf he used to be. But when Elena shows up desperate and afraid, begging the man she should hate for help she can't find anywhere else, every carefully constructed wall starts to crack.One rescue attempt. One bullet meant for her that tears through his shoulder instead. One moment when the monster chooses mercy over violence, and Elena's hatred begins transforming into something far more dangerous.Love.The syndicate doesn't forgive betrayal. The families don't forget. And falling for the daughter of his victims might be the one sin even God can't absolve.He's spent eleven years running from who he was. She's the living reminder of what he can never undo. Together, they'll have to decide if redemption is real or just another beautiful lie.A dark, emotionally devastating romance about the impossible space between justice and grace, where love doesn't erase the past but might be strong enough to build a future anyway.Dual POV Forced proximity Morally gray MMC Enemies to lovers with actual enemies Touch her and die She falls first, he falls harder Faith-driven romance meets organized crime Closed doorTrigger Warnings: Parental death, gun violence, kidnapping, graphic injury, grief and trauma, panic attacks, references to past murders

He inherited his father's pulpit. She inherited her father's sins. Together, they'll burn down the lies that built their city.Pastor Caleb Miller thought he knew his father. Thomas Miller led St. Odessa Community Church for twenty-eight years, beloved by everyone who knew him. Then Caleb found the ledger hidden in his father's office, and everything he believed turned to ash.The entries are coded. The transactions are damning. And every name in that book could destroy lives, including his own.Leah Rossi knows exactly what her father was: Emilio Rossi, the mob's most meticulous accountant, architect of the criminal empire that controls St. Odessa. Now he's dead, and she's spent years trying to wash blood money clean through charity work. It's never been enough.When Caleb demands her help decoding the ledger that connects their fathers' darkest secrets, Leah should refuse. Should run. Should protect herself from the pastor with fire in his eyes and righteousness in his veins, the man determined to expose every corrupt deal their fathers made, even if it tears the city apart.But Caleb Miller doesn't just want truth. He wants justice. And he's willing to sacrifice everything for it: his father's legacy, his congregation's safety, his own life.The Collector is already hunting them. The board wants him removed. The mob families are circling. And somewhere between decoded entries and burning buildings, between federal investigations and midnight confrontations, Leah discovers something more dangerous than any ledger: a pastor who sees past her father's sins to the woman trying desperately to atone for them.He's reckless with his own life. She's terrified of loving someone who runs into fires. But when choosing silence means enabling evil, and choosing truth means war, they'll have to decide what they're willing to burn for and who they're willing to become in the ashes.A pastor's crusade for truth. An accountant's daughter seeking redemption. And a love forged in the ruins of their fathers' corruption.Trigger Warning: This story contains violence, arson with children present, kidnapping, references to human trafficking, organized crime, physical altercations, family betrayal, death of parents (past), panic attacks, nightmares, and morally complex situations involving difficult choices.