Novels by Barbara Rose

"You owe me."The words ring loudly in her head like some kind of siren, a warning and a reminder of her worst mistakes. And it was all because of one stupid party.Little Livi's heart drops and she's leaping toward her sister once again at the feeling, latching onto the older girl who offers a sense of safety despite her earlier harshness.Emilia is quick to return the sentiment, her free hand coming to rest over Liviana's that holds tightly onto her arm. She pulls her closer, the two taking a swift step back as she does so."Oh, my God- Dad!" Emilia gasps, wide eyes locking onto her dad's dark ones. She could already see it in there. The way the cogs spun in his brain, the anger that lurked beneath the green, something that she was sure was doing nothing more than fueling on some ridiculous plan, some way to spin this in his favor.Of course, she was right."What's going on here?" Alonzo questions, eyes bouncing between the two teenaged girls with a cold, calculating gaze. It was sh

The sound of the alarm blared loudly through the home, the sisters practically jumping out of their skin at the sound."The hell is that?" Liviana complains, hand moving to grip at her at the side of her head, where the throbbing only gets worse. The noise wasn't helping her haze at all."I don't know," Emilia murmurs, head twisting and turning in an attempt to catch the cause of the sound. She couldn't see anything out of place or hear a sound aside from the ringing of the security system echoing through the deserted halls."Whatever it is, make it stop!"The sound of her sister's whines has Emilia huffing, rolling her eyes at the show of her mess of priorities. "No," she replies simply, watching as the girl's face twists in confusion at the response."Why not?!" The pout resting on her lips was almost priceless, looking like a little kid who had just been told that they couldn't have their way. "It's loud, and- and it hurts! And worse? It's annoying!""It is." Emilia doesn't disagre

Creeping in through the window was a task that she could hardly handle sober, but after all those drinks she downed, she couldn't do it with her best effort."Livi- Livi!" Emilia whisper-shouts, hauling the girl up from the floor when she takes a tumble through the frame, nearly landing on her face from such a fall. "Hey, are you okay?"For a second, she's quiet, not speaking a word as her sister drags her to her feet, only huffing and puffing as she goes. Then, finally, she nods. "Yeah," she breathes, and all Emilia can do is frown. She wasn't convinced."Are you sure?" She asks, concern written across her face as she reaches out to touch her sister's, gently pushing the dark hair out of her eyes to get a better look at her. "You hit the ground pretty hard-""Fine- it's fine," she says, brushing it off with a small laugh. "I'm fine!"From behind her, Tino scoffs. "You don't sound fine." He couldn't help but disagree.Emilia hums, hating to agree with their brother - more so, hating t

"Alonzo?"The sound of his knuckles knocking harshly on the wood echoes loudly through the vacant hallway, startling Liviana, who lingers behind her husband, with its volume."You don't have to break it down, you know?" She mumbles the warning to her husband, who doesn't even spare her a glance. Instead, he does it again, his knuckles bouncing off the door even harsher this time than it had the last."Open up! We know you're in there!"A sigh can be heard on the other side, accompanied by some shuffling."We can hear you, you little-""Dad?" Livi calls out to him softly, cutting off her husband's shouts of anger and nudging him aside as she does so. "Are you okay in there?" She asks, pressing a hand and an ear to the door. "We know you're there, okay? We can hear you, and we need you to open up.""What for?" Alonzo calls after a beat of silence passes between the three. "I'm busy!""Oh, yeah? With what?" Blaze presses, banging his fist against the wood over his wife's head, causing th

"What is he doing here?"Liviana is met with the question the second she slips into the room, her footsteps faltering at the sound. The raven spins around, eyes catching on her husband, who sits in the darkened corner of their bedroom. "Oh- Blaze," she breathes out his name, pressing a hand to her chest at the suddenness of his question. She hadn't expected him to be here, waiting. If anything, she thought he would have left - ran. "You scared me," Livi mutters, sighing at the thought. "Again..."This time, Blaze doesn't bother with an apology, instead, he pushes for an answer. "Well?" He asks, repeating the question. "What's he doing here?""I..." Liviana trails, clicking the door shut behind her and venturing slowly inside, hating to admit that she hadn't asked. The feeling of her husband's prying eyes pulls the disappointing answer from her before she has a chance to think of something better, shrugging as she says, "I don't know yet."Hearing this, Blaze frowns, repeating the answ

"Well, here we are!" Liviana announces, pausing outside of the closed door and pulling the man to a stop. "Your new bedroom," she says, cracking the door open and insisting he take a look for himself. "What do you think?""Wow," Luka mutters, strolling inside with a hum and a quick look around. "Nice place you've got here, Liv. Looks like it's fit for a king."She couldn't help but chuckle at his words. "Because it is," she tells, reminding the man of who it was built for. And Blaze Castelli would accept nothing but the best for himself and his wife. They deserved a nice place to call their home, and he made sure that that's exactly what they got. She could see the irritation flash across his face at the reminder, and she has to refrain from sighing as she switches from what seemed to be a sensitive topic. "So... do you like it?"Luka shrugs, eyes cast away from her own as he scans the bedroom he deemed his own. "Yeah," he answers after a moment of wonder. "I think that I do.""You th