Novels by Mina Kore

ARIA Thomas called me the next morning. I almost didn’t answer but then I remembered I shouldn’t ignore him, after everything with the flowers, God knows what he could have found. “Hello?” “Aria.” His voice was calm. “I think I found something.” I sat up immediately like I had been jolted. “Something about the flowers?” “Yes.” My heart skipped. “What?” “I traced part of the delivery.” There was a long pause, I sighed. “But there’s something strange about it.” I frowned. “What kind of strange?” “I’d rather show you.” I looked around the room, I was confused. “Show me?” “Come to my office.” I hesitated. “Can’t you just tell me?” “I could.” Another pause. “But it wouldn’t make much sense without the documents.” I sighed. “Okay. I’ll come.” ⸻ THOMAS I ended the call and smiled. She was coming, exactly as I’d expected. The documents spread across my desk had been prepared that morning. None of them contained anything useful,

ROMANO I had spent the entire morning staring at the same photograph. My mother. Victor Vale. And someone else whose face had been cut out. I turned the photograph over again. Nothing. No date. No name. No explanation. Just three people who should never have been standing together. At least, that was what I had always believed. My father had known Victor Vale. That much I already knew. But my mother? That was different. I opened the folder again and went through the records I had managed to find. Six months before my mother’s death, there were gaps. Appointments that had no details. Bank transfers with no recipients. Meetings that had been removed from her calendar. And then there was one name that appeared twice. Victor Vale. I leaned back in my chair. Why would my mother be meeting him? And why had someone gone through so much trouble to erase it? A knock came at the door. “Dante.” He walked in holding a folder. “I found something.” I looked up. He plac

Aria’s POV Romano didn’t initially show me the photograph but after he left, I went to his office to check the flowers for any clue who it might have been from when I saw it, the photograph on the edge of his table. After seeing it, the photograph wouldn’t leave my mind. I had tried. I really had. I spent most of the morning pretending it didn’t bother me, because I didn’t want to worry Romano, but every time I closed my eyes, I saw that little girl standing between my parents. Her face had been burned away. Someone had wanted her identity erased or kept me on my toes but somehow, I knew that girl was connected to me. I was sitting in the living room when Romano walked in. He stopped when he saw my expression. “You’ve been quiet.” “I’m thinking.” “That’s unlike you.” I looked at him. He smiled slightly. Usually, I would have laughed, but this time, I couldn’t. “Romano.” His smile disappeared. “What?” “The photograph.” He knew immediately what I meant. H

CHAPTER 48 – Anonymous Thomas’s POV “Call them back.” The two men standing in front of my desk exchanged confused glances. “Sir?” “You heard me.” “The storage unit…” “They’re not breaking into it anymore.” One of them frowned. “But you ordered us to.” “I changed my mind.” They waited for an explanation, I rarely gave one, there was never a need to. “If Luca has been hiding something for weeks, breaking into that storage unit tonight tells him we’re suspicious.” Neither of them spoke. I walked around my desk and picked up one of the photographs scattered across it. Romano. Aria. Laughing. He looked different whenever she was around, he was calmer, more humane and that was my biggest problem, his newly found self. “We’re approaching this the wrong way,” I said quietly. “The problem isn’t Luca.” “The problem is Romano.” The taller guard finally asked, “What do you want us to do instead?” I smiled. “I want Romano distracted.” … Ten minutes later, my phone rang.

Romano’s POV The mansion was still asleep when I left our bedroom. Aria had rolled over in her sleep sometime during the night, one hand reaching instinctively toward my side of the bed. Before leaving, I gently tucked the blanket around her shoulders and kissed her forehead. She moved without waking. I stood there for another second. Then quietly closed the door behind me. … Dante was already waiting in my office. The moment I walked in, he slid another stack of files across the desk. “I’ve gathered everything we could find.” I looked down at the folders. Most of them looked older than I was. Some had faded government stamps. Others carried the insignias of crime families that no longer existed. “Anything useful?” “Maybe.” I sat down and opened the first folder. Inside were intelligence reports dating back nearly thirty years, most of the pages had sections blacked out, and others had been partially burned. Someone had clearly tried very hard to erase the Vale famil

Aria’s POV I woke up before Romano, that alone felt like an accomplishment. Usually, he was already awake by the time I opened my eyes, either reading reports beside me or gone entirely. This morning was different, he was still asleep, fast asleep. The morning sunlight filtered through the curtains, casting soft streaks across his face. His hair was slightly messy, one arm resting lazily across the mattress where I had been sleeping only moments ago. For someone people called ruthless… He looked surprisingly peaceful. I smiled to myself. Very carefully, I reached over and brushed a strand of hair away from his forehead. His eyes opened immediately. “So much for letting you sleep,” I laughed. “You were touching me.” “I moved one piece of hair.” “Exactly.” I rolled my eyes. “You have trust issues.” “I have survival instincts.” “I prefer my version.” He reached for my wrist before I could climb out of bed and gently pulled me back toward him. “Five more minutes.” “R