Novels by Raina

Lucian's POV...Aroma's face told me she had finally decided to speak.She looked at Aria, then at Damien, and finally at me. There was guilt in her eyes, but there was something else too—determination."I'm sorry," she whispered.Aria frowned. "Mom, why are you apologizing?"Aroma's hands trembled."I should have told you the truth a long time ago. All of you deserve to know what really happened."I watched her carefully.For years, my family had been surrounded by unanswered questions. My parents' deaths had never felt right to me, but every investigation had eventually reached a dead end. Now Aroma seemed ready to finally open a door that had been locked for years."What happened?" I asked.She looked at me."I was going to tell you everything."Then I heard it.Tick.My eyes immediately moved around the room.Nobody else seemed to react.Tick.It was faint, but deliberate.Something was wrong.I looked toward the floor, then toward the walls and furniture."Everyone stop."Aria lo

Aria's POV..I stared at the message on my phone until the words began to blur.You finally know who your father is.My fingers tightened around the phone.A second message appeared.Now ask your mother what happened to Lucian's family.My heart sank.I slowly lifted my eyes.My mother was staring at me, her face pale."Mom?"She didn't answer."Why would someone ask me about Lucian's family?"Before she could respond, I heard footsteps behind me.I turned.Lucian was standing near the doorway.He had clearly heard everything.He didn't ask a single question.He didn't react.He simply walked into the room and stood beside the door, his arms relaxed at his sides.But his face...There was something terrifying in his eyes.A cold, murderous expression had settled over his features.He looked at the phone in my hand.Then at my mother.Then at Damien.He said nothing.He simply listened.My mother took a shaky breath."Aria, there are things I promised never to speak about.""To whom?"

Aria's POV....I looked from my mother to Damien, completely lost.Neither of them seemed capable of looking directly at me.My heart was pounding.There were too many pieces of my life suddenly changing at once.Damien Voss wasn't simply the mysterious man I had known as Uncle Damien.He was my biological father.And my mother had kept that truth from me for my entire life.I wiped the tears from my face."What is happening?"My voice trembled."Why did you two hide this from me?"My mother closed her eyes for a moment before finally sitting down.Damien remained standing nearby, silent.Aroma looked at me with tears in her eyes."Because there are things about our past that you deserve to know."I sat beside her.She took my hand."Before you were born, Damien and I loved each other."I looked at Damien.He lowered his gaze."We weren't supposed to," my mother continued. "Our families were complicated. Everything around us was about power, money, reputation and alliances. But we lov

Damien Voss's POV...I had read Aroma's letter so many times that I could remember every word without looking at the page.I lied to you.Those four words had destroyed everything I thought I knew.For years, I had believed my daughter was dead.Aroma had made me believe that Victor discovered our baby wasn't his biological child and killed that unborn baby.I had mourned him/her.I had hated Victor for him or her death.I had spent years carrying the guilt of not being there to protect my own child.But Aroma's letter had finally revealed the truth.Aria was alive.Victor had never killed our babyAnd the truth that had nearly brought me to my knees was even bigger.Aria was my biological daughter.My daughter.The little child I had been searching for all those years.The child I had mourned.The child I thought I had lost forever.She had been alive all along.And now she was standing right in front of me.Aroma's final words echoed in my mind.She needs you now.More than she eve

Aria's POV..The lights went out.For a few seconds, the entire house disappeared into darkness.I couldn't see Lucian.I couldn't see Lucas.I could only hear the uneven sound of my own breathing.Then a dim emergency light flickered on at the end of the corridor.And she appeared.My mother.She stood beside the old wooden staircase, one hand resting against the railing for support. She looked nothing like the woman I remembered from the few photographs I had grown up with. Her once-dark hair now fell in soft, silver-streaked waves around her shoulders, and her face carried years of exhaustion.She wore a simple cream-colored cotton dress that reached her ankles, faded from years of use. A thin gray cardigan was wrapped around her shoulders, and her feet were bare against the cold marble floor. There was nothing luxurious about her appearance.Yet there was something unmistakably familiar about her.Her eyes.I knew those eyes."Mom?"Her lips trembled."Aria."That was all it took.

Aria's POV..I couldn't breathe.The photograph was still open on Lucian's phone, and I couldn't tear my eyes away from the woman sitting beside that window.Her face was older than the one I remembered from childhood photographs, but I knew her.A daughter doesn't forget her mother's face."She's alive," I whispered.Lucian didn't answer immediately.His expression had hardened, but I could see the shock underneath it."Aria, we don't know if the photograph is recent.""That's my mother.""I know.""She's alive."This time, his voice softened."Then we'll find her."Lucas stepped forward. "Sir, the location is outside the city. We can have the team there within twenty minutes."I shook my head."No."Both men looked at me."The message said to come alone."Lucian's expression immediately changed."Absolutely not.""But—""No."His voice was firm."Whoever sent that message wants you isolated. I'm not letting you walk into a trap."I looked at him."Then what are we going to do?""We'