Claire Bennett had been gone for less than an hour when Julian called her back to the mansion.

This time, he wasn't asking.

Sadie stood beside the fireplace when Claire arrived, still wearing the expensive camel coat she'd had on that morning.

"What's happened now?" Claire demanded.

Julian placed Martin's tablet on the coffee table.

"Richard Hale."

Claire stopped.

"What about him?"

"His credentials were used to access our security system during every theft."

For a moment, Claire looked genuinely confused.

Then something changed in her expression.

"That's impossible."

"Apparently not."

"Richard has been our attorney since before Dad died."

"Twenty-five years," Julian said. "I'm aware."

Claire slowly sat down.

Sadie watched her carefully.

"Did Richard know about you and Daniel?"

Claire's head snapped toward her.

"Excuse me?"

"Your relationship. Did he know?"

Claire looked at Julian.

Neither sibling answered immediately.

That was becoming a familiar and extremely irritating habit.

Sadie crossed her arms.

"I'm starting to understand why this family needs so many lawyers. Nobody here can answer a straightforward question."

"Yes," Claire finally said.

"Yes, he knew?"

"He helped us."

Julian turned sharply.

"What?"

Claire swallowed.

"Richard helped Daniel and me meet when you were trying to keep us apart."

Julian stared at his sister.

"You never told me that."

"You weren't exactly approachable."

"I was trying to protect you."

"You threatened the man I loved."

Sadie watched Julian's jaw tighten.

Claire stood.

"Daniel wasn't some criminal who seduced your innocent little sister. He was kind. He was funny. He remembered things nobody else cared about."

Her voice cracked.

"He brought me coffee before my morning classes. He took me to that ridiculous seafood restaurant in Revere because I liked watching the ocean."

Sadie thought of the stolen matchbook.

"Was that where the photograph was taken?"

Claire nodded.

"August fourteenth. Four days before the fire."

Julian looked away.

Claire's eyes filled.

"Daniel was going to tell me something that night. Something important. But Richard called, and Daniel left."

"Richard called him?" Sadie asked.

Claire nodded again.

"He said there was a problem with the shipping records."

Julian went very still.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you spent the next twenty-three years treating Daniel's disappearance like something you alone were entitled to suffer over."

The words landed hard.

For once, Julian had nothing to say.

Martin appeared at the study door.

"Mr. Corsini, there's another problem."

Julian looked up.

"What?"

"Richard's office says he's been out of the country for six days."

Sadie frowned.

"Then how was he accessing the cameras?"

"That's what we're trying to establish."

Claire reached for her handbag.

"I want to speak to him."

"No," Julian said.

"He's been my attorney for years."

"And someone used his credentials to threaten Sadie."

Claire glanced at her.

For the first time, something resembling guilt crossed her face.

"I didn't know about the threat."

"Someone left the missing train ticket on my bed," Sadie said. "With a note telling me to stop asking questions."

Claire looked genuinely horrified.

"Daniel's ticket?"

"Yes."

Claire sank back into her chair.

"Oh, God."

Sadie moved closer.

"What?"

Claire covered her mouth.

"That ticket wasn't Daniel's."

Julian turned.

"What are you talking about?"

Claire looked between them.

"It was mine."

Silence.

"Daniel bought two tickets to Providence," she whispered. "We were supposed to leave together."

Sadie stared at her.

"Leave?"

Claire nodded.

"We were going to get married."

Julian looked as though someone had struck him.

"You were twenty."

"And I loved him."

"Claire—"

"No. You don't get to do that anymore."

She wiped her cheeks.

"We were supposed to leave on August sixteenth. But Daniel canceled everything. He said he'd found something terrible, and if he disappeared, I should never trust anyone connected to Corsini Shipping."

Sadie felt her stomach tighten.

"Did he say who?"

Claire shook her head.

"He said he'd hidden proof."

"Where?"

"He wouldn't tell me."

Julian walked toward the window.

Sadie could almost see him mentally rearranging twenty-three years of memories.

Then Claire said something that changed everything.

"Richard knew about the tickets."

Julian turned.

"How?"

"Because he was the one who bought them."

That evening, Sadie found Julian sitting alone in the breakfast room.

His untouched dinner sat beside an unfinished crossword.

She leaned against the doorway.

"You're doing that thing again."

He didn't look up.

"What thing?"

"Staring at something like you can intimidate it into giving you answers."

"The crossword is winning."

"Must be a first."

Julian finally glanced at her.

She walked over and examined the puzzle.

"Seven across. Six letters. A person who betrays someone."

"Traitor."

"Congratulations. You solved your family reunion."

Despite himself, Julian laughed.

It was brief.

But real.

Sadie sat opposite him.

"Why didn't you tell Claire about this room?"

"She wanted to forget."

"Did she?"

"I thought so."

"Or did you decide that for her?"

Julian put down his pen.

Sadie expected him to get angry.

Instead, he looked tired.

"Daniel was my best friend."

She said nothing.

"He was the only person in my life who didn't care about my last name. He told me when I was being an ass. Which was frequently."

"Shocking."

"He made Claire happy."

"Then why did you hate them together?"

Julian stared at his hands.

"Because I knew what my family was capable of."

Sadie studied him.

"And you thought keeping them apart would protect her?"

"Yes."

"How'd that work out?"

He looked at her.

"Poorly."

The honesty softened something inside her.

For several seconds, neither spoke.

Then Julian reached across the table and slid the crossword toward her.

"Eight down."

Sadie looked.

A five-letter word for an unexpected pleasure.

She picked up the pen.

"Dance."

Julian watched her write it.

"That's five letters."

"I know."

"That's not the answer."

She smiled.

"It is tonight."

Later, Claire called Sadie privately.

Her voice was unsteady.

"There's something else."

Sadie sat up in bed.

"What?"

"Daniel came to see me after the warehouse fire."

Every muscle in Sadie's body tightened.

"What did you say?"

"Six days afterward. At my apartment."

Sadie gripped the phone.

"Claire, everyone thinks he disappeared that night."

"I know."

"Did Julian know?"

"No."

"Why didn't you tell him?"

Claire began crying.

"Because Daniel made me promise."

Sadie closed her eyes.

"Why?"

"He said someone had betrayed him. Someone he'd trusted with everything."

"Who?"

Claire's next words were barely audible.

"He told me Julian would never forgive himself if he knew."

The call ended.

Sadie sat motionless.

Daniel had survived the fire.

He had returned to Claire.

And for twenty-three years, Julian had been searching for a man who'd deliberately hidden from him.