“Haven’t you told me, time and time again, Juliet, that I owe your brother nothing? That I ought to cast him out on the street because he’s worthless?” It was clear that our father saw my sister as the weak link, the one who would crack under pressure. I’d spent years defying him; Juliet had always been eager to please him. If he could, he would twist her loyalty back to him and break her with it.

“I’ve deserved to be called worthless,” I said.

“Believe me, he has called you far worse than that,” Ursula said from the doorway. Her voice was cool and crisp. She was simply dressed in a white shirt and trousers, but her eyes were brighter than I’d ever seen them. “He called you a killer. He made all of us believe it.”

“Was this your plan? The three of you ganging up on me? Because I don’t have time for this shit.” My father got to his feet. “I’m also giving you notice to vacate this house, Theo. I own it. You’re just a tenant. You can live on the street for all I care.”

“You don’t want to leave just yet,” I said. “You’ll want to hear our exciting news about the family business.”

“What news?”

“I’ve decided to return to Thraxton International.”

He peered at me as if I were a curious artifact he couldn’t decide was real or counterfeit. “Are you serious? You want to work with me?”

“Definitely not. I’ll be working for Juliet.” I glanced her way. “What’s my title again?”

“Senior vice president of global operations, ethics, and compliance,” Juliet announced grandly.

“Is this some kind of joke?” Our father’s head swiveled to look back and forth between us.

“Theo and I agree that a nicely downsized hotel business is the way of the future,” Juliet said. “Our future, at least. No money laundering. No crime-ing at all. Can you even imagine it? Don’t answer that, Father, because I know you can’t.”

“You think you can quit?”

“We’re not quitting anything,” Juliet said. “We’re firing you.”

He broke out in laughter. “You two are incredible,” he said finally. “You barely have a penny to your names. How are you going to take the business away from me?”

“Because you’ll be in jail,” Juliet said.

He shook his head. “If I go to jail, honey, you go to jail. There’s no way to implicate me in any crime without implicating yourself. Theo might be able to wriggle off the hook, but the name Juliet Thraxton is on documents from here to Moscow.”

“Actually, Theodore,” Ursula said, “Juliet is quite safe. You’re the one who’ll go to jail for murder.”