He envisioned Blue’s head and guillotined a thistle with one clean blow. Her lie about April stepped over more boundaries than he could count. Although he’d met a lot of manipulative women, he’d never met one with more gall, but before he confronted her, he intended to let her swing in the breeze.

By the time the carpenters left for the day, he’d cleared the worst of the weeds from the foundation without doing too much damage to what he finally figured out were the peony bushes. His shoulder ached like a son of a bitch, but he’d been cooped up too long, and he didn’t care. It felt good using his body again.

As he emerged from the toolshed, the smell of something savory drifted his way from the open kitchen window. Blue had decided to cook, but he had no intention of sitting through a cozy dinner that included his mother, and he didn’t doubt for a moment that Blue would invite her.

On his way into the house, his thoughts abruptly returned to Marli Moffatt’s death and the eleven-year-old daughter she’d left behind. His half sister. The idea was unreal. He knew what it felt like to be an orphan, and one thing was for damn sure. That poor kid had better be able to look after herself because Jack Patriot wouldn’t do it for her.

Chapter Seven

Riley Patriot lived in Nashville, Tennessee, in a white brick house with six white columns, white marble floors, and a gleaming white Mercedes-Benz in the garage. In the living room, a white grand piano sat near a pair of matching white sofas on an all-white carpet. Riley hadn’t been allowed in the living room since she’d squirted a box of grape Juicy Juice there when she was six.

Even though Riley was eleven now, her mother had never forgiven or forgotten—not just the grape Juicy Juice, but a lot of things—and now it was too late. Ten days ago, a whole bunch of people had seen her mom, Marli Moffatt, fall through a broken railing into the Cumberland River from the top deck of the paddle wheeler Old Glory. She’d banged her head on something when she hit the water, it was night, and they didn’t find her until it was too late. Ava, Riley’s ten millionth au pair, woke Riley up to break the news.

Now, a week and a half later, Riley was on the run to find her brother.