As if reading my mind, Lily came up to me. “Miss Nora didn’t steal me, Miss Delia. She didn’t even know who I was at first. Don’t be angry with her.”

Lily dozed off. Aidan lifted her on to the bed and covered her with a duvet. Then he poured two glasses of brandy, gave me one and sat down opposite me.

“Sullivan!” we both said in unison.

“I knew he was behind it,” Aidan said. “He was the one bringing her to New York.”

“Yes,” I said. “And it seems Shane Kearney was helping him.”

Aidan nodded. “Sullivan was behind the whole leasing scheme too. And no doubt Kearney was part of it.”

“And Nora. She may have had no part in Lily’s disappearance, but she definitely was helping Sullivan get your leases.”

We fell silent, each lost in our own thoughts.

I remembered what I’d said to Nora. I wish you’d stayed dead! It was a terrible thing to say to anyone, let alone my own sister. I had no idea what she’d been through since that night on the Titanic. I had no idea why she was working for Sullivan. Maybe it had nothing to do with revenge. The one thing I did know was that she had done a kind and brave thing by bringing Lily back to us. She had risked Sullivan’s temper—and I could vouch for the ferocity of it from my own experience—and she’d risked running afoul of Shane Kearney. Shane Kearney! I could hardly believe it. A wolf in sheep’s clothing, Ma would have called him.

I drained my brandy, looked at the clock and stood up.

“There’s somewhere I have to go, Aidan,” I said. “I’ll be back soon.”

Nora

Nora

I cried all the way back to Dallas. By the time I reached my room at the Adolphus, I had no tears left to shed. I shouldn’t have been surprised at Delia’s reaction. I could understand why she’d jump to the conclusion that I’d taken Lily. And she knew I was the one buying out Aidan’s leases. From her way of looking at it, I had hurt the two people she loved.

Delia’s fierceness had stunned me, but what had sliced through me like a knife was when she’d said she wished I was still dead. I hadn’t expected the likes of that—particularly from the Delia I remembered, who’d never say as much as boo to a goose. I’d almost doubled over from the pain of it, from the pain of knowing I’d lost my only sister once and for all.