I took them from him, the heavy parchment crisp and cold under my fingers.

My eyes scanned the elegant script at the top of the first page: *First Star Land Holdings.*

These were the original deeds to the land beneath the Cumberland Avenue estate and the downtown restaurant.

My signature was at the bottom, but it was clean and genuine, not the clumsy forgery Gavin had used on the bank loans.

“These prove you still own the ground everything sits on,” Daniel said, his voice trembling with excitement. “The mortgages Gavin took out are invalid without these.”

A floorboard creaked directly above our heads.

I froze, clutching the deeds tightly against my chest.

“Daniel?” a sharp, whispered voice called out from the darkness of the stairs.

It was not Gavin.

Brooke stepped down into the pale light of the basement, her heavy wool coat damp from the fog.

Her mascara was smudged under her eyes, and her hands were stuffed deep into her pockets.

“Emily,” she said, stopping at the bottom of the steps. “Thank God you’re here.”

I stepped back, keeping Daniel between us. “What are you doing here, Brooke?”