“Did you sign the release?” he asked me.

“You transferred the title to this house to Chloe three weeks before you had me served,” I said.

Patrick stood very still next to the refrigerator, one thumb hooked in his belt loop.

“The house was bought under a Sterling Capital real estate subsidiary,” he said.

“As chief officer, I have full authority to manage company property.”

“You paid forty-five thousand dollars to change my county adoption file,” I said.

The soft, apologetic mask fell off Patrick’s face at once, his jaw setting into a hard line.