One reckless night. One mystery man. One truth that refuses to stay buried.

Fleur McQuoid is left with nothing but questions—and a single clue she cannot ignore. A night that should have been forgotten . . . and a man she cannot. Her search draws her into the path of another. A man as cold as he is powerful . . . a duke who looks at her as though she is nothing—and yet watches her as though she is already his.

The recently jilted Duke of Hartwell is a man of control, distance, and unwavering restraint—entirely untouched by sentiment. A man who does not love. Who does not yield. Who does not forgive weakness—least of all in himself.

Yet, through his loyalty to his brother, he remains entangled with the McQuoid family. A family he considers beneath him. A family he has no intention of ever joining.

He requires a suitable wife. A proper duchess. Obedient. Flawless. Forgettable. He came dangerously close to making a very inconvenient mistake—a mistake he has no intention of repeating. But Fleur McQuoid—is not so easily dismissed.

Somewhere between secrets, pride, and unspoken truths . . . between defiance and desire . . . between resistance and ruin . . . something begins that neither of them can control—and neither of them can escape. Because he does not want her. He should not want her. And yet . . . he cannot seem to let her go.

Contains mature themes.