The oldest trick in the book…
When Lyall Anderson, Viscount Buchanan, starts a passionate affair with Miss Lilith Fulbright, he realises too late that he’s been playing with fire. Caught in a compromising position by her parents, it’s all too obvious the beautiful, amoral young woman is only hungry for wealth and a title and has no regard for him whatsoever. Humiliated and furious, Lyall does his duty as an honourable man, knowing that his future with such a woman will be one of misery.

Adding insult to injury…
When Lilith discovers her husband is not one she can manipulate, she takes her chance to run off with another man and comes to a disastrous end, drowning in a shipwreck.

In the aftermath of his wife’s death, Lyall is stunned to discover he has been named as guardian to her cousin, Luella, and Jack, who is only twelve. Knowing full well this is just another scheme from a family who are infamous for being fraudsters and conmen, Lyall refuses to trust his new wards so much as an inch.

Tarred by the same brush…
Luella does not blame her new guardian for his suspicion and anger at being manipulated into providing for them. Her opinion of her late father is little different from the viscount’s, and all she wants is her inheritance, so she can begin a new life with her brother and give him a decent future, away from the shame of their family’s scandalous ways. Lyall is determined to stick to the letter of his guardianship, however, and refuses to let the two out of his sight for fear of the tricks they may play.