After losing everything in a series of bad decisions, Roarke Desmond is dependent on his horrible cousins for an allowance. When they ask him to do something horrible: spy on their stepmother, the Duchess of Sidmouth, he doesn’t want to. But what he could provide to his terribly ill mother with what they’ll pay him is impossible to refuse. So he reluctantly agrees, hating himself to the depths of his soul. But once he sees the beautiful duchess, the alluring Flora, everything he wants and needs is turned upside down and something is stoked in him that he never expected.

Flora loved her late husband, despite the vast difference in their ages and the contempt of his adult children. When he died, she resigned herself to the life of a young widow, never looking for love again. But much to her surprise, when Roarke Desmond steps into her life, her thoughts on the subject begin to shift.

The two keep coming into contact, with Roarke more and more captivated by her. But he also feels worse and worse about the lies he’s telling. As for Flora, her own feelings and desire toward him grow deeper with every stolen glance and touch. But when the terrible truth comes out and the cruel lies become desperate danger, they’ll have to overcome the walls now built between them to save each other and maybe even form a life together.