As a gaming hell owner and scholar, Christian Chance is a walking monument to contradiction. A dangerous man lurks beneath his handsome facade. Few are blessed with intelligence and brawn. Few have experienced life as an earl’s grandson and been forced to live in the rookeries. So, when fate offers him an opportunity to combine his talents, he agrees to investigate a case of fraud at the museum. He didn’t expect to be lumbered with a partner—an exotic beauty and his arch-enemy’s daughter. A woman who rouses his passion and his disdain.

Isabella Lawton has spent a lifetime running from her problems. Left homeless after her mother’s death, she has no option but to return to London and pray her father can find an ounce of compassion. But the house is empty, and there’s no sign of the man who never wanted her. A chance meeting offers a perfect solution to her dilemma. But it means working with a man who despises her. A man who hides behind an impenetrable wall to keep people out.

Will the couple overcome their differences and solve the case?

What happens when contempt turns to forbidden desire?