Katherine Wilcox Palmers, the Viscountess of Hampton, has lost custody of the daughter she secretly bore to Jahleel Charles, now the Duke of Torrance. The bitter court ruling was engineered by the duke himself, but now he is gravely ill. If he dies, Katherine, branded a scandalous bigamist by her late husband's vengeful family, may never see her child again—unless she makes a bold offer.

Katherine swallows her pride and proposes that she will nurse him back to health, serve his every need, and keep up appearances, on one condition: he will secure her a respectable husband to silence society's gossip. In private, she will be his mistress.

But Jahleel has plans of his own. Pressured to produce an heir, he resolves to marry someone else. The hereditary blood sickness that plagues them means Katherine can never be his bride again—no matter how fiercely their old passions reignite.

As dangerous forces gather, composed of those who would erase their child from the peerage for her mixed heritage, Jahleel and Katherine must confront the betrayals and deceptions that tore them apart. To protect their daughter, and fight for the future they were denied, they must jeopardize everything.