Anne Brotherton is sick and tired of being an heiress. She cannot bring herself to marry a fortune hunter. Why can't men like her for her sharp mind and kind heart rather than her impressive dowry? Just when she is about to bow to her fate as a confirmed spinster, she meets the handsome and charming Marcus Lithgow. It's been years since Marcus set foot in England. Why toy with the ton when he can fleece wealthy fools in Paris and Rome? Yet everything changes when he inherits a ramshackle estate. Marcus's first and only chance at a respectable life needs funding, the kind Anne Brotherton can provide. Such a wallflower should be ripe for the picking. So why does Marcus feel like he's the one hanging by a thread? She nearly falls for Marcus's smooth seduction. But when Anne realizes she's being strung along, a lust for payback empowers her like never before. Two can play the game of deception. The game of love, however, has its own rules.