Forced into a betrothal with an abusive man, the only way out might be to beat her fiancé at his own game.Miss Marianne Twisden knows her best chance at a safe and happy life is to marry a kind man and leave her violent father behind. When her father signs papers betrothing her to Lord Cockell--a cruel and even more violent blackguard--Marianne is desperate for a way out. Her new fiancé gives her one: if Marianne discredits Lord Sheldon Lockhart, England's newest barrister, Cockell will release her from the marriage contract.Lord Sheldon Lockhart is determined to rid his neighborhood of Cockell--a man who preys on gamble-hooked gentlemen by loaning them far more money than they could ever hope to repay and then extracting it mercilessly. What he didn't expect was to fall for Cockell's most beautiful victim, Miss Marianne. The seemingly simple game becomes complex when a deep, abiding affection grows between Marianne and Sheldon. It is made all the more perilous when Cockell refuses to play by the rules. Strategizing together, Marianne and Sheldon must think several steps ahead if they ever hope to out-play their opponent and have a shot at victory and their own happily ever after.