When Crispin Daventry fled London’s most notorious gaming hell, the Underworld, with a broken heart and empty pockets, he wasn’t sure he would ever return.

But after a spell of debauchery in Italy with his new friend Count Este, he believes he has finally cast aside all thoughts of romance and is ready to pay back his debts, seeking his own unique revenge on the venue that bankrupted him.

So when an usual stowaway in the shape of Lady Amanda Beasley appears on his ship bound for home, life at sea suddenly becomes far more tempestuous. Concealing a young woman travelling alone is both improper and inconvenient, and a complication Crispin could happily do without.

Duty-bound by his gentleman’s upbringing, he agrees to protect her until they are back on English soil. But will a return to the capital of sin turn this damsel in distress into something more?