There is nothing Matthias Deverell, illegitimate son of a marquis, wants more than to remove the murmurs of treason that haunt his father’s name. He is determined to do just that, even if it means completing the nearly impossible task of reassembling the globe his father used as a safe. With pieces spread all over London, it will take all of Matthias’ considerable skill at intimidation to retrieve them. Nicholas Rexford, young Viscount Leighton, wants only to be able to provide a comfortable life for himself and his three sisters. After being left in near-poverty thanks to their father’s spending and gambling, Nick is desperate to find a business venture he can invest in to turn their fortunes around. Sadly, he has no head for business, preferring to spend his time engrossed in horrid novels. When Matthias finds Nick in possession of a piece of the globe, he believes the handsome young man to be in on the scheme, and decides to keep a closer eye on him. But when Nick meets Matthias, he is enthralled by the “dark and dangerous bastard” who could have stepped out of one of his novels. Despite his suspicions, Matthias is drawn to Nick, but will his suspicions destroy what is developing between them and cost Matthias a chance at happiness?

The Bastard's World

“He forced me to invest with a charlatan! A mountebank who fled with all the investors’ money!”


Nick frowned. “How could he force you to—?”


“He refused me a place in the Lansea Square venture!” Lamotte actually waved the pistol for a moment, but it was over too quickly for Matthias to make a grab for it. “He left me no choice but to invest elsewhere.”


“Refused?” Nick looked genuinely bewildered. “I’m not terribly familiar with the particulars, but why would someone refuse an investor?”


Matthias could keep silent no longer. “He would if said investor had tried to cheat him once before.”


“Be silent!” Spittle flew from Lamotte’s mouth.


“And when you invested elsewhere, you were cheated,” Nick surmised. “Matthias is hardly to blame for that.”


“I lost everything, you fool!” Lamotte shook the pistol at Nick. “I was promised a fortune!”


“Not by me,” Matthias said, determined to keep Lamotte’s attention on him.


Chapter 37