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

It did occur to him that not returning to the house party could be considered cowardly in some ways, but his only purpose for attending had been Nick. Rather, the fob in Nick’s possession. Why should he endure more days of boredom—and possibly censure—when there was no longer any goal? True, if he’d returned, it would have put some limits on what Nick could claim happened, but it didn’t matter greatly what Nick said, the worst would be thought of Matthias rather than the handsome, amiable, legitimateViscount Leighton. Small comfort though it was, Matthias consoled himself with the knowledge that Nick wasn’t likely to make even the slightest reference to what was truly between them—he couldn’t without risking his sisters’ chances in Society.


Chapter 61