What began as a marriage of convenience has become a marriage of love. Or so Eleanor believes. Months have passed since the Duke of Northwood saved her from a terrible fate, and now Eleanor is a duchess in every sense of the word. She is deeply in love with her husband, Gabriel, but a sense of unease lingers. He is still reserved, distant, and she fears he only sees their union as a duty.

Gabriel is terrified. He's fallen for Eleanor with a fierce and unexpected passion, but his past has convinced him that he is unworthy of a real, loving marriage. He's a duke, a protector, but he doesn't know how to be a husband in love. One night, a moment of unguarded intimacy shatters their carefully constructed world, and Gabriel, overwhelmed with shame, flees.

Left alone and heartbroken, Eleanor soon discovers a secret that will change everything: she is pregnant with the duke's child. When her cruel cousin, Lord Ashworth, reappears and offers a new, terrifying path, Eleanor is faced with an impossible choice. With her future—and her child's—at stake, she must decide if she can ever trust the man who left her.