Mercy O'Shea had every reason to hate her guardian, Julian Devereux. He had killed her father and then, out of guilt, made her his ward. As a child, she suppressed the rage that burned in her heart. But as a woman, that rage is fired by a storm of conflicted passion. Denying her desire for the man she's sworn to hate, she announces her betrothal to another.and discovers she has driven Julian to a desperate act. Obsessed by anger and the intensity of his own longings, Julian blackmails Mercy into becoming his wife, sweeping her into a battleground of twisted emotions, shattering revelations, and jealous secrets. Trapped in a bitter war of words, their passion explodes in the agony of a need that can only be answered in the ecstasy of sweet surrender.and the extraordinary power of their all-consuming love.