Publisher's Synopsis
New York City, 1902. On the morning of her wedding to Calder Hart, amateur sleuth Francesca Cahill is lured away to a private viewing of a portrait that could destroy her entire family: the nude that Hart has commissioned of her. Her desperate quest to recover the scandalous portrait leads her into a dangerous trap-one that keeps her from meeting Hart at the altar. And when Francesca finally arrives at the church, she finds it vacant.
With her engagement over and a blackmailer intent on destroying her reputation, Francesca turns to Rick Bragg, the city's powerful police commissioner. Together they scour the sordid streets of lower Manhattan, following a deliberately laid trail of clues in a race against the clock. And once it becomes clear that Bragg's marriage is failing, Francesca must war with her feelings for him, battle Hart's jealousy and escape a killer-all as she fights to win Hart back. But sometimes, passion just cannot be denied . . .