One brother builds walls. The other lights matches.
Lord Henry Kingston, the Earl of Derby, runs his world on discipline. Estates managed. Ledgers balanced. Reputation untouchable. A walking ledger of desirability, he has spent six years outwitting ministers and building his empire across three continents. He believes London's drawing rooms hold nothing capable of unsettling him.
He is spectacularly wrong.
And then she arrives.
A woman Lord Henry never factored into his calculations. A woman whose identity remains a mystery, but whose effect on him is anything but.
Lord Henry is returning home and with him he brings the Grünewald masterpieces, not to soothe but to confront. To the ton, they are a spectacle.
To Lord Henry, they are a legacy.
But to an unseen enemy, they are a target.
As Lord Henry prepares to step back into a city built on secrets and ambition, someone is already watching. Someone is waiting for him to arrive.
And this stoic earl will discover a devastating truth: no amount of duty can protect his heart from what he never saw coming.
Before the scandal. Before the stakes. Before the woman who will undo six years of careful architecture in a single season.
This is the prequel to The Grünewald Affair.
The crack starts here.
Why readers are downloading this free prequel:
- The Stoic Earl: A charming dive into Lord Henry's world of rigid discipline right before it gets delightfully upended.
- Brother vs Brother: Witty banter, delicious family friction, and the playful chemistry between polar opposites.
- Art & Mischief: A light, fast-paced introduction to high-society secrets and a looming mystery.
- The Road to The Grünewald Affair: Follow Lord Henry's journey from a man of ice to a man of passion, where the Disarming A Rogue Mystery Series begins.
