She knows how to price beauty.
She does not know how much it will cost to uncover the truth.

When elite art adviser Margot Vale is summoned to a Belgravia mansion after the death of notorious collector Julian Armitage, she expects an estate valuation. What she finds instead is a hidden room, a missing object, and a portrait of a woman in black that was never meant to be seen.

The painting is exquisite. Altered. Untraceable. And the moment it surfaces, so do the men circling it.

There is Daniel Pike, the rival consultant with a history of lies, leverage, and dangerous knowledge. And there is Luc, the cool, devastating art specialist who can read the evidence hidden beneath varnish, paint, and centuries of silence, and who sees far too much when he looks at her.

As Margot follows a trail of private papers, vanished records, and whispered claims stretching from London to Geneva and Vienna, the line between professional risk and personal ruin begins to blur. Because the deeper she goes, the clearer it becomes: this is not just a lost masterpiece. It is the center of a secret someone has already lied, hidden, and maneuvered to protect.

And in a world where ownership is power, desire is leverage, and nothing truly priceless stays buried forever, Margot may have to risk the one thing she has always kept under control, herself.

Perfect for readers who love luxury settings, dangerous secrets, high-stakes desire, and sophisticated romantic suspense.