When Emilia Ashley stepped off of the passenger ship in Philadelphia from a London finishing school, she had no idea that her entire world was going to be turned upside down. Her mother, a renowned madam of a Philadelphia brothel and the wealthy Mister Sinclaire were killed in an accident while traveling together. Emily stands to inherit a fortune, but there are stipulations to her inheritance that must be met within a year's time or she will get nothing.

Dillon Sinclaire can't allow Emily to get her hands on one of his father's most profitable investments. He hires a Pinkerton detective to track her down in order to expose her as the daughter of a madam who swindled his father out of a portion of his wealth, preventing her from getting her hands on an inheritance that is rightfully his.

Noah MacLean, a Virginia Cavalier who rode with Mosby's Raiders during the War Between the States, winds up working for the Pinkerton National Detective Agency in Philadelphia, thanks to his tobacco plantation family connections. He is assigned to track down Emilia Ashley on behalf of Dillon Sinclaire. Though Noah does not trust the sinister Sinclaire heir, he honestly goes about his work, but can he bring himself to turn against Emily Ashley?