It’s 1816. The wars with France and America are over. Everard Anderson de Anglada thought he’d be a hero by now, and that it would mean something. Instead, the twenty-year Royal Navy career man sails the peacetime Great Lakes, demoted to captain of a tiny ten-gun schooner. When Preston D’Arcy, Everard’s former Lieutenant and too-handsome ex-flame, forewarns him about a court-martial that they have no choice but to judge, Everard is begrudgingly grateful.
 
On the docket, however, is Vitaliy (Vitya) Gray, American. Everard has crossed paths with him before - not strictly as enemies. Vitya’s charges mean he’ll hang. With quick thinking and quite a lot of perjury, Everard delays the trial. It costs him - and D’Arcy - everything: for Vitya’s true identity is V. Varfolomey, infamous pirate fleet captain and anti-colonial weapons smuggler. At least three crowns want him dead.
 
Between hasty jailbreak, philosophical debates, and proposals - pirate marriage, no-strings - Everard finds himself, his heart, and even D’Arcy commandeered: all the way to the Gulf of México. There, piracy is nothing like he imagined, and Vitya is everything Everard ever truly wished to be: radical, respected, and unforgettable. As Everard struggles to find purpose in his new husband’s shadow - amidst sea battles, espionage, and betrayal - he must also reconcile the irresistible pulls of D’Arcy’s insistent affection and Vitya’s undemanding steadfastness.
 
Then, just as dangerous secrets and enemies come to light, Everard is offered the position of Vice Admiral for the brand-new, revolutionary Galveston navy. Everard must then decide: fulfill at long last his desire for legacy… or stay beside the men with whom he’s fallen in love, and make a legacy of their own.