Dawn Encounter — Jennifer Blake

They are perhaps the most dangerous men in New Orleans, skilled swordsmen who play by no rules but their own -- heroes to many, wicked to some, irresistible to the women they love...

Lisette Moisant is a widow, courtesy of the swordsmanship of Caid O'Neill, one of the city's legendary maîtres d'armes. He bested her loathsome husband in a duel, but now she is a pawn of schemers who wish to steal her fortune and see her dead. It is Caid to whom she turns for protection, and guilt leaves him no recourse but to agree to Lisette's request.

But soon a whispering campaign is being waged against them, suggesting the two plotted to kill Lisette's husband all along, that she is a woman of loose morals and he is nothing short of a murderer. In a society where reputation is everything, the scandal and accusations threaten Lisette and Caid with ruin, and the person responsible will stop at nothing until they have paid with their lives.