In 1995, four years after Ukraine declared its independence, it still struggles to break the ties with Russia. Nineteen year old, Lena Petrenko cares nothing about her country or her miserable life. As the daughter of a racketeer, she has witnessed too much violence and evil, and she has shut the world out. Living In her bedroom with her baby doll, she immerses herself in fairy tales with a happy ending. When her father forces her to attend his cage fights, Lena finds herself in the midst of brutality and horror, when she is claimed as a prize by the winner. Her terrifying claimant is nothing like the prince she has hoped for. He is every bit the beast, and she is hardly a beauty. Lena soon learns that there is more to this stranger than his hard exterior. With his capacity for compassion and kindness, Lena begins to discover a man with a dark history, and an agenda that somehow involves her. As she begins to face her own terrible past, she finds him to be an unlikely ally, evoking everything she has buried deep inside, including her passion. As they are drawn to one another, they find themselves contending, once again, with a violent world. Now her captor must become her saviour, at the risk of them losing each other, or losing their lives. As they are drawn to one another, they find themselves contending, once again, with a violent world. Now her captor must become her saviour, at the risk of them losing each other, or losing their lives.