Was her mother really a spy? Michelle D'Orage refuses to believe that when a Russian diplomat named Alexei Vatutin comes to the Swiss boarding school where she teaches. Her mother fled France and the Terror when Michelle was only a baby, and Michelle never thought about where the money came for them to survive. Nor did her mother tell her about their past or the ring with the lightning bolt on it that she claims was her wedding ring.

Now Alexei insists she come with Alexei to Vienna, where a meeting of leaders in the wake of Napoleon's banishment to Elba is going to redraw Europe in the hopes of lasting peace. Alexei doesn't hide that he is a spy and believes that Michelle has inherited her mother's gift for subterfuge. The glittering, dangerous world of diplomacy and espionage is almost as terrifying for Michelle as her overwhelming craving for the handsome Russian. But, as she longs to give her heart and herself to him, Alexei has not told her all his secrets, and his greatest one could tear them apart forever as Napoleon makes one last desperate attempt to regain his empire.