"A year out of your life. What price would you ask?" Samma supposed that any other woman would surely slap the face of a man who would pose such a question. But Samma couldn't afford that luxury with Roche Delacroix. With her stepfather ready to sell her "favors" to clear his gambling debts, Roche represented Samma's only avenue of escape from an unthinkable future on Cristoforo Island. Only a few hours earlier, the lips that opened the suggestive negotiation had made Samma so thoroughly aware of being female. Samma couldn't help feeling that life was doubly unfair.