The night Victoria Conrad runs away doesn't turn out at all like she planned. After being accosted by two ruffians, she is rescued by the Earl of Carlisle's coachmen and taken to his country house-only to discover she is his prisoner The doors aren't locked but she is prevented from walking free by the severe winter snows. Alastair Saville returned from the war horribly scarred from painful injuries, the last heir to an earldom he doesn't want. But the single purpose consuming his thoughts is revenge against the man Alastair blames for his sister's death; Ellison Montgomery. He kidnaps Victoria to prevent her marriage to Ellison, intending to bring the man to ruin through poverty and scandal. Once he has Victoria as his unwilling guest she ceases to serve as an anonymous tool in his quest. Vivacious and alluring, she brings light into Alastair's shattered existence. But Alastair is a dying man, and has only these last few days to enjoy her company as he dreams about life as a man whole, and what might have been.