Laurie and Sasha have built a bright new world together. Sasha is working for the Immigration Guidance Council, and Laurie is landing theatre roles he could once only have dreamed of. Best of all, they've spent the past two years enjoying the love they snatched from the jaws of Sasha's violent, dangerous past.

But Laurie has a history too. He's on edge, his talents increasing beyond his ability to deal with them. And although his father is dead, Laurie can't deny the turbulent genetic heritage the old man has bestowed on him. Only Sasha's love is keeping him anchored and sane – and Sasha is vulnerable, shaken by bad dreams about his life on the streets.

Then Laurie learns that Sasha's Romanian gang-lord father is on the loose in London, and his deepest fears boil to the surface. The last time Stefan's shadow fell, Sasha made a run for it, and Laurie can't bear the thought of losing him again. When Laurie lands a part in the latest Hollywood blockbuster, he abandons England for a dream of safety in the States, persuading the astonished Sasha to come with him.

But the dream becomes a waking nightmare for both of them beneath an alien Californian sun. Laurie must meet his demons head-on, and Sasha must confront the inner barricades that have kept him from treating Laurie as a comrade as well as a lover and a friend. The frosts of a midwinter London brought them together – will this blazing summer crack them apart, or forge enduring love from first romance?