After escaping her father's threat of an arranged marriage and settling in Madrid, Spain, Gia Delgado enters into an unconventional contract with three men she meets in a bar.In exchange for a life of luxury, she'll act as their no-strings wife, whether they want to display her in public or lead her to the bedroom.But there are vital rules: they are all bound to secrecy. And no one is allowed to fall in love.In Raleigh, North Carolina, Tracey Lauch, an eminent judge, is harboring his own secret. Haunted by his past, he kills, and after that first murder, he finds himself driven to do it again-and the Parking Lot Strangler is born. Desperate to break the cycle, he retires and flees to Europe, hoping a change of place will control his desire to kill.Gia and her friends bond as fate draws them closer to Tracey. They meet on a river cruise through Ukraine, where this tranquil voyage delivers one unwitting victim to their death . . . giving rise to a new, international serial killer.