Win...You live. Lose... You die. Wine, women and winning- the three things that all gladiators want, and Cassian, a champion gladiator still recovering from an illness that nearly killed him, wants them more than most. A man of unbridled passion but never love, he has sworn that he will never let another woman into his heart. His title adn keeping it are all that matter to him...until her. Violetta, innocent and devout, has only one desire-surviving servitude to the monster who bought her as a slave at only thirteen. Her dreams of the temple are destroyed when her innocence is given away. Gifted, not the gods as she had prayed for, but to a mortal man. He ws not just any man, but the champion gladiator that ruled the sands of Velletri's arena and soon, her heart. Owned by different men, both Cassian and Violetta fight for every chance they might have to lay eyes upon one another, praying for even the chance to touch. A bargain between the champion's lanista and the silk merchant that possesses Violetta brings her to his bed with every victory. Withi his woman as the prize, Cassian will fight any enemy, even his own pride and temper, to have her in his arms. Whe the stakes are this high, can he face the ultimate question? What is the price of a loss?