Montreal journalist Lou Sabatino, under witness protection after nearly being gunned down by the Mafia, is sucked into the quirky world of a conniving Russian dominatrix who has secretly recorded herself putting the whip to the bare bottom of a high-ranking federal cabinet minister. It's the scoop of the century, but too hot a potato - if Lou breaks the story, he risks exposing himself to the mercies of the Mafia. Instead, he shows the video to Green Party leader Margaret Blake. The video is leaked, and Margaret is sued by the minister for $50 million. Enter Arthur Beauchamp, Margaret's husband and famed criminal lawyer, who had found - or so he hoped - blissful retirement on idyllic Garibaldi Island on the West Coast. But now he's representing the woman he loves while tormented by fears that she's embroiled in an affair.