Ziad al-Kazim is a man who had it all-- Four sons, pride in his Islam religion and culture, and a fast-track career with the Saudi Arabian National Guard. After he makes a drug bust with the help of a US FBI agent Ben Evans, Ziad's family is mysteriously murdered. Framed for the crime, he is arrested and put into a Saudi prision. Freedom comes at a steep cost-- unending shame, public flogging, divestment of everything he owns and exile to the US. Ziad goes to Charleston with Ben and his fiancee, Emma Montgomery, where he begins a new life and relationship with Claire, Emma's sister. A friendship springs up between them and blossoms into romance. However, Claire's and Ziad's own personal demons, plus their differing faiths and cultures, begin to jeopardize any future they might have together. Finally, the shadows from Ziad's past threaten to entangle Claire in their web of death, as Ziad struggles to find answers to the questions surrounding his family's murder.