Iris Bahr is "Svetlana," a sharp, acerbic, no-nonsense woman of indeterminate age (between 30 and 50, she'll never tell) who landed in Minnesota from the USSR years ago as a mail-order bride. She quickly left her humdrum life and milquetoast husband, Steve, for a life of edge and passion on the streets of Los Angeles — pursuing her version of the American dream — opening a brothel that caters to high end clients. And with that was born "St. Petersburg House of Discreet Pleasure."