Lily O’Sullivan is a mobster princess, trapped in a life she never wanted, and after devastating events, becomes a prisoner in her own home. Kieran Hayes, mob assassin aka Nightshade, is the man who spent his life loving her and would do anything to protect her, even give his own life to save hers. They planned a future together, and he promised to take her away from the nightmare they were forced to live in, but after waiting so many years for that to happen Lily lost faith in Kieran.
"Because he loved me, and my heart ached for the love we’d had, but he was a warrior through and through. And ever since that night Aric died, those instincts had slowly enveloped Kieran’s love for me, until they were all he knew. Save Lily. Protect Lily. Hide Lily. Cage Lily."
For the past two years Lily’s only form of freedom is on Mondays, when she’s able to disguise herself and sneak out to meet her girlfriend at a café. During this time Lily encounters Dare, a gorgeous mystery man who likes to leave her notes. These notes have become a sort of life line for Lily, and a secret yearning develops. She reasons with herself that she’s not doing anything wrong because they have never even spoken to each other during those two years. They don’t even know each other’s name, until one night changes everything, and the deadliest of chain reactions are set in motion. “We were like fire, but fire never lasts. And when it’s over, devastation is left in its wake.”
This story and the characters completely consumed me. I could literally feel Lily’s heartbreak of being torn between 2 men, and Kieran’s despair of possibly losing the love of his life, the woman he would lay down his life for, and Dare’s intense longing to keep the woman who lights up his darkness, his firefly. "She glowed so damn bright ... and when we were together, it was like setting a dry forest on fire in the dead of night."
I have to say, this is the first time I ever loved both men. Although they were complete opposites in many ways, they both loved her fiercely, and I knew my heart was going to break no matter what. So even though I was reading a ticking time bomb, I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. I absolutely knew it was going to explode, but I had no idea how bad the fall out would be.
"I would let my heart be destroyed a thousand times if it meant a thousand more days with him."