Bilford, New Hampshire, so named for the Bilford family, is home to shipping magnate Gordon Andrew Bilford III. To the world, Gordon is a powerful businessman, a man of wealth, taste, and decorum, and sadly, a man who has recently become a widower. Gordon is also a man with secrets. The House of Bilford cloaks the secrets of a dark power within his family. A power passed as a gift from father to son. A gift Gordon desperately wants to return.

Enter the Irish minx, Colleen (Call-een) O'Malley, niece of Gordon's nearest neighbors, and dearest friends, Shaun and Fran O'Malley. Colleen is soft-spoken, well educated, cultured—and a stunning red-headed beauty, with secrets of her own, who has been sent on a mission to the House of Bilford.

Although Gordon has just lost his wife, Colleen appears determined to capture Gordon's attention. As Colleen is more and more successful with her endeavors, Gordon is inexplicably drawn not only to Colleen's charms and grace but to her seemingly mysterious knowledge of Gordon's alter ego. Although not a part of her plan, Colleen has found herself equally drawn to Gordon. Will their passion lead them to heaven, or to hell on earth?