After a whirlwind year modeling for the world's most prestigious fashion houses, Michelle Kensington is finally ready to take a breath. Until she learns that her childhood best friend, Rosella Morelli, is getting married. The two have been friends for over 20 years, sharing everything from secret crushes to heartbreaks. But, Michelle has only heard bits and pieces about Rosella's whirlwind romance with Italian billionaire and CEO, Vincenzo Moretti, a man whose side profile has only been seen on her best friend's curated Instagram feed. When Michelle arrives at the luxurious villa for the week-long destination wedding, she expects opulence, beauty, and wine. She doesn't expect the unsettling attraction that grips her the moment she meets Vincenzo in person. He's charming and intense, with a commanding presence that needs no words. He speaks only when necessary, and somehow that silence says more than conversation ever could. He is nothing like the aloof socialite she had imagined. As the pre-wedding festivities unfold with sunset dinners, yacht parties, and late-night conversations, she does her best to keep her distance from Vincenzo. But the pull between them is impossible to ignore. Their tension simmers beneath every glance, every brush of skin, until it becomes harder to pretend there's nothing there. What begins as chemistry becomes a forbidden affair neither of them can name out loud.

Pushing himself from the door Gulian neared her, standing in front of her. "I want you to stop seeing 𝙝𝙞𝙢, that's what I want." Kyomi scoffed as she shook her head. "Why would I stop doing that? Just 'cause you call yourself asking nicely?"

"𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭." 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦. "𝘐 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦. 𝘈𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭." 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘳𝘶𝘣𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦.

"Please Jesus, free me of the spirit of lust." "I know that relationships built under your word can last forever. So free me of the thought, free me of the feeling and free me from my flesh trying to cloud my judgement." "I don't worship lust, sex or desire. I worship you Jesus, please don't allow me to lose sight of that." "In Jesus name, I pray." "Amen." I spoke desperately as I stood up from my knees.

"I made the decision to cheat on my wife because I liked the way you made me feel vulnerable and comfortable enough to open up to you the night before it happened. I ain't never did shit like that before and that's what made it easy for me to choose to risk everything I got for you." "That shit probably not a big deal to you but a nigga like me ain't never opened up to nobody but my best friend-and still..that's rare. I hate even talking about her with you but I don't even feel comfortable talking to Ariana about my feelings 'cause I know she gon' judge me. You don't make me feel like that."

Every time Isaiah looked at himself in the mirror, he was constantly reminded of the most traumatic moment of his life. He grew to hate himself until Namiko randomly waltzed into his life one day and began teaching him how to love himself again. It was as if she was his second chance. He'd been so pissed off all night to the point where he was physically shaking like a ticking bomb. This one hug from her felt like the rainbow after a severe thunderstorm. He couldn't believe that his sanity really depended on her. He'd never reached this point of love before. She brought him so much peace. That's why he loved her the way that he did; the reason why he couldn't stand to spend a single second away from her and why he depended on her to keep him sane. She was just it; like a breath of fresh air. He never expected the woman that ended up stealing his heart would be a real life Disney Princess wandering cluelessly around New York City; an autistic one, at that.

Moving to the rough streets of Harlem is a step back for Lorena after running from her supposedly good life in the suburbs of Miami. She searches for freedom in the most unlikely of places yet in meeting Cross, she couldn't find herself more trapped in the hands of a ruthless thug who is also her brother's best friend. ❝𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗮 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁?❞ 𝐍𝐎. 𝟏 - #𝐃𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐓, 𝐃𝐄𝐂𝐄𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑

"How are you supposed to keep your man with your hair in that mess, Tamia?" "And has your hair been looking like that all week?" She went on talking about my hair now, considering it was blown-out instead of well kept, hot combed and straightened the way that she liked. "No, mama." I dragged, annoyed completely now with all of my peace gone in this moment. "I just got out of the shower and I just finished washing and blow-drying my hair." "I'm going to hot comb it and then flat iron it when I'm finished doing my skincare." "Yasin's not going to be home until tomorrow probably anyway." I threw in there but of course she wouldn't chastise him about why and where.