Arielle Carter thought love was supposed to protect her. Instead, it buried the man she loved. When Jalen Cross is gunned down because of a case of mistaken identity, Ari is left standing in the cold-grieving, pregnant, and drowning in questions that no one seems willing to answer. The city moves on quickly, but Ari can't. Every night feels longer without Jalen's voice, and every memory hurts worse knowing he never made it home. As Ari struggles to prepare for motherhood alone, the truths Jalen kept hidden begin to surface-secrets that unravel everything she thought she knew about the man she loved and the life they were building. With each revelation, the line between grief and betrayal blurs. The only constant is Rome Lewis-Jalen's best friend. Loyal. Steady. And present in ways Jalen no longer can be. Rome steps in to help raise the child Jalen never got to meet, carrying his own guilt, his own grief, and feelings he's kept buried out of respect for a dead man. The Coldest Goodbye is a story about loss, hidden truths, single motherhood, and the dangerous beauty of loving again when your heart is still frozen in the past. Some goodbyes end love. Others give birth to it.

"Mama, I can't just leave Abir." I admitted, telling her exactly why I couldn't do this. Not only would she be snatching me away from my family and friends but she was taking me away from the person I'd loved for five going on six years. I couldn't just walk away from him. "Baby.." She trailed off, sighing deeply. "I know you love Abir." She stood to her feet to stop packing for a moment and pulled me into her. "But I promise you, there will be other boys. Right now you have to do what's best for you and that's coming with your daddy and I to give you a better life." "Better life for who? You?!" I screamed out, becoming even more angry at her choice of words. As if my feelings were robotic and I could just turn them on and off for any and every person. "My feelings just don't matter to y'all at all, huh?" I asked, crying harder than before now. "Speak to your mother with some respect, Giselle." My father spat to me and I shook my head, watching as they stood there looking at me like some dumb teenager. This wasn't puppy love for me. I didn't spend 5 years building something, just to walk away from it for their dreams. I couldn't do it. Sinner. Book #1

He holds her heels. She lets her guard down. And in the space between city lights and silence, two people who weren't looking for love start to feel something they can't explain. No drama. No rush. Just raw connection and a spark that won't quit.

"ᴡᴀꜱꜱᴀᴍ ʙᴀʙʏ"

"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.

"𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.. 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘁𝘆 𝗵𝘂𝗿𝘁𝘀, 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘁𝘆 𝗵𝘂𝗿𝘁𝘀" © -𝙼𝙾𝙽𝙴𝚈𝙲𝙷𝙰𝚂𝙴𝚁 𝙿𝚁𝙾𝙳𝚄𝙲𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐘 𝐇𝐔𝐑𝐓𝐒 ✍︎︎

Doing what 20 year old Nasiem deemed as right, put him in a tough situation. Quickly teaching him a little something about life.

"So you just wanna fuck me forever, and that's it, huh?" "I ain't say-" He sucked his teeth. "We already talked about this shit, Z." "Nah." She chuckled dryly. "You just keep shutting me out." "Why you doin' this to me, Ma?" He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Hm? Why you tryna fuck everything up?" • • • • • • 𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚊 𝚗𝚘𝚗-𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚜 𝚊 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚌, 𝚊 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚌 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚋𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚏𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚌 💌👻 𝙱𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝟷 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚅𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜

you was my happiness, that high i felt when around you. love aint even the word to describe it. 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐲𝐲𝐛𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞𝐞 • 2021

After being lied to constantly, hurt repeatedly, and cheated on more times than she can count, Kamille Riley Paige just wants to be loved and appreciated for being the good woman that she is. Being in an on and off six year relationship with her child's father, Raemond Woods, has taken a complete tole on her at only twenty four years old. He was the man that she loved so much, but treated her so badly in return. Kamille was the perfect woman for any man, a blessing in a form of a slim-thick figured, browned skin woman with a sassy mouth. She was beautiful, hard-working, independent, and she was loyal, but he just didn't notice it until she was both feet out of the door. All Kamille wanted was to love and be loved, to commit and be committed to, to cherish and be cherished. She just wanted a man that could provide her wants and needs, as well as accept her daughter Raegan with open arms, in exchange for her. Will Raemond step up and be the man and father that she wants and needs him to be, or will she stray elsewhere in search of someone who was willing to meet her half way with an even exchange? VANESSA WRIGHT © COPYRIGHTED 2016. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.