"𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐋𝐀𝐃𝐘, 𝐖𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐁𝐄 𝐌𝐘 𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐀 𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄? 𝐈'𝐋𝐋 𝐁𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐍𝐄𝐄𝐃 𝐌𝐄 𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐄𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐌𝐄." Dejah Champagne has always believed sweetness solves everything until the Santiago name walks through the doors of her bakery. Tony Santiago isn't just any customer. He's a mechanic with oil on his hands, a kingpin with weight on his shoulders, and the last man she should ever let close. Their families' blood runs thick with betrayal, and everyone in their world knows the two names don't mix. But Tony keeps coming back. For cupcakes, for chai... for her. His quiet persistence chips away at Dejah's resolve until one yes changes everything. What begins as a dangerous flirtation soon unravels into something deeper, something Dejah never thought she could feel. Yet love is never simple when loyalty is a battlefield. When Dejah's family discovers the truth and Tony's fear of commitment collides with the weight of his empire, they'll both have to decide: is their bond strong enough to survive the sins of their families, or will history tear them apart for good? Sweet meets street, sugar meets steel, and nothing will ever taste the same.

After moving to Chicago to start a new life, Sveya isn't looking for nothing beyond a fresh start. Between church, school, and learning how to exist without losing herself, her life feels limited...until she meets Solomon.

Kisses with a threat...love with a motive. Sienna never expected her best friend to betray her, or the man waiting on the other side of that betrayal to be powerful, controlling, and impossible to ignore.

He never chased. Until she made him.

"I told you about looking down when you being talked to mama." Kaiser spoke more softly than before. In the small time he been around Serenity, he noticed how shy she was. She was so avoidant but alluring. He was interested in her. Seeing how well she was with the kids was just a plus. "Why?" She sighed in frustration before signing. She knew if she started talking she would make a fool of herself. "Why what?" He signed back. "Why do you care? You don't know me." "Not everyone has it out for you. I just wanna know you," Kaiser frowned. He didn't understand why she was so isolated but he wanted to know. She was worth knowing.

𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐲𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐮𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐲𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝'𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐲𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭? Trevante Rhodes || Ari fletcher Read it and you'll love it 🫶🏽 Started January 11th, 2023

𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐚 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝟐𝟔 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥, 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐩𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐧𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞. 𝐎𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝. 𝐌𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐱 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞

𝐗𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭, 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞, 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐇𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥, 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐬. 𝐒𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞: 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬.

in the west end, 25-year-old hairstylist raya phillips is all hustle and no distractions-until kairo jenkins, a right hand man for a drug dealer, walks into her life and becomes obsessed. she's unimpressed by his money and power, and that only draws him in deeper. raya tries to resist, but his world is creeping into hers fast, their connection could either be real or destroy them both.

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.