He was chaos in the shape of a man. And she was the only peace he ever wanted to keep. Kingston "Kash" Vaughn isn't just misunderstood-he's unmedicated, unhinged, and unforgiven. Diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia after witnessing his mother's murder, Kash walks the line between genius and madness, street legend and broken boy. He doesn't trust people. Doesn't believe in peace. And he damn sure doesn't believe in love. Until her. Rai'Lynn "Rai" Tate is used to saving everybody but herself. As a crisis center worker, she's been trained to handle the darkest minds-but nothing prepares her for Kash. Their connection is magnetic, twisted, and immediate. He sees her, obsesses over her, needs her like air. And the scariest part? She needs him right back. What starts as therapy turns into obsession. Passion turns into control. And love? Love becomes a war. Because when the voices in his head grow louder... She's the only one he'll listen to. But what happens when the thing you love most is the same thing that might destroy you? 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝- 05.23.25 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝- 05.23.25 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝- 06.28.25

The porch still remembers. The silence still hurts. And him? He ain't dead... but he might as well be.

In a world where loyalty means everything, Brielle Banks must choose between the family she's always known and the man who could destroy it all. Caught between revenge and unexpected attraction, sparks fly behind bars. Will she fall into Sincere's dangerous world-or will their violent past rip them apart?

"I know ma. Stop fronting. Tell me you miss me." He kissed her in between his words, in love with the way her brown eyes dazed. "I miss you. And your mouth tastes like pickles." She spoke softly, a smile taking over her face once he laughed. "You wanna taste it again?" He stuck his tongue out at her, and she closed her eyes after sucking it into her mouth. She cradled the side of his face, rubbing over his prominent jawline as the kiss deepened. Dayvon's hands went underneath her tank top, breaking the kiss for a moment to get it off. The way he rubbed on her body made her moan again, missing the feeling of his hands on her skin. He hadn't touched her intimately in so long. She'd missed him.

Two guarded souls who recognize the ache in each other, trying not to fall too hard but drawn together anyway. Their love simmers beneath the surface-fierce, quiet, and complicated. He's her storm in silence; she's his peace in chaos *Unedited 𝑷𝑼𝑹𝑷𝑳𝑬𝑹𝑨𝑨𝑰𝑵 _® Started: 12/13/22 Published: 12/23/22 End: 12/29/23

"I treated them bad I wouldn't be mad if i was to get treated the same way... so treat me the same way."

𝐀𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐚 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐰𝗼𝗺𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝗼𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝗺 𝐣𝗼𝐛 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝗼𝐭 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝗼𝗺 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝗺𝗼𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝗼𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝗺𝗼𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝗼𝗺 𝐬𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝗼𝗺 𝐚 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞. 𝐀𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝗺𝗼𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐟𝗼𝐫 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝗼𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝗼? 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝗼𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝗺𝗼𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝗼𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝗼𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝗼𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝗼 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝗼𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝗼𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐯𝗼𝗺 𝐭𝗼 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥 𝐭𝗼 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐞.

"What it's called when the patient grow feelings fa therapist?" He asked, and she chuckled, staring at him. "Transference."

𝗞𝘆𝗿𝗶𝗲 𝗞𝘆𝘀𝗮𝘂𝗻 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗲𝘁𝘁, 𝗮 𝟮𝟴 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗴𝗼. 𝙒𝙝𝙤 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣, 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙢𝙪𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣'𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙞𝙩. 𝙒𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙙, 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚. 𝙆𝙮 𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝘼𝙩𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙖 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙝 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩, 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙜𝙜𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙛𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙤𝙣, 𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙. 𝙈𝙚𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙤'𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙗𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙫𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙤𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧. 𝙒𝙝𝙤 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙪𝙚? 𝙒𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙮 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧? 𝙊𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙮 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧.