"I don't know how to do this." He was almost embarrassed to admit it. "I ain't been right with you in a long time, but I'm gon' ask anyway. Please don't take her from me." His plea cracked something open inside of his chest. "I know I ain't a good man. I done did some shit that I can't take back and I can't make it right. But she is, she's good. She's the light in so many places I didn't know were dark." "So if there's a price that needs to be paid for all the pain that I have caused in this word and done onto others put it on me. I'll pay it. I swear I will. I'll protect her with my last breath. I'll listen and heed her warnings. I'll slow down and come home more and stop thinking that I'm alone in this world." "Just please let my baby wake up. I love her, I'm in love with her and I can't do this without her. If waking her up means I got to sacrifice letting her go so she can be safe. I'll do that. Just don't take her from this earth." "In Jesus name I pray. Amen."

Imani Reed was raised to believe love should be clean - the kind you could take to church on Sunday and pray over when it got hard. But when Desmond Carter walked into her life, nothing about him felt holy. He wasn't the man you brought home to a pastor's dinner table. He was the one who'd already seen hell and learned how to live in it. But somehow, when he looked at her, she didn't feel scared. She felt seen. Dez never thought he'd find peace again - not after the streets, not after fame, not after the things he'd done. Yet somehow, the preacher's daughter became his proof that heaven wasn't just a place - it was a person. Between scripture and sin, prayer and passion, Imani and Dez are about to learn what it really costs to love something the world says you shouldn't touch.

{𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊 #𝟏.} 𝘋𝘳. 𝘈𝘪𝘬𝘰 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘱𝘦𝘳, 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘗𝘛𝘚𝘋 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘵, 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘕𝘈𝘝𝘠 𝘚𝘌𝘈𝘓 𝘒𝘩𝘢𝘰𝘴 𝘙𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘏𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘴, 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘵, 𝘗𝘛𝘚𝘋 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘶𝘮𝘢--𝘈𝘪𝘬𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘩𝘪𝘮..𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴. 𝘈𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘷𝘶𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦. 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘺 @𝘒4𝘚𝘏𝘔𝘈𝘠𝘠.