Love can sometimes be 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐥, but the 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 of chasing your heart makes it feel so right.

Kasiyr Bennett never planned on coming home for long. Chicago was supposed to be a quick stop for him and that's all. However, the city has a way of reminding you who you are and who you loved first. Ajani Washington is rooted where Kasiyr once stood. She carries the weight of the community, years of memories, and a love she never fully let go of on her shoulders. When Kasiyr's return puts them back on each other's radar, old truths resurface and boundaries start to get crossed. Some loves don't fade with distance and some choices demand a cost that neither of them is ready to pay.

COVER BY: @-killfanatik ! Sapphire survived a childhood most wouldn't. Abandoned by a mother who tried to sell her and raised in the shadow of a father behind bars, she built walls so high no one could climb them. Onyx earned his name in blood. They call him the Reaper in the ring - undefeated, controlled, lethal. Fighting is the only thing that ever gave him peace in a world that taught him love was weakness. She doesn't trust protection. He doesn't walk away from what's his. When their worlds collide, attraction turns dangerous, secrets surface, and the past refuses to stay buried. Because loving the Reaper doesn't just come with passion. It comes with consequences.

"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."

At twenty nine, Rue returns to her hometown of East Harlem New York to check on her family and honor the late birthday of her childhood best friend, Emari ". Now a famous makeup artist , Rue has built a life far from the city she once ran from but being back brings up memories she tried to bury. What she doesn't expect is to see Azriel, an old childhood friend she hasn't spoken to since he went to prison years ago. Struggling with the loss of Emari, Rue fled the city without thinking about how deeply her absence would hurt him. Left alone to face jail and life without anyone in his corner, Azriel accepted the consequences of the streets. Years later, he's no longer the boy she knew but a world known boxer. With unresolved pain, guilt, and feelings neither of them ever truly let go of, Rue and Azriel are forced to face the past.

"Want It Back In Blood, And Blood, I'm Gonna Get, And Still, I Pray For Love Instead Of Common Sense." - Mariah The Scientist.

❝𝖠nd you gotta love me easy, I've been hurt too many times, been cursed too many times❞ ©𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐒𝐁𝐘𝐊𝐀𝐘 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒 Dayvon, a former gang member turned mechanic, has left the streets behind, determined to live a clean life after a dangerous past. But when he meets Patience, a high-maintenance, boujee woman from the hood, their world's collide.