"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.

Halo Watters didn't know anything about the streets. He knew the stories people told in church. The prayer requests whispered after service. The names mentioned when someone asked the congregation to pray for a family that lost a son. But Halo had never stood in a room where guns were part of a conversation. Never watched men settle problems with fear instead of words. His world had always been built around faith, patience, and the belief that people could change if they wanted to. He believed in forgiveness. In grace...In second chances. Princess Midnight didn't know anything about that world. Not the way Halo did. Church to her was something people went to when they wanted to feel better about things they had already decided to do. Faith sounded nice in theory, but in the world she grew up in, survival mattered more than sermons. Kingston Midnight didn't raise her to believe someone else would save her. He raised her to protect herself. To control situations before they got out of hand. To make decisions quickly. To never show hesitation in a room full of men waiting for a sign of weakness. Halo believed people deserved mercy. Princess believed mercy could get you killed.

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

Tyler "Tank" Carter, a 22 year old truck driver crosses paths with Kayla Knight, an 18 year old girl who's running away home as he is enroute to drop off a load from Augusta, Georgia to Bangor, Maine.

Hooked onto drugs, no family, no guidance or sanity until she met HIM. Cover Creds: @Triceynexttdoor ❤️ -BLICKY.

A raw and riveting urban tale where trauma meets tenderness, and two guarded souls find connection in a world of secrets, survival, and slow-burning desire.