leathalbby
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- Parts 31
"Tell me you don't feel it. Tell me I'm imagining this, and I'll never bring it up again."
He looked at her for a long moment, and she could see him fighting himself.
"I can't tell you that," he said finally.
"Why not?"
"Because it would be a lie."
--
Naomi "Nay" Shields is a 24-year-old lifestyle YouTuber with over a million followers, known for her beauty, travel vlogs, and "perfect" relationship with longtime boyfriend Messiah "Si" Banks. On camera, they're couple goals. Off camera, she's just surviving him.
Messiah is a flashy, manipulative drug dealer in Atlanta-respected in the streets, but emotionally abusive behind closed doors. After cheating multiple times, he traps Nay further with a viral public proposal in Tulum. Now, she feels stuck-scared to leave the brand they built and scared of him.
But everything shifts when Messiah's older half-brother, Zyair "Zy" Banks, returns home from a four-year federal bid. He's the opposite of Messiah-quiet, gritty, observant. And he sees right through Nay's pain.
When Messiah gets shot in a setup and ends up bedridden, Zy moves in to "keep things in order." As tension brews and the house grows quiet, stolen glances turn into whispers... into touches... into something neither of them planned.
What happens when love grows in the shadow of abuse? When the one man who sees you is the one you should never want? And what happens when Messiah finds out?
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