August Smith has survived by following orders and trusting procedure. As a decorated intelligence operative, she understands that discipline is the difference between control and chaos, life and death. Her world is built on classified files, sealed missions, and emotional distance. Fraternization is forbidden. Curiosity is dangerous. Feelings are a liability she cannot afford. Carter Bernard is power wrapped in uniform-high-ranking, precise, and untouchable. His authority extends beyond rank into operations that never reach official reports. When August is placed under his command as a protected asset, the rules become harder to define. He is not supposed to look at her twice. She is not supposed to react when he does. But every briefing tightens the space between command and compromise. As missions escalate and secrets stack higher, the line between handler and asset fractures. What begins as controlled proximity turns volatile, threatening careers, clearances, and lives. In a system built to eliminate emotional risk, August and Carter must decide what's more dangerous: breaking protocol, or obeying it. Because in this chain of command, love isn't just forbidden. It's disqualifying.

Pushing himself from the door Gulian neared her, standing in front of her. "I want you to stop seeing 𝙝𝙞𝙢, that's what I want." Kyomi scoffed as she shook her head. "Why would I stop doing that? Just 'cause you call yourself asking nicely?"

Before the crowds screamed his name, before the league talks and the magazine covers, he met her. Calista Marchand. Not the kind of girl you run game on. She was sharp where it counted, soft only when she wanted to be. Real Brooklyn - pretty in the face, slick with the mouth, and solid with her hands if you stepped wrong. She kept her circle small, her loyalty tighter. The kind of woman who knew how to turn silence into safety and side-eyes into shut-ups. Men feared her. Girls tried to be her. She didn't chase, didn't fold, didn't need nobody. Until Ibrahim Montaigne walked into her life like he had all the time in the world. He didn't come with sweet nothings or flashy promises - just steady presence. Intent in his eyes, patience in his chest, and something rare behind the way he looked at her. Like he saw through the polish and the fire, like he knew the woman behind the defense. He didn't try to tame her. He studied her. Let her be exactly who she was. The shift was slow. She still fought when needed, still had a rep in the streets and in the salon chair. But somewhere between nursing exams and late-night block parties, she started saving parts of herself just for him. The quiet parts. The delicate ones. The ones nobody else got close to. And when she crossed that graduation stage, RN-BSN stitched behind her name and her grandmother crying in the crowd - he bragged harder than anyone. Didn't care who was listening. Forget MVP, forget the championship rings. She was the win. She was the headline. The girl from Brooklyn with spitfire in her lungs, gold in her smile, and a softness only he ever got to see. This isn't a story about being chosen. It's about choosing each other. No fairytales. Just Brooklyn grit and a love that never let go.

❝ sugarcoated, lies unfolded, you still lick the wrapper.❞

#Top 2 in India ( 29/7/2025 ) #Top 3 in India ( 02/8/2025 ) #Top 1 in India ( 04/8/2025 ) 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝟏 : 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐇𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 "ᴺᴼᵀ ᴱⱽᴱᴿʸᴼᴺᴱ ᴳᴱᵀ ᴸᴼⱽᴱ ᴬᴺᴰ ᴿᴱˢᴾᴱᶜᵀ, ᵀᴴᴱʸ ᴳᴱᵀ ᴴᴬᵀᴱ ᴬᴺᴰ ᵁᴺᵂᴬᴺᵀᴱᴰ ᴾᴸᴬᶜᴱ ᴵᴺ ᴾᴱᴼᴾᴸᴱ ᴴᴱᴬᴿᵀ ". ♱ 𝐒𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐢 ♱ " 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 " ⋆⋆⋆ ♱ 𝐑𝐮𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐚 𝐑𝐚𝐠𝐡𝐮𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐡 ♱ " 𝐌𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐲 " " ᴴᵃᵗᵉ ᵃⁿᵈ ᵐⁱˢᵘⁿᵈᵉʳˢᵗᵃⁿᵈⁱⁿᵍ ᵈᵉˢᵗʳᵒʸᵉᵈ ˡⁱᶠᵉ" ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

" 𝐒𝐎 𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐆𝐎𝐓𝐓𝐀 𝐏𝐀𝐘 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐃? " " 𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐓 𝐀𝐒𝐊 𝐌𝐄 𝐍𝐎 𝐃𝐔𝐌𝐁 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐓 , 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐌𝐘 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐀𝐓?"

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

𝐚 𝐧𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝗺𝐞𝐝 𝐃𝗼𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝗼𝐫𝐤, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝗺𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝗼𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐁𝐔𝐓 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝗼𝗺 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝗼𝐰𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝗼𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐢𝗼𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫...

Since the young age of 16 Aris McKnight has always dreamt of finding love and being married and a mother. She's looked for love through a couple different men but that never really last. If it wasn't one thing, it was always another. For a while she had given up on dating until one day out of boredom she found herself online talking to different inmates in prison. Out of the handful of men she spoke to one really stood out to her... Marcus Tucker.