SHE. Do i deserve all this? "She asks herself every night". HE. "I want to eat your.....till it's sore."

She was never supposed to inherit the streets. By day, she's a quiet daycare teacher with soft hands and a patient voice-the one who wipes noses, ties shoes, and protects children the world already abandoned. She lives small on purpose. Keeps her head down. Silence has always kept her safe. Until her brother gets locked up. Overnight, his trap spot is passed to her like a debt she never agreed to pay. She tells herself it's temporary-just long enough to keep the lights on, just long enough to protect his name from being erased by the block. Word spreads fast. A woman is running it now. A quiet one. An easy target. That's when he pulls up. Feared across the city and untouchable on his side of town, he offers protection the only way he knows how-territory for territory, safety in exchange for surrender. He expects fear. Gratitude. Compliance. What he gets is a polite refusal. She doesn't argue. She listens-and says no. The rejection lingers longer than gunfire ever could. As rivals test her limits and the streets grow restless, she builds her own protection. She moves quietly. Studies patterns. Cuts dead weight. Negotiates without threats. Before anyone notices, the block is stable again-not because she's feared, but because she's respected. As war creeps closer and the line between protection and partnership blurs, she must decide whether to accept his help-not as someone who belongs to him, but as an equal who earned it. Because sometimes the most dangerous people aren't the loudest ones. Sometimes, they're the ones who never needed protection at all.

𝙰 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚋𝚊𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗.. 𝙷𝙴𝙰𝚁𝚃𝚂 𝚂𝙾𝙻𝙳 𝚂𝙴𝙿𝙰𝚁𝙰𝚃𝙴𝙻𝚈

Being the middle daughter in a Haitian family is a full-time job-and Nadine Pierre is done clocking in. Her parents built an import-export empire and a legend to match. Big sister Roseline is the crown jewel-married, pregnant, polished at the company. Baby sister Jessica shines at school with perfect plans. Nadine? She's the curvy one, the single one, the "too much" one-writing a Black culture column that her mama calls a hobby and her editor calls "rebrandable." When her column gets cut and her mama parades an ex like a solution, Nadine snaps. Writing is the only place she feels alive-she won't trade it for a smile and a husband. Then comes Tariq, the Ledger's golden boy, assigned as her "balance" on a new dating series about hit reality show Heatwave. He's infuriating, incisive, and the only man who gets under her skin without even touching her. Heavy Is the Middle is messy, sexy, and unapologetic-about body shame, Haitian family politics, and wanting more than survival. For every Black girl told she was too loud, too big, too single, or too much-and burned brighter anyway.

He don't talk much. He don't smile either. But when Dre "Ghost" Carter sees Jade for the first time, words ain't even necessary - the look in his eyes says it all: she's his. Dre runs the streets in silence - no noise, no witnesses, no mercy. The kind of man people whisper about but never dare to cross. Jade? She's not from that world. She's quiet, funny, the type who minds her business and stays out the way. Until her best friend drags her to a party that changes everything. One stare across that smoky room, and the most dangerous man in the city decides she belongs to him. Jade swears she's not the "ride or die" type... but Dre's pull feels different. Possessive. Addictive. The kind of love that burns slow - and might just destroy them both. Because in his world, silence can kill... and love can too.

"Whats wrong with you?" She asked. Leaning back in my chair I allowed the smoke to exit through my nose. Mi nuh know "Your sick Ai'janie!" She yelled walking away. Mi know

"Cain, if you can't leave the streets for me and our baby, then me and you, we're done." I pointed between the two of us as tears streamed down my face and he bit his lip, looking down at the floor before he looked back up into my eyes. "Aight." "Shit over then, babygirl."

"I never played about you, Kurii," he said, rubbing her thigh. "Something 'bout you just triggers me." . Just read it omg.

Niah Monroe, a 26-year-old ambitious woman working her way through grad school, has always kept her life on the straight and narrow. She's loyal to her best friend, and she avoids men who could derail her goals. But then enters Khalil "Khaos" Mercer, 32, her best friend's older brother-fresh out after serving time, running the family's underground hustle, and building an empire of his own. He's dark, dangerous, and the one man she's never allowed herself to want. When circumstances force them together-him needing her brain and discipline to clean up his business moves, her needing his protection after a brush with street danger-the forbidden attraction between them sparks into a full-blown, undeniable passion.