She waitressin' at Starlets, ain't too many I ain't had

Noelle Sinclair thought leaving him was the hardest thing she'd ever do. She was wrong. Still hurt from betrayal and trying to protect her peace, Noelle made a selfish decision... that she never told him. Now seven months later, the truth lands on his lap. And Mario Brown is the last man she wanted showing up at her door angry, heartbroken, and demanding answers. What happens when the man you still love finds out you kept his child a secret? Some betrayals don't come back from...and some love stories are never really over.

Kason "Khotic" Brewster never planned on living long. At seventeen, he buried both of his parents in the same week. His mother died instantly in a car crash. His father held on just long enough to make Kason promise one thing before he passed. Take care of your brother and sister. So that's exactly what he did. Twelve years later Khotic is the man the streets call when things get ugly. Feared. Respected. Untouchable. Everything he does is for the two people depending on him to make it out of the life he's stuck in. He's content with that. Until Beauty Cardwell crashes into his world. Bee is nothing like the women Khotic usually deals with. She's a twenty-five-year-old brain surgeon, a child prodigy who finished school before most people finished learning who they were. She's blunt, literal, and socially awkward in ways people don't always understand. Diagnosed with high-functioning autism, Bee doesn't believe in pretending to be something she's not. She says exactly what she means. And for some reason... Khotic likes that. What starts as a chance meeting turns into something neither of them expected. Bee sees the man behind Khotic's reputation. The older brother trying to keep his promise. The boy who never got the chance to grieve. And Khotic sees something in Bee that the world keeps missing. But loving a man like Khotic means stepping into a life Bee was never meant to be part of. Enemies. Loyalty. Violence. The kind of danger that doesn't care how smart you are. And Khotic knows one thing for sure. Good girls like Beauty Cardwell aren't supposed to fall for men like him.

"𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐈 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐈𝐍𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐘?" 𝐁𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐀𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐘𝐀𝐇, 𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐀𝐂 𝐖𝐀𝐒 a disaster, chaos within tragedy, wallowing in his feelings every day. Never expressing what he felt, yet was so angry at everyone for not noticing. Angry at himself for not expressing anything. Angry about the circumstances he was forced into. Then he meets her. Aaliyah, the girl whose eyes sparkled with adoration when he came around. The girl whose actions were never malicious, radiating kindness everywhere she went. When he loses her, he stays quiet, packaging himself into a persona that's easier for people to digest. Until Isaac sees Aaliyah again. Until he has a chance to make things right. Until Isaac gets the person who never once made him feel small or misunderstood. The person whom he thinks he could be with for 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲.

"i gotchu forever kane...i swear youn gotta worry about nun wit me." "i believe you." "you better nigga i ain't been chasing you my whole life for nun." black bxb

"Have you ever been loved by a thug baby?" "You make me weak, I can't be around you... but girl I can't stay away." CB X SZA

"𝐧𝐨 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐱 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡 𝐨𝐧" - 𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐄 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐋𝐃 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 2 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐃𝐎 𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑

"Baby you on my mind Long as we spending time, girl 'cause (I gotta be next to you) Baby you on my mind Long as we spending time, girl 'cause (I gotta be next to you)"

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...

❛𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒆?❜ he asked, voice low like it wasn't meant for nobody but her. 𝒛𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐡 didn't speak, just tilted her head a little and stepped in close. she traced one of the tattoos on his arm, finger light like a whisper...when she finally looked up, slow and lazy, doe eyes glinting beneath her lashes--she kissed the corner of his mouth. once, twice--then pulled back. 𝒐𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐢 smirked. ❛𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒔𝒐.❜ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ She doesn't speak-not out loud, not anymore. Zariah Hart's been quiet since the night she lost everything, and moving to The Palisade at Skyview Apartments was supposed to give her a fresh start. No expectations. No questions. Just peace. But peace gets complicated when a man like Omarion Jordan starts showing up in it. He's nothing like she expected. Tatted, quiet, with eyes that read people better than they speak. A mechanic with a past he doesn't explain-and a presence that says more than his mouth does. He doesn't ask about her silence. She doesn't flinch at his reputation. Somehow, that's enough. What starts as simple glances turns into shared space. What feels like comfort turns to something neither of them planned for. But Atlanta doesn't forget what people try to bury. And sometimes, the loudest truth is the one you never say out loud. 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐃: 𝐉𝐔𝐍𝐄 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓