"Solè, why'd you stay?" "Because, Zaire... you the first thing that ever felt worth staying for." ❀ 🝳 ❀ Harlem held the noise. Solè gave Zaire the quiet. Zaire Knox, Harlem's quiet storm, known for his ties to the streets and a gaze that read people faster than they could lie to him. Respected. Feared. Loved. With scars buried deeper than his tattoos, he never planned to love soft. Until a Harlem vinyl shop left behind by his late grandfather forces him to slow down, to breathe, to find his real purpose in the world beyond the streets. Solè Sinclair, soft but unbreakable, raised by her father after loss. By day, she serves warmth behind the counter of a café. By night, she disappears into her art, trying to paint the parts of herself no one ever sees. When their worlds cross, the city shifts. What starts off tense and unexpected turns tender. Together, they learn love can hold you just as fierce as the streets ever did, and softer, too. But love in Harlem always asks one question: what are you willing to risk when the heart wants more than the streets ever offered? A Harlem story. A hood love. A soft place to land. ❀ 🝳 ❀

Dominic Romanov, a mafia boss who spends the night with a beautiful woman who leaves him wanting more than what he bargained for. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱, 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯. "𝘛𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥, 𝘊𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘭𝘪𝘯." 𝘏𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘰𝘮 𝘭𝘪𝘱 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦. 𝘔𝘺 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧 - 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵. 𝘐 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥. "𝘏𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵."

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐚 𝐑𝐚𝐲𝐧𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐈𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐓𝐨𝐰𝐧, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐃𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐞𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢. Book One in the Bittersweet Series. Created: 27/12/18 Published: 16/02/19 Completed: 03/01/20 Edited: As of March 2022 Completed rewrite: 25/01/23