New Orleans isn't just a city-it's a pulse. A rhythm. A hunger. And nobody knows that better than Arielle Washington, a tired single mother grinding just to make rent in the Desire Projects. Love left her a long time ago, replaced with diaper bags, house keys, and survival. That is, until a new housekeeping job drops her into the home-and world-of ICE the most dangerous man in the streets. ICE doesn't do mess. Doesn't do feelings. But there's something about Ari-her fire, her silence, her scars-that draws him in. And when business gets bloody and loyalties are tested, the line between protector and predator blurs. Because in the Dirty South, nothing comes clean... not even love.

She doesn't chase. She watches. And when they come too close, she never has to ask them to fall-they do it on their own. At seventeen, she's mastered the art of staying quiet and being seen. A married teacher. A stare held too long. A boundary crossed one breath at a time. But this isn't a love story-it's a slow burn confession of power, control, and the subtle thrill of watching a man unravel himself. Some girls want attention. She wants obedience.

All characters and events in this story are completely fictional. If anything seems familiar it is completely coincidental. All situations in this story come completely from my imagination. ________________ "And you need to stop calling me 'shawty', I'm not your girl so stop pushing the issue, I don't want to be just another name in your little black book." I said sounding more appalled than I could ever really be. He started walking closer to me and before I knew it, he had my back against the wall and my left leg wrapped around his waist. The look that he gave made him look so powerful that I couldn't help but be intimidated and turned on at the same time. "Look mami I don't think you really hearin' me so let me break this shit down to you real brief. Imma be around for the time bein' whether you want to be or not, I'm not goin' no where. Just let me have one chance." "Prove it." ________________

18 yearsold Kamari is finished her 4 years of highschool and is now looking forward to college but there's no college if you have no cash. Kamari was born in Detroit Michigan and raised in foster care her whole life. She was able to leave foster care at age 16 because she was doing good in school and they believed if she got a job and had a apartment she would make it. That was until Kamari went to a party and had a one night stand causing her to get pregnant at age 16 now that she's 18 her daughter Mariah is now 2 yearsold. Kamari was still outta foster care but now living in her own 2 bedroom apartment with her daughter Mariah. She didn't have a job and with bills piling up she needed one and one right away after applying for many jobs and not getting hired she decided the only other way to make Fast cash was stripping... read to find out what happens next... Does Kamari fall in love?

"𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙜𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙛𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙪, 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙖 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙜𝙖 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙮𝙤𝙪. 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩'𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙮 𝙄 𝙗𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙄 𝙗𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙄 𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙡 𝙮𝙤𝙪"

2𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝗼𝗼𝐤 𝗼𝐟 𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐚 𝐘𝗼𝐮

"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."

"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵?"

"𝗌𝖾𝖾 𝗂𝗆 𝖺 𝗄𝗂𝗅𝗅𝖾𝗋 𝖻𝗎𝗍 𝗂 𝗀𝗈𝗍 𝖿𝖾𝖾𝗅𝗂𝗇𝗀𝗌 𝗂 𝖼𝖺𝗎𝗀𝗁𝗍 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝖾𝗆 𝗂 𝗃𝗎𝗌𝗍 𝗆𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍 𝗄𝗂𝗅𝗅 𝖾𝗆" - 𝗄𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗏𝗈𝗇 ☠︎

𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘐'𝘮𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦