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.

ᴛʜᴇ ᴄɪᴛʏ ꜱᴘᴇᴀᴋꜱ ʜɪꜱ ɴᴀᴍᴇ ɪɴ ꜱʜɪᴠᴇʀꜱ. ᴘᴏʟɪᴄᴇ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴘʀɪɴᴛᴇᴅ ɪɴ ᴍᴇᴍᴏʀʏ ʜᴇ ɪꜱ ᴀ ꜱᴛᴏʀʏ ᴘᴀʀᴇɴᴛꜱ ᴡᴀʀɴ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ꜱᴏɴꜱ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ. ᴀ ʙᴀᴅ ᴅᴇᴄɪꜱɪᴏɴ ʏᴏᴜ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴡᴀʟᴋ ᴀᴡᴀʏ ꜰʀᴏᴍ. ᴀ ᴍɪʀʀᴏʀ ᴏꜰ ᴀʟʟ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛʜɪɴɢꜱ ꜰᴀᴍɪʟɪᴇꜱ ʜɪᴅᴇ ᴜɴᴅᴇʀ ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴜɢ. ʜᴇ ᴄᴏᴘᴇꜱ ɪɴ ꜱɪʟᴇɴᴄᴇ, ɪɴ ᴡᴏᴍᴇɴ ʜᴇ ᴅᴏᴇꜱɴ'ᴛ ʀᴇᴍᴇᴍʙᴇʀ. ʙᴜᴛ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏ ᴍᴏɴꜱᴛᴇʀ ʜᴀꜱ ᴀ ꜱᴏꜰᴛ ꜱᴘᴏᴛ ᴀꜱ ꜱɪᴄᴋ ᴀɴᴅ ᴠɪᴏʟᴇɴᴛ ᴀꜱ ɪᴛ ꜱᴏᴜɴᴅꜱ. ᴇᴠᴇɴ ᴀ ꜱɪʟʜᴏᴜᴇᴛᴛᴇ ʜᴀꜱ ᴀ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛ ᴀɴᴅ ɪᴛ ʙᴇᴀᴛꜱ ꜰᴏʀ ᴏɴʟʏ ᴏɴᴇ.

She thought she had finally escaped him. She thought she had finally found peace. She thought wrong.

"Woah, slow down. What?" I heard him say and I furrowed my eyebrows, looking up. "Ma.." He trailed off and I already knew it was his mother. "That has nothing to do with you." He said and I sat up because I could hear him getting angry. "What's wrong?" I asked him and he put his phone on speaker. "I can't believe you got that little.." She trailed off, too angry to even get her words out. "..whore pregnant, Sage." "And then the little slut gets an abortion, I hope she knows that she will rot in hell." She said and my heart dropped. He hung up the phone on her before she could say anything else. "Baby." He looked at me as I bit my lip, standing to my feet. "Olive." He stood to his feet as well. I quickly walked to the bathroom and closed the door behind me before Sage could catch me. I broke down crying as he stood on the other side of the door. "Babygirl, I love you." "I love you too." I told him, breathing heavily. "Don't cry, love. Nothing she says matters, she's just mad because I love you so much and there's nothing she can say to change that." "Open the door for me please?" I wiped my face before I slowly opened the door for him. "I'm done with her." He said, shaking his head. He pulled me to him, wrapping his arms around my waist as he shoved his head into my neck. "Until she can learn to respect you as my lady, she's out of our life."

𝙲𝙾𝙼𝙿𝙻𝙴𝚃𝙴𝙳. 🖤 "𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚖𝚎, 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚖𝚎." 𝙵𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚜. 𝚂𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚍𝚘𝚞𝚋𝚝. 𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚝. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚢, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 ?

Soriya "Bundy" Reynolds is your average smart student. She makes above average grades and is one of the top students at her school. She may seem perfect, but she's very far from it. Her personality is so blunt and you wouldn't expect her to say most of the things that comes out of her mouth. She starts to find life a little boring, considering all she does is study. That all changes when she is offered a job to tutor one of the most cold-hearted students at her high school. ___________ Hussein Gregory has always been independent. He's had no choice but to be since he's the only male in his household. To provide for his mom and sister, he sells drugs for one of the biggest drug lords in his city. In school, he's not doing so great. Hussein may be at risk of failing all of his classes and not being able to graduate. That's until his mother signs him up for a tutoring session. Little does he know, these sessions will change him forever. Cover by: @marigottjokess I wrote this years ago so please beware of the terrible writing, don't say I didn't warn you!

Sarah Marshall. A 21 year old, single mother. Five years ago, at the age of 16, she was brutally beaten and raped by her ex Raymond Brown. He impregnated her and left her to die. Nine months later after the incident, she birthed a beautiful baby boy, Christian Malik Marshall. Christian, an obedient young boy, who loves meeting new people. He's very caring and lovable. Christian is all Sarah has to a family. Sarah and Christian are strong, faithful believers in Christ, hence the name Sarah had given Christian. That one night of the attack, Sarah's life changed forever. #1 in August

Your typical story...with a twist.

Benjamin "Money" Carter is a vivacious young stickup kid, along with his wife Angel of four years. The two have been doing stickups since the age of sixteen and eighteen. They don't care who you are. If you got it-they want it. When the two rob and murder two members who belongs to a team of killers called the Savage Boysz, all hell breaks loose. As if battling it out with the ruthless SB crew isn't enough. One of the SB boysz has something on them that Money and Angel takes that throws them right into the world of the elites. Can Angel still be a ride or die chick while being hunted by a vicious street gang along with dealing with the lifestyle of fast money, women, clothes, cars, drugs and everything else? Sex, Lies, Murder, Greed, Lust, Betrayal, Deceit...