Vivienne "Viv" Moretti's life is simple. She spends her mornings covered in flour, her afternoons serving pastries, and her evenings convincing herself that ordinary is enough. Then Dex walks into her bakery. There's something about him she can't explain-something mysterious, something broken, something that keeps pulling her back no matter how many reasons she has to stay away. As their lives become more tangled, Viv begins to realize that loving someone like Dex comes with secrets... and some secrets have a way of changing everything. Dex X femOC

Older, wiser, tougher-Dex and Marie built a life far from their past to keep Mario safe, raising him in a world built on secrecy and fragile peace. Mario grew up believing it was normal. A quiet home, a new country, and parents who never spoke too much about where they came from. But peace built on silence never lasts. Now, as the past begins to resurface in small, impossible ways, Dex and Marie realize they may not be as hidden as they thought. And everything they buried is starting to find its way back.

Rikers Island is supposed to be controlled-everything observed, everything contained. Marie Pham's first day as a prison psychologist is meant to be routine... until Benjamin Poindexter notices her. Violent. Precise. Unpredictable in ways the system can't fully explain. He doesn't like new things. But he doesn't ignore them either. And in a place built to watch people, Marie realizes too late- she's not just evaluating him. He's already decided to study her.