Zahir "Zah" Creed has always been the quietest and most calculated of his brothers-the one who watches longer, thinks deeper, and moves last because his moves end things. After surviving a gunshot wound that should've taken him out, Zah's mindset hardens into something darker, colder, and brutally precise. He now runs the Creed family's underground operations with an iron hand and zero tolerance for mistakes. Loyalty buys protection, money, power-everything a person could want. Betrayal buys a grave. Emotions are a liability he buried a long time ago... until the one woman capable of unraveling him resurfaces and reminds him exactly where his weakness lives. Celeste Jones is Atlanta's top defense attorney-polished, brilliant, and born into a family that planned her entire life before she ever got a say. From her education to her engagement, everything has been carefully curated to fit her parents' idea of success. She's engaged to Darrell Harris, a fellow lawyer who looks perfect on paper but hides who he really is beneath a well-crafted persona. Celeste knows something is wrong, but years of obligation and expectation have taught her how to swallow her instincts. That is, until a call pulls her back into a past she was never allowed to choose. At one point in her life, Zahir Creed was all she knew. Their bond was intense, consuming, and dangerous-so dangerous that her parents made sure to tear them apart before it could ruin everything they'd built for her. Now Zah is back, darker, more powerful, and no longer willing to stay in the shadows of her life. The man she once loved is now the man her world should fear, and he's making it clear he isn't leaving this time. As old feelings collide with present danger, Celeste is forced to choose between the life that was designed for her and the man who has always owned the parts of her she's never been able to control.

He stared at her, "Wow." "Yeah." She lifted her chin in the air. "Wow. Because every time you talk about marriage and kids, it feels like the end of me. Of my freedom. My career. My identity." "And every time you avoid it? It feels like the end of us." He fired back. Silence slammed between them. "Well." She broke it first, her voice quieter but crueler. "Maybe you just picked the wrong woman." He rubbed his jaw in thought, "Shit, maybe I did." • • • • • • 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚊 𝚋𝚊𝚍 𝚖𝚒𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚕𝚎? 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚊 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝? 🥀👻 𝙱𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝟺 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚅𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 (𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚗-𝚘𝚏𝚏)

Fazion Creed was the wildfire of the Creed brothers-the youngest, the most reckless, the one who swore up and down that love would never catch him. He thrived on chaos, fast nights, faster women, and the freedom of never answering to anybody's soft feelings. In his own words, he was born a bachelor and planned to die one, no matter who crossed his path. But fate has a wicked sense of humor. One impulsive night with his brother's wife's best friend flips his entire world upside down. What was supposed to be nothing more than heat and adrenaline becomes the moment that stalks him, haunts him, rewires him. Suddenly the man who lived for the streets and the spotlight finds himself thinking about things he's never let himself want-forever, loyalty, a woman he can't shake even when he tries. Fazion was never looking for love... But love found him anyway, and it refuses to let go. Armani Rose is a full-time respiratory nurse with a soft heart, sharp instincts, and a ride-or-die loyalty that makes her the perfect best friend to Rumi and an even better godmother to their little one. She works hard, loves harder, and keeps her world clean and steady... until one reckless birthday night knocks her balance clean out of her hands. What should've been a harmless "one time and never again" slip-up turns into Fazion Creed tattooing himself onto her reality. She swore she'd forget him by sunrise, but he keeps showing up-leaning in her doorway like he owns the place, sliding into her days, popping up in her space with that wild grin like she already belongs to him. He's claiming her without permission, pushing past every boundary she tries to rebuild, refusing to give her the distance she swears she needs. Armani doesn't know whether to cuss him out, run away, or let him keep pulling her into the fire he carries in his chest. Because Fazion isn't budging. And deep down, she's not sure she wants him to.

Teyena, a bold 21-year-old nail tech and party girl, falls for Kentrell, a calm 29-year-old mechanic who's left his wild days behind. Their connection is strong, but their age gap and opposite lifestyles create insecurities, misunderstandings, and emotional growing pains. Through every high and low, they discover that even imperfect love can change them in all the right ways.

He didn't ask for her heart. He studied it... then took it like it already belonged to him😈😈.... Ziya Foyce doesn't chase men. She paints, she hides, and she protects her peace like it's sacred. In a town full of loud cousins, nosy neighbors, and old drama that refuses to die, she minds her business and lets the world spin without her. Then Nahlej Cordeaux steps in. He isn't ordinary. He's pressure in human form-a hood philosopher with a past carved into his skin and a stare that makes you forget every promise you made to yourself. From the moment he sees Ziya, it's done. He doesn't flirt; he studies. He circles. He claims. And once he locks in, he doesn't let go. Ziya promised herself she'd never fall for a man who could break her. Nahlej promised that if he touched her once, she'd never leave. What starts as a glance turns into a pull she can't shake. Between sharp-tongued best friends, family chaos, and chemistry that refuses to quiet down, their story unfolds reckless, obsessive, and addictive. He isn't the villain. He's just unhinged enough to make love feel dangerous in all the right ways. This isn't a fairytale. It's grown, messy, Southern hood love. The kind that lingers. The kind that claims. The kind you don't forget. 🔥 Only If You Stay is a Southern Black romance about a love that doesn't ask-it takes and restores.

Is everything really soft ? @𝟰𝟰𝟰𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀𝗹𝘃𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 ©

ꜱᴇQᴜᴇʟ ᴛᴏ "5 ʏᴇᴀʀꜱ ʟᴀᴛᴇʀ"... ʏᴏᴜʀ ꜰᴀᴠᴏʀɪᴛᴇ ᴄᴏᴜᴘʟᴇ ᴏᴄᴇᴀɴᴀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴋʜᴀʟɪʟ ᴀʀᴇ ʙᴀᴄᴋ ɢᴇᴛ ʀᴇᴀᴅʏ ᴛᴏ ꜱᴇᴇ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ʟɪꜰᴇ ʜᴀꜱ ɪɴ ꜱᴛᴏʀᴇ ꜰᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴏᴜᴘʟᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ꜰᴀᴍɪʟʏ ᴀɴᴅ ꜰʀɪᴇɴᴅꜱ. ꜱᴛᴀʀᴛᴇᴅ: 3/22/21 ᴇɴᴅᴇᴅ: 08/02/21

𝑻𝒓𝒊𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒚 𝒕𝒐 "5 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓".. 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑲'𝒂𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒊, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅? 𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒕. 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒅: 08/01/21

𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝟏. 𝐎𝐜𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐊𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫.. 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬, 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐊𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐥'𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲.. 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝟓 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐠𝐨 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧. 𝐀 𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐄𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐊𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧 𝐉𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐢 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲. 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝: 𝟏𝟐/𝟐𝟖/𝟐𝟎 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐝: 𝟑/𝟐𝟐/𝟐𝟏 ~𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐮𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐨𝐱𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞~

Rumer is a high school senior with something to prove. To herself she needs to prove that she can make it through college. She has a mildly troubled past with a secret to hide. Can she stay focused on her main goal? Marcel Montana is a hood drug lord. He rarely lets any in. His goal is to find his way out of the business. He wants something to fall back on and he tries new things. {August 2021 insert~ (this description was cringey but I think this book was good for it to be my first book)} Started: January 4, 2021 Completed: March 1, 2021 These ideas are apart of my imagination so don't steal them. My plots characters and theme all belong to me. The songs, gifs, pictures in this story do not belong to me. Copyright © A Zysmillion ™️ Production #1 in AfricanAmerican #1 drugs #1 druglord #1 hoodlove #2 blackwoman