"You no tell this girl that I said, I want no relations with a darkie?" She spat to me, making my eyes go wide. What? I thought to myself and Gio tried pulling me away but I snatched away from him, knowing I heard right this time. "Wait, what?" I spoke out loud and Gi grabbed me roughly, trying to pull me away again. "Why you saying these things? She's beautiful." I heard his abuelita sticking up for me as she stood to her feet and all the guys began to as well, telling their mom that she was wrong for what she was doing. "That puta heard me." She spat, pointing her finger at me. "You're too dark." She held up a brown paper bag that she was drinking her beer out of. "You no match this bag or lighter, you're too dark." "You look too much like his father. I no want you around me." She shooed me off, instantly breaking my heart into a billion pieces as I looked up at Giovanni who was looking down at me with hurt in his eyes. "Baby, please." He begged and I shook my head at him in disgust before putting my attention back onto her. "Get that darkness out of here, Giovanni. She's a demon." "Only demons have her color." She kept on going and I felt sick to my stomach in this moment as I stood there in complete shock.

"Montana, come here." He nodded his head toward the door, leaving out of the room. Staying silent as Ms. Carol looked at me, I kissed the back of Josiah's hand before leaving out of the room. As I walked out, Messiah stood there looking at me in disgust while I closed the door. "What are you doing that shit for?" "Huh?" I said since I had nothing else to say, just trying to stall time to get my words together. "Why are you stripping, Monty?" Sighing, I decided that I wasn't going to lie like I'd originally planned to do after listening to Chocolate's stupid advice. "Money." I spoke simply and he scoffed as I looked down. "Why not just ask Josiah for money instead doing hoe shit?" "First of all, It's not doing hoe shit. I don't have sex with anyone. I just dance. And I don't want to ask him for any money. It's not his job to take care of me." "So stripping..." He trailed off with a laugh. "..stripping was the last resort? Instead of putting your pride aside?" Saying nothing, I just looked at him with pleading eyes. "Please don't tell him, Messiah." I could already tell by the look on his face that he was going to tell him. "I ain't gon' tell him.." Thank God. I thought. "..you are." "What?!" I shrieked. "No. I'm not." "You are." He spoke in a demanding tone. "Please. You know how he is." I expressed "And you know how he is too but you made that bed." "Messiah, he's going to kill me." I begged. "I know." He shook his head, walking away from me. "Better figure it out. You got until the end of the day to tell him or I will." He mumbled before walking back into the room.

She grew up in a broken home- a mother grinding a 9-5 just to survive, and a father who gave her the world... before prison took him away. As an only child, she learned two things early: from her dad: how to want more from her mom: how to get it herself. But when she refused college, her mother slammed the door in her face, leaving her homeless at eighteen. With nothing but a duffel bag and stubborn pride, she crossed state lines and rebuilt her life from the ground up, earning every dollar under the neon lights of The Velvet Whisper. Comfort. Independence. Control. She thought she finally had it all- until Grim, the silent, dangerous owner of the club set his sights on her. And when Grim wants something? He always takes it.

"You're shaking so fucking hard, Ryan... Is it because you're terrified of what I'll do to you, or because you're praying I finally ruin that innocent little brain of yours?" His breath stuttered. The pencil slipped from his fingers. "Madison... stop," Ryan whispered, voice strained, ears burning red. "You know we can't do this. I'm your tutor. This can't happen." I smiled against his skin, squeezing the very obvious bulge in his pants. "But baby," I purred, voice low and filthy, "your dick says otherwise."

I hear Timothy huff. "Come back to the house voluntarily and I'll go easy on you for your punishment." He sounds bored. I guess he's not enjoying running after me anymore. Still I ignore him and continue to walk forward. My walk is more like a drunken wobble now. Everything hurts. I get a few feet further before he pulls me back by my hair. "Stop being stubborn." It feels like he's trying to pull my hair from my scalp. I scream and scratch at his hands. "Let me go!" "You like it when I chase after you. Huh, Rose." He's breathing hard. Oh my god. This is really how I'm going to die. He pushes me onto the ground then grabs my leg. I grab and claw at the ground as he starts to drag me back towards the house. Stones, roots and dirt rub against my body scratching me. I can't continue to be dragged like this. We are at least three miles away from his house. "Let me up, I can walk!" I can barely recognize my own voice. It's so raw. He continues to drag me for a little while longer before picking me up and throwing me over his shoulder. My body hangs from his limp. When we arrive at the house he takes me straight to his bedroom. He tosses me on the bed like I'm a pillow making my head bang against the headboard. I grab my head and cover my face. "Strip." He breaks the silence. This is darker than Mia.

"You really think I'm out here giving this dick to anybody else, beautiful?" She swallowed, watching my hands go to my zipper. I smirked, leaning down, dragging my fingers up her thigh, over her soaked panties. "Look at yourself in the mirror, Jade."

"Will it kill you to back the fuck up?" I snapped. "Yes, princess," he whispered sweetly against my ear, voice full of that sick affection. "It would. I would drop dead right here if I couldn't be next to you." "My lucky day," I muttered sarcastically.

I cupped her face, planting a soft kiss on her beautiful lips. "Don't ever run from me, baby," I said softly, letting my thumb trace her jaw. "I love the chase." Her jaw tightened, her hands coming up to try and move mine. "Stop calling me baby, Ezra," she snapped, eyes flashing. I couldn't help but grin, dropping my voice to something low and dark. "Ohhh, now my baby has a problem with me calling her baby?" She shot me a glare, but I just tucked her hair behind her ear, pressing another kiss to her lips-gentler this time, lingering. "You don't get to tell me what to call you, baby." I leaned in closer, brushing my nose against hers. "You're whatever the fuck I call you."

Janeisha "Neisha" Bambi has always survived by keeping a low profile. She don't get caught up in the kind of business that comes with bodies, secrets, and street names that echo. But all it takes is one night-one favor for her best friend-to slide her straight into the orbit of Seven "Saint" Carter. Saint is discipline wrapped in menace. A man the streets don't just respect,they fear. The type Neisha promised herself she'd never look at twice. He doesn't chase, beg, or explain. Yet somehow, he does all of this for her. And when that calm, unreadable gaze settles on Neisha, her careful world starts to crack. Now Saint's patience is running out, Neisha's defenses are falling apart and the pull between them is starting to feel less like a choice and more like fate. He's trying to shield her from the life he lives. She's trying to decide if loving him is salvation or self-destruction.