Laila Manning

<p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>I was taken broken and for years I lived in the dark buried under the weight of what was done to me. I spent every day since trying to claw my way back to the life I was robbed of. And with every step Zeke was there breaking down the walls I built.</span></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>Older. Hardened. Dangerous. Zeke is second-in-command the last man I should trust. But when he touches me I don't feel fear-I feel fire. His rough hands stained by years of violence should terrify me. Instead they teach me that a man's touch doesn't have to be cruel. It can be warm. Strong. It can make me ache for more.</span></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>But Zeke was forbidden. My brother made that clear.</span></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>The tension between them was suffocating shaking the foundations of The Shadeport Crew. I knew I should have ran before it all fell apart. But Zeke wouldn't let me go. And the most dangerous part?</span></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>I didn't want him to.</span></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>Zeke was the Boogeyman ruthless cold-blooded. But with me he was something else entirely. He showed me what it meant to be cherished to be wanted. And every time he touched me the past slipped away.</span></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>But I don't know if I can fully trust him with what's left of me. He could destroy me and yet I crave him.</span></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>In his arms I'm starting to find the light.</span></p><p></p>