The true measure of a man isn’t only in what he does, but by what he gives….

Having an easy life was foreign to Kayse Simons. His father was a junkie who loved to test his strength on not only Kayse but his mother too. The abusive from his father made life hard, however it was watching his mother be the provider & sometimes failing that made life unbearable. Kayse’s mother Kenya did all that she could to give her son a better life. His mother’s perseverance showed him how to survive in the darkest of days. Unfortunately, he never got the chance to repay her for her efforts. Kayse lost the love of his life, leaving him to fend on his on & learn the true meaning of survival of the fittest.

Kayse took his petty hustle & morphed it into a lucrative business with the help of his right hand Latrell. Knocking off nicks & dimes became a thing of the past & the once scared young boy grew into a self assured man who could charm the panties off any woman. The chicks around the way deemed him the thug Casanova. With money & his family on his mind, he had no room for mistakes or wasting time.

Any girl in her right mind would’ve loved to be draped in the latest fashions and iced out in nothing but diamonds, but everything came with a price and Alicia knew the price all too well. Alicia was the daughter of one of Philadelphia’s highest paid attorneys. She had an image to maintain at all times and her mother made sure she knew it. To be seen & never to be heard was imbedded in her from birth. Her mother’s way of living caused Alicia to grow resentment over the years.

Alicia thought having control of her life would fix all of her problems but to have control you must speak up for yourself. A closed mouth doesn’t get fed & in Alicia’s case it gets married. She is set to be married to someone of status, solidifying her as a prize trophy instead of a queen.

What happens when the one you love doesn’t set your soul on fire? You wander until you find the one person who can set a blaze in you so hot that you find yourself bound to him by chains. Being on lock is what Alicia and Kayse are, being locked down by a thug’s love is what they become once the fire is ignited.