After a successful life in the drug game, twenty-one-year-old Kisa Kane plans to retire -- settle down, find a good man, and raise a family of her own. Done with the thug life, she has everything a ghetto girl would want: plenty of money, drop-dead-gorgeous looks, and two thriving legitimate businesses. Until she falls in love with Sincere Montega, a powerful drug dealer whose down-and-dirty money pulls Kisa back into the world she is trying so hard to leave behind. With lies, cheating, and conflict, Kai, their newborn, may be the only reason for this couple to stay together, but their lives are inevitably changed in the most unexpected way, the only way the streets of Harlem can. Danielle Santiago is the author of Grindin' and founder of Mischievous Girl Foundation, which is dedicated to helping battered women and innercity girls. She lives in Harlem, New York, and Charlotte, North Carolina, with her husband and son. Introduction How They Began The year was 2000. Kisa Montega was twenty-one, daring and very attractive. Her skin was like caramel. Her eyes were like chocolate, and her hair draped her face in a long doobie wrap. Her wardrobe complemented her beauty -- even her jeans and sneakers were Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, and Prada. When she maneuvered through downtown Manhattan, she appeared to be an entertainer, model, or young businesswoman. She was definitely business-minded, but quite the opposite of what everyone expected. Her nickname was Kisa Kane -- and she happened to run the most lucrative cocaine business in Manhattan. She, her sister, and two cousins, the four were a deadly foursome; their roots said it all: Black Dominican and South American. Kisa and her sister Shea had not been raised together, because they did not have the same mother. Years earlier Kisa had moved down south with her father and mother to attend school. She had always returned to New York for summers and holidays. Kisa was closer to her two cousins on her mother's side, Eisani and TaTa. They looked like triplets when they were together. Many joked that Kisa and Eisani had really been separated at birth. Both had the same hustling mentality, and the resemblance was eerie, though Kisa, six months older and a bit thicker than Eisani, had a lighter complexion with a more golden tone to her skin. Kisa's stint as a hustler began down south when she was in high school, selling dime bags of weed. She'd never imagined in her wildest dreams that it would lead to dealing coke. Her future as a legitimate citizen seemed so bright; she excelled in academics and athletics. Believing she would go far with her many achievements, she moved back north for college. Kisa attended Hunter College while living in Harlem. She always dated or ran with hustlers, who could bless her with expensive gifts. She accepted the gifts, even though she could provide for herself. Kisa ran with a thorough crew of guys who not only had the streets uptown on lock, they also pumped work into the surrounding boroughs. Kisa was like a little sister to them, and they were very protective of her. But some of them had secret fantasies about her. It was through them that she'd gotten into the business. She started out simply delivering packages throughout the five boroughs for five hundred dollars a day. Then it escalated to trafficking from state to state. From there she went to Caribbean islands picking up packages from suppliers; and finally to running her own blocks in Harlem -- all by the age of nineteen. But the day after Kisa's twentieth birthday, things changed drastically. Sincere, the boss of the family, gave Kisa an elaborate party at the Carbon in downtown Manhattan. Everyone was there, from Mase to Mary J. Blige, to all the big hustlers from the five boroughs. The haters were there too, including all of the chicks who loathed Kisa. She didn't give a damn, though. "Don't know, don't care. Can't none of them beat my ass anyway," were her exact words when Eisani asked her, "Why them bitches here, Kane?" as she pointed out a group of girls from the Bronx she and Kisa had beef with a few months earlier. Kisa could feel them watching her, so she partied even harder just to let them know she wasn't at all concerned about them. The party was lavish but Sincere felt that nothing was too good for Kisa tonight. So he went all out -- open bar, free bottles of MoËt & Chandon, Dom PÉrignon, and Cristal. He and Kisa had an on-again, off-again relationship, but Sincere had plans on changing that. Tonight they were dressed almost alike in matching winter white leather; they hadn't even planned it. The two of them were just in sync with one another that much. Kisa's outfit was barely anything; the shorts were so short you would think she only had on a single-breasted jacket. Sincere kept it gully, he wore a white Iceberg sweater, baggy white leather pants, a pair of fresh white Uptowns. Kisa popped Cristal and danced the night away with any