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by Kenya Redd (Author)
Bullets and blood. Secrets and sacrifices. Three Harlem women from three different backgrounds have one thing in common: The Cuban Order, a secret society filled with generations of Cuban American gangsters. Inevitably, their women get front row seats of this underground world, where the stakes are always high and the money is always long.
Carmencita Cruz has many things: beauty, bank, and a husband in the Cuban mafia. A bond that originated in Jr. High produces a comfortable life and a marriage to one of Spanish Harlem's most respected gangsters, Ruffin Cruz. Ruffin has always shined and is moving up in rank. Along with elevation, comes larger responsibilities for Ruffin and Carmencita. While striving to hold her husband down, Carmencita finds herself struggling to maintain her own life. She doesn't expect the storm that comes raining down on her head all at once.
Vanity Santiago is the girl whose beauty should be on the movie screen, not obscured in an inner-city classroom. The gorgeous teacher has caught the eye of sweet-talking Poppy Villachica. A made man straight off the boat from Cuba, he is also nephew of the Harlem boss. Poppy shows Vanity that a gangster can speak to her heart as well as her soul. After finally surrendering to Poppy, Vanity is faced with repercussions like she has never seen.
Nona Nunez is an impressionable college student, an up-and-coming writer with dreams as big as New York. Her ambition is the connecting piece to Kadafi Cruz, her hardheaded, menacing boyfriend. Kadafi drops out of school to follow in his big brother's footsteps as a ranking member in The Cuban Order. Suddenly, danger, heartbreak, and reckless behavior become Nona's regular acquaintances. As she holds fast to her aspirations and her love for Kadafi, Nona discovers that she is on a rollercoaster ride, experiencing the same ups and downs over and over again.
