[{"_1":2,"_3":-5,"_4":-5},"loaderData",{"_5":6,"_7":8,"_9":10},"actionData","errors","root",{"_116":117,"_118":-7,"_119":120,"_121":-5,"_122":123,"_124":123,"_125":126},"routes/books.$bookId",{"_15":16,"_11":12,"_17":18},"routes/books.$bookId.feed",{"_11":12,"_13":14},"currentUrl","https://blackauthored.com/books/12976-checkmate/feed","title","Activity - {title}","book",{"_19":20,"_21":22,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":-5,"_26":27,"_28":29,"_30":31,"_32":33,"_13":34,"_35":36,"_37":-5,"_38":39,"_40":41,"_42":43,"_44":45,"_46":27,"_47":27,"_48":49,"_50":51,"_52":53,"_54":-5,"_55":56,"_57":-5,"_58":41,"_59":60,"_61":-5,"_62":63,"_64":65,"_66":67,"_68":69,"_70":71,"_72":73,"_74":75,"_76":77,"_78":79},"seoTitle","Checkmate by Italia Smith","id","d6895516-44a1-4e0b-b3ff-55473e8a9030","gid",12236,"spice","series_order","average_rating","reviews_count",0,"editions_count",1,"contributors",[],"authors",[105],"Checkmate","edition_id","c8567aa6-08a8-4386-9b14-7aca967c8916","series","year",2026,"first_published","August 31, 2026","releases_on","2026-08-31","upcoming_release",false,"likes_count","collections_count","slug","12976-checkmate","description","

Sage learned a long time ago that survival comes with a price.

Trapped beneath the control of Butta—a ruthless pimp who uses fear, violence, and secrets to keep his women in line—Sage will do anything to protect Promise, the one person she refuses to leave behind. When Butta sends her to get close to Yashir, one of New Orleans’ most feared and powerful men, Sage sees more than another dangerous assignment. She sees a way out.

Her plan is simple: seduce Yashir, earn his trust, and take everything she needs to buy their freedom. With a little help from the spiritual work her grandmother taught her, Sage expects to have him wrapped around her finger.

But Yashir isn’t an easy man to play.

Cold, calculating, and respected by every hustler in the city, Yashir is used to controlling the board. Yet the deeper Sage pulls him under her spell, the harder it becomes to separate manipulation from desire. Their dangerous arrangement turns into an obsession neither of them expected—and soon, Sage finds herself falling for the very man she planned to destroy.

When betrayal, bloodshed, and buried secrets force Sage to choose between love and revenge, she proves that the most dangerous woman in the game is the one everyone underestimated.

Yashir may believe he has found his queen, but Sage has been planning her final move from the beginning.

And when she finally makes it, there will be no second chances.

Only checkmate.

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