Page 46 of Rose

This was where Savior always came to breathe.

He had a lot on his mind lately. And when the weight got too heavy, Aunt Marley was the only woman he trusted to hold it. She was the only mother figure he ever had.

“Yeah? Wonder who you heard that from,” he said, passing her the blunt with a lazy grin.

“You should know by now—I know everything, baby,” she replied, taking a pull, her eyes narrowing on him. “So… do you love her?”

Savior let out a deep chuckle. “Damn, Auntie. You just gone throw that out there with no warning?”

She laughed too, but the moment settled into something real. Something heavy.

“Well,” she said, tapping ash off the tip, “I knew you liked her the second you killed that nigga behind her. And when I brought her up? Your whole face lit up like the Fourth of July. Smile you tried to hide and everything. So, nah… this ain’t no ‘like.’”

Savior shook his head with a smirk. Nothing got past Marley.

He didn’t have a relationship with his mother. Never had. But Aunt Marley filled that void, stitched that wound, and he was damn near sure she knew it. He was grateful for her.

“Shi... I don’t know,” he muttered, finally letting his guard down. “I was never shown love—especially not from a woman—so I don’t know how the fuck to feel, honestly.”

Aunt Marley gave a knowing nod, her expression soft. “I know you talkin’ about your mama... because I showed you love. Don’t do me like that.”

That made him laugh again, a real one this time.

“But let me say this,” she continued, tone firmer now.

“Don’t let what your parents did to you mess up a good thing.

I don’t even know this woman, but I see what you feel.

It’s all over you. You love her, whether you know how to say it or not.

And baby, you deserve love. Even if they never gave it to you. ”

He looked at her, a lump forming in his throat. The kind he didn’t know what to do with.

“I want you to meet her,” Savior said, voice quiet but sure.

Aunt Marley smiled wide. “I would love to meet her.”

“Meet who?”

The question sliced through the moment like cold steel.

Savior’s body tensed.

A woman’s voice rang from the patio entrance just before her figure stepped out into the fading light.

“Shit,” Aunt Marley muttered under her breath, already knowing what was coming .

Savior turned his head, and his eyes met hers .

Selene.

His mother.

Savior had always thought his mother was beautiful— stunning, even—though she’d never been worthy of the title mom.

Her rich brown skin gleamed like polished bronze in the setting sun, smooth and radiant, untouched by time.

Her long, straight hair flowed down her back, not a strand out of place.

And her eyes… they shimmered with something unreadable.

Guilt. Regret. Maybe even love. But none of it ever mattered. Not when it counted.

She didn’t look like she was in her fifties. Honestly, if you saw her and Sarai together, you’d think they were sisters. But all the pretty in the world couldn’t dress up the ugly between them.

“My bad, Sav. I forgot to tell you she was coming by,” Aunt Marley said, voice apologetic as she took the blunt he passed.

“It’s all good.” Savior exhaled slowly. His tone didn’t match the chill in his voice. “Wassup, Selene.”

Selene stood with a familiar mug on her face—stoic, unreadable—but the guilt had never left her eyes. It followed her like a ghost she couldn't outrun.

“It’s a problem being in the same room as me now?” she asked, her voice laced with bitterness as she caught Aunt Marley’s earlier tone.

“Selene, don’t start.” Marley took a long hit, waving her hand dismissively. “I’m high, I’m happy, I’m vibing with my nephew. Don’t come out here fucking that up.”

Selene rolled her eyes but moved to sit across from them, the air shifting with her presence. She crossed her legs, arms folding like she had a right to be defensive.

“Whatever, Mar. So…” she looked at Savior, tone sharp but curious, “who’s the woman I’m supposed to be meeting?”

So she was eavesdropping.

Before Marley could respond, Savior cut in.

“No one,” he said flatly.

The finality in his voice settled like a blade between them.

He was done playing with illusions. The fake love. The switch-up when Saint was around. The sudden concern that only ever showed up when his father wasn’t in the room. He’d seen it all before. Lived it. Felt it.

He wasn’t a little boy waiting for her to care anymore.

So no—she didn’t get to know about Ahzii.

Not now. Maybe not ever.

“You gonna forever act like this toward me?” Selene asked, eyes locked on Savior as he took another slow pull from the blunt, unfazed.

He didn’t answer. Just exhaled and passed it back to Aunt Marley.

He didn’t have time for this. He had a meeting with Olivia about Lazarus, and he hadn’t come here to unravel trauma with the woman who caused half of it. He leaned down, kissed Marley’s forehead, and grabbed his keys.

“You don’t hear me talking to you?” Selene snapped, stepping forward now, her voice sharpening. “I’m still your mother, no matter how the fuck you feel about me.”

“Selene, chill, ” Aunt Marley warned, but Selene snapped her head toward her like a wolf baring teeth.

“ Chill? This nigga standing here acting like I’m nothing! Like I ain’t carry his ass for nine months and take care of him?”

Savior let out a low, bitter chuckle.

“That’s all you did,” Marley cut in, her voice like a knife. “You carried him, not cared for him. After birth, you handed him over to Saint like he was a pawn. Let him get beat and broken—turned into a killer instead of a child.”

Savior saw it—the flash of rage in Selene’s eyes. He could see where this was going and didn’t want to be around when it hit. He didn’t come here for all this. He just wanted a moment of peace with the one woman who had ever truly protected him.

“Mar, don’t tell me how to raise or talk to my son,” Selene said through clenched teeth. “I did what needed to be done for the family. Savvy understood that.”

Savior’s face hardened. He mugged her without saying a word.

“You got to raise him for that line to make sense,” Aunt Marley snapped, eyes narrowed. “Last I checked, this man is grown, and you missed your window. ”

Savior laughed under his breath. His aunt had always gone to war for him, even if it meant standing against her own twin. She was one of the few people who showed him what loyalty looked like. What love felt like.

“I’m out,” Savior said, moving toward the back gate.

But Selene wasn’t done. She stepped into his path, blocking his way with her pride and her poison.

“You swear he’s so perfect, Marley. But your father told me how you fucked up on that mission. Now there’s a serial killer on the loose because of you.”

Savior stopped cold.

His jaw flexed. He bit his lip so hard he tasted blood.

“Selene!” Marley barked, standing now.

“No, Auntie,” Savior said, eyes never leaving Selene. His voice was low, deadly calm. “Let her talk. Continue.”

Selene’s expression shifted. The guilt returned, but pride held it hostage. She wouldn’t fold. Not even now. Not even after everything.

Savior looked at her and didn’t see a mother.

He saw the reason he’d grown up believing he was unlovable. The reason he’d hardened. Shut down. Believed he had no heart because the woman who should ’ ve loved him never did.

Selene looked at him, and couldn’t deny what she saw.

No matter how much time passed, it never got easier—seeing just how much of Saint lived inside him.

The posture. The jaw. That quiet, deadly focus.

But Savior was more than a carbon copy of the man who’d broken him.

He had his own fire. His own mind. His own voice.

And a heart that, despite everything, still beat beneath the armor. A heart that Selene knew she helped fracture.

“Your father taught you better than that,” Selene said finally, her voice colder than she meant it to be. “You know you don’t get to fuck up. He thought you were ready for this business, but this proves—”

“There you go,” Savior cut in, voice sharp, “loving that nigga more than you ever loved me.”

His words hit like a punch. But he wasn’t done.

“The money I’ve brought in for this family? The systems I built so we could move in silence ? Stay invisible ? I did that. Me. Just like I took every ass whooping, every threat, every bruise on the chin. You didn’t want a son, you wanted a soldier. So that’s who the fuck I became.”

His voice cracked, but his eyes burned straight through her.

“I’ve been saving this family for years... but where the fuck were you when I needed you to save me? ”

He turned, ready to leave, the heat of years rising in his chest.

“Now we throwing shit in the family’s face?” Selene shouted, following, heels striking the floor like gunshots. “That’s your fucking job , Sav! You supposed to provide! ”

He spun so fast she flinched. Towering over her. Breathing heavy.

His pain boiled just beneath the surface, glowing behind his eyes like a fuse about to blow.

“And yours was to be a mother, ” he growled.

Her face fell.

“Guess I’m just a fuck-up like the two who raised me.”

Crack .

The slap echoed like a gunshot.

He didn’t blink. Didn’t flinch. But it landed, just not where she aimed. It didn’t sting his cheek. It burned in the one place she could never reach to heal.

His heart.

“Selene!” Aunt Marley shouted, rushing forward, fury written all over her face.

But Savior was already walking out. Fists clenched. Jaw locked. Eyes cold. He didn’t look back.

Couldn’t. If he did, he might explode. Might say something unforgivable. Might let her see the little boy still buried inside—the one who used to scream silently for her to love him. Still did, even now.

But that boy was gone. Dead.

All that was left was the man she helped build, stone by stone. Hardened. Detached. And done.