Page 66 of Rose

Savior drove an hour out to the warehouse, the whole ride buzzing with unease. When he stepped into the conference room, he found Sincere, Olivia, and Saint already at the table. The air felt off. Too still. Too heavy.

He frowned seeing the looks on their faces. “Wassup?”

Sincere’s eyes flickered, nervous. Olivia looked the same. Even Saint’s expression was different—softer than Savior had ever seen in his life.

“Son… you need to sit.” Saint’s voice held a weight that twisted Savior’s gut.

Now he was worried. First Ahzii, now this.

“What’s going on?” He dropped into a chair, but nothing in him settled.

Sincere leaned forward. “I reached out to one of my contacts—a doctor at St. Joseph’s. He’s the one who operated on Jane Doe the day of the mission.”

Savior nodded for him to go on.

“What’s with the dramatic pause, nigga? Spit it out.” His patience was already thinning.

Sincere slid a file across the table. “Look for yourself. This is the original.”

Savior opened it, and everything in him crashed at once.

“The fuck is this?” His voice was low, dangerous.

“Jane Doe… is Ahzii Rose,” Olivia said.

Savior shook his head, but the pieces started falling into place whether he wanted them to or not. The burn marks. The gunshot wound. The pregnancy. Every injury in that file lined up perfectly with hers. He just hadn’t seen it before.

The only question was why someone would keep her hidden.

“This means what? Cain said William wasn’t seen with no woman.”

“And you said yourself you think he wasn’t telling the full truth,” Olivia countered. “What if Ahzii’s the one he was hiding? But why?”

“Ahzii don’t have shit to do with this.” His tone cut sharp through the room.

She might have been Jane Doe, but there was no way she was tangled up in Lazarus’ shit. Just thinking his family could’ve been responsible for her scars, her burns, her baby… it made him sick.

“I’m not saying she’s in it, Sav,” Olivia said carefully. “But she has the injuries. She was admitted the same night. And someone is keeping her a secret for a reason.”

His jaw locked. She was making sense, but he refused to hear it.

“Toss the fucking file. She don’t have shit to do with it, like I said. This shit is a fucking coincidence.”

He pushed up from the chair, ready to leave. He couldn’t believe it. Wouldn’t believe it.

Olivia’s lips parted like she wanted to push back, but Saint lifted a hand, stopping her. One look in his son’s eyes told him enough.

“She don’t have anything to do with it. Just focus on Lazarus,” Saint ordered .

Olivia looked confused but backed down.

“So how we moving on William?” Sincere asked, breaking the suffocating tension.

“We wait until he shows. He’s bound to show up soon—if he hasn’t already,” Saint replied.

Savior’s eyes stayed locked on the hospital file. He couldn’t stare at it another second. Couldn’t sit in this room another second.

He stood abruptly, grabbed his keys, and walked out.

The only person with the answers was Ahzii. And he was going to her.

Savior stormed toward his car, phone pressed to his ear. Ahzii’s number went straight to voicemail. Blocked.

He called again. And again. Ten more times. Same result. Each unanswered ring only poured gasoline on the fire building inside him.

The last thing he’d heard from her was that damn message saying she needed space.

“Aye, Sav!”

His father’s voice echoed from behind him, but Savior didn’t stop dialing. Didn’t slow down.

“Savior!” Saint called again, closer this time.

A hand clamped down on his shoulder. Savior flinched hard, spinning around with nothing but fire in his eyes.

Saint knew that look. Khaos was about to be unleashed on someone, and there’d be no pulling him back.

“Slow down, son.”

“Slow down? Saint, did you not just witness what the fuck happened in there?” Savior’s voice cracked under the weight of his rage. “Jane Doe is fucking Allure. That means she was in that house when the shit went down. She could’ve died—her fucking baby did die—and it’s all because of me!”

The tears came fast, hot, and merciless. Savior could count on one hand the number of times he’d cried in his life. But nothing— nothing —hurt like this.

Whether or not he’d been running point that night, whether or not he’d known she was Jane Doe, whether William had kept a secret family, it didn’t matter. Guilt still clawed him open from the inside.

The pain Ahzii had lived with. The numbness. The trauma. The scars he’d kissed and called beautiful… all because of him.

He knew now, without a shadow of doubt, she’d been there.

A ragged sob tore out of him, his chest locking up as Saint pulled him into a hug. Savior’s arms hung stiff at first, but then he caved, pressing his forehead into his father’s shoulder like he was trying to keep from collapsing.

“You can’t blame yourself for that shit, Sav,” Saint said quietly, his hand gripping the back of his son’s neck. “You didn’t know. You had no control over what happened that night.”

Savior lifted his head, his eyes bloodshot and wet. “She was shot because of me. She was burned because of me. Willow…” His voice broke.

“That shit wasn’t your fucking fault,” Saint snapped, his own tone rising now. “Ahzii went through that because of Lazarus, not you. You weren’t even running point that night, so how the fuck could it be your fault?”

“It’s not. It’s my fault.”

Sincere’s voice cut through the air as he walked up, his face tight with guilt.

“I didn’t dig deep enough on Lazarus before sending Wild and Raz in.

If I’d known the nigga had a family, I would’ve never told them to move.

We could’ve gotten his ass a different way, and Ahzii would still have her daughter.

” He stepped closer, his voice dropping.

“Savior… you can’t take this weight. You’ve had my back all my life.

Took every beating, every piece of blame for my fuckups.

It’s time I own this one and do the same for you. ”

He pulled Savior into a hug, holding him there.

Olivia stood a few feet away, her own tears slipping down her face. The air around them was heavy, thick with grief and unspoken truths, each of them knowing there was no going back from what they’d just uncovered.

“I’m telling her the truth,” Sincere said once they pulled apart. “Everything. She deserves to know what happened to her… and her baby. Including that you had nothing to do with it.”

“We’re gonna figure this shit out together—as a family,” Saint said firmly. “Ain’t nobody to blame but that Lazarus nigga.”

“Call me with updates. I need to head back to the office,” Olivia added, pulling each of the men into a quick hug before stepping away. Moments later, she and Saint climbed into their cars and pulled out of the warehouse lot, their taillights fading into the distance.

“Well, Ahzii’s already ignoring my ass, and I don’t even know why,” Savior muttered. “Ever since the showcase she’s been… different. She left this morning saying she needed space and wanted to stay with her mom. I couldn’t say no to that, even though I didn’t want her to fucking leave.”

Sincere chuckled, earning a glare sharp enough to cut glass.

“Nigga, what the fuck did you do? Cheat?”

“Man, Allure pussy too good for me to even think about sticking my dick in another woman.” Savior’s voice was quick, defensive, and deadly serious.

Sincere smirked but didn’t doubt him for a second.

“She texted me saying she needed more space. Staying with her mother for a few days. But…” Savior’s jaw tightened. “I can’t shake this feeling that something’s up.”

“You think she knows about the mission… and that’s why she blocked my ass?” Savior’s voice cracked, the words heavier than he wanted them to be.

“Nah.” Sincere shook his head without hesitation. “If she knew, she wouldn’t have texted you first. She’d have vanished. And A’Mazi? That nigga would be here right now, killing both our asses.”

Savior gave a slow nod, but the weight in his chest didn’t budge. It sat there like a loaded gun, pressing harder with every breath, making it damn near impossible to think about anything but her.

“Either she broke up with you, about to, or she really does need space. And judging by the killer look in your eyes right now, I’m gonna go with the last one—for the sake of mankind. If Ahzii broke up with your crazy ass, you’d start World War Three.”

Savior didn’t even crack a smile.

“Just give her what she’s asking for,” Sincere said, more serious now.

“I know this is your first time in love, your first real relationship, so you don’t know yet…

but when a woman asks for space and she’s not ending shit, she means it.

Whatever shook her up last night at the showcase got under her skin bad. She just needs to process it.”

Savior nodded, but it didn’t make the tightness in his chest loosen. “I just hate not knowing what’s going on in her head. Feels helpless.”

Sincere chuckled again, shaking his head.

“A woman could be the most transparent being on earth and you’d still be out here trying to solve her like a fucking puzzle.

Doesn’t matter if you marry Zii and spend fifty years with her—you’ll never fully know what’s going on up here.

” He tapped his temple. “Stop trying to save her, just love her. Even when you don’t understand her. ”

Savior sat with that for a beat, then finally let out a low chuckle. Couldn’t believe his little brother was giving him relationship advice.

“Give her the space she asked for. Call her tomorrow. Go home. Get some sleep,” Sincere finished.

They dapped up, but Savior knew damn well sleep wasn’t coming tonight. Not with the weight still pressing down on his chest. No matter how much Sincere swore Ahzii being in that house wasn’t his fault… he couldn’t let go of the guilt.