Page 68 of Rose

She’d been cooped up in this beach house since yesterday, and the messages from her family made it clear they were worried sick. That short text she sent wasn’t enough to ease them.

William’s hand dragged down his face, slow and heavy. He thought of Savior. The Carters. The possibility of them finding her if she stepped foot outside. “I know it’s a lot. But you can’t leave, baby. Savior’s out there. I can’t risk you getting hurt.”

Her eyes narrowed slightly. “So I’m stuck here? Can’t check on my shop, my family, my dog… nothing? All because of Savior? What about clothes? I need to pack. These clothes you got me aren’t even my style.”

There was a hard edge in her voice now—annoyance wrapped around confusion.

“Beautiful, please… don’t make this harder than it already is.”

“I’m not making it hard, William. I’m just confused. You keep running out every hour, never telling me where you’re going. I feel like a sitting duck, waiting for more bad news to drop in my lap. All I’m asking for is answers on what the fuck is going on. ”

William let out a slow sigh. “Trust me, baby. Everything will make sense soon. You’re here because I need to know you’re safe.

I spent an entire year recovering, not knowing if you made it out of that house alive.

When I finally found you… when I saw you breathing, standing in front of me, I didn’t even know how to approach you.

I didn’t know if you’d still love me, or if you’d look at me the same after I’d been alive all this time.

” His voice cracked as he looked at her, letting the weight of his words hang heavy.

“When I saw you with that nigga… happy… it broke my heart. Because you moved on. You forgot about me.”

Tears slid down his cheeks, the hurt in his voice threading with something else—something calculated. He was telling her just enough truth to break her guard, and just enough lies to keep her exactly where he wanted her.

“William, I never forgot about you.” Her voice was quiet, trembling with the weight of time she could never get back.

“It took me a year to grieve and even longer to try to heal from the love we shared. I cried myself to sleep every night after that night… praying God would bring you and our baby girl back to me.” Her throat tightened, but she pushed through.

“I can’t deny the love I shared with Savior—”

William’s jaw ticked, his lips pressing into a hard line, but he said nothing. He let her speak.

“But now I know it was all fake. He was the cause of my pain. And my true love came back to me.”

A tear slid down her cheek—not for William’s return, but for the truth she had just spoken into existence. That maybe everything she had with Savior was a lie.

William’s thumb brushed the tear away, soft and tender. “So you’re done with him?” His voice was low, urgent, desperate for her to give him the answer he needed.

The word “done” burned in her chest. Physically, she was done. She had to be. But her heart was waging war with itself—fighting to let go of the man who had shattered her while still clinging to the pieces he’d once made her feel whole with.

“Yes.” She forced it out, the lie tasting bitter on her tongue. “I’m done with Savior.”

William’s lips curved into a smile. His phone dinged.

She tried to glance at the screen without moving too much, but from her angle she couldn’t see. Whatever it was, she knew it meant he was leaving again.

“I love you, Beautiful,” he said, watching her closely.

“I love you too,” she answered, taking another bite just so she didn’t have to hold his gaze too long.

He leaned down and kissed her forehead. She wanted to ask where he was going, but she already knew she’d get nothing but smoke and deflection.

“I’ll be back later. Ahzii—”

“I know,” she cut in softly. “Don’t leave.”

He nodded, smiling like the words were a promise he actually intended to keep.

But when the door shut behind him, relief never came. Excitement never came. Happiness never came. Instead, the walls of the beach house seemed to close in around her, and she realized it wasn’t a safe haven at all, it was a prison.

?? ?

Savior stepped into the bar, the slow pulse of old-school music wrapping around the room like smoke.

Dim lighting cast everything in warm shadows, a stark contrast to the gold and orange spill of the setting sun outside.

His black Timbs moved in measured strides, each step silent but deliberate, eyes cutting across the space as he clocked every exit, every corner, every face worth remembering.

The place was made for an older crowd—thick with the scent of dark liquor and cigar smoke, the air vibrating with Marvin Gaye and Al Green.

Couples and old friends nursed drinks at scattered tables, laughter and low conversation mixing with the faint clack of pool balls in the back.

But Savior wasn’t here for nostalgia or small talk. He was here for business.

Cain had called, claiming new intel on Lazarus, and told him to meet here. No sign of him yet. Savior slid onto a stool at the bar, figuring traffic was to blame. Miami was hectic today, a blackout knocking out half the city and slowing everything to a crawl.

The wait gave him too much time to think, too much time to pick at the raw wound that was Ahzii. He pulled out his phone, firing off another message even though he already knew the answer would be the same as the last hundred. Nothing.

A’Mazi had echoed her words exactly, she needed space. And Savior had given it to her, tried to respect it, but his patience was wearing thin. If Cain hadn’t called, he would’ve already been at Bianca’s house, ready to look her in the eye and get his answers.

Sleep had been a stranger. Business wasn’t enough to keep his mind from circling her.

After finding out she was Jane Doe, the urge to go to her, to explain before she discovered it on her own, had nearly consumed him.

But he’d trusted Sincere to tell her the truth like he promised.

God, he prayed it wouldn’t be the nail in their coffin—that she could somehow forgive them both.

He’d sent her a hundred roses, a giant bear, and a handwritten letter to her mother’s house. Not even a flicker of acknowledgment. When he called to confirm, his number was still blocked. That stung more than he wanted to admit.

And beneath all the possibilities, one thought kept clawing at him, maybe she already knew. Maybe she’d put it together that she was Jane Doe… and that his family had been hired to carry out the mission that destroyed her life.

The idea made his heart pound hard enough to hurt. Nothing else in this life had ever shaken him like this. But losing Ahzii? That would break him beyond repair.

“Hey, handsome. I’ve never seen you here before.”

Savior glanced up from his phone at a woman who looked around his mother’s age, maybe younger if you factored in the dim lighting and her warm smile.

“That’s because I’ve never been here before,” he replied dry, but respectful enough not to kill the conversation.

“Well, what can I get you? We’ve got the best wings in the city and the strongest drinks if I’m making ’em.”

“Just water,” he said, eyes already sliding back to his phone. The messages from Ahzii stared back at him, unanswered, like a wound refusing to heal. He swiped through them again, as if staring hard enough might summon the three little dots .

Katherine, the bartender, set his glass down and caught a glimpse of his screen; the bar’s counter was too small to hide it. “You know staring at the message isn’t gonna make those dots appear,” she said, handing him the water.

Normally, Savior would have shut down anyone poking into his business. But she wasn’t a threat, just a bartender trying to make conversation.

“Yeah, you’re right,” he muttered, locking the screen. Business. He needed to focus on business, no matter how much his mind kept drifting back to her.

“Khaos.”

The deep, rasping voice came from behind him.

He turned to see Cain limping forward on his cane.

There was something different about him tonight—lighter somehow—but Savior didn’t care enough to figure out why.

This wasn’t about catching up. This was about ending Lazarus, and maybe…

maybe getting Ahzii to stop disappearing on him.

“Sorry I’m late. Traffic was hell,” Cain said, sliding onto the barstool beside Savior.

“Hi, Katherine,” Cain greeted, making it clear this wasn’t his first time here.

“The usual?” she asked with a knowing smile.

“Nah, not tonight. Mind giving us some privacy?” He winked, playful enough to make her chuckle before she drifted down the bar to another customer.

“What you got for me?” Savior asked, voice low and sharp.

“I spotted William again,” Cain said, watching the way Savior’s stare hardened. “Caught him leaving a grocery store. I followed him home. Drives a 2010 red Cadillac DTS. Got the address, too.”

Cain pulled out his phone, swiping to a picture of the car, license plate clear. Another swipe showed William on a porch, blunt in hand.

“I just sent you the address.”

Savior’s business phone buzzed in his pocket. He glanced at the screen, his tongue grazing his teeth as the thought of spilling blood sent a slow burn through him.

“I’ll handle it,” he said, standing now.

Cain exhaled like he’d been holding that breath for years. “Can’t thank you enough. Any of you Carters. I can finally sleep knowing the man who took everything from me is in the ground.”

They shook hands, sealing something darker than just business.

But Ahzii crept back into his head—Jane Doe, the mission, the scars, the baby—and his pulse spiked.

“Was he alone? Wife? Girlfriend? Anybody with him?” he asked, forcing the question to sound casual.

Cain shook his head. “Alone. Like I told you before, I don’t think he’s got a woman or family. A man like him don’t deserve life, let alone love.” There was a weight in his voice, but Savior let it pass.