Page 188 of Rose
“She don’t know you. That shit ain’t true,” Savior said, shaking his head even though the weight of it was crushing him.
“You’re right about one thing—she doesn’t knowthisme,” Lazarus said with a smug grin. “But William Davis? She knows him. Loves him. And now she’s back where she belongs.”
Savior’s voice hardened. “Where the fuck is she? What did you do to her?”
“She’s none of your concern anymore,” Lazarus said, stepping closer. “I told her everything—how you and your family are the reason she’s spent the last year grieving. I made sure every piece of evidence pointed straight at you. She won’t mourn you after I kill you. Now? She will hate you.”
He smirked as he delivered the final blow. “Matter of fact… she already does.”
“No…” Savior’s voice was ragged, but the denial in it was thick. He didn’t want to believe it, yet the signs were all there—her silence, the block, the sudden wall between them. She knew.
“Oh… nigga really hurt,” Lazarus taunted, eyes glinting with malice. “She was never yours to have. That’s my woman, my wife. And now that she hates your ass, she won’t grieve you the way she grieved me.”
Savior gritted his teeth and forced himself to his feet, but before he could take a step, Lazarus fired. The bullet tore into his shoulder, sending him crashing back to the floor.
“Ahhh… fuck!” Savior’s scream tore through the air, ragged and guttural.
“Ahzii is—and will always be—mine.” Lazarus stepped in close and squeezed the trigger again. The shot hit Savior in the chest, his body jerking before he went still, blood pooling beneath him.
Lazarus crouched, fingers to Savior’s neck, finding the pulse faint but still there.
“Is he dead?” Darius asked, leaning over the body.
“He will be.”
Before Darius could process it, Lazarus turned the gun on him and fired. The bullet slammed into his chest, his eyes going wide in shock as he stumbled back.
“The fuck?” Darius choked, coughing blood, confusion etched in every line of his face.
“Sorry, brother,” Lazarus said, voice cold and almost casual. “But I can’t risk anyone coming after me anymore. They’ll think you’re me.”
“Why?” Darius wheezed, his voice breaking.
“It’s time for me and my wife to be happy. I’m done with this life.” Lazarus stepped closer, eyes void of hesitation. “Love you, twin. And thank you… for everything.”
The final shot cracked through the air, piercing Darius’s skull. His body crumpled, lifeless.
Lazarus knelt, checking for a pulse he knew wasn’t there, then methodically pressed Darius’s fingerprints onto the gun. Framing complete.
“That’s for kissing my wife, too,” he muttered over the corpse before straightening.
Without a glance back, Lazarus strode out, slid behind the wheel of the red Cadillac, and tore down the street, racing back to the only woman who’d ever been heaven in the hell he built.
Savior lay sprawled in a pool of his own blood, every breath a war he was losing. Death was pulling him under, slow and merciless, each breath heavier than the last. His vision blurred, darkness creeping in at the edges, but his mind clung to one thing—her.
Flashes of Ahzii filled his fading consciousness: her laugh, her stubborn fire, the way she looked at him like he was more than the monster he’d been forged to be. Every kiss. Every fight. Every promise.
“My Allure…” The words scraped out of his throat, broken and raw, before the black swallowed him whole.
Chapter 19
The pounding at the door jolted her awake, followed by the shrill ring of the doorbell. Ahzii’s brows knitted—no one should’ve been out here. The beach house sat in the middle of nowhere, no neighbors for miles. William had left hours ago and hadn’t come back. She’d finally drifted off watching reruns ofLiving Single, her first real sleep in days.
The knocking came again, harder this time, then a woman’s voice rang out. “Ahzii! I know you in there! Your damn bike’s in the driveway!”
Kyre.
Heart thudding, Ahzii pushed herself up too fast, stumbling as the blood rushed to her head. Her skull still throbbed from crying, and she hadn’t eaten since breakfast. She opened the door to find Kyre on the porch, tears streaming, with A’Mazi standing behind her looking like he’d just swallowed a gun barrel.
