Page 126 of Rose
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’mstillyour 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.Savvyunderstood that.”
Savior’s face hardened. He mugged her without saying a word.
“You got toraisehim for that line to make sense,” Aunt Marley snapped, eyes narrowed. “Last I checked, this man is grown, and youmissed 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. Whatlovefelt 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 aserial killeron 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 whoshould’veloved 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 hisownfire. Hisownmind. Hisownvoice.
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. “Youknowyou 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 insilence? Stayinvisible? I did that. Me. Just like I took every ass whooping, every threat, every bruise on thechin.You didn’t want a son, you wanted asoldier.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 wereyouwhen I neededyouto saveme?”
He turned, ready to leave, the heat of years rising in his chest.
