Page 127 of Rose
“Now we throwing shit in the family’s face?” Selene shouted, following, heels striking the floor like gunshots. “That’s yourfucking job, Sav! You supposed toprovide!”
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.
“Andyourswas to be amother,” 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 herseethe little boy still buried inside—the one who used to scream silently for her to love him.Stilldid, even now.
But that boy was gone. Dead.
All that was left was the man she helped build, stone by stone. Hardened. Detached. Anddone.
He climbed into his Durango, the leather groaning beneath him as he slammed the door. The engine roared like something inside him snapped loose. He hit the gas and tore into the day.
He didn’t know where the anger would take him. But he knewwhohe needed to see.
Olivia.
And if Olivia had the update he needed? Someone was about to bleed for every wound he’d been forced to carry in silence.
???
Savior stepped into Olivia’s home, the scent of sandalwood incense pulling him deeper inside. It trailed through the hall like a quiet invitation, leading him toward the familiar comfort of her home office.
Olivia shared the house with her husband, Daniel Stone, a powerful federal judge and longtime loyalist to the Carter family. Everything about the place was serene and sharp, just like her.
“Come in,” Olivia called before he even knocked, already sensing him.
He followed the trail to her sleek white-and-black office, where she sat reviewing files. Savior dropped onto her white sectional, tension still clinging to his shoulders like armor.
“You find something?” he asked, his voice low, ragged with exhaustion.
Olivia looked up, immediately clocking his energy.
“You good? Ahzii cut your ass off?” she asked with a knowing smirk.
Savior let out a quiet laugh, shaking his head.
“Nah. She ain’t dumb.”
Olivia raised a brow. “Nigga, please. That woman runslapsaround you. She got you wrapped around her manicured little fingers. Bet she calls, you come,probably moaning too.”
