Page 138 of Rose
Her breath hitched. “I’m sorry, Sav… but your parents are fucked up individuals. How could they treat their child like this? It isn’t—” Her voice cracked as more tears slid down her cheeks.
“Allure,” Savior murmured, sitting up and pulling her gently into his lap.
She didn’t fight it.
“Look at me.”
Her teary eyes lifted to his.
“Savior, you didn’t deserve any of that,” she whispered, breaking down as if it were her pain, not his. “You were just a kid. Just a kid.”
He held her, quiet for a beat, letting her sob against his chest.
“Baby… listen to me,” he said softly, lifting her chin. “I went through that to become the man I am today. I had to. To run this family. To be the killer—the leader—they needed.”
“No,” she interrupted, wiping her tears roughly. “You didn’t need to be a killer. Or a leader. You needed to be a child. A son. You needed love, Sav. You needed comfort and safety and joy.”
Her voice shook, but her gaze didn’t.
“You needed everything they never gave you.”
Savior looked at her, eyes dark and unreadable. Then he leaned in and kissed her. Slow. Gentle. Sure. She melted into it, her fingers curling in the back of his neck.
“God’s slowly giving me that, Allure,” he said against her lips.
She pulled back slightly, eyes wide. “Huh?”
But he didn’t elaborate.
He kissed her again, deeper this time, then leaned back as if he hadn’t just shaken her whole world.
“Let’s forget about the past,” he said, exhaling. “Just finish the tattoo. Sin’s weed got me high as fuck.”
She laughed through tears, because she was floating too. “Yeah, because you’re talking out the side of your neck. Barely making sense.”
“I know exactly what I’m saying,” he said, laying back down. “You’re just not in the space to hear it.”
“Yeah, okay.” She rolled her eyes, returning to the tattoo gun.
But his words stayed with her. Lodged in her soul like a seed she didn’t know was already blooming.
With every stroke of the needle, she felt like she wasn’t just tattooing his skin, she was carving her presence into him. Etching something pure. Manifesting a love neither of them were ready to name, but both were starting to feel.
Chapter 14
Savior woke before the sun even hinted at rising. It was muscle memory now. In a few more minutes, if he wasn’t dressed and out the door, his father would storm in—yelling, cursing, fists flying. So he got up. Brushed his teeth. Washed his face. Let the cold water ground him.
Today was his birthday. Thirteen. A number that meant nothing to him. While other kids might be excited, he felt… nothing. Birthdays weren’t joy. Not in this house. He didn’t feel thirteen either—he felt older. Hardened. Like he’d aged ten extra years in silence and pain, each one etched into the broad shoulders and thick frame he carried like armor.
He stepped out of the bathroom and paused. Perched on his already-made bed were the twins, smiles stretched wide and sleepy curls everywhere, like they’d raced each other out of bed.
“Happy birthday, Savvy!” they chimed together.
His heart softened, just a little. If love existed in this house, it was tucked inside those two faces.
“Thanks, twins,” he murmured, moving to the drawer to grab workout clothes.
“Happy Birthday, ugly,” Olivia mumbled as she walked in, still rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
