Page 165 of Rose
Ahzii looked down at her screen, impressed. “Damn. That’s... really dope. Thank you again, for fixing them.”
William offered a small smile, one that didn’t quite reach his eyes, but his voice was warm. “Thanks for the escape. This place is incredible. You’re incredible.”
She raised a brow as they stepped outside, the night air warm with leftover music and laughter. The streets had gone quiet now—just streetlamps, city breeze, and soft steps on pavement.
William stopped by his car, unlocking it as he looked at her one last time.
“This place is beautiful,” he said, voice low. “Like the owner.”
Ahzii chuckled, shaking her head, but the way she looked at him now… it wasn’t dismissive. It was curious. Intrigued. Touched.
“Continue to let your beauty shine, Beautiful,” he added, voice soft, but it carried more than he intended.
She blinked, the compliment hitting deeper than either of them expected.
“Thank you, William,” she said quietly.
He opened his door and looked back at her one more time, a rare softness in his eyes.
“I’ll be looking forward to that call.”
Ahzii’s hand instinctively brushed the note still tucked in her pocket—the one with his number.
“We’ll see,” she said, smiling now.
William got in, started the engine, and pulled off into the night.
And in that moment, without realizing it...
Ahzii had stolen his heartless heart, and turned a devil into a man who suddenly believed in love again.
William stood over the small, polished tombstone, the nameWillow Daviscarved delicately into the granite. His hand trembled as he reached out, brushing away the dead petals that clung to the base. A single tear slipped down his cheek—one of many he’d never allow the world to see.
This was the cost of his survival. The woman who gave him light. The daughter who gave him purpose. Gone.
All because ofhispast.
The flames didn’t kill him, but they destroyed everything else. He walked out of that fire, but the man who came out wasn’t the same one who walked in. He lost the only Heaven he’d ever known trying to escape the hell he created.
“Hey, baby girl… it’s Daddy,” he whispered, crouching beside Willow’s grave. His voice cracked like a man still trying to hold himself together. “I know Mommy hasn’t been by. I’ve been watching her… she’s still hurting. Just like me.”
The flowers were wilted. Faded. He could tell Ahzii hadn’t visited in weeks. Buthehad. Always from a distance. Always in the shadows.
Because he had to be dead. That was the only way to keep her safe.
He’d covered every trail after that night—wiped security footage, scrubbed hospital records, hacked the system and buried her name beneath layers of digital smoke. She was listed as a Jane Doe. No trace. No links. No questions. Just like he planned.
And still, his demons weren’t done with him. Especially now… now that he’d watched herfall in love again.
With another man. Not just any man—a Carter.
A family whose hands were stained with the ashes of his.
Every time he saw her smile at that man—his wife—it burned deeper than the fire that nearly killed him. Watching her rebuild, watching her laugh again, made his heart split open all over. Because she was doing it without him. Because the world moved on, and somehow...she forgot.
Forgot their wedding vows. Their late nights on the beach. The dreams they dreamed for Willow.
The family they built.
