Page 195 of Rose
Ahzii had known William had a brother, she never met, but she didn’t know he had an identical twin. And if what he was saying was true… then the man Olivia swore was dead was actually Darius. Her mind refused to process it fully.
“I… I don’t believe you,” she said, forcing steel into her voice.
Lazarus—William—lifted his shirt, and she flinched at the movement. “It’s me, Beautiful. The only man you love.” Over his heart, burned but still clear, was her name inked into his skin.
Her stomach dropped. It was enough to confirm. But her heart rejected it.
“No.”
His eyes narrowed. “What?”
That’s when she pulled the gun from her waistband, her hands trembling but her aim locked.
“The only man I love is lying in a hospital bed because of you. I don’t know who the fuck you are.”
His laugh was low, humorless, and dark. “So you let that nigga and his family come between us?”
“No!” Her voice shook with fury. “You lied to me! You had me believing you were this loving man who liked tech and baseball, who… who cared about me. I gave you my heart, my soul, my—my baby. And you were a fucking terrorist. A killer!”
Her tears were falling now, but she didn’t lower the gun. For the first time, she saw his bravado flicker under the weight of them.
“Beautiful—”
“Don’t fucking call me that!” Ahzii snapped, her voice sharp as glass. The gun in her hands didn’t waver.
He started to move toward her.
“Take another step, and I’m shooting.”
Lazarus froze. Tears welled in his eyes, his gaze locking on her like it did the first night they met, full of the same devotion, the same hunger. But Ahzii didn’t see her husband. She didn’t see the man she once kissed under the stars or curled up with while their daughter kicked inside her. She saw the monster who burned her life to the ground. A killer. A liar. A terrorist.
“Just… let me explain. Please.”
Months ago, she would’ve run into his arms. Now, she hated him enough to put him in the ground.
In her head, she heard Savior’s voice, clear as the day he trained her on that beach.Keep your arm extended, Allure.
She extended her arm.
“Please… Ahzii, put the gun down,” Lazarus begged, holding his hands up, his cane dangling at his side.
Breathe, and let it go, baby.Savior’s voice again, steady, patient, lethal.
She inhaled deep.
Lazarus took another step.
She let it go.
The gun roared, the shot slamming into his stomach.
The recoil jolted her back against the couch, her finger still tight on the trigger. Sarai burst through the door at the sound, but Ahzii didn’t even look at her. Her eyes stayed on Lazarus, watching him gasp for air.
Intend to take their life,Savior’s voice echoed inside her.Because if they came for you once, they’ll come again.
And she knew he was right.
William had come for her before. If she didn’t finish this, he’d come again.
