Page 80 of Rose
But Ahzii wasn’t here.
Not really.
She was back in that house, reliving every moment—her lungs filling with smoke, her husband bleeding out on the floor, her own body crumpled and lifeless as flames licked her skin.
The fire. The screams. The silence.
Tears welled up as her heart banged against her ribs. She didn’t know where Savior was taking her. She didn’t care.
Because right now, she was trapped in a past that refused to let her go.
Chapter 9
Savior entered the gate code to the estate, the heavy iron doors sliding open as the Bugatti coasted down the long, winding driveway. But instead of turning toward his main house, he veered right—down a private road carved into the landscape until the dense trees gave way to the open view of a secluded beach, the ocean stretching wide under the night sky.
Beside him, Ahzii hadn’t moved.
She sat with her arms wrapped tightly around herself, her body trembling like she was cold, though her skin glistened with sweat. The AC was on full blast. Still, her forehead dampened, her lashes wet, her lips parted slightly like she was fighting to breathe.
She hadn’t said a word in 45 minutes. Hadn’t blinked. Hadn’t acknowledged him. Just stared blankly out the window like she wasn’t even in the car with him.
Like her soul had checked out.
Savior gripped the wheel tighter.
He knew he scared her. Knew blowing up that man’s car pushed her into a place she’d tried so hard to escape from. He saw it in the silent tears that trailed down her cheek. In the way her chest moved too fast, too hard. In the way her eyes didn’t focus on anything in front of her.
Guilt gripped him low in his gut, a feeling he wasn’t used to. He didn’t regret what he did—not the explosion, not the threat, not even the phone call—but seeing her like this? Shaken. Silent. Unreachable?
That shit tore him up in ways he didn’t want to admit.
He hadn’t planned any of this. He’d handled business, then headed to the club Sincere mentioned they were hitting for her and Mazi’s birthday. He didn’t come to party—he came to see her. Only her. But when he arrived and everyone was there except the one person he was looking for, his blood started to boil.
Kyre and Sarai played dumb, dodging questions, avoiding eye contact, feeding him bullshit answers that didn’t add up. And if they were keeping her whereabouts under wraps, it meant only one thing—Ahzii wasn’t at home like they wanted him to believe.
She was with another man.
A man he’d already warned her about.
The rage didn’t creep in—it crashed.
He found her. Of course he did. Sitting pretty across from that weak-ass nigga at some overpriced rooftop restaurant, looking bored out of her mind, but fine as hell. Too fine to be wasting her time on someone who couldn’t keep his attention off his phone long enough to realize what was sitting in front of him.
Savior couldn’t stomach it.
He wasn’t going to let her spend her birthday with someone who didn’t know how to worship her. Someone who didn’t know what the fuck he had. Someone who didn’tdeserveher.
So he handled it the only way he knew how.
The Khaos way.
But now… he was watching her fall apart in his passenger seat, and it didn’t feel like a win. Didn’t feel like he saved her from something. It felt like he’d ripped open a wound she hadn’t finished stitching up.
Savior parked the Bugatti, the soft crunch of gravel under the tires breaking the silence. The wind rolled off the ocean and brushed against his skin as he stepped out, the salty air wrapping around him like judgment. He wore a black t-shirt that clung to his solid frame, grey Essentials shorts hanging low on his hips, and all-black Travis Scott Jordan 1s kicking up sand as he moved to the passenger side.
He opened the door.
She didn’t move.
