Smokey by Sam Crescent
Chapter Twenty-Two
“It’s good to see you awake,” Ava said.
Raven groaned. “Thanks.”
The woman looked so damn small in the hospital bed.
“Can you ask Smokey when I get out of here? I can’t stand hospitals.”
“I know.” Ava wanted to get closer. “Thank you.”
Raven opened the one eye that wasn’t badly swollen. “For what?”
“For protecting me and Umberto.”
Raven groaned. “Umberto? Why the fuck would you call your kid that?”
“Smokey told me it was important. Ugly Beast helped to bring him into the world. I don’t think he’d like the name Raven, but if I have a little girl, I’m going to call her that.” She smiled at the other woman. “Thank you. You didn’t have to do that.”
“I did.”
“No, you really didn’t.” She got to her feet and moved a little close to the bed. Her son made a little moaning sound that caught at her heart. “I forgive you, Raven. Don’t ever put yourself in danger for me again.”
“I care about you, Ava. It wasn’t out of guilt that I did what I did. You’re Smokey’s woman, and you’re one of my friends. I fucked up. I wasn’t a good friend.”
“Then let’s agree from this day forward, what happened in that basement, stays in it. You and I, we’re good. We’re friends again.”
Tears fell from Raven’s eyes, but the woman didn’t sob or show any other indication that she was crying. “I’d like that.”
“Would you like to see him?”
Raven nodded.
Ava chuckled. “He’s such a big boy.”
“I love kids,” Raven said.
“I’ve seen the way you are with Bella. You’re good with kids.”
“How’s Harlow?” Raven asked.
“She’s fine. She lost a lot of blood, but the glass didn’t hit any major arteries,” Ava said. She’d already gone to see Harlow. The other woman was in good spirits. Her parents were angry, but Harlow wouldn’t hear a bad word said about her or the club. She was due to go home tomorrow. She was already talking about returning to work.
The sound of a voice clearing had her turning to see Smokey standing in the doorway.
“I’m sorry I failed you,” Raven said. “I will hand in my leather cut.”
“Don’t talk so fucking stupid.” Smokey entered the room, coming to her side. “I’m not here to take your cut from you, Raven. I came to thank you.”
“Thank me?”
“I didn’t expect you to win being ambushed. You saved Ava and my son the best way you could. I’m not going to hold it against you, being taken. That could have happened to anyone.”
“I tried so hard,” Raven said.
Smokey went to take her hand, but one of them was crushed and the other had been broken.
He put his hand gently on her cheek. “You did, and I’m so proud of you. Your place at the club will never be in question. The guys are all proud of you.”
“Which one of you had to carry my ass out?” Raven asked.
“That would have been me,” Carlos said.
Ava turned to see Carlos. The other man’s arms were folded, and Smokey had told her who he was and what he did. In fact, over the past couple of days since giving birth in the warehouse, Smokey had shared a lot about the club. More than she thought he ever would.
“Why are you here?” Smokey asked.
“To see how she’s doing. She was in pretty bad shape.”
“We can take care of our own,” Smokey said.
Carlos smiled. “Until next time. I hope you continue to recover.”
Ava looked at Carlos then at Raven.
They didn’t leave until after Carlos, and Raven was exhausted. She passed Kinky who sat outside the door reading a book.
He offered her a smile, and she returned it.
Umberto was getting quite heavy in her arms. Smokey, seeing her struggling, took his son in one arm, holding him close, and with the other, he wrapped his arm around her waist.
“What was that all about?” she asked, as they took the elevator.
“What was what?”
“You didn’t see that?” Ava asked.
“What?”
“The way Carlos looked at Raven?”
Smokey shook his head.
“You totally did see it. Don’t even deny it.”
“I saw it, but it can never happen.”
The elevator opened up and they stepped out, making their way toward the exit. Ava was already planning a gift basket to bring back to Raven. “Why not?”
“Simple, Carlos is mafia. He has to marry a very sweet, virginal woman from his own kind.”
Ava frowned and shook her head. “That doesn’t seem right.”
“Right or not, that’s what has to happen. It’s their rules.”
“Rules are stupid.”
Smokey leaned into the car to put Umberto into the car seat. Ava climbed in to strap him in.
Her breasts felt heavy, so he would be hungry soon.
“Have I turned you into a rebel?” Smokey asked. “Since when does my woman think rules are stupid?”
She laughed. “You know what I mean.” She shrugged. “They are.”
“I don’t know if I like this new woman.”
He cupped her cheek, running his thumb across her lip. “Marry me.”
Ava gasped. “What?”
“Marry me. I’m in love with you, Ava, and I believe you’re in love with me too. I want to have the world with you. I know I can’t offer you a normal life, but I can offer you one filled with lots of love. You’ll never want for anything.”
She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
He wanted to marry her.
He loved her.
She loved him so much.
“I don’t want anything else. I only want you. I love you. Yes.”
“Yes?”
“Yes, I’ll marry you.”
She watched as he patted down his leather cut, then his jeans before holding out a ring.
“You bought a ring?”
“I’ve been wanting to ask you to marry me for some time.”
This did surprise her.
“I love you, Ava. I’ve been wanting to make you mine. The guys think I’m pussy-whipped. I tried to practice how to ask you to marry me.”
She cupped his cheek, leaning over Umberto to kiss him. “This is perfect.”
“I’ll never treat you like your ex did.”
She laughed. “I should hope not.”
He slid the ring onto her finger, and it was the perfect fit.
Smokey couldn’t offer her normal or easy, but she didn’t want that. She’d fallen in love with the President of the Hell’s Bastards MC. She didn’t want any other kind of life.
