“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?”
Ava sat with Umberto resting against her stomach. She lay on her side, watching her friend. Harlow had already made her excuses to leave. Raven’s bad mood had gotten to her, and she’d headed off somewhere.
“You find this funny?”
“Who wouldn’t?”
Ava ran fingers through her hair. It had started to grow out again. She had thought about having it cut, but Smokey loved the length.
Speaking of her husband, she glanced over to see him talking with Carlos. The mafia man seemed to be spending a lot more time in town, which pissed Smokey off.