Ugly Beast had said some awful things to Abriana while he’d had the women hurt her.
“Saying stuff and getting others to do your dirty work is a different thing altogether,” he said. “Ava’s never going to forgive me.”
“Never is a long time.”
“Would you forgive someone who signed off on you being beaten? I seem to recall the people who fucked up your face are all dead.”
“Are you trying to tell me, Smokey, you’d die for Ava?” Ugly Beast asked.
“Yes. I would.”
Silence rang out. The only person he’d been willing to die for was the club, and that included all of his brothers. His devotion had been to the patch. No one else.
“Then you can’t give up.”
Smokey turned toward Ugly Beast. “You don’t think I’m a pussy?”
“No. You sound pussy-whipped, but you forget, I know what it truly means to be loved by an amazing woman. There’s nothing like it.”
Smokey took another sip of the soup and wrinkled his nose. “This is fucking disgusting.”
“Yep, but to Abriana, it’s better than the last one. I struggled through the other soup, and believe me, I never knew there was much I couldn’t stand. I think the next time we torture someone, I’ll save all of Abriana’s leftovers.”
“We’ll feed them to death?”
“Nope. They’ll talk before we get to that part.”
Smokey snorted. He finished all the soup because he was hungry.
“Staring at her window all night isn’t going to win her back,” Ugly Beast said.
“No, but it gives me comfort to know she can sleep all night. No one else is going to hurt her.”
Silence fell between them.
Smokey handed him the empty flask. “Thanks.”
“Why did you do it?” Ugly Beast asked.
“Do what?”
“You saw the pictures. I know you, Smokey. You don’t react like that. You never have. You always consider every single possibility, and yet, you didn’t that time. Why?”
Smokey ran his fingers through his hair. “I was falling for her. I knew it. Feelings like that cloud people’s judgment. She was different from the start. I knew that. I saw it every single day. She told me she loved me, and I felt like a fucking king. They were all feelings I didn’t recognize. The fact … it was easier to believe the worst in her.” He turned to look at him. “I’ve only ever known the worst.”
“True, but it’s still a lame-ass excuse.” Ugly Beast saluted him and got on his bike.
Smokey watched him go, and he settled in to watch his woman. He’d sleep for a few hours during the day if he had to.
Chapter Fourteen
The cast was finally off. Her hand was healed, but she’d been advised to still take it easy. Ava agreed with the doctor, however, when she’d asked him to give her a physical and told him her symptoms, he’d gotten this strange look across his face. She was vomiting in the mornings, and some foods were making her feel sick. She was experiencing tiredness all the time.
He’d taken her blood and promised to have the results back as soon as possible. It was why the following day, she sat in his office.
“How are you feeling today?” the doctor asked.
“I’m okay. A little nauseous, but I’m getting used to it. Did my blood tests reveal anything?”
The doctor ran a hand down his face. “Ava, the tests show that you’re pregnant.”
Ava froze. “What?”
“Yes. I was supposed to ask you several questions yesterday, but we’ve been rushed off our feet with this sickness bug. I did think it was the same, and I didn’t suspect anything else. Your symptoms were minor, but … anyway. You’re pregnant.”
“You’re sure?”
“Blood results don’t lie. Do you think there is a reason you shouldn’t be pregnant? Have you had unprotected sex recently?”
She wanted to lie. She wanted to tell the doctor there was no way she could be pregnant. She hadn’t had sex for a couple of months, but before her … accident, she had unprotected sex multiple times with Smokey. He hadn’t wanted to use a condom and neither had she.
This was her fuck-up.
She pressed her lips together, wanting to fight the inevitable, but it was a complete waste of time. There was nothing to fight.
“I can do a quick ultrasound if you’d like?” the doctor asked.
“Yes, please, yes.”
Maybe then the blood work was wrong, or perhaps they mixed it up with another woman who wanted to get pregnant but couldn’t.
She climbed up on the table and rolled up her shirt.
The doctor had left to get an ultrasound machine.
Do I want to be pregnant?
Happiness rushed through her body at the very thought of carrying life, but with it, the harsh reality that the same life was attached to Smokey. He’d helped her to create it, and because of that, she’d have to tell him.
“I’m not pregnant,” she said.
The doctor came into the room and set everything up. There was also a nurse present.
“Now, Ava, this will be a little cold.”
She nodded, and the gel was cold.
He pressed the device against her stomach. Then he moved it around and she stared at the screen, not seeing anything until he got it in the right position, and there was her little baby. “Still early. I reckon you’re three months along, roughly. We can get a definite estimation for when you’re due when you come back. I want to do a follow-up check as my notes state you had an X-ray and at the time, you said you weren’t pregnant.”
“Will that hurt the baby?” she asked.
“I don’t want you to worry too much right now. Let’s take it one day at a time.” He smiled at her.
The rest of the appointment went by in a blur. She went back to the reception to organize another visit. In her hand, she held the photo that showed she was indeed pregnant.
She was going to have Smokey’s baby.
The same man she’d been trying to avoid.
They were going to have a child together.
There was a cab waiting for her outside of the hospital. She sat in the back in a bit of a daze. Arriving at home, she closed and locked the door. She went straight to the kitchen and opened the fridge. She hadn’t drunk any beer or wine since her accident, but she’d purchased a couple of bottles of each a few days ago. Staring at the alcohol, she put a hand to her stomach.
She was going to have a baby. All she’d ever wanted was a child.
Now she was going to get her dream and the father was a man she couldn’t trust.
Tears filled her eyes, but she reached into the fridge, and one by one, she pulled the alcohol out and threw it in the trash. She wasn’t going to drink anything that would harm her baby.
Once her fridge was empty, she put both hands on her stomach. She’d noticed a slight thickening of her waistline but had figured that was all the chocolate ice cream. “I’m going to take care of you, sweetheart. Just you and me. One day, we’ll figure everything out.”
Leaving town was now out of the question. She didn’t want to talk to Smokey, but he was the dad and he needed to know she was pregnant. Sitting down at the dining room table, she stared at the ultrasound picture. She’d get another one on her next visit.