Smokey

by Sam Crescent

  It was easy to do. She pulled out her cell phone and started to call for cleaners to help clean the mess up and builders to take care of the windows and doors.

  No one.

  Each cleaning service was currently fully booked, and no builder would come to her shop. They were happy to help until she said her shop name.

  Blacklisted.

  Had Smokey done this? Was it the state of the shop?

  The gossip mill had run all kinds of rumors. No one would touch her shop.

  Tears filled her eyes, but she refused to be broken. There was always something to be done. She walked into the back and picked up a sweeping brush.

  Ava started in the back, ignoring the pain in her hand. When it got to be a little too much, she’d attempt to use it one-handed.

  “We’re closed,” she said, calling out when she heard the sound of footsteps walking on broken glass.

  Smokey rounded the corner, and she held the brush in her hand even tighter, not wanting to let it go.

  “Why are you sweeping the floors?” he asked.

  “I’ve got to clean this mess.”

  “Phone someone.”

  “Smokey, this is none of your business. I don’t want you here. At all. Please, leave.”

  “Don’t be stubborn.”

  “Get out.” She didn’t want to see him. It hurt too much. In the past few hours when it came to her encounters with Smokey, she’d started to feel like a broken record. Still, he wasn’t budging.

  “I’ll leave if you tell me why you haven’t gotten cleaners and builders in.”

  Ava glared at him. “Why do you even care? The message is loud and clear for everyone to get, Smokey. Ava’s is a bad place. She’s not on speaking terms with the Hell’s Bastards MC.” She pointed around the back room. “What did you think was going to happen, trashing my place?”

  He opened his mouth, but she didn’t want to hear whatever the hell he was going to say.

  “But that’s fine. You didn’t think of what this would mean because you had no intention of letting me live. How thoughtful of you.” She rolled her eyes and started to sweep. She held the brush in the wrong way, and pain radiated up her hand and into her arm, making her cry out.

  Smokey went to take a step toward her, and she backed away.

  “You’re hurt.”

  “I’m fine.” She wasn’t going to ask for help from the man who’d ensured her life would be a living hell.

  Silence fell between them.

  Still, Smokey didn’t leave.

  She took several deep breaths until she no longer felt sick. The pain was hard to work with. At least she had some time to heal her hand before she opened up the shop again. If no one would even come and work for her, and she was willing to pay them well for it, she doubted her shop would last. No one would come for baked goods. Not anymore.

  Her life was over.

  “No one will come and work for you?” he asked.

  She smiled. “Nope. They’re suddenly busy. Well, they’re not busy. Not until I give them the location, and all of a sudden, their calendar is full. They don’t want to double-book. So, there you go, Smokey. I got my ass beat and my business is pretty much in the toilet. No one will touch me.”

  She would have clapped her hands, but that would only cause her more pain.

  Right now, she wanted to sob.

  How she was keeping it together, she didn’t know. Or she was just holding on by a thread. She wasn’t sure which.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “I don’t accept it,” Ava said. She took a deep breath. “This is hard for me right now. I don’t want to do this with you. My life is in the toilet. Please, just leave me alone. Let me drown in my misery alone.”

  “You don’t have to be alone.”

  “I’m not going to be with you, Smokey. Never. I mean what I said. It’s over between us, and there’s no way to fix it.”

  “I don’t believe that.”

  She shrugged. “Believe what you want. I’m done. We’re done. I’m glad it happened now instead of a few years down the line. I’ve already wasted ten years of my life with a man who never loved me.”

  “Ava…”

  “Hey, don’t sweat it, Smokey. Your breakup was certainly one I won’t forget. I’m getting used to it. Believe me. I need some air.” She turned on her heel and walked out the back to where she normally took deliveries. The other shops were enjoying the fully functioning workloads with all their employees while she leaned against the wall, taking deep breaths.

  The bakery wasn’t going to make any money. She’d lost it. She knew that now. She’d have to sell the place and would probably lose any kind of profit there as well. The only way to get her shop fixed would be to call through to the city. Pay for someone to travel to her place and to get the job done. It was going to be a headache, but something had to happen.

  The shop couldn’t stay that way for long.

  She stayed outside long enough, hoping Smokey got the message. That he had to leave.

  After opening the door, she came to a stop in the stockroom. Brick was there, picking up the flour that had been tossed across the side. One of the club whores who’d taken pleasure in holding her down was there, holding a trash bin.

  Ava tensed up. “What the hell are you doing?” she asked.

  Brick stood. He held a pack of chocolate chips this time. All of this was useless. She couldn’t use any of it to bake with and to sell it to the public.

  More noise greeted her.

  She wanted to go and see what was going on, but the thought of passing Brick and the other woman filled her with fear.

  No one moved.

  Brick cleared his throat and stepped out, grabbing the woman’s hand as he did.

  She stayed perfectly still, and Brick took another step back, keeping his distance.

  Her heart raced as she took a step forward, then another, until she was out of the kitchen, but that didn’t make her feel safe.

  More of the Hell’s Bastards MC were in her small shop, cleaning. Their leather cuts holding their emblem clear for anyone to see, and it filled her with fear as they all worked.

  They were too close.

  “Smokey!” Brick yelled for their president.

  She put a hand to her chest in an attempt to calm herself.

  It didn’t help.

  Nothing seemed to be helping. They were in her shop, and when she caught sight of Raven, she covered her ears, bowing her head.

  It’s going to be okay.

  It’s fine.

  She counted to ten again. The first ten numbers were starting to piss her off.

  When hands touched her shoulder, she screamed and pulled away. Smokey had tried to touch her.

  She’d tried not to cry, but tears were already falling down her cheeks. “Get out,” she said.

  “We’re here to help.”

  “I don’t want your help. Get out. Please.” She started to pant.

  “This isn’t good for you.”

  Even as she struggled to breathe, she stared at him. “And neither are you. So get the fuck out before I call the cops.”

  “We’re trying to help,” Raven said.

  The panic rose, her chest rising and falling with each quickly indrawn breath. This wasn’t good.

  In and out.

  She watched him.

  Waiting. Desperate.

  Smokey clicked his fingers and one by one, the club left the bakery.

  “Ava, I’m so—”

  Smokey snapped his fingers again, and Raven shut up, and much to her surprise, left.

  “We will pay for any damages,” Smokey said.

  “I don’t want your money.”

  “Damn it, Ava, let me do something.”

  She looked at him. “You want to do something?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then respect my wish for you to leave me alone. All of you. I don’t want you or your club anywhere near me. Tell Hanson to stop following me. Pleas
e, just leave me alone. Give me that.”

  Smokey stared off to the side. “Anything but that.”

  “This isn’t going to work. You and I, it’s done. It’s finished.”

  “No.”

  “Smokey, I don’t want to be with a man who would rather trust the lies of a picture than me. This isn’t going to work. I don’t want to be with you anymore.”

  He closed the distance and cupped her face.

  The tears fell thick and fast. She tensed up and he growled. “I’m going to find a way to make this right, Ava. I’m not going to lose you. I fucked up. I know this. I know you can’t just stop loving me because you say so.”

  She shook from his touch.

  Smokey pressed a kiss to her head and then he pulled away.

  She watched him leave, thankful that he did.

  Collapsing to the floor, she curled her legs close to herself. Everything was hopeless. All of it.

  This was her dream, and it was gone as quickly as she thought it could be possible. She was the biggest fool.

  Resting her forehead against her knee, she didn’t know how much time had passed. The energy to get up and clean was gone. All she wanted to do was go curl up and forget this had ever happened. This was the nightmare she didn’t want to come back to.

  She stared across the floor at all the mess. Tomorrow, she’d clean it up. As she began to work out a plan, her cell phone rang.

  Pulling it out of her pocket, she recognized the cleaning services number.

  She frowned and clicked accept.

  “Hello,” she said.

  “Is this Ms. Ava Sinclaire?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m so sorry about my misinformation. We have plenty of openings. We have a cleaning crew on their way to your shop right now.”

  “Wait, what?”

  “And please, don’t worry about the bill. It has been settled, and my sincerest apologies.”

  The line hung up before Ava could ask for more details.

  Just as she was about to call them back, her cell phone rang. This time, from one of the builders.

  She took the call, and the same thing happened. They were on their way to get measurements for new windows and to board them up until they were able to fix them. Again, the bill had been taken care of.

  As she stared at her cell phone, she knew it didn’t take a genius to work out what had happened.

  Smokey had taken care of it.

  She didn’t move.

  When the cleaning crew arrived, no one approached her. No words were spoken. They just got to work as if it was an everyday occurrence to see a trashed shop and the owner sitting in the corner.

  People worked around her as if she wasn’t there. She watched them work.

  The pain in her body was the only indication she was alive because every other part of her felt so numb.

  ****

  Three days later

  Smokey stared down at the check written to him.

  It was in Ava’s writing.

  The money was the exact amount for the cleaning crew and the builders.

  He’d ridden past the shop earlier to find it had been perfectly cleaned and the windows were back in place. The shop looked brand-new. Only, it was closed.

  There was no sign of Ava either.

  Several of the brothers had gone past on each day to see. The windows had been fixed within twenty-four hours as he’d paid the extra to have the process speeded up.

  “Are you okay?” Hunter asked, coming to stand beside him.

  He didn’t hide the check.

  The club felt Ava’s loss. They all did. No one had any idea of how to make it up to her.

  “She wouldn’t even let you pay for the damage.”

  “I don’t blame her,” Smokey said.

  “What are you going to do?” Hunter asked.

  Smokey stared down at the rectangular piece of paper. He’d never been hurt by something so trivial. He had a lot of money and was aware Ava wasn’t hurting for money either. Her parents had been sure to take care of her.

  Tearing up the check, he refused to take her money. She was going to realize there was no running away from him.

  “Has Hanson finished with Ryan yet?”

  Collecting Ryan from Carlos had gone without a hitch. He was starting to believe the man was true to his word.

  People were surprising him left and right.

  “Smokey?”

  “Well?”

  “He’s still enjoying torturing him.”

  “I don’t want him to make the final blow until after I’ve spoken to him.” Smokey tossed the torn check into the trash bin.

  “What do you want to do about her?” Hunter asked.

  “Nothing yet. She’s hurting. I’ll take care of the bills when they arrive. I want a set of eyes on her at all times. Creed will be watching for the fallout unless he’s already aware of it.”

  “You want me to set up a meeting with him?”

  “No. I’m not interested in talking with that asshole. The only thing I want to do is kill him.” He thirsted for Creed’s blood and wanted to hear the son of a bitch’s screams. All in good time.

  He and Creed had been able to exist so long as they stayed out of each other’s business. Now that Creed had invaded that, all bets were off.

  “I want to call in every single favor we have. By the end of this week, I want to know everything the Twisted Bastards are into. Got it?”

  “Got it. The boys will love going to war with them.”

  Smokey turned on his heel and made his way into the clubhouse. Ignoring the bar, even though he really wanted a drink, he went straight to his office. Sitting down in his chair, he stared up at the ceiling.

  Anger pulsed through every single fiber of his being. The need to kill rushed through him. Acting out now would only cause more problems, and he’d fucked up enough for one day.

  There was a knock at the door, and he called out for whomever it was to come on in.

  “Smokey.”

  The husky feminine voice made him open his eyes to see the blonde who’d brought the hammer to Ava’s hand. Darla, he believed her name was.

  He’d wanted to kill the three women who’d hurt Ava, but it was wrong of him to even want to do that. They had been acting on his instruction. His and Raven’s. They shouldn’t have left them alone.

  This was his mistake. The biggest fucking mistake he’d ever made.

  “I want to come in and apologize.”

  “You should be going and servicing one of the men. I don’t want you in my office.”

  “I did what I thought you’d want. She’s a rat. A traitor.”

  “No, she wasn’t.”

  Darla shook. Her clothes barely covered her body. The sight alone sickened him. Before he’d met Ava, he’d fucked this woman a few times. She’d never been a favorite. It was what a lot of club pussy hoped to be, a favorite.

  “You need to get the fuck out before I throw you out of the club for good.” He was tempted to do that already. Raven had already approached him and offered up her patch. Her guilt equaled his.

  “I … let me make this good for you. You’ll forget about her before long, and I know I can make you love this.”

  Smokey started to laugh. The idea of ever being fine with anything again fucking sickened him. “Fine. You think I’m fine with the fact the woman I love can’t stand to have me touch her?”

  He got up and rounded the table. Darla didn’t move, so he made sure she moved. He grasped her neck and started to march her outside of his office, speaking as he did. “Let’s get one thing clear, the only reason you’re still around is because you were acting on orders. If I could, I would have you buried six feet under, alive. I’d make sure you knew pain long before I granted you an easy death. You want to stay alive, I suggest you stay as far away from me as possible, because I will end you. I’ve killed bitches before, and I’ve got no problem hurting you.”

  And yet you didn’t raise
a hand to Ava. You let others do your dirty work. Why was that?

  He slapped his head, trying to shut off the voice taunting him. He knew the reason why. There was no silencing the truth. He’d been able to hurt Ava with words, but that was all it was, words. None of it had any meaning. Physically hurting her was a whole other thing entirely.

  After entering his office, he slammed the door closed and hoped no one else interrupted his thoughts.

  Carlos Santigo had already gotten in touch about a bunch of product landing at one of the ports. They wanted them to be there for when the transition went through. Their men would be present to do the hand-off, but they would be doing the drop-off.

  Right now, Smokey wasn’t interested in leaving town or being far away from Ava. Not with him waiting for Creed to make the next move. He didn’t like being kept out of the loop. With his men ready to kill, he wanted to be prepared.

  Creed would make his move, and when he did, he’d be ready for him.

  Hunter arrived minutes later. “Hanson said he’s all yours.”

  Getting to his feet, he made his way straight to the basement. Once again, the brothers gave him a wide berth, not wanting to get under his feet.

  As he advanced on the man tied to a chair, Ryan groaned then laughed. One of his eyes was swollen shut. Knives were protruding from his legs and hands. Hanson had really gone to town.

  “You look like shit.” He grabbed a chair and dragged it across the basement floor.

  “I’m still prettier than you.”

  Smokey laughed. “Yeah, well, the chicks will still be hanging off my dick. So, tell me, Ryan, why did you do it?”

  Ryan groaned. “I don’t have to tell you shit.”

  Smokey reached out, taking the handle of one of the knives and twisting it.

  Screams filled the air.

  “You don’t have to tell me shit, but you see, I’m better at this than Hanson. First of all, you didn’t get me stabbed and landed in the hospital, and well, I got a better deal out of it. I’m fine.”

  “What about that chick you’re banging?” Ryan asked. “How’s she handling it?”

  Smokey froze. “What the fuck?” he asked.

  “I was there when Creed made the decision to go after your woman.” Ryan laughed. “I didn’t know shit was going to go down like that when I made my deal. I didn’t want to betray you, Smokey. I needed the money.”