Where there's Smoke (The Devil's Apostles MC #1)

by Annie Buff

  “I’ve been trying to set up the perfect proposal, she needs me to do this right and I’m lost man. I have no clue how.”

  Rory had to laugh, his sister didn’t need or want perfect, she just wanted her man. He hoped Smoke understood the depths of Peyton’s feelings for him.

  “Trust me Smoke, ask her. You don’t need it to be perfect, that’s not who you are. You’re Smoke McAllister, President of the Devil’s Apostles, and one big bad ass mother fucker. That’s the man she fell in love with, that’s all she needs.”

  Maybe not being perfect was just that. He kept the ring in his hand as he waited for word on the woman he loved. Rennie and Slinger had come to sit with him. None spoke and that was ok with Smoke. His jaw still hurt anyway. He made a mental note that the Prospect had a mean right.

  Hours had gone by and not one of them could figure out why it was taking so long. Finally the door opened and Bones walked out. Smoke was on his feet but waited, he knew Bones well and if he pushed him he wouldn’t talk at all.

  “Sorry it took so long, I had to be gentle and she took some blood. Both her and Spawn are fine, I took some amniotic fluid just to be sure. She’s getting dressed and said to tell you she’s coming down in a minute.”

  He let out an audible sigh, the relief evident on his face. He almost smiled, and before long Peyton had opened the door, and slowly took the few yard walk to him and the rest of the group. Her left arm was in a sling, and she had a slightly pained look on her face.

  “Did you tell him?” she asked and Bones shook his head. It wasn’t his to tell.

  “Tell me what?” Smoke was ready to come out of his skin. Peyton just smiled, whatever it was Bones knew and he didn’t.

  “Sweetness, what is it? Are you ok? What’s going on?” Smoke was on the verge of freaking out.

  “When we did the amniotic fluid test, it told us a few things. One: that Spawn is perfect and has no problems at all. And for two: Spawn is a girl.”

  Smoke went down on his knees, Peyton was ok and they were having a girl. Today had given him the greatest gift of all, and probably the best lesson too. He learned it from his new Prospect, and it came the hard way. But Smoke was that guy, the one who always had to go the hard way.

  Dinner was a celebration, Rory paid to have everything delivered. He found an Italian restaurant that did catering and when he said cost wasn’t an issue they all but jumped to put together a meal fit for a proposal. Smoke had said he would do it at dinner with all the brotherhood present. That would be his kind of perfect. As everyone gathered around the table to fill their plates, Smoke pampered Peyton. Bringing her the Dr. Pepper she loves so much and making sure she had enough food in front of her to feed the Marine Corps.

  She was still a little drowsy from the pain medication she’d taken during the bullet extraction. Smoke was still feeling guilty, but better. At least this time she wasn’t mad at him.

  Smoke stood to address the group. “Tonight is about family. You guys are my family, always have been. And you’re Peyton’s idiots. She loves you guys and that means a lot to me. For those of you that missed it today, Bones had to run a few extra tests to make sure Spawn wasn’t hurt when Peyton took that bullet. Spawn is perfect, and Spawn is also a girl.”

  That caused a roaring round of applause. They all knew how much he wanted a girl. One that looked just like Peyton of course.

  “Sweetness, today scared me more than anything else ever has, I lost it out there and I’m sorry. I want to be a perfect man for you and I learned that’s not what you want or need. Your brother made me see something I hadn’t. You fell in love with me the way I am, and that’s the man I need to be. So here it goes.” Smoke got down on his knee in front of her and for all present to see, holding out his Mother’s ring. Peyton’s hand immediately flew over her mouth and the tears flowed because she realized he was proposing.

  “Peyton I know I don’t do the right things or say the right things but I promise to love you for the rest of my life. Will you marry me?”

  The hugs, kisses and congratulations rolled on throughout the night. Peyton kept staring at the ring on her finger in disbelief. Smoke had done it exactly right. No girl in the world could have asked for a better proposal. She had given in some hours ago and taken more pain medication, there was no way she was letting a little bullet wound ruin this night.

  Bones pulled Smoke aside late in the evening. There was an apology to be given, he was still in utter shock that his President hadn’t taken him out behind the clubhouse and gave him a full on ass kicking for the door slamming. Someone had taken a swing at the President, the bruising on his jaw said as much. If Bones had to guess he would say the new Prospect gave the President an attitude adjustment. He’d heard bits of what happened and never once thought Smoke would lose it; but from the snippets of the story that came to him throughout the evening, he obviously had.

  “I owe you an apology Smoke. Slamming the door in your face was uncalled for. It’s just that she means as much to us as she does to you and I had to make sure I could concentrate on her and the baby without any distractions.”

  Smoke gave a slow nod; at the time when it all went down he wanted to gut his brother. Looking back at it, Bones had done the right thing. Peyton and Spawn were the number one priority.

  “Nah man, were good. You did right, nothing to say sorry for. Seems like I needed to cool my shit anyway.” He said rubbing his jaw. Rory packed on hell of a punch. He would not underestimate him, ever.

  “A few instructions for taking care of the Queen. One, be extra gentle with her. This means no sex for a few days. She needs to heal man. She needs her antibiotics three times a day and they need to be taken with food. Don’t let her do too much.” The last statement made them both laugh. Once Peyton got something in her head, there was no stopping her.

  Peyton had come out with a manila envelope, handing it to Smoke. The contents were photographs, ones of his cabin. He stared at each one, realizing what she had done.

  “Sweetness, you made all this happen? How?” She explained with a little help from Bones and his friends, they had made it all work out.

  Two days later Smoke and Peyton were married by the stream that ran through the property at the cabin. Renegade had gotten himself ordained on line and performed the ceremony. The only guests in attendance were the brotherhood, and that’s exactly how it should be. No one else was really needed. This was the perfect place for Smoke and Peyton to take their vows.

  The End and the Beginning

  The Devil’s had gotten some good information on Skinny’s whereabouts. It had come from what they deemed a reliable source. Kickstands went up at sunrise, they needed this done and over with. The extermination was taking entirely too much time and effort. It had been weeks since Peyton had been shot. After that everything had seemed to go silent with nothing from Skinny or Jefē. That made them all nervous. Something was brewing, it had to be. With all the attempts that were made in the beginning, this silence was terrifying.

  Slinger stayed behind, his job was to provide protection to Peyton. He grinned as she bounced down the stairs, her bump growing into a little rounded belly. She had told him that she felt the movements and they all kept waiting for the day they could feel it too.

  “Nash, what’s on our agenda for the day? I need to make a trip to town. You guys eat way too much.” She told him as she glanced in the refrigerator.

  “Can do Queen, just send Smoke a text so in case they show up before were back he doesn’t freak out and whip my ass.”

  Slinger knew his President all too well and with Peyton’s pregnancy progressing Smoke had become a bear. His protective instincts were on red alert. Slinger wanted no part of that. And her brother was almost as bad. No way was he going to deal with either one, let alone both.

  Smoke and crew roared down the highway. Their destination was an old ranch about an hour East. It was nestled in the hills and the perfect hiding place for Skinny to hole up. He had been as elu
sive as Jefē. Neither had made any moves in far too long.

  Smoke didn’t like it, something was very off. Both had been gunning for him for months and now all he was getting was radio silence. Nothing made sense. He wasn’t the only one bothered by the lack of attempts; Rory had made a mention on how odd this was. Knowing his father the way he did, this was all sorts of wrong.

  They stopped at the frontage road to scope out the ranch and look for sentries, any kind of boobie traps, and any signs of life. Each of them inched closer to the structures on the property, not seeing anything. Moody and Slick had gotten to the back of the house, seeing absolutely nothing. Knuckles stood next to Smoke and Rory. All three were watching the barn, assuming that’s where the movement would come from. Bones had gone in the house, guns drawn.

  He looked around the old ranch house, noticing the inch thick layer of dust on everything. Nobody had been inside this place in eons. Nothing had been disturbed, the piles of dust and lack of used dishes said as much. Bones had this nagging little voice in the back of his head. It usually warned him when things weren’t right. This time it was screaming.

  This was a set up. And he knew exactly why. He dashed out the door hollering as loud as he could, “He’s at the clubhouse! We’ve been duped, he got us away! He’s going after Peyton!”

  The six all flew to their bikes and gunned it down the highway. Smoke was in the lead, at least twenty yards ahead of the rest. He had to get to Peyton, had to save his woman and daughter. Nothing else mattered.

  “Come on Prego!” Slinger said as he opened the door to the house. He knew when a woman said five minutes it meant more like thirty. Peyton was no different. He was almost at the truck when he felt it. Fire in his side, and then he saw why. A leather handled Bowie knife was sticking out of his ribs. As he turned he was knocked to the ground by a punch.

  Slinger looked up against the sun and saw the silhouette of a man, a morbidly obese man. Then he knew, Skinny Matthews had gotten the drop on him. He tried to warn her, to scream alerting her but his lung was filling; blood was flowing inward and outward. Today was the day Nathaniel Woods was going to die.

  Peyton trotted out the door, purse in hand only to see Slinger lying bloody on the lawn and Skinny standing over him cackling. This couldn’t be happening, not Nash!

  “Well hello Peyton, I see consorting with the enemy has created a Demon Spawn.” Referring to her pregnancy. “I thought you’d turn out better than that.”

  Skinny continued to degrade her and her baby with every breath. This was the straw that broke her. Never did she think she could actually do it, but this man was leaving her no choice. She had her three fifty seven tucked into the back of her jeans.

  “See, that’s where you’re wrong. Smoke was never the enemy. All he’s done is try to keep me safe and love me. Unlike you, who used me at every chance you got. No dad, I’m done with you and your bullshit. This is my family now and you, Skinny Matthews have just pushed me too far.”

  Peyton pulled the gun from behind, aiming right for his head. He had a smirk that said he didn’t believe she would actually do it. She paused for a split second to consider and the first bullet entered his thigh, successfully taking him down. She put a second in his belly and a leveled the barrel again at his head, then she said her peace.

  “I am Peyton Sidle, queen of the Devil’s Apostles, and this is never happening again. You will never use me or my daughter and I hope they have a special place in hell for people like you.” That’s when the last bullet was fired.

  The faster he went, the slower Smoke felt the miles pass. He had to get home and save her, his Peyton. She was his port in a storm, his reason for living and if anything happened to her, he could never forgive himself. It was his fault, he didn’t check the source. They just went out, halfcocked before they had the proper Intel.

  All he could think of was her and his daughter. He hit the gravel at sixty miles an hour and was doing close to that when he came around the curve, laying his bike down and sliding twenty more yards. The road rash was nothing compared to what he thought he would find.

  The bikes came to a rattling halt in the gravel behind him. Smoke was running towards the house screaming her name. He saw them on the grass behind the truck. Peyton was sitting on the grass with a bloody Slinger lying in her lap. She was brushing his hair away from his face and keeping pressure around where the knife had penetrated his body.

  Then he saw what she had done. Three bleeding holes in Skinny and his brain splattered all over the grass and truck windows. Peyton not only saved herself, but in all likelihood Slinger too.

  “Sweetness, hey.” Smoke said kneeling next to her. Slinger looked awful. Smoke really didn’t think he was going to live, Bones needed to get a hold of him.”

  She was in shock, taking a life was never easy. She had just ended her father. Smoke knew there was going to be repercussions. He saw the nightmares coming.

  Peyton looked up and saw Smoke, he came to her. She was rocking back and forth, continuing to rub Slinger’s face.

  “I did it Nero, I saved us.” She told him. She had saved them, but he was concerned at what price. He had tried so damn hard to keep her safe, to keep her pure and failed miserably. She had taken three lives, the first two weren’t a big deal, but the last one could be life changing.

  “I know baby girl, you did good. Now let’s get my Ink man inside, can we do that? Take him in and work on him?”

  Bones brought a gurney so they could transport Slinger from the yard to the makeshift surgery table. This was going to be a hard one. Bones had everything he needed to do just about anything necessary, in this life you never knew what you’d encounter. The one thing he was going to need was his nurse. Seeing Peyton he wasn’t hopeful she could help.

  “Peyton, I’m gonna need some help. Can you do it? Help me like you did with Rennie?” it took a minute for her to respond, but the slow nod started. Rory had knelt down beside Smoke, checking on his sister. She was slowly coming out of her state of shock.

  “Hey Pee, are you hurt anywhere?” She wasn’t hurt and she told them she was ok. Getting her to let go of Slinger was another story.

  “He’s bad isn’t he? He can’t die, I won’t allow it! I’m fine, let’s go fix Nash.” She stood, brushing off her clothes and heading towards the clubhouse. The last thing she did before she went inside was turn around and look at Skinny’s lifeless corpse. “Fuck you Skinny, I beat you!” And she slammed the door.

  Life Goes On

  Never did she ever think he would faint at the sight of blood, but when Peyton was giving birth Smoke McAllister hit the floor. It was right after he went ghostly white and his eyes rolled back in his head, then, over he went. Nash stood next to her laughing at his President. Big man couldn’t handle a little blood and fluids. Bones stood laughing too and then he got out the smelling salts. This was one for the history books.

  “Let’s go big guy, your wife needs you so get your shit together!” it wasn’t long after that their daughter took her first breath.

  She had an easy labor and delivery; the proud parents welcomed a six pound baby girl into the world after just four hours of labor. She had his hair, dark tufts standing up all over. Smoke held his daughter, never looking quite so proud. Peyton had asked for her idiots so they could all meet the newest member of the Devil’s family. Nash had been the only one aside from Smoke she wanted during her labor.

  Something special had happened that day on the grass, they formed a lasting bond in blood. She killed to save him and he almost died to save her. The words ‘Best Friends’ didn’t even come close to describing what they had. When Peyton was choosing names, somehow she had to incorporate Nash into it.

  “So Queen, does she have a name yet?” Rennie asked his friend. Somehow each man was bonded with her, each in his own way. She did have a name and not even Smoke knew it. He told her it was her job to give the baby a good name, a strong name, one that meant something.

  “Yes she
has a name. Nero said make it a name to be proud of and I think I accomplished that. She’s named after her Dad, and my two dearest friends. Devil’s, meet Nora Natalia Renay McAllister.”

  There wasn’t a dry eye in the room. Especially Slinger, he stepped out trying to get himself under control. Smoke came out behind him doing the same thing, still holding his daughter. He kept looking down at her.

  “Nobody will ever hurt you Nora, I won’t let them. That’s a promise baby girl.” The newborn infant just cooed at him, not a care in the world. She would be the most protected child ever. One big, bad father and a dozen uncles just the same.

  Things were good in Smoke McAllister’s world. Jefē had gone underground; nobody had seen or heard from him in months. There hadn’t been any attempts on Smoke’s life since the day Skinny came after Peyton. Smoke did get his wish; he pissed on Skinny’s corpse right before they filled the hole. Seems he wasn’t a popular man considering that not one person came looking for him. Smoke and the Devil’s went on with business as usual.

  There was more to give thanks for on this Thanksgiving Day. He had everything a man could ask for, everything he wanted and then some. As he snuggled his daughter, Smoke realized nothing in the world would ever top this day.

  Started: 08/16/16

  Final Edit: 11/03/16