Page 16 of Jackal

My jaw ticked. There was no point in having this conversationhere. Neither of them were making sense. They both went on with their conversation and I pushed my Styrofoam tray away from me.

“You should eat,” Shivana said. “Or are you traumatized?” she asked as she popped a bit of chicken in her mouth, batting those deep brown eyes at me.

“Not hungry anymore.”

Cindy chuckled. “He’s a party pooper, Shiv. Don’t worry about him. Anyway, I can help you find a good area. You’re welcome to stay with me as long as you need, but I’m sure you’re getting tired of these guys,” she said before she scooped some fried rice into her mouth.

A pang jerked in my chest. I was the one dead set on her going home, but the idea of her being in Georgia and not where I could keep an eye on her didn’t sit well with me.

Before I could come up with some good reason she should stay with Cindy until she had the sense to go back north, she said, “I’m in no rush, honestly. I like the clubhouse. I’m used to having a lot of family around, literally all the time, so it reminds me of home.”

“Up to you hon,” Cindy said before having a bite of her pepper steak.

My phone buzzed in my pocket, so I excused myself from the table. They carried on, so I stepped on the other side of the huge column near the table and made sure nobody could see over my shoulder before reading the text.

Keys:Working on cleaning up the video to get a better pic, but your tires are flat.

My head whipped to the large window overlooking the parking lot.Fuck.

Me: Send the tow. I’ll drive the ladies back. Keep working on that and tell Hawk.

Keys: You got it.

Shoving my phone into my pocket, I walked back to the table. “You ladies about done with your shopping? Something came up and I need to get you back.”

Shivana looked disappointed, but Cindy didn’t flinch. She stood, grabbing the bags. “C’mon. I think you got enough to get you started. Jackal, can you get the trash?”

I grabbed the tray but Shivana helped clear the table then grabbed some of the bags from Cindy.

We were heading down the escalator, and Shivana saw a candy shop on the bottom floor. “Oh, I want to go grab something from there. Sort of an inside thing with Lacy from when we were younger.”

Luckily, Cindy grabbed her arm. “Hey, we need to go.”

Shivana’s eyes landed on me, then back to Cindy. “What’s happening?”

“C’mon. Let’s get back so you can do a fashion show for the girls, okay?” Cindy said with a smile in her voice.

This is why she needed to leave. I didn’t like that Cindy was in danger. I couldn’t handle it if something else happened to Shivana. Especially if it didn’t turn out like last time.

She huffed a sigh but finally walked with Cindy to the door. I walked ahead and Cindy stopped, grabbing Shivana to halt her until I felt like it was okay to head to the car. I didn’t see anything or anyone suspicious, so I waved them out.

“Keys please,” I said as we got closer.

Cindy handed me the keys to her small SUV and I waited until we were at the vehicle before unlocking it. I walked around it, then looked underneath.

“Oh, shit. Your tires,” Shivana gasped.

“Hop in. I’m driving.” I opened the back door and waited for her to climb in before I turned to Cindy. “You carrying?”

“Always.”

“I’ll drive, but keep your eyes peeled,” I said as I grabbed her bags. I opened her door and once she was inside, I put her bags in the back, then shook my head as I looked at my Harley.

Climbing in, I tried to keep my cool so I didn’t scare Shivana but focused on getting them both back to the clubhouse safely.

Chapter 10

Shivana

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