Page 2 of Jackal

No matter how badly I wanted her…She’s not meant forsomeone like me.

Chapter 2

Shivana

Sitting in the courtyard at the clubhouse, I clicked around on my laptop. I’d been here a couple of weeks now, and I wasn’t in a hurry to leave. It was almost surreal. I’d never been to any place like it. The entire culture was fascinating, and it didn’t hurt that Lacy was here.

She was the only real friend I had. Until I was old enough to babysit her, or ‘nanny’ as her mother insisted on calling it, even though I wasn’t a professional, I mostly spent any time outside of school with my cousins. All the male cousins were scared of everything, and all the female cousins were boy crazy. I liked boys, just none I was supposed to. And my main objective in life was never to be a wife. I wanted to be my own somebody.

My father was pleased I became a physician, but my mother still tried to set me up on dates whenever possible. Just another great reason to stay here longer…She didn’t know anyone inGeorgia.

There was a tap on my shoulder, so I pulled my earbuds out.

“Hey, whatcha doing?” Lacy asked as she plopped down in an Adirondack chair next to me. Her long blonde hair was pulled into a tight ponytail.

“Just looking at certifications,” I said as I looked up from my screen.

Daisy, one of the other women who lived here at the clubhouse, came to sit with us. She was shaking out her long brown hair. Her husband, orOld Manin club terminology, was tucking things into the saddle bags. They both worked at the tattoo shop and must have just gotten home. With my noise-cancelling earbuds, I didn’t even hear the bike.

“Certifications? You need more titles, Shiv?” Lacy asked.

Closing the laptop, I laughed. “Not more. I was looking into getting licensedhere.”

Lacy’s big, blue eyes went wide, and she squealed. “Oh my God. So you can stay? For good?”

Daisy’s grin was huge as she nodded. “You should stay. God, it’s so hot out here.”

“You planning to stay?” Falcon asked as he walked up behind Daisy and pecked the top of her head. He was a big, bearded man with dark hair and intense hazel eyes. But his tough exterior was a total front. He was complete mush for Daisy.

Shrugging, I tucked my computer into the bag I carried it in. “I was just looking. Atlanta has a lot of opportunities. The CDC is here. Plus, some of the leading research hospitals. I’d much rather do research or discover a cure for something than stitch up bullet wounds. I don’t want to start a practice, but I could always take some patients online until I found something cool.”

The ladies both looked down and Falcon’s lips thinned. After one more kiss on the top of Daisy’s head, he turned and went inside. Okay, maybe he was a little tough.

Lacy scooted to the edge of her seat and reached out for my hand. “Shiv, we don’t openly talk about that kind of stuff. At least not where just anyone can hear.”

“Hey, nobody had me sign an NDA before they shuffled me into a tiny room and handed me a bag of basic-ass supplies and told me to,” I put my fingers into air quotes, “patch him up,” I said in a deep mocking tone.

Daisy laughed so I winked at her. She was a rebel, I could tell.

“I’ll talk to Falcon. You did us all a favor. They need to lighten up,” Daisy said as she stretched.

Lacy gave her a stern look, then smiled back at me. “I’m just saying, we should have some discretion.”

“I thought you left home to abandon that patriarchal faux etiquette bullshit.”

Daisy’s brows shot up. “Yep. She has to stay.”

Lacy sat back but her foot shook uncontrollably. “Shiv, this is different.”

“Seems pretty patriarchal to me. There’s an entire hierarchy that lends to the men being at the top while women are seen and not heard. They even have a secret room where they do business and assigned the title ofChurchto it. I mean…c’mon.”

Daisy laughed so hard she held her belly. I just grinned and Lacy rubbed her hand down her face.

The loud rumble of pipes had me looking around Daisy. My heart sped up and I drew in a deep breath. Biker Daddy was home.

“Hello, Shiv?” Lacy was snapping her fingers in my face.

“Huh?”

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