Page 94 of Jackal

“Do you promise to always stay true to Jackal and support him and the club?”

“I promise.”

“Jackal, present her patch,” Hawk said.

Jackal pulled the lid from the box and pulled out a cut. “Shivana, I promise to stay true to you, and always protect and support you. Will you be my Old Lady?”

He held it up, and it had a patch sewn on the front that said Lil Bird. My eyes got misty. “Show me the back,” I said, knowing what it said, but needing to see it.

He turned it, and just like Daisy, Lacy, and Mama Hen, there was a property patch, and mine said Property of Jackal with the club name and everything.

My hands went to my cheeks, and I blinked away the tears. “I will! I do! Yes! What do I say, oh my God?”

Jackal smiled and stepped behind me, helping me put my new cut on. I grabbed the leather, looking down at the patch. “This is amazing!”

“Welcome to the family, Shivana!” Hawk shouted, and everyone raised their drinks, hooting and hollering as Jackal grabbed me, kissing me hard and deep.

“Goddamn, you look so hot in that,” Jackal said, finally breaking away.

“I love you, Jacob. And I love this,” I said, running my hands over the leather again.

“I got one more surprise for you,” he said.

But Daisy, Lacy, and Jeannie ran over, jumping and squealing. I couldn’t help but join in. “Oh my God, did you see this?” I asked, running my hand over my name patch.

“Aww! Lil Bird!” Lacy crooned.

“Property of Jackal,” Jeannie said as she walked behind me.

“Looks perfect,” Daisy said.

Jackal cleared his throat, so I broke away from my friends and grabbed his hands. “I’m sorry, but this is fucking cool. I had to flaunt!”

He smiled and leaned down for a peck. “I’m glad you’re excited to be my Old Lady. But like I said, I have one more thing.” He pulled a rolled-up paper from his cut. “Here.”

My brow furrowed, but I unrolled it. “This is a blueprint. I don’t get it.” It was impressive, but I honestly didn’t understand.

He grabbed my shoulders, then pointed off through the woods. “Just past there, I got us a plot of land. And that blueprint is what’s going on it.”

My mouth fell open, and I looked back at the plans. “Oh my God. You’re building us a house?”

“Yep. Close to the club, but far enough we can have our own driveway. So when your parents come, we won’t have to explain why you live in a clubhouse.”

“You thought of my parents?” The tears were coming back. Good tears. Happy tears.

He rubbed my shoulders. “They’re important to you. But we can’t very well have them here, now can we?”

Glancing around at the crowd, I shook my head and sniffled. “No. Definitely not. But I can’t believe this.” Looking at the plans again, I noticed the extra room. “You even have an in-law suite here.”

“Can’t have them sleeping on the couch, now can we?”

“I mean, no, but I figured we’d just have to get them a hotel or something.”

“Lil Bird, around here, family stays together.”

My family was tight-knit and we never stayed in hotels when visiting even second cousins, but I wasn’t sure how he’d feel having my physician dad and overbearing mom in our space. “And you’d let them stay with us?”

“Well, we can talk about the longevity of that, but they definitely have a place when they visit.”

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