Jackal (Heartlands Motorcycle Club #12)- Frankie Love

JACKAL

By Frankie Love

There's only one girl I want. And she's way too good for me.

Lydia is the sweetheart of the Heartlands and she's nothing but innocent.

And me? I'm nothing but trouble.

As a teenager I did time for a crime I don't regret.

When I meet the bikers of Heartlands Motorcycle Club, it was like I'd finally found my people.

But I'm keeping a secret. When our new club rivals, the Blue Devils, find out where I've been all this time, I can't keep hiding the truth.

They want to avenge my stepfather's death. And kidnapping Lydia is their idea of payback.

I've been to prison once — I'm not scared of going back.

But I'm goddamn terrified of losing the girl I love.

Dear Reader,

Jackal is a wild-at-heart hero ready to show Lydia what it means to be his woman. She's ready to take a leap of faith if it means jumping into his arms... and his bed. This double virgin romance is nothing short of filthy-sweet.

xo, frankie

Jackal

This isn’t how I spend my Friday nights. Ever.

Usually it’s me going for a long ride after work, grabbing a beer at the bar, then heading home early to chill out to some music and unwind.

I know, pretty tame for a badass biker — but I keep to myself. It’s how I spent my childhood. And now, as a twenty-three-year-old man, it’s how I relax. I sure as hell don’t do parties.

Yet here I am. I’m at the big end of summer party at Hollow Oak Hill, and everyone's having a good time down at the lake. The guys I work with are giving me a hard time for being here. Not because they don't want to see me, but because I never come out. I'm no damn recluse, but I keep my head low. And I have my reasons for that.

Maddox hands me a beer. "It's good to see you out, man," he says with a grin. "Damn, what made you decide this party was the one you'd actually come to?"

We look out over the lake. There are a bunch of the younger Heartlands members here. Maddox and I work at the garage together and there are some other guys we ride with, but lots of townies too. And while a lot of the women are ones we know from the Ride or Die bar, there are a lot of new faces too. I see a few guys I recognize, but I don’t know from where. It gives me a bad feeling. If shit went down here tonight, I wouldn’t know who it was with, or why.

Maddox whistles. "There's some fine ass here tonight. Right?"

I clench my jaw, running a hand through my hair. I shrug. "I don't know," I say. "It's just really not my scene."

"So why are you here at all?" he asks.

Again, I shrug. It's not that I don't want to tell him the truth, but if I do, he's going to razz me about it. Maddox is that kind of guy. He likes to joke around. Always the charmer and always with a new girl. We couldn't be more different. It's not that I'm not likable. It's just, well, okay, I’m not exactly likable.

"You see that girl, Peaches?” he asks. “She just got hired at Ride or Die, and look how good she looks tonight." Maddox grunts. "Damn."

I laugh. "Why don't you go talk to her?" She's with a group of women that I don't recognize. They're in bikinis and cutoff shorts. Everyone's been jumping in and out of the lake, but now it's getting colder out and someone's making a big fire.

The plan is to hang out here all night, drinking beer, maybe sleeping under the stars. I see a few tents have popped up already. Me, I'll ride home before then. I like to sleep in my own bed, with a roof over my head. And I like to be able to see the doorway. See who's coming for me.

My time in prison taught me that, to always be on the lookout.

And sleeping out here with a bunch of strangers? Hell, that's dangerous. And I don't do danger, not anymore.

Which is why I usually stay away from parties, and stay put at the mechanic shop. An engine I understand. People, not so much. They're complicated in ways a piece of machinery isn't. I can read an instruction manual and understand how pieces fit together. But human beings aren't like that. There's always a curve ball you don't expect. Alliances made you don't understand,