Jackal (Heartlands Motorcycle Club #12)- Frankie Love Page 0,21

place I want to be. I don't cry long though, because fear takes the best of me. Whoever is doing this, whoever is trying to hurt me, they will pay. They will.

I close my eyes, squeezing them shut even though everything is pitch dark. I tell myself it’s going to be okay. I didn't come this far, didn't have a night like I just had, only to lose it all. I'm kidnapped and alone but I'm not losing faith because I have hope. Even as I'm pulled out of the trunk, shoved into an empty room with a gun pointed at me, I refuse to fall apart.

I love Jackal and he loves me. Maybe this is the end. And if it is, I'll have gone out without any regrets.

"We know you're connected with the Heartlands. We've been watching you,” Welder seethes.

"Me?" I say. "What do I have to do with anything? I don't know anyone. I'm nothing."

“You're a little whore, that's what you are, sleeping around with Vinny."

"Vinny?" I say, thinking back to Vincent Jackal. He told me his real name, his first name. "What do you want with him?"

"Oh, we're holding you hostage until he shows up and then we're going to kill him."

"Why? Why do you want him dead?" I ask. The tears are now threatening to fall again but I blink them back, refusing to let this man see me cry.

"Because he needs to pay for what he's done."

"And what did he do?"

"He killed Rooster, our president."

I shake my head, still not understanding. His dad, his stepdad, was their club president? I look at the men, trying to understand, and then I see the logo on the one of the men's jackets. It's a devil with blue horns. They're the Blue Devils. I've heard of them. Ranger's been talking about them, he and Conley both.

Crap. I knew Jackal had a bad past but I didn't realize this was the motorcycle club he'd betrayed. "Don't hurt him. You can do anything you want to me. You can kill me but don't lay a hand on Jackal.”

In my head, I'm thinking he's been through too much.

But they just laugh. "Why don't you give him a call, sweetheart, and let him know how you really feel?" They shove a phone in my hand and force me to call Jackal. He picks up right away.

"Jackal," I say, “it's Lydia."

“Baby, where are you? What happened?"

"I'm okay," I say, looking at the man who’s pointing a gun at me. "I'm really okay. You don't need to worry about me."

"What do you mean 'you don't need to worry'?"

"Just… I'll be home soon," I say.

Behind me, a man hisses. "You going to let her say that?" he asks.

"Welder," one man asks the other. "You're going to let her lie to him?"

Welder grunts, "You tell him the truth or I will."

I shake my head, not wanting Jackal to come here. I don't want anything to happen to him.

Welder grabs the phone from my hand. "You get here, to the Blue Devil headquarters, or I kill her." He hangs up the phone, not saying any more, and a cold shudder runs through me.

"What happens now?" the guy asks Welder.

"Now we wait." He sucks in air, licking his teeth. He's foul-smelling and he looks like a monster. His cheeks are slashed with scars, his hair greasy, and he’s dressed in leather that's never been cleaned. "We wait till Vinny shows up and then we have some real fun," he cackles, and I close my eyes.

Whenever I think about Jackal it’s like a dream, but this? It’s a nightmare.

And I'm so scared to wake up.

13

Jackal

Hearing her voice on the phone scares the shit out of me. The Blue Devils have her.

Fuck, I should have known it.

I look at Ranger and Conley. Everybody was already planning on meeting at Ride or Die this morning before we headed out on our ride, but plans have certainly changed.

"What do the Blue Devils want with you?" Conley, the club president, asks, and I clench my jaw knowing how bad this is going to sound.

"I should have told you before. I should have told you when I came here a year ago."

"What didn't you say?" Conley asks.

I look around the bar. All these men have given me their word that we're in it together, and now they are waiting for me to answer.

I clear my throat, knowing it's time to man up and tell the damn truth because Lydia's life is on the line.