Tank (Dark Falcons #2) - Em Petrova Page 0,3

memo. Thanks for your time.” He walked out of the office, past Nadine, who compressed her lips in a sympathetic way that only pissed Tank off further. The last thing he wanted—or needed—was sympathy. He needed a job and his damn bike so he could hop on it and get the hell out of Mersey.

He called Rio again for a ride back. He couldn’t have driven far after dropping Tank off at the plant. As soon as he answered the phone, Tank said, “Can you turn around? I need a ride home.”

“Sure, Tank. Be there in a few.”

At least his brothers hadn’t abandoned him, and Jay Rio was one of the best.

“Goddammit,” Tank muttered. He curled his fingers into fists, which stretched the sore skin of his knuckles and broke open what scabs had formed. He dragged his stiff ass out only to discover he no longer had a job. Indefinite layoffs sounded like a permanent situation to him.

A few minutes later, Jay rattled up in his old car, and Tank crammed his sore body into the small seat. He barely got the door shut.

“What the hell happened, man?” Rio asked.

“Layoffs.”

“Fuck.”

“Yeah, you’re tellin’ me. Sorry to call you back.”

“It’s fine. I hadn’t gotten far, and I got no place to be.” Jay turned back for Mersey and the small rental house Tank probably could no longer afford.

The sun was making its way across the sky, reminding Tank he should be at work. The second shift was Tank’s favorite. He could put in four to midnight and then still hit the Painted Pig and hang with the guys until close. Hell, sometimes they got so caught up in talking that they didn’t head home before sunrise and ended up grabbing plates of ham and grits at the local diner.

As they moved through town, he glanced over at the diner just in time to see Catarina.

“Slow down,” he ordered Rio.

“What for? Oh.” He braked and they rolled by the parking lot slow enough that he saw who Catarina was with.

Fucking great. She and her boyfriend were back together. The fucker didn’t deserve her and never had—why did she keep going back to him? Then they’d break up and she’d run to Tank for advice and comfort food. Why did he always put her back together?

That asshole slid his arm around Catarina’s waist.

“Keep driving,” Tank grated out.

“Don’t touch me, Chad. It’s not going to work this time.” Catarina speed-walked away from her…what did she even call him? On again, off again boyfriend. She couldn’t figure out why she kept giving him another shot when they fought all the time.

Her high heels crunched on the gravel in the parking lot as she made haste to her car. At least she’d been smart enough to meet Chad at the diner and could leave when she wanted.

“Catarina!” he called after her.

She kept walking.

“Dammit,” she heard him mutter.

A light wind that always blew in from the Smokies sent a curl of hair into her eyes. She brushed it back and hurried on to her car. One of their most common arguments had to do with her working odd shifts as a paramedic. While she was one hundred and ten percent committed to her work in helping people, Chad regularly accused her of running around on him.

Why did she even put up with his crap? She was smarter than this.

She climbed into the car and started the engine. A glance in the side mirror showed her Chad was walking to his truck.

When they weren’t arguing, things were great. They had a lot of fun hiking in the mountains together and enjoyed the same music and movies. But when the time came for her to work, his controlling side broke free and they got into another argument.

She sighed and drove away from the diner. After this many fights, she wasn’t feeling all that broken up right now so much as she was frustrated.

When she turned into the street where Tank lived, she didn’t even consciously think about where she was headed—only that she needed a friend right now, and he was the best a girl could ask for.

How many times had he held her while she cried and handed her tissues to mop her face with? He had a whole drawer full of her favorite junk foods and all her favorite movies in his video library for times when she needed distractions.

Tank might not even be home. She lost track of his shifts lately, since he sometimes worked swing