Prologue
Tank stretched out his arm to bring his hand in contact with the wrench. His fingertips brushed cool steel, and he dragged the tool across the concrete shop floor and hefted it in his grip.
It seemed like every few days he found himself in the shop, tweaking some part of his bike. The guys of the Dark Falcons Motorcycle Club razzed him about needing a new hobby besides bikes, but fact was, they’d been his life for as long as he could remember.
In the early days of his youth, his old man would let him sit in the garage with him and watch as he ripped apart engines or trick out the motorcycles he created. Sometimes he thought the things he built with his own two hands and the guys in the club were more than family—they were his life source.
Fitting the wrench over the bolt, he gave it one hard twist, and it took some muscle. Good thing the football days started me off right. Then came years of manual labor and his current position doing factory work, though he didn’t love it. Tank considered the job as a means to live his life the way he saw fit, nothing more.
With a grunt, he moved the bolt into place.
“Oh! Someone’s in here!” The feminine voice startled him, and he dug in the heels of his boots to push himself out from under his bike.
His friend’s mom, Mrs. Rothchild, pressed a hand to her heart. “Rob, it’s you.”
Tank grinned. “Yeah, just me. Sorry to frighten you. Dixon said it was fine if I used the shop to work on my bike.”
“Of course that’s fine. I came out here to gather the invoices that Dixon never brings to me to file.”
Tank shoved to his full height of six-two and grinned at his friend’s ma. She returned his smile, and it was just as bright as ever, though he noted the amount of silver running through her dark hair these days. He knew better than to say so.
“I think I saw the invoices on the desk.”
She nodded. “Yeah, I see the pile.” She clucked her tongue. “Dixon can be such a pain sometimes, but I’m so glad he’s home. And that he’s found such a nice woman to fill his life.”
“He and Fiona are a matched set, that’s for sure,” Tank referred to the president of the club and his girl, which Dixon referred to as his old lady, in line with the MC life.
“Have you had supper yet, Rob?”
Few people ever called him by his Christian name, and it made him smile wider. “Had a late lunch.”
“There’s plenty if you’ll join us.”
“Thank you, but I’ll get on home. Want me to lock up the shop on the way out?”
“The main door please. I’ll lock this one.” She pointed to the one she’d entered through.
“Will do.” Tank put away his tools as Mrs. Rothchild gathered the invoices for the mechanics shop that Dixon and his father ran together. She threw him a wave and left, closing the door and locking it behind her.
Tank rolled his bike out the big garage door that would accommodate even large trucks. After he set the kickstand, he returned to hit the automatic door button. He stood watching to ensure it closed all the way and secured the shop for the night. Then he swung his leg over his bike and started the engine.
The purr ignited that familiar excitement deep in his veins. Nothing like that sound existed in this whole world. For him, it was like breathing. The open road was a close second on his list of necessities.
As he rolled out of the Rothchilds’ parking lot, he checked for other motorists and then pulled onto the highway. The secluded road leading to Mersey, Tennessee was cast with slanting shadows of trees. Sunlight flickered in his side vision.
The Tennessee air flooded his brain with the tang of tree sap, and anybody who lived near the Smoky Mountains knew they had a smell of their own. He inhaled deeply and took a curve, leaning into it.
Been too long since he’d been on the road. Heavy work shifts and erratic hours ate up much of his time. When he wasn’t bustin’ his ass at the factory, he spent his days with the guys in the club. Dixon, Blade, Rio, Patriot and many more. Their ranks grew by the week, it seemed. After they succeeded in driving out a rival gang who reaped havoc in their small town, a lot more men and women wanted to be associated with the good Tank’s club planned to do.
Right now, the Dark Falcons were in the process of finding a place to relocate their club. Holding meetings in the back of the Painted Pig bar was all right, but they needed their own space.
He leaned into the next curve and the next. The town came into view, as picturesque as a postcard. Hell, there actually were postcards of the town, they had so many tourists visiting all year round. In the distance, the big Ferris wheel of the fairgrounds rose up into the cloudy sky.
He hit a straight stretch and ramped up the speed. The bike felt like an extension of himself. Every piece he’d lovingly fitted together with the next and the next to build one of the most coveted bikes among the Dark Falcons.
Slowing a fraction, he eased into the final curve. Under his tires, loose gravel crunched. When the motorcycle weaved on the asphalt and rolling gravel, Tank tightened his grip on the handlebars and downshifted—too late.
He started to slide—seeing the end before he could even adjust his actions to right himself.
No time. “Motherfuck!”
The side of the bike hit guardrail and he dumped it, skidding on denim and leather. His shoulder dug into unmoving, unforgiving pavement. The crash of steel and metal shrieked in his ears. He came to a stop. Pain gripped him, and Tank rolled onto his back, seeing only the cloudy sky.
Chapter One
“Take it easy tomorrow. You’re pretty banged up.” The pretty nurse with the soft brown eyes held out the clipboard with his emergency room discharge papers and a pen.
Tank took the pen from her hand with a wince of a smile and scrawled his name. He’d spent three hours in the ER being looked over for major injuries, and he knew how damn lucky he was that he didn’t have any. Other than being ‘banged up’ like the pretty nurse said, he was fine.
No way his bike would be, though.
The nurse handed him the papers and then stood back to watch him stand from the hospital bed to his full height. She walked with him to the doors and saw him out.
He swung back to look at her. “Thanks again.”
“Don’t get in any more accidents, ya hear?” She smiled.
He turned forward again to see his guys standing there. The whole club filled the waiting room, from wall to wall with leather and patches bearing the Dark Falcons logo.
“Dude. You scared the hell outta us.” Dixon was there first, his hand out for Tank to clasp. He gripped it hard and Dixon looked him over. “You look like shit, but that nurse is lookin’ at you like she wrote her number on your discharge papers.”
He didn’t pivot to see for himself. He’d been getting looks from her all night. Thing was, she was all wrong for him. Pretty but not interesting. Kind, not mouthy. He definitely preferred his girls mouthy.
Next in line, Patriot gripped hands with him. “Don’t worry about a thing, man. We got your bike picked up off the road and took it back to Rothchilds’.”
He nodded and continued to move through the group of guys there to offer help in rebuilding his bike and glad tidings that he hadn’t broken his damn neck when he hit that guardrail.