Tank (Blue-Collar Billionaires 1)

Sasha comes up behind me. “Let’s go, Tank. I don’t want any trouble.”

Lattimer scoffs. “You don’t want any trouble? You’ve been trouble since the day you started here.”

I don’t turn around. Men like Lattimer only understand one thing. Force. I hold his eyes. He needs to understand that I have no problem fucking him up. That knowledge is the only thing that will keep him from screwing with her again.

One of his goons feints at me, trying to see if I’ll jump back. I can’t help it, I react on instinct, punching him in the throat and then following it with a gut shot. He falls back and knocks into his boss. They both crash into the table behind him.

Sasha gasps and covers her mouth with her hands. I groan and run my hands through my hair. She’s really going to hate me now.

“Shit. Sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. Eli said to scare him not to start a fight.”

She turns to me, her brown eyes suddenly bright with excitement. “Are you kidding? That was awesome.”

Lattimer stumbles to his feet, knocking into the guys sitting at the table who are obviously drunk. One of them punches wildly at one of the bodyguards. Before long the panic spreads and we’re in the middle of a crowd of people pushing and shoving. I’ve been in enough bar fights to know that most of the people throwing punches don’t even know what’s going on.

“Ouch! Get your hands off me.”

Emma is caught between a group of guys who are trying to take each other down. She’s jostled back and forth and then stumbles to the side. I push through the crowd, shoving anyone in front of me out of the way. When I reach her, I push her behind me just as one of the guys swings out wildly, his fist connecting with my side.

I block his next punch and then shove him back. His buddies apparently want in on the action now because they’ve focused on me. The chill I always feel before a good fight settles over me. The next one charges me. I dip low and catch him at the waist, flipping him onto his back. My arms and hands move in a violent dance, punching, blocking and knocking heads together. After the first three go down, the rest of their buddies back away slightly.

Emma whimpers behind me. I reach back and pull her against my back, using my body as a shield to block her from the crowd. Fights still rage around us. Sasha appears at my elbow. “Let’s get out of here. This is crazy.”

Lattimer finally gets up, brushing away the offer of help from his other bodyguard. The guy holds his throat while glaring at me. He looks between the three of us and then sneers. “All of you need to get the hell out of my club.”

“What? Paul, that is not fair. Emma has nothing to do with this. And a bunch of drunks fighting is not my fault.” Sasha glares at him.

“I don’t care. I don’t need this shit. Both of you get out and don’t bother coming back.”

Sasha points at him. “This is really messed up and you know it. Just wait, karma is a bitch with a really long memory. And she has your address now.”

Sasha holds out a hand to Emma. “We’re going to get our stuff from the back.”

I follow them, standing guard at the entrance to the dressing room and keeping an eye on Lattimer and his goons. They watch us but don’t attempt to come closer or prevent the girls from getting their stuff. Sasha emerges wearing black leggings and an oversized red sweater. Emma has changed into a plain white blouse with ruffles on the front and hip hugging jeans.

“Come on. Let’s get out of here.”

I follow them out to the parking lot.

Emma stops in the middle of the gravel lot. “Crap, I forgot that I didn’t bring my car today. I need to call my sister for a ride. She wasn’t expecting me to be out this early.”

Sasha holds up her keys. “I can take you.”

“I don’t want you to have to drive out of your way.”

I stop next to my bike. I’m suddenly grateful that I bought the extra helmet. “Where do you live? I’ll take you home.”

Emma regards me warily. “In Norfolk. Near the shipyard.”

I wave her over. “That’s not that far from me. We’ll follow Sasha home to make sure she gets there safely. Then I’ll take you home.”

“Okay. Thanks.” She adjusts the strap on her bag and then takes the helmet I hand her. I adjust the strap for her and then climb on the bike. She eyes it like some strange beast she’s never seen before.

“Climb on. It won’t bite. And neither will I.”

Her eyes narrow but she climbs on the back. She’s holding me gingerly around the waist. I start the engine and she squeals and grabs me tighter.

Now that’s better.