Hard as Stone (Passion in Paradise: The Men of the McKinnnon Sisters) (36 page)

Staring after her,
Ezekiel sighed heavily as he heard the front door open and close.  Pulling his
phone from his jeans pocket, he thumbed through his contacts quickly, hitting
the number he needed while he watched Honor climb behind the wheel of her car
from the kitchen window. 

“Talk,” he heard
Jacob answer his phone with gruff impatience.

“Stone, it’s Zeke. 
There isn’t a good way to say this, so I’m just gonna spit it out.  You’re
fucked, man.  Harmony knows.  She doesn’t know everything, but just enough that
she’s convinced you’re a fucking stalker here to do her and her family harm. 
She broke in and found your files, man.  Your arsenal, too.  My advice – get
back here.  Do it fast and start damage control.” 

“On my way,” Jacob
replied succinctly, his voice hard, but resigned.  “Is she secure?”

“Physically, she’s
fine.  Cain and Abel are both tailing her.  She should be at the café when you
hit town,” Zeke answered.

“Okay.  I’m less
than an hour out.  I’ll be there shortly.”

“One more word of
advice, Stone,” Zeke added, flipping the lights off as he moved to the front
door.

“Yeah?”

“Brace, brother.”

“Fuckin’ hell,”
Jacob cursed, slamming his phone down on the seat of his bike as he turned and
faced a man he’d known for the better part of a decade. 

“Trouble in
Paradise?” Luis Vega drawled laconically, lifting one inky eyebrow heavenward.

“Don’t be a dick,
Luis,” Jacob bit off, his jaw clenching as he narrowed his eyes on his former
partner.  “Harmony found my files.”

Straightening, Luis
face tightened.  “Which files?”

“I’m assuming all
of them.  That was the Sheriff on the phone.  Evidently, he caught her
red-handed.  I need to get back and do damage control,” he informed the other
man, running a frustrated hand over his face. 

“Jesus,
Widowmaker,” Luis snarled angrily, “You gonna let a woman ruin this whole
fucking operation?  What the fuck, man?  You’re going fucking soft!  She might
be fine piece of ass with a tight little pussy but she’s not fuckin’ worth
throwing away…”

Jacob didn’t think;
he just saw a red haze descend over his vision as he heard the way the
undercover agent referred to Harmony.  Before he could control his actions,
he’d reached for Luis’s throat, squeezing the other man’s windpipe as he
slammed his old friend against the parked rusty truck he’d driven to the
meeting point.  “She is
not
a piece of ass.  She’s not some loose pussy skank
that I’m fucking to get a job done.  She’s Harmony.  And she’s
MINE!
 
Acknowledge you understand me, Luis,” he demanded, his voice low and menacing
as he got nose to nose with a man he’d considered one of his closest friends
until now.

Clawing at Jacob’s
wrist, Luis choked, “Got it, man.  Stand down, motherfucker!  I got you.”

Releasing his grip
with a flick of his wrist, Jacob made himself take a step backward.  Still
radiating a fury he’d never felt before, he pinned Luis with his eyes.  “I
consider you a friend, but you spew shit like that again, you’ll become my
enemy before you can blink, asshole.”

Rubbing his raw
throat, Luis could only shake his head and stare at Jacob with incredulous
eyes.  “Holy fuck,” he gasped, his voice ragged.  “You’re fucking serious. 
You’d throw away everything you’ve worked to do for this…”

“Be careful, man,”
Jacob warned, his eyes narrowing.

“She’s not like the
others,” Luis realized belatedly, eyeing Jacob warily.

“She’s
nothing
like the others,” Jacob confirmed harshly.  “Make those comparisons again and
I’ll end you, friend or not.”

“Fuck me.  She’s
got you wrapped around her little finger.  Her and this daughter of hers.  The
great Jacob Stone, brought low by a pretty single mama and her pint size
bambina,” Luis whispered in sheer amazement.  “I
never
thought I’d live
long enough to see this shit.  You, the guy that’s hunted Diego’s ass for
fuckin’ decades, and you’re just gonna give that shit up.  For a woman.”  He
shook his head disbelievingly.

“She’s not just any
woman.  She’s
mine
.  Her daughter, Heaven, is
mine. 
Get that
shit straight in your head right now,” he ordered heavily, his eyes burning
with the fires of Hell as they bore into Luis.

“This Heaven… she
is Tanner’s, amigo.  I have seen her.  There is no denying this,” Luis pointed
out carefully.

“I’ve been more of
a father to that little girl in five fucking minutes than Tanner has been her
entire life.  She’s a pawn to him.  She’s everything to me.  They both are and
I’d give my life for theirs in a heartbeat if it meant they both got long,
happy lives ahead of them.  But, I can see you still don’t get it.   When you
find your ‘One’, you’ll get it,” Jacob replied softly, the muscle in his jaw
flexing as he spoke.

“I hope to fuck I never
get
this.  Not if this shit is what happens,” Luis denied, shaking his
head as he dropped his hand from his throat.  “Just tell me this.  She worth
it?  I mean, really, Widowmaker.  You can really walk away from the DEA and
your vendetta against Fuentes for a woman you just met a month and a half ago?”
he asked, tilting his head at the man he’d have sworn he knew like a brother. 

“I faxed my
resignation and retirement forms to the Agency this morning, Luis,” Jacob
confided quietly.  “I’m done.  Don’t get me wrong, I’ll send Fuentes’ black
soul straight to hell if I get the chance, but I won’t risk my family to do it. 
I knew Harmony was my ‘One’ almost the minute I laid eyes on her.  That’s how
fucking fast it can happen.  When you see your future staring you in the face,
all blue eyes and timid smiles, things tend to get very clear for a man very
fast.  So, yeah, she’s fucking worth it.”

“I can’t believe
this shit, Jacob,” Luis breathed, his dark eyes round with shock.  “The fucking
renegade of the DEA has been tamed?  Tell me this is part of some plan you’ve
got going, man.”

“Yeah, it is,”
Jacob agreed with a nod.  “My plan is to give my family a good life.  A safe
life.  They’ve been through enough shit to last three lifetimes.  What can I
tell you, amigo?  I found something worth more than my need for vengeance. 
Harmony and Heaven.  Because of Harmony, I’ve got three more sisters that are
living and breathing, right here on Earth and need my protection.  I’ll always
remember my blood sister.  And I still want Nessa to have justice for what
happened to her.  But not at the expense of the family I’ve waited my entire
fucking life to have, Luis.  It sucks that I may not be able to have both, but
Harmony is definitely worth what I’m giving up.  It’s a good trade.”

“We’ve almost got
Diego, Jacob.  Don’t fuck up this operation,” Luis bit out, his jaw clenching
as his fists balled at his side.

“Keep my woman and
her family out of it then.  Pull Tanner back.  I don’t care how you do it. 
Find a way,” Jacob growled, meeting Luis’ gaze head on. 

“It’s too late for
that, Widowmaker.  The wheels are turning and the operation is in play,” Luis
countered sharply, shaking his head.  “We’re not gonna pull back and I’m not
gonna change anything.  This goes down the way we laid it out months ago.”

“Then you and I got
problems, Luis, and I think you know me well enough to get that I’ll be a hell
of an adversary.  I don’t have any allegiance to the DEA.  I’m a civilian now,
but I’m a fucking well trained civilian.  I won’t allow my girls to be hurt,
and I got zero problem causin’ Suarez a world of fuckin’ pain.  I owe that
fucker for what he did to my woman.”

Luis hung his head,
running a hand around the nape of his neck.  “I know what that sick fuck did,”
he grunted.  “Bastard brags about that shit.  Thinks he’s a big man for it. 
Some of the shit I’ve heard from that bastardo about what he’s done to women
would turn your stomach.  If you knew the things I know…,” he paused,
shuddering.  “Let’s just say that I can see why you hate him.  I hate him.  I
want to put a bullet in his head every time I look at his ugly face, but, he’s
a necessary fixture for taking apart Fuentes’ operation.”

“He’s a walking,
talking dead man if he thinks to take what’s mine,” Jacob rumbled in response,
his shoulders stiffening. 

“Diego wants the
land, amigo.  We gotta get the drugs into this tiny fucking shithole town if
we’re actually going to nail him on all the fucking charges we want the bastard
for.  Therefore, I need for that girl of yours to give up the land she has. 
Help me make that happen,” Luis pleaded, lifting his head to meet Jake’s eyes. 
“Keep your eye on the endgame, Jacob.  You’re one of the best agents I’ve ever
known, man.  You see the wisdom of this plan, yes?” 

“You aren’t hearing
me, Luis.  That time is done.  I won’t push Harmony to get any more mixed up in
this clusterfuck than she already is,” Jake denied firmly, unwilling to relent. 
His first duty as a man – as
her
man – was to keep her safe.

“Diego will get his
way, and the DEA will let him make a hell of a mess while he goes about getting
that way if it means they can finally take him down for good.  That puts your
woman in even more danger.  It makes her not only Suarez’s mark, but Diego’s as
well.  For now, he’s content to let Tanner handle it.  If he thinks Tanner
cannot get this job done, he
will
step up to the plate.  Think about
that, muchacho.  Think hard about what that means.”

“I don’t care who
comes for my woman, Luis.  Tanner.  Diego. 
You.
  You’ll find me
standing right the fuck in front of her.  And again, I don’t give a fuck
what
play the DEA has in motion,” Jacob shared harshly.  “As a courtesy and
because I respect the years of friendship we’ve shared, I’m being straight-up
with you.”

Nodding slowly,
Luis sighed.  “I can hear that,” he acknowledged quietly.

“So, we’re clear?”
Jacob asked impatiently.

“Clear,
Widowmaker,” Diego agreed, albeit unhappily.

“Then I’ve got a
woman that needs me and plenty of shit to do,” Jacob growled, turning to stride
toward his bike.  Picking up his cell he shoved it in his pocket, his mind
already on finding Harmony and straightening shit out with her.

“I hope that she is
good for you, Jacob.  Bueno suerte, mi amigo,” he called as his former partner
swung his leg over the Harley and gunned the engine.  “You are going to need
it,” he said softly as he watched his friend ride away.

“So, can we,
Momma?”

Harmony heard her
daughter chattering away as she moved woodenly, unfastening Heaven’s carseat
buckles and releasing the latches restraining her little body.  Slowly emerging
from the heavy fog that had surrounded her since leaving Jake’s house, she
focused on her child’s eager face.  “What, baby?” she asked, lifting her
daughter out of the seat and putting her on her sturdy feet in the gravel
parking lot of the café.  “I’m sorry, Momma didn’t hear you.”

“Dat’s ‘cause you
need to use your listening ears,” Heaven huffed, reaching up a little hand to
tug at her momma’s earlobe.  “I said can we go pway on da tram’line.  Jake said
we could if it was warm ‘nuf.”

Inhaling a shaky
breath, she met her daughter’s bright eyes.  How the
hell
was she
supposed to explain that her relationship with Jacob Stone was now DOA? 
Especially when Heaven thought he was the best thing since Barney.  She was
definitely going to have to invest in a swing set and trampoline.  There was no
way in hell she was going to take her little girl back to Jake’s house. “Baby,
I don’t think we’ll be seeing Jacob tonight,” she evaded gently.  The truth
was, if she had her way, neither one of them would ever lay eyes on that rat
bastard again.  EVER.

“Why?  He said he’d
read me The Velvet Rabbit tonight,” Heaven argued, her blue eyes becoming
slightly mutinous.

“He’s going to be…
busy, Heaven.  I promise, I’ll read you The
Velveteen
Rabbit tonight,
baby,” Harmony fibbed shakily.  She hated lying to her kid, but she had
absolutely no idea how she was going to help her baby girl comprehend any of
this – especially when
she
didn’t understand any of this.

“But you don’t do da
voices right,” Heaven sniffed, pressing her lips together as she stared at her
mother with stormy eyes.

“Then, I’ll just
have to try harder, won’t I?” Harmony returned as evenly as she could, silently
cursing Jacob Stone and his wide selection of silly voices to hell and back. 
The bastard had even taken story time from her and made it into something that
she’d dread.  There was no way she could mimic all those voices he could do for
Heaven.

Taking Heaven’s hand,
she guided her baby toward the back entrance of the diner.  Vaguely, she knew
her sisters, Cain, and Abel were following them inside, but she couldn’t face
them right now.  Right now, she had to concentrate of putting one foot in front
of the other.  Survival was her only goal at this point.  That, and protecting
her kid from whatever unknown bullshit Jake had brought into their lives.