Hard as Stone (Passion in Paradise: The Men of the McKinnnon Sisters) (40 page)

“You’re going home,
too,” Zeke interrupted, his attention focused on Honor.  “Patience and Abel are
capable of turning out the lights.”

“I’ll take her
home, Honor.  Don’t worry,” Abel assured the youngest sister, ignoring
Patience’s eye roll. 

“I’ve got deputies
on everybody and I’ve called in some reinforcements.  Zach and Slade will be at
the house in a couple of hours,” Zeke informed the group in a deep voice.

“Who?” Jacob
questioned, propping one hand on his hip as he stared at the Sheriff. 

It was Harmony that
answered the question.  “Zach is Zachariah Monroe, Zeke’s brother.  People
around here call him Ice.  He’s a retired Green Beret.  Slade is Slade Carter
and he’s one of our cousins.  He owns a construction business in town, but he’s
a former Navy Seal.”  Directing a worried look at the Sheriff, she whispered,
“You think we’ll need their help?”

“I think it’s all
hands on deck when you girls are involved, and I think the men here would all
agree that we’re all done taking chances.  That bastard got to you and Honor
right underneath our noses.  That shit is
not
happening again,” Zeke
replied harshly.  Turning to Jake, he added, “They’re both good men that know
how to keep their heads down and their mouths shut.  It’s done.”

Jake simply nodded
as he watched Harmony cross the room to her daughter and press a kiss against
the child’s cheek.

“I’ll see you at
home, baby,” she whispered, brushing Heavens hair behind her ear. 

“We’ll be there,”
Faith said, squeezing Harmony’s hand before she followed Cain and Heaven out
the door.    

“That new waitress y’all
hired got rid of all the customers earlier when all hell broke loose.  I sent
her home after that.  I didn’t figure you’d want everyone to know what was going
on.  There’s still some cleaning up to do.  Patience and I will start tackling
that,” Abel offered, capturing Patience’s wrist and tugging her toward the
door.

Patience was
reluctant, but she went with him, giving each of her sisters a brief, but tight
hug on the way out.  That left Honor, Zeke, Harmony and Jake standing in the
kitchen staring at each other...or rather, Zeke staring at Honor and Jake
staring at Harmony.  Honor and Harmony mostly kept their eyes on each other
rather than look at the men.

Finally shifting
his eyes from Harmony to Honor, Jake silently noted that each woman looked
shell-shocked.  Too much drama in too short a time had taken a heavy toll on
them both.  The truth was they both looked like they could drop anytime.  “Honor,”
he said quietly, “I’d like to speak to Harmony alone.”

“He’s right, Honor.”
Zeke supported the other man with a nod.  “They need to talk privately.  We
should go, honey.”

Honor stared at
Jake for a long, deafening minute before she slowly swung her gaze toward a
grim faced Ezekiel.  “Give Harmony the gun you wear strapped around your
ankle,” she ordered the sheriff on a whisper.

“What?” Zeke asked,
blinking.

“If you want me to
move a single step from this spot, you’ll give my sister the gun you wear strapped
to your ankle.  I’m not leaving her here, alone and unarmed, with him.” She
jerked her head toward Jacob.  “No offense.  I might believe what you said
earlier to Harmony and Heaven, but I don’t entirely trust you yet.  Until I
do…”

Jacob nodded
because he understood.  Looking at Zeke, he ordered, “Give it to her.”

Sighing, Zeke bent
to unstrap the gun from the holster around his ankle and carefully passed it to
Harmony.  “If you feel the need to use that, make sure you kill him.  It’s a
hell of a lot less paperwork for me.”

Harmony’s lips
twitched in spite of the tense circumstances and she nodded.  Looking at
Honor’s pinched, worried face, she whispered, “I’ll be just fine, honey.  Are
you okay to go with Zeke?”

Honor knew what
Harmony was asking her.  “Zeke won’t hurt me,” she said tightly, almost as
though she was willing herself to believe it as much as she was trying to
convince Harmony. 

“No, Zeke would
never hurt you,” Harmony repeated, reaching for her sister and hugging her for
long moments while Zeke and Jake traded a worried, perplexed look between them.

“Are you alright
here with Jake?” Honor asked Harmony against her ear.  “I’ll stay if you want
me to be here.  Ezekiel can go hang,” she remarked with a little of her normal
sass.  “Won’t be the first time I told him to do it.”

“I promise, I’ll be
fine.  You made sure I was armed before you left,” Harmony joked, drawing back
to smile sadly at her sister.  “We’ll be right behind you, Peanut.  Then you,
me, Patience and Faith will sit down and talk when I get home.”  Seeing Honor
flinch, she tightened her arms around her sister.  “We have to talk about it;
you know we do,” she whispered before releasing her.  “Take care of my sister,
Zeke,” she ordered the other man as he took Honor’s arm, wincing when her
sister stiffened at the contact.  “And go easy,” she warned, exchanging a
meaningful look with him.  Seeing the flash of confusion overtake Zeke’s face
as he steered Honor toward the door, she released a shaky sigh.  God, regular
old bad had gotten so very worse in just a few short hours that she could
hardly wrap her mind around it.

And now, she had to
deal with Jacob fucking Stone and the nightmare he’d delivered to her life. 
Tightening her fingers around the gun in her hand, she turned to face him.

“I’m not doing this
here,” Jacob denied as soon as Harmony turned to face him, her normally
beautiful face set in harsh lines, her eyes shadowed by the ghosts of her
past.  It was obvious she was in a less than forgiving mood, and he’d be damned
if he’d try and convince her he was at least a decent guy while he was standing
in the kitchen where she’d so recently been abused a-fucking-gain by her dick
of an ex-husband.  Nope, not doing it.

Plainly, however,
she had other ideas.  The flash he saw in her eyes let him know he was walking
on thin ice where she was concerned.  Lifting a hand when she would have opened
her mouth and let him have the edge of her tongue, he continued, “I owe you
answers.  I know that and I’m not trying to avoid the conversation.   I’m just
asking that we have it someplace else.”

“I don’t know
who
you are
,” she repeated for what felt like the five millionth time today.  “I
don’t want to know who you are! I no longer
care
who you are.  Sorry,
but I’ve had my fill of asshole whack jobs today.  You think I’m just going to
follow you meekly out the door?” she asked with a hollow laugh.  “Not fucking
likely, Jacob Stone or whatever the hell your real name is.  You got something
you want to say to me?  Say it here.”

“Harmony, baby, I
know it’s raining,” he said softly, reminding her of their conversation the
previous night.  “But, I’ve got the umbrella.  All you’ve got to do is step
under it and I’ll keep you warm and dry.”

“You’re shitting
me,” Harmony growled, shaking her head incredulously.  “Please, God, tell me
that you’re shitting me,” she begged as she began to laugh again.  It wasn’t a
pretty laugh.  It was that kind of laughter you heard right before you
witnessed somebody have a nervous breakdown.  Definitely, not a funny kind of
chuckle.  “You think it’s
raining
?  No, Jake, it’s not
raining
! 
It’s storming like a motherfucker!  Hurricane Suarez just made landfall in all
his destructive glory, asshat!” she yelled, jabbing her index finger into his
hard chest as she got in his face.  “And I suspect you had a whole fucking lot
to do with that.  So, I suggest you take your fucking umbrella, bend over, and
jam it straight up your own ass because I will
never
depend on
you
for
anything
again!”

A muscle in Jake’s
jaw jumped as he stared down at her furious face.  Well, he knew she’d blame
him.  He couldn’t say that he hadn’t expected this.  He just wasn’t prepared
for how much her words would fucking hurt.  “You done?” he asked tersely.

“Excuse me?” she
hissed, her eyes shooting daggers at him.

“I asked you if you
were done,” Jake snapped, crossing his arms over his chest.  “Because if you
are, I’d like to get out of here.”

“Then, go!” Harmony
gestured at the door.  “Nobody is stopping you.  I certainly won’t.”

“You’re coming with
me.  We’re going to have a discussion.  You’re going to ask me questions, and
I’m going to give you answers.  But we are
not
doing any of it standing
in the spot where Suarez assaulted you.  Goddamn it, Harmony, being here…
knowing that he was able to get in here – in the one place you
should
be
able to feel comfortable and safe - and mark your pretty face and terrify
Heaven and Honor … as much as you deserve my entire fucking attention, all I
can think of when I’m standing here is how much I want to hunt that fucker down
and rip out his fucking heart for touching what’s
mine!
”

Harmony merely
raised an eyebrow as his roar echoed through the empty kitchen.  “That would be
an impressive statement if Heaven or I were actually
yours,
but being as
I have no idea who the
fuck
you are, I remain markedly
un
impressed.”

“Oh, you’re mine,
Harmony,” Jake bit off, his own eyes darkening as they collided with hers. 
“Told you that last night.  I was real fuckin’ clear.  Guess I’m gonna have to
remind you.”

Lifting the hand
holding Zeke’s gun between them, Harmony offered him a cool smile.  “I
encourage you to try, Jake.  Go ahead, see how far you get,” she invited
silkily.  “I already told you.  I’ve had enough of whack job assholes today.  I
didn’t have a gun when Tanner was here earlier, but you, I’m prepared to deal
with.”

Barely sparing the
gun a glance, Jake advanced, crowding Harmony back against the stove as he
leaned into her, the barrel of the pistol digging into his sternum.  “Either
pull the fuckin’ trigger or get your coat, darlin’.  I’m not gonna stand here
and bullshit all night.  We need to get back to Heaven, but first we need to
clear the air between us.  You’ve got the gun.  I pull any shit you don’t like,
fucking shoot me, but just know that I am about two seconds away from losing
the little of my patience I’ve got left, throwing you over my shoulder and
carrying you out of here.  It’d be a hell of a lot easier for you to follow me
out the door, get on the back of my bike, and let me take us somewhere that
doesn’t make me wanna commit murder.  Now, fuckin’ decide.  Shoot me or get
your ass movin’.”

Harmony’s jaw
dropped at his nerve.  “Do you even hear yourself?”

“Heard every word. 
You done decidin’?” he growled in response, staring her in the eye as his hands
itched at his sides.  She had no idea how close he was to snatching her into
his arms.  “I’m not backing down here, Harmony.  Choose or I choose for you,”
he warned when she remained silent and sullen in front of him.

“I’ll get my damn
coat,” she clipped out, jerking her body to the side and stomping across the
room to where she’d thrown her jacket when she arrived.

Jake’s shoulders
relaxed slightly as he watched her jam her arms angrily through the sleeves. 
She didn’t know it, but her actions were telling him everything he needed to
know about where she stood.  She was pissed.  Hell, she was furious.  But she
still trusted him.  She’d never risk going with him if she didn’t.  His lips
twitched as he watched her shove the gun into the pocket of her coat.  Hell,
she wasn’t even keeping the gun in her hand.

He realized she’d
caught him studying her when she marched to the back door and snapped at him,
“Well, are we doing this or are you gonna stand there and ogle me all night?”

Crossing the room,
he paused when he reached her side, towering over her.  “Oh, we’re doing this,
babe.  Bike’s that way.”  He jerked his thumb toward the door and tried not to
laugh when she growled at him.

Following her
outside to his Harley, he pulled an extra helmet from the back of his bike and
tossed it to her before swinging one leg over the hog and starting the engine. 
Turning his head toward her, his lips twitched again as she flounced toward him
and threw her leg over the bike.  “You’re gonna need to hold on to me, baby,”
he informed her over his shoulder, unable to keep from chuckling when she
muttered a few unladylike words under her breath.  He was pretty certain she’d
even made up a few new swear words, but he grinned when she reluctantly slid
her arms around his waist.

Five minutes later,
he slid his bike into a parking spot at the duck pond of the town park.  He and
Harmony had brought Heaven here several times in the last month and he knew his
woman liked the spot.  Killing the engine, he silently noted that she wasted no
time detaching herself from his body and sliding off the Harley.

Watching as she
stomped toward the bench facing the water, his lips quirked as he watched her
kick more than one rock out of her way.  Sighing, he climbed off his ride and
followed her.  He’d barely reached the wrought iron bench when she whipped her
head toward him and pinned him with cold eyes.  “If you brought me here to kill
me, you picked a shit location to dispose of the body.”