Hard as Stone(62)

“I am your way into Paradise… the only way and you both know it.” Tanner smirked. “And my little daughter shall lead the way for us… after I deal with her fucking mother,” he muttered, lighting his cigarette and inhaling deeply. “Just chill, hermano. I got this shit under control.”

“Just keep your head in the game, Tanner, and not on all the ways you wanna fuck the piece of ass you used to be married to,” Dante ordered.

Twisting the key in the ignition, Tanner offered the other man a cold smile. “I’m a talented man, Dante. Believe me, I can do both.”





Chapter Nineteen



The short drive to Zeke’s house was accomplished in a few minutes, and Harmony smiled at him when he turned to look at her. “Are you sure that you ladies don’t want to come inside? It’s only gonna take me a few minutes to change.”

“We’ll wait here,” Honor replied almost instantly, folding her arms against her chest.

“Suit yourself, hardhead,” Zeke said with a sigh as he cut the ignition, winking at Harmony before he pushed open his door and hurried up the sidewalk to the cute Cape Cod that he’d bought just a short mile from their own home.

“Honor, don’t be mad at Zeke,” Harmony urged quietly from the backseat. “He’s just trying to look out for us the same way he always has.”

Turning in her seat, Honor rolled her eyes. “I’m upset at him for fussing at you. You’re a grown woman. You can chase down an acquaintance if you want.”

“That’s not exactly what happened,” Harmony returned, shifting uncomfortably in her seat as Honor narrowed her eyes on her.

“What do you mean?” Honor asked suspiciously.

“The person that I thought I saw back at the store… I thought it was Tanner,” Harmony acknowledged softly. “It wasn’t,” she added quickly when her sister’s eyes dilated and her breathing quickened. “It was just a Hispanic man with black hair and kinda the same build as Tanner had, but I freaked and went chasing after him around the side of the building. That’s why Zeke was upset with me.”

“In that case, Zeke was right. That was a foolish thing to do.” Honor frowned at her sister. “And if you tell him I said that, I’ll burn your pancakes for a month.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t take off on a wild chase again,” Harmony assured her little sister softly. “I just needed to be sure it wasn’t him.”

“He’s gone, Harm. He can’t hurt you anymore. Zeke and Abel saw to that,” Honor reminded her gently.

“I know, but I had the strangest feeling that he was there, Honor. It’s silly. It’s probably just my cold feet about Jake projecting itself on my mind. I’m looking for a reason to run from a good man, and memories of Tanner would qualify for that.”

“Jacob is not Tanner. I could skin Zeke alive for askin’ his nosy questions and makin’ you doubt him,” Honor muttered, glaring at Zeke’s front door. “That man is always lookin’ for shadows in the sunlight. I swear, one day I’m gonna attack him with my rolling pin for breathing down all our necks. He’s an irritating pain in the butt,” she complained, clearly annoyed by Zeke’s interest in their lives.

“Honor, that’s not true. Zeke loves you,” she pointed out quietly. “There’s nothing in the world he wouldn’t do for you. When are you gonna see that?”

“Ezekiel sees me as somebody he failed a long time ago, Harmony. Ever since then, I’m just the pet cause he’s takin’ up to try to salve his conscience. He doesn’t love me. He pities me.”

“You know that isn’t true,” Harmony denied, meeting her sister’s eyes.

Swallowing hard, Honor averted her gaze. “It doesn’t matter, Harmony. I can’t offer Zeke or any other man what they’d eventually want from me. I just… I can’t. When I remember what happened all those years ago,” she began tightly. “My skin crawls, Harmony. The idea of a man touching me… even a good man… I can’t handle it. I wanna claw off my skin,” she whispered, unconsciously scratching her arms.

“Hey,” Harmony murmured, leaning forward to cover Honor’s nervous hand before it could do any damage. “Zeke is not one of those awful animals that hurt you. He’s the man that sat with you every single day after you were hurt and read to you. He’s the guy that slept on the couch for three months because it’s the only way you could sleep… with him there. And that man is waiting for you, Honor,” Harmony pointed out gently. “With Zeke, you’d be safe – he’d never hurt you and he’d kill anybody else that tried.”