Hard as Stone(98)
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.”
Chapter Thirty-one
“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.