Ready, Willing and Abel (Passion in Paradise: The Men of the McKinnon Sisters Book 3)

by Sarah O'Rourke

  “Well, who the hell else have you two been pissin’ off?” Patience growled, stuffing a pillow behind her back so that she could roll on her side. Dear Lord, but the men in her family had a penchant for pissing off folks! Noticing how he was suddenly very interested in the re-run of the Waltons playing on the television, she reached a hand out and twisted his nipple painfully. “Don’t make me start torturing you, Abel,” she advised as he hissed in a breath and jerked away from her devious hand.

  “Damn, woman!” He cursed, rubbing his offended breast. “Have a little mercy.”

  “Yeah, I’m fresh out of mercy, but there’s plenty of bitchy to give you if you don’t start flapping your jaw. What’s have you and Zeke been doin’ that could make you both targets of a whackadoodle?”

  Abel sighed heavily. “After we all got Harmony and Jake safely married off and she and Heaven moved out of your family home, Honor started having nightmares again.”

  “You aren’t telling me anything I didn’t already know, Abel,” Patience ground out impatiently, tapping her nails against one of the paperback books lying on the bed. Honestly, if he didn’t talk a little faster, she might just strangle him with the sash of her robe, she thought as she watched him adjust the pillow behind his head.

  “Do you wanna hear this or make editorial comments?” he asked sarcastically.

  Exhaling a long breath, Patience slowly nodded. “Talk.”

  “Well, those nightmares Honor has been having have nearly worried Zeke to death. We all know they started again because of what Harmony’s ex-husband told her on his deathbed and they haven’t stopped for Honor since.”

  “You mean the news that two of Honor’s rapists remained here, alive, well, and at large in Paradise County? Yes, I got that memo,” Patience supplied on a growl, the old anger she felt at Tanner Suarez re-surfacing to nearly suffocate her. That man had inflicted so much pain on her family that her biggest regret was that she didn’t get to put one of the many bullet holes he died with in his body.

  “Yeah,” Abel confirmed quietly. “What you don’t know is that Zeke and I have both quietly re-opened Honor’s case.”

  “What?!” Patience shouted, jerking upright in the bed.

  “Zeke re-opened the investigation. He thinks finding the two remaining assailants may be the only way to give your sister the peace of mind she needs in order to heal. When I got the first few notes, we all just assumed that the case the writer was referring to was the one against Esteban Fuentes. It made sense at the time. Angie had just died. She was working on the Fuentes case. All the puzzle pieces lined up perfectly.”

  “What’s changed?”

  “Zeke started getting threats. Now, at that point, we still could point the finger at Esteban. After all, Zeke was involved in the Fuentes investigation, too. But, then, something else happened. Something that I know is gonna upset you, and you have to promise me you’ll stay calm.”

  Patience stiffened. “What?”

  “Zeke intercepted a note a few weeks ago that was meant for Honor. At least, we think it was. He found it in the parking lot behind the restaurant. It was pinned to the picnic table.”

  Patience forced herself to remain still even though her heart threatened to jump out of her throat. “What did it say?” she rasped, clasping her hands together tightly.

  “Not much. It just said that some mysteries are better left unsolved. That’s it,” Abel informed her grimly. “It wasn’t addressed to Honor, but Zeke believes it was left there for her to find.”

  “Maybe, but perhaps, it was meant for Diego. He goes out there to smoke his cigars,” Patience pointed out hopefully.

  “Honestly, it’s possible. We just don’t know enough yet, honey,” Abel replied truthfully. “We’re working on it. All of us.”

  Releasing a shaky breath, she whispered, “Who is ‘all of us’?”

  “Me, Zeke, Jake, Ice, Slade and Diego. Cain’s aware of what’s happening, but he’s been busy with Faith and the hospital. I’ve even got Vivian up in Atlanta running the details of Honor’s case through some of the criminal databases to see if any cases in the surrounding states have been reported. I’d asked Angela to do it before she died, but if she got the chance, I’m not aware of it. But if she did, and somehow Honor’s assailants got wind of it… it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that one of them could have killed Angela. We all know that Angela Hastings had a big mouth; if she mentioned that she was doing me a favor like that and somebody heard her…it could have easily gotten back to Honor’s rapists.”

  “And is this the real reason Zeke is staying with Honor at night? To keep her safe?” Patience asked anxiously, wondering how she’d remained so oblivious to the potential danger her baby sister was in. Had she really become so self-absorbed with her pregnancy that she’d not seen this coming?

  “I’m sure that’s part of it,” Abel agreed with a nod.

  “I assume that none of you men have shared this with either of my other sisters since I haven’t heard about it from them,” she managed to say calmly.

  “Patience, we don’t know if there is anything to tell them yet,” Abel said, his eyes begging her to see it from their perspective. “The only woman besides you that even remotely knows anything is Maggie.”

  “Maggie knew and didn’t say anything to me?” Patience yelled, amazed that her best friend would keep something this important from her. Maggie and she had been each other’s confidantes for years. There’s no way the other woman would willingly keep her in the dark.

  “Not exactly. She told me that if I didn’t fill you in by the time she came by to see you tomorrow, that she’d tell you everything she knew.”

  “Well, at least somebody has some loyalty,” Patience returned coolly.

  “Don’t even start that crap with me. You know I’m loyal to you. When you asked the question, I answered, didn’t I?” Abel argued.

  “Yes, but you certainly weren’t volunteering information, were you?” Patience bit out caustically, feeling her ire growing the longer she sat next to him. “A true partner would have been upfront about what was going on from the moment something happened.”

  “I won’t apologize for trying to protect you and our kids. That’s always gonna be my first priority, no matter what’s going on in the rest of our family. Patience, don’t you realize that you’re in the last trimester of a high risk multiple pregnancy,” he tried to reason with her.

  “Oh, I’m aware, Abel! I’m the one that has packed on fifty extra pounds while I sit here like Bertha the Beached Whale! I know I’m a pregnant woman, dammit. Otherwise, I’d just be fat! And I swore an oath the summer I shed the freshman fifteen that I’d never be fat again,” she wailed. Seeing his lips twitch, Patience jabbed a finger in Abel’s face. “Don’t you dare laugh at me!”

  Leaning forward to cup her cheeks in his hands, he pulled her toward him, covering her lips for a gentle kiss before pressing his forehead to hers. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, Hellion. If there’d been anything truly concrete, I would have shared a lot sooner. The truth is that we don’t know who’s sending these notes. It could be Esteban’s goons. It could be Honor’s assailants. It could be somebody we haven’t even thought of yet. We just don’t know. Until we do, all any of us can do is remain vigilant and keep our eyes and ears open. If you want to share with your sisters, I won’t try to stop you.”

  Patience grimaced. “No. You’re right. There really isn’t anything to tell them yet. This would only scare Honor and worry Harmony and Faith, and there’s already enough for this family to worry over. Just promise me that you’ll let me know if you find out anything else, Abel. I know you think you’re protecting me, but I’d rather be prepared by you than taken by surprise by somebody else.”

  “That sounds fair,” Abel agreed, kissing her again as he guided her back to the bed, urging her to stretch out beside him. “You need to rest.”

  Patience leaned her head against his chest as Abel curved his body pr
otectively around hers. Her mind raced as she considered the danger her sister might be facing. “He’ll keep her safe, won’t he, Abel? Honor, I mean.”

  “If Zeke loves Honor a quarter as much as I love you, nothing bad will ever touch her again if Zeke can stop it, Patience.” Abel reassured her quietly, sweeping his hand up and down her back in slow, measured strokes.

  She gradually relaxed against him as the unmistakable truth behind his words soothed her. Zeke would protect Honor - with his life, if necessary; she knew that. Just as she knew that the man holding her now would do the same for her. Abel Turner had more than proven he’d go to any length to keep her happy and healthy – even braving her wrath to keep her somewhere she didn’t want to be. Her life had been turned upside down, but his had gone topsy turvy, too, and he’d never uttered a single complaint. No, instead, he’d focused on taking care of her.

  She wasn’t so arrogant as to pretend that she was something special. No, the special one in this relationship was him.

  Licking her lips, she opened her mouth to finally share how much his devotion meant to her…and how very far she’d fallen in love with him. It was a confession that was long overdue on her part, and she knew it. He deserved to know just how strongly she felt about him. It was time to swallow her stupid fears and come clean with the man who’d changed her life for the better. “Abel?” she called, waiting a few seconds for some kind of response. When none was forthcoming, she lifted her head from his chest, her eyes automatically traveling to his face.

  She supposed she wouldn’t be pledging her love to him today after all, she thought with a soft sigh as she stared at him. With his closed eyes and slack jaw, she knew he was past the point of hearing her now, but the words just wouldn’t stay inside her any longer. She had to say them.

  “You should know that I love you, Abel Turner,” she breathed, lightly touching his square jaw. “And I’ll never love another.”

  A soft snore was her only reply.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Two Very Long Weeks Later

  Nobody ever warned a man that loving a woman was a double edged sword.

  Sure, it could build a guy up, give him a purpose and direction in life that he’d never experienced, and fill him with such an awesome sense of serenity that he’d wonder how he had existed without that feeling for so long.

  The flip side was that love could unexpectedly kick a guy in the balls AND the teeth, turn around and rip out his heart while Fate stood there and stomped on the still beating organ before the man in question even realized he was in trouble.

  Oh, the poets spouted that bullshit telling men that love was patient and kind; what those fuckers neglected to tell them was love could also be capricious and fickle as all fuck!

  Abel Turner was learning that lesson today in spades. As it turns out, Patience McKinnon was a kickass teacher!

  Really, she was kicking his ass!

  And there was not a single thing he could do about it. Nope, not him. Not without being an asshole.

  There could be no yelling or screaming. There could be no complaining or bitching. There couldn’t even be any reasoning or bargaining.

  Because Patience was about three thousand months pregnant with his unborn children. Hell on wheels when it was a good day, lately his Hellion had taken bitchiness to levels previously unknown by any mere mortal man. Not to be a pussy, but she frightened him. Not that he’d ever shared that with her. Hell, no. One day he hoped to be able to use his dick as something other than a conversation piece with her once again. Telling the woman he loved that she was doing a really great imitation of a rip roaring bitch probably wouldn’t get him in her panties anytime soon, pregnant or not.

  Besides, as he’d learned this very morning, her current condition (you know…being knocked up with his demon spawn) trumped any feelings he might or might not have about the way things were running between them.

  In short, he’d been fucked. He’d been fucked hard. And not in that real good way that he enjoyed so much, either!

  Resisting the urge to stomp his feet like a three year old, Abel instead trudged into the I Don’t Care Café’s back entrance, his tie askew and his formally pristine white dress shirt now stained with sticky blotches of pink ice cream compliments of the cone Patience had just thrown at him. Honest to God, his day had gone from craptastic to fucking hopeless in the blink of an eye.

  Running in to Diego Fuentes sitting just inside the door was just the cherry on the shit sundae that was Abel’s life. And to add insult to injury, he couldn’t miss the amused look the other man aimed in his direction. The bastard had probably heard every word Patience had screamed at him upstairs.

  “Buenos tarde, Abel,” Diego’s accented voice greeted him as he lifted the coffee cup he held in Abel’s direction. “You’re looking rather… pink today. This is new look for you, yes?”

  “Not another word, Rico Suave,” Abel snarled at the foreigner. “You should know that I’ve got connections at the border. One more smartass remark and I’ll have you deported before dawn!” Glancing around the busy dining room, Abel sighed when he realized he’d walked in during the middle of the lunch rush. There were no empty spots at the counter and every table had someone already sitting there. Left with no other choice, he jerked one of the chairs at Deigo’s table out and sat down. “What?” Abel snapped when Diego raised an inquisitive eyebrow at him. “There’s no other place to sit in here and I’ll be damned if I go back up there until the Hellion stops foaming at the mouth!” he announced, jerking his thumb toward the ceiling.

  Diego merely shrugged and went back to reading his paper as the bell above the door chimed. “Tell me, mi amigo, is this hormonal problem that your woman has contagious? You seem a bit… tightly wound today, yes?”

  “That would be a minor description of what I am right now,” Abel muttered as he propped his elbow on the table and rested his chin on his fist. In spite of his best efforts, he let out a large yawn that almost ended on a moan; needless to say, his sleeping was almost non-existent recently and he didn’t see any light at the end of that midnight tunnel any time soon. Patience was determined to sleep on his side of the bed...and no matter how much he let her choose her spot first, she always managed to end up pushing him over to the six inches left on the bare edge, where he suffered for the few hours he had to close his eyes each night. He was a man hanging on for dear life....literally and figuratively!

  Diego dropped his paper ever so slightly to peer over the top. “I would comment more, but I believe that discretion is the better part of valor, si?”

  Another voice interrupted just then as a chair scraped across the floor and plopped at the table. Abel groaned as he watched Jake Stone glance in his direction, the grin on the other man’s face more than he could deal with at the moment.

  “What are we being discreet about? And what the hell has you looking like you’ve gone a few rounds with The Rock, man?” Jake asked, his grin growing wider by the moment. “It can’t be that bad, can it?”

  “Kiss my ass, Jake. The Rock wouldn’t have shit on a pissed off Patience McKinnon,” Abel grumbled, offering Patience’s brother-in-law a glare that could of stripped paint off the walls. “And yeah, it’s that bad. In fact, it’s worse than bad. Patience has hit a hormonal high upstairs that is off the fuckin’ charts. Count yourself blessed, Stone. Your kid came pre-made, man! No baking required for you, you lucky fucker.”

  Jake’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. “Trouble in Paradise, man?”

  Abel held his arms out to his side as he stood from the table. “Look at me, Jake!” Abel demanded, gesturing at his rumpled, stained shirt. “Does it look like there’s been trouble?” Jabbing a finger toward his bruising eye, he asked, “Did the blackening eye not give it away?”

  “Shoulda ducked faster,” Jake declared in a bored voice. “What happened? She punch you?”

  “Hell, no. She threw the carton of ice cream I bought her at me,” Abel retorted, sitting back
down and crossing his arms over his chest. “Apparently Cherry Garcia and Cherries Royale are two very different flavors of fuckin’ cherry! Who knew, right? I though cherry tasted like cherry. But, noooooo, one is much creamier than the other.”

  “Jesus,” Jake muttered, shaking his head. “Harmony’s been talking about expanding our family, but if this is what a McKinnon woman is like when she’s expecting maybe we’ll wait awhile longer.”

  “Yeah,” a deep voice said from behind Abel, “But then you wouldn’t have one of these.”

  Turning his head to greet his brother, Abel offered Cain a genuine smile. “Well, look what the stork dropped off,” he teased with a grin as he stared at the sleeping newborn girl Cain Turner held in his arms. “Damn, but my niece gets prettier every time I see her,” Abel declared with a grin as he lifted his hand to stroke the week old newborn’s soft skin. “How you doin’, brother?”

  Meeting his twin’s eyes, Cain chuckled. “Exhausted, but happy. This little angel is provin’ to be a night owl, aren’t you, Annabeth?” he asked with a look down at his napping child.

  “Trust me, I completely sympathize. If Patience isn’t trying to crowd me out of our bed at night, she’s waking me up to go chase down food for her crazy cravings. Night before last I had to drive two towns over to get her chili cheese fries with a side of sour cream from Sonic at three in the morning. I swear, that woman is killin’ me.”

  “Oh, poor, pitiful you,” Faith mocked unsympathetically as she walked up to the table and stood beside her husband. “While you’re down here bellyaching, you might remember that Patience is actually upstairs bein’ forced to pack around the double load that are your children, Mr. Whiny Britches. And it’ll be her laboring for hours to push out not one, but two watermelons out of an opening the size of a peach. Maybe you wanna trade places, Abel? Does pushin’ two babies out the hole in your ding-a-ling sound fun?”