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Anger ripped through Jacob, and he suddenly wanted to find this Frank and kill him. Right then, right there. "No, sweetie. His name is Lucas. He's my brother. One of my best friends. He's a superhero, always taking care of others and protecting them."
Her gaze finally focused on Jacob's face. "Like you? Is he a superhero like you?"
His chest tightened. Him a super hero? Mother of hell. "Yes," he said. "Like me. If you ever need help and I'm not here, you can always ask him. He'll slay dragons for you."
"Like you will?"
He nodded. "Like I will. And your mom."
"I want to slay dragons," she said. "I want to be a big pillow, not a little pillow."
Jacob wasn't sure of the reference, but he nodded. "I can help with that."
She nodded. "Okay."
"You want to meet Lucas?"
"No."
Jacob thought about that for a second. "I think you should."
Her gaze sharpened. "Why?"
"So, you can recognize him when you meet him again. So you'll know the difference between him and Frank. It's important to know who you can trust. What do you think?"
Annie looked at Phoebe, who nodded. "I'd like to meet him," Phoebe said.
"Okay." Annie stepped backward into her mom's arms, and tucked herself against Phoebe's chest.
What a freaking brave kid. He fucking loved her already. "Lucas," he said, raising his voice slightly. "Annie would like to meet you."
"All right." Lucas walked up beside Jacob and went down on his knees, so he was lower than Annie, who was still trying to disappear into Phoebe. "Hi Annie. I'm Jacob's big brother."
She said nothing, staring at him with wide eyes.
Jacob put his arm around Lucas's shoulders. "Did you know that Lucas has a pet unicorn? His name is Rainbow Sparkle." Rainbow Sparkle would suffice, he was pretty sure.
Annie started giggling. "He does not."
"He does."
"I sure do." Lucas played along. "Rainbow Sparkle is a great unicorn. Would you like me to bring him by sometime to meet you?"
Her eyes widened. "Yes. Does he poop sparkles?"
Jacob grinned and winked at Phoebe, who was trying not to laugh.
"Sometimes, but not always," Lucas said. "You just never know when it comes to Rainbow Sparkle. He's very unpredictable."
"Unicorns usually are," Jacob agreed.
"When can you bring him?" Annie asked.
Jacob raised his brows at his brother, and he knew that his brother, like him, was quickly going through the list of horses currently on the Hart ranch to decide which one would make the best unicorn. Because there was no way they weren't going to bring Annie a real, live unicorn. Lucas needed to figure out which horse, and how to attach a unicorn horn to its forehead. And maybe some sparkles on its rear end.
"I'll need to check his schedule. Hopefully on Saturday," Lucas said. "But today I'm going to go get some furniture for Jacob's house, because he doesn't have much stuff for you and your mom. So, I'll be back and forth with that. How does that sound?"
Annie nodded. "When on Saturday? What time?"
