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Visiting Ivan in prison would have shed precious light on the truth, and maybe even helped Jacob find out about Sienna sooner. Sienna. His happiness faded. Was she still alive? And if so…how bad had her life been? He'd found his family and thrived in love, but what about her?
"If you're still out there, Sienna," he said aloud, "the Harts are coming for you. And we cannot be stopped." He put it out there into the universe, to his sister, in case she was listening.
Dylan would find her. He knew it. His brother had connections in every alley and dark corridor. It was what he did. Jacob could feel it. He would have answers soon, and he prayed they were good ones.
But in the meantime…
He armed his security system, shoved his phone in his back pocket, then walked down the hall to his bedroom. He cracked open the door and peered inside. The faint sliver of light cast mother and daughter into just enough illumination that he could see them. His heart tightened when he saw them snuggled together. Fuck, they were his whole heart now. Already. Completely.
Cupcake squeezed past his leg, shoving the door open, as he leapt onto the bed. Annie didn't move, but Phoebe lifted her head. She blinked sleepily at the dog, and then at Jacob.
"Didn't mean to wake you," he whispered. "We'll talk in the morning."
"No," Phoebe mumbled sleepily and wiggled out from under the covers. "I'm coming."
Jacob smiled as he watched her crawl over the blankets, careful not to wake her daughter. He held the door for her, glancing at Annie to make sure she was still asleep before closing the door behind Phoebe.
Before he could say anything, Phoebe turned to face him. "How are you doing?"
"Great. Free. Feels surreal."
She smiled. "That's how I felt after I found out my ex had died. It took me a while to stop jumping at shadows, but every day, the shadows became fainter, until they disappeared."
"Until Annie, when the danger started again."
"Until Annie," she agreed. "Any word on Annie's bio dad?"
He shook his head. "Not yet, but they'll find him. Men like that aren't smart enough to stay hidden forever."
"I know." She sighed. "Seeing you and your brothers with all the guns out, and seeing your dad, who was literally terrifying, made me realize that we're still living in danger. Am I stupid for trying to live normally? For letting Annie go to school? For teaching my class? If I ran into your dad alone, he would have been able to do whatever he wanted to me and Annie, and that's terrifying."
Jacob shook his head. "You can't live in a cave. You're right about that."
Phoebe paced away from him, heading toward the gym, which was the only other room in the house which had a door. He followed her, and she closed the door behind him when he walked in.
She sat down on the edge of the mattress that he hadn't yet slept on. "I don't want Annie to overhear us." She patted the bed next to her.
He took a seat, but didn't make a move for her. He could tell she was strung tightly, and she hadn't invited him over for physical intimacy. "What's going on?"
Phoebe pulled her knees to her chest. "Since I left my ex, I haven't actually faced any danger. It's been in the shadows, but not actually a part of my life. While it's made me scared, it's also allowed me to feel maybe a little cavalier about my safety. And now that it's Annie at risk?" She looked at him. "I would never, ever forgive myself if something happened to her. But how do I live like this? I had her hiding in a bathroom tonight, Jacob. A bathroom."
Jacob could feel Phoebe spiraling, just as he had earlier, so he leaned in toward her, resting his shoulder against hers. "First of all, despite everything that has happened, you have kept Annie oblivious. She had no idea there was danger tonight, and she has no idea that you're here because of her biological father. She's having an adventure and becoming more confident every day. So give yourself credit for that. It's not easy."
She nodded. "I know, thanks. I just—" She let out her breath. "You let your dad leave."
"Yeah. I'm not going to shoot him. I refuse to be that kind of man."
"But he could come back."
"He won't. And if he did, I can handle him."
She looked at him. "What if he were to come back, and you weren't here, but Annie and I were?"
He went cold at the idea. "Fuck."
She nodded. "I watched you out there with your brothers. All the guns. The look on your dad's face. He's a scary man, Jacob. Really scary. Like, monster scary."
He ground his jaw. "I know." Until tonight, he'd wondered if he'd made up how vile Ivan was, but tonight had shown him that he hadn't imagined it.
