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"And if it's Annie's bio dad, he won't kill any of you until he finds out where Annie is. I'm sending a helicopter," Dylan said. "It'll be there in fifteen."
"Move behind me," Jacob told his brothers. "None of them will shoot me, but if it's my dad, he might shoot one of you."
"No." Lucas stood beside him. "We stand together."
"No. I stand alone because I'm not in danger."
"We don't know Annie's bio dad. We don't know what he's capable of."
Jacob slid off Freedom and tossed the reins to his brother. "Keep Freedom safe. Either way, this is my battle. Cover me."
And then he started walking down the butte toward the approaching vehicles.
He didn't have to look behind him. He knew his brothers had all taken up positions behind him, their guns trained on the approaching vehicles. Colin was a trained sniper, and he could take out every driver. The others would fill in as needed.
As Jacob headed down the side of the butte, all he could think about was Annie, Phoebe, and Cupcake. Keeping them safe. Doing whatever it took to protect them.
He reached the bottom of the butte as the trucks reached him. They all stopped, but the sun was glinting off the windshield, making it impossible to see who was driving. The truck from the north arrived a split second later, kicking up dust as it skidded to a stop.
The fourth truck was off to the right, making it impossible for Jacob to watch both sets of trucks at the same time. He took a few steps back, trying to get everyone in the same line of sight.
He heard the crunch of boots behind him, and knew that one of his brothers, maybe more, had followed him down the butte. Colin would still be on top, his rifle trained on the trucks, but down at the bottom, Jacob wasn't alone.
Damned brothers. Taking risks not meant for them.
But he didn't have time to argue.
He just held his gun at his side and waited for the doors to open.
The door on the truck to their right opened first, and a man stepped out. He was a huge man. Well over six feet, muscled, bulked, with tattoos inked along his brown skin. His eyes were cold and angry, and he radiated a violence that set Jacob's teeth on edge. Jacob recognized him immediately from a photo that Dylan had sent him.
Annie's biological father.
Fury gripped Jacob. This man would never get his hands on Annie. Ever.
"Give me my daughter," the man snarled.
Jacob tightened his grip on his gun. "You're trespassing. Leave this ranch." His first goal, his most urgent goal, was to get this man away from Annie. He'd deal with getting him locked up or thrown back in prison later. Right now, he needed the man away.
Before the man could answer, the other car doors opened. Jacob glanced over as his dad got out of the nearest truck. What the fuck? How were they together?
"Imagine when we were driven out of town by my own son," Ivan said. "We're out drinking, bitching about ungrateful kids, when my new friend, Frank, overhears us talking about Jacob Hart. He comes over and tells me that Jacob Hart kidnapped his own flesh and blood. A common enemy brings good men together."
Son of a bitch. He had not seen that one coming. And how the fuck had Frank known he had Annie? Eliana had a leak, and she needed to find it fast.
Ivan raised his gun and aimed it not at Jacob, but to his right at Lucas. "You have lots of family now, son. But I have a lot of connections. You can't keep watch on all of us. One by one, your family will go down, until you're the last one standing, unless you give me what I'm owed." He nodded at Annie's father. "And my pal Frank here gets what he wants. Give him his kid. Give me my money. Or you start losing this family you care so much about."
The men on either side of Ivan raised their guns, pointing them at his brothers.
Anger coiled inside Jacob, anger built from so many years of impotence. "You have thirty seconds to get in your truck and leave," he said. "All of you."
Ivan looked around at his pals. "Anyone leaving?"
No one answered him.
Ivan grinned. "No one's leaving. What's the call, Jacob? Let my friend here have his kid? Sign me over my money? I even opened a bank account so you can wire it right in there."
Jacob didn't want any of his brothers to be murderers, especially not Colin, who had too many kills in his past already. But he didn't see a way out of this that wasn't going to end in violence. The men standing before him were ready to kill, and he couldn't wait until one of his brothers was shot before taking action.
