She gasped and looked up, her big brown eyes slamming into mine. “Hey. How’s it going?”
“Fine,” I grunted.
Eliana smiled gently like I was a grumpy cat she needed to be gentle with. “Good.” She stood and nodded to the door, stepping out to give me a moment to kiss my girl goodnight.
When I left and joined Eliana in the hallway she said in a hushed voice, “She had a good day today. No problems or tears. Did you see the drawing she made for you?”
I nodded. “She’s so fucking talented.”
Her smile grew. “She really is. It’s incredible, actually.” Eliana turned to me and laid a hand on my bicep, gasping before she yanked her hand back.
She felt it too.
“Zoya is healing,” she assured me as we headed downstairs to the living room. “You’re a good father, Sledge, that much is clear to me.”
“But?” I fucking hated when people started with a compliment because it always meant some unnecessary shit was coming.
“No buts. You’re a good dad who doesn’t trust anyone else to help, other than watching her while you’re at work.”
I nodded. “Trust gets people killed.”
“Yeah,” she sighed as if she understood, but she couldn’t possibly. “It does but it also helps people live better and more authentically.” She picked up the drawing and smiled. “Trauma is the number cause of selective mutism. It is classified as a severe anxiety disorder.”
“You’re saying she’s a headcase,” I growled.
She shook her head, releasing a heavy sigh as her kind eyes studied me. “Not at all. What I am saying is that something happened to her, or she saw something that terrified her so completely that shecan’tspeak.”
“But she is capable of speaking,” I insisted because that’s what all the doctors have told me.
Eliana nodded. “Yes, there’s no physical damage to prevent her from speaking.” She paused and gathered her thoughts. “Have you ever been so afraid or traumatized that you couldn’t speak? Like your voice was just stolen?”
I shook my head, but I remembered the days before I became a SEAL and the fear I’d seen in some men when real bullets started flying and they froze, like a goddamn deer in headlights. “No, but I’ve seen it when the stakes were highest.”
“That’s what she’s experiencing. That’s why she can’t speak and I know that unlocking the cause will help her. Maybe not right away, but it will help Sledge.” She stood and handed me the photo. “You don’t have to trust me to trust that.”
She left me alone with my thoughts and I spent too much fucking time thinking about her words.
Chapter Four
Eliana
Day five on the job and I felt as if things were finally starting to fall into place. Zoya was an easy little girl, sweet and quiet, and so achingly gentle that she stirred all kinds of protective instincts within me. It wasn’t all that surprising since I spent most of my childhood babysitting my cousins and neighborhood kids, but there was something about her that called to my heart.
Her father, on the other hand, was a walking contradiction. Gruff voice, hard jaw, eyes that saiddon’t even fucking think about it.But every time he looked at his daughter, his whole body softened. It was like he turned into another person entirely whenever she was near. It was evident in the way his hand brushed over her head absently when he walked by, or how his gaze lingered when she smiled. I saw it, even if he didn’t realize he was giving so much of himself away.
He was a man who cared deeply but he hid it beneath a thick layer of ice-cold steel. He didn’t trust easily, but his relationship with the Steel Demons proved that he was capable of trusting, he just didn’t trustme.
And annoyingly, that only made him harder to ignore.
It wasn’t just the size of him, though there was plenty of that—broad shoulders that filled doorways, thick forearms inked and scarred, a body built from years of hard use instead of a gym mirror. It was the way he carried himself, like he was always ready for action, always ready to step in front of whatever mightthreaten his daughter. His scowl should have been off-putting, but paired with the quiet gentleness he showed Zoya, it did something unexpected to me.
I told myself I was only noticing him because I was observant. Because it was my job.
But that didn’t stop my gaze from lingering a second too long, or the strange awareness that settled in my chest every time his eyes found mine.
So yeah, five days in and things were going well. At least until bedtime rolled around and Zoya’s anxiety had gotten the better of her. I’d taken to reading in her room until she fell asleep because she’d asked, not with words, but with pleading eyes and begging hands.
I read her favorite story, using the voices that pulled adorable giggles from her, but when it was over she was wide awake. “What’s wrong?”
