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“Why are you crying, little one?” he said softly.

When she lifted her arms up to him, he checked the doorway. Bella wasn’t in it, and he was glad. He didn’t want anyone seeing how awkward he was as he reached into the crib and . . .

Nalla fit between his hands perfectly, her butt in one of his palms, her head cradled in the other. As he straightened and brought her up, she was surprisingly sturdy and warm and—

She grabbed onto his turtleneck and pulled into him, demanding closeness . . . and obliging her seemed shockingly easy. As he held her against his chest, she settled immediately, turning herself flush into his body.

Having her in his arms was so natural. And so was heading for the rocker and sitting down and using one of his feet to make them go back and forth.

Staring at her lashes and her plump little cheeks and her death grip on his turtleneck, he realized just how much she needed him—and not just to protect her. She needed him to love her, too.

“Looks like you are getting along,” Bella said quietly from the doorway.

He glanced up. “She seems to like me.”

“How could she not?”

Looking back down at his daughter, he said after a while, “It would have been great to get them removed. The tats. But she’d still ask about my face.”

“She’s going to love you anyway. She already does.”

He ran his forefinger over Nalla’s arm, stroking her as she snuggled even deeper against his heart and played patty-cake on the back of his free hand.

From out of nowhere, he said, “You didn’t talk to me much about your abduction.”

“I . . . ah, I didn’t want to upset you.”

“Do you find yourself protecting me from things that might upset me a lot?”

“No.”

“You sure about that?”

“Zsadist, if I do, it’s because—”

“I’m not much of a male if I can’t be there when you need me.”

“You are always there for me. And we did talk about it some.”

“Some.”

God, he felt like shit for all she had had to do alone, just because of his head fuck.

And yet her voice was strong and sure as she said, “When it comes to the abduction, I don’t want you to know every little thing that happened. Not because you can’t handle it, but because I don’t want to give that bastard any more influence over my life than he’s already had.” She shook her head. “I’m not going to give him the power to upset you if I can avoid it. Not going to happen—and that would be true whether or not you had been through anything traumatic.”

Z made a noise to acknowledge that she’d spoken, but he didn’t agree with her. He wanted to give her everything she needed. She deserved nothing less. And his past had impacted them. Still did. Christ, the way he’d been about Nalla had been—

“May I tell you something in confidence?” she said.

“Of course.”

“Mary wants a baby.”

Z’s eyes shot up. “She does? That’s great—”

“A biological one.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. She can’t have one of her own, so Rhage would have to lay with a Chosen.”

Z shook his head. “He would never do that. He won’t be with anyone but Mary.”

“That’s what she says. But if he doesn’t, she can’t hold a piece of him in her arms.

Yeah, because IVF didn’t work on vampires. “Shit.”

“She hasn’t talked to Rhage about it yet because she’s sorting her own feelings out first. She talks to me so she can ride the peaks and valleys of her emotions without putting him through the wringer. Some days she wants a young so badly, she thinks she can handle it. Other days she simply can’t bear the idea on any level and considers adoption. My point is, you can’t work out all your stuff with your partner. And you shouldn’t. You were there for me afterward. You’re there for me now. I never question that. But that doesn’t mean I have to drag you into the nitty-gritty. Healing is a multifaceted kind of thing.”

He tried to picture himself telling Bella all the ins and outs of the abuse he’d been subjected to. . . . No. . . . no way would he want her to break her heart over the fucked up nightmare he’d been put through.

“Did you talk to someone?