Page 42 of Ghost

He pulled her to his chest and folded his arms around her.Her face burrowed against his sternum, and her hands bunched into fists against his abdomen.Her sweet, womanly scent mixed with his shampoo wafted to his nostrils, stirring something unknown inside him.

She sobbed softly.He stroked her hair gently, waiting.

He’d had a rough childhood—had been filled with so much anger all he’d wanted to do was kill or be killed.

But to think of an innocent child being taken from her family, of what she must have endured all that time...that gutted him.

Nine years old.Practically a baby.

“I’ll never forget that day,” she whispered.She turned her head and flattened her cheek in the center of his chest.

Her heart beat against his ribs, fast and a little erratic.He wanted her to talk.He needed to hear every goddamn detail.But it couldn’t be done on his time.It had to be on hers.

Opening his palm to cradle the side of her neck, he waited.

“I used to dance.”Nostalgia lightened her voice.“I thought I’d be a professional dancer.I couldn’t imagine growing up to be anything else.It was all I did—all I wanted to do.”

He moved her hair out of the way and drew circles on the nape of her neck with his thumb.

“I’d just won four first-place medals at competition.In ballet I placed second and I was so worried about it.”She sniffed.“My mom was proud.She always was.”Her words were wistful.Sad.

He pictured a young Mila, her big blue eyes and dark hair.He could almost see her on stage.She was strong now, and surely she’d been a talented dancer.Hell, it explained her posture.Her balance.Her confidence.

“It was a couple of days after competition.I was walking to the bus stop after dance class.We lived out of town, so I used to take the bus to the restaurant where my mom worked.I’d do homework while I waited for her to finish her shift.”

She paused and brushed her fingers over her cheeks.“I miss her so much.”Her voice broke.

Ghost pulled her tighter, wishing he could rescue her from this ocean of grief.“I’m so sorry, Mila.”

She let out a choked cry.

He smoothed his hand up and down her back until her soft cries subsided.“I’ve got you,” he said.“Just breathe.”

When her emotion subsided, she pulled away to look at him.“I’m sorry.I don’t know what’s happening.I guess I...I’ve never talked to anyone about this before.”

His head reeled.Jesus.

He wanted more answers.For starters, he wanted to know if her captors were alive because as soon as he got names, they wouldn’t be.But dammit, more than that, he needed to know what they’d done to her.The rest of this conversation wouldn’t come easily.And hell, he didn’t know how to broach something like this.

The trauma this woman carried wasn’t something he could forcefully unpack.He couldn’t make her unload on him.Couldn’t expect that level of trust.He’d try to earn it, though.Simply because she needed to tell someone.The least he could do was make it as painless as possible for her.

He cupped her hands in his.“I’m going to get you something to drink.Do you want coffee?Tea?”

Her brow creased with surprise.Could he blame her?He’d inflicted enough shit on her the last couple of days.

“Tea would be nice, thank you.”

He squeezed her fingers between his.“Grab a seat on the couch.”

She made her way to the living room and he put on the kettle and added coffee grounds to the machine for himself.Shit, she needed to eat, too.It’d been several hours since breakfast.

Minutes later, he carried a plate of crackers, cheese, and meat into the living room.Then he went back to the kitchen for the steaming mugs.He set both on the coffee table before sitting on the couch next to her.He draped his arm over the back of the cushion, wanting to touch her.

Mila’s eyes were puffy and red.Tearstains covered her cheeks.She curled her legs underneath her hips and angled her body toward him.

“Do you want to pick up where you left off?”

She bit her lip and nodded.“I was walking to the bus stop.It was winter, so it was dark even though it wasn’t even 6:00p.m.”Her gaze turned distant and lowered to the floor.“A van pulled up next to me and just—just grabbed me.It happened so fast.I didn’t even get the chance to scream.”She shook her head as if doing so would erase the memory.