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“Completely. Do I wish she had told us about this invoice? Sure. We’ve taken care of all the others…”
“Yeah, so I thought we were done.”
Beck shrugged. “But I could tell by her sudden panic that she’d been forgetful, not deceitful. She hates disappointing us. That became clear in San Diego.”
Seth had come to the same conclusion for the same reason. “Yeah. If she’s holding on to other secrets or isn’t sharing her worries, I’m going to be royally pissed.”
“Face it. There are still a mountain of obstacles in our way. She didn’t put them there on purpose, but we’ll still have to overcome them.”
“And we have a lot to unpack from last week. She’s not always good about being forthright, so we’ll need a crafty way to make her talk to us.”
“You mean manipulative.”
Seth shrugged. “Semantics. All boils down to the same shit.”
The doctor nodded, and Seth fell silent as he pondered his own words.
When Liam and Hammer had needed to open a mistrusting Raine, they’d implemented a creative, structured program to help her tackle her fears and insecurities. It had worked. In fact, it had been good for them all.
“Well, Hammer and Liam sequestered Raine…” Beck blurted as if reading Seth’s mind.
He chuckled at the irony. “They taught her plenty, but you and I inadvertently got an education, too.”
About how to settle a sub together.
“Absolutely. I think it’s time we put that to good use.”
Seth cocked a brow. “You got a plan?”
“Let’s look at this methodically. Our biggest obstacles are her grief, her guilt, and all the bad habits she developed when she was alone and just trying to survive, right?”
“Yep. And except to be here for her—for as long as she stays—I don’t know how much impact we can have on her mourning. Ultimately, that’s a process she has to go through alone.”
“Maybe not.” Beck hesitated. “Can we help her by making her share her feelings with us?”
Seth bobbed his head, glad the surgeon hadn’t suggested his inner sadist as a means to “fix” her. “Some, yeah. Anything to keep her from bottling up her feelings is good.”
“Her guilt is something we can have a direct impact on. I think this past week opened her eyes to the fact we can show her new things in life.”
“You’re not wrong.” Seth fell quiet. “We should talk about San Diego.”
“Yes. That submissive breakthrough of hers…stunning. When she let herself kneel for us, it was like the heavens finally parted and—”
“She understood. I had no idea that would flip the switch in her. But I saw it, and it did something to me, man.”
“Me, too. She wants to submit. She’s aching to.” Beck shrugged. “Not shocking for a girl who’s had to handle everything on her own to want to give herself and her problems over.”
“No, but it’s deeper than that. Even without her circumstances, I think she would have eventually gone down this path. Her desire to please and serve is bone-deep. She wants to be coddled and loved and everything else we can give her. As long as she doesn’t have to commit.” That was really beginning to bother Seth.
“It’s her guilt.”
“I know. Think she’ll ever tell us she loves us, too?”
Seth wasn’t holding his breath, much less thinking they’d get lucky enough to marry her one day. Besides, that would be fraught with problems, too. Not only would they never be able to speak their vows in the Church, the relationship would horrify his staunchly Catholic mother.
Another problem for another day…
“I hope, but that’s not in our control. We have to focus on what is—being there for her, talking to her, breaking her habit of keeping everything in. Then we’ll hope the rest will come.” Beck nodded. “But we can teach her better communication. We’ll start sitting her down at least once a day and just talk. Nothing major. We’ll ask her about her homework, what hours she’s volunteering at the hospital, if she and Raine are getting together… You know, random stuff. We’ll keep it light and expand from there. We have to encourage her to share herself, whether that’s daily joys or drudgery. We’ll praise her when she tells us her hopes, wants, and needs. What we can’t do is get pissy when we don’t like it, especially if she’s being honest.”
