Daddy’s Little Warrior by Lila Fox
Chapter Three
Drake was making coffee when Devon walked in.
“Hey, I thought you’d sleep in.”
Drake shook his head. “No, I’m still on military time. I doubt that will ever change.”
“Shit. Do you feel better?”
“Yes.”
“I thought today, if you wanted, I could show you what we’ve done to the building and fill you in on some of our thoughts.”
Drake leaned back against the cabinet and sipped his cup. “You guys have done so much already, and I know I haven’t seen the majority of it.”
“We got lucky. Travis and Kane gave us the name of the construction contractor they used, and we got even luckier that one of their jobs had fallen through. They took over here. We wanted them to get a few offices done, the gym on the first floor, and then start on the condos. They had the offices and gym done within the week and started working on three of the condos in the building.”
“That’s great.”
“Are you going to want one of the floors for a condo?”
Drake shrugged. “It doesn’t matter to me. I’ll spend the majority of my time in the office.”
“We’ll talk more about that later. Think about the condo, although you’re more than welcome to stay here as long as you want.”
“I think…” Drake’s voice trailed off when Emma came around the corner in a little nightgown and walked into Devon’s arms.
“Good morning, baby.”
She wrapped herself around his brother. “Good morning, Daddy.”
“Are you waking up, pet?”
“I wanted to wake up with you,” she complained.
“I’m sorry. Let’s go in and get you dressed, and then we’ll get you fed.”
She nodded and turned, and that was when she saw him and smiled. “Good morning.”
“Good morning, honey.”
“I’ll be right back to help with breakfast,” Devon told him.
Drake nodded and watched the two walk off. He decided he needed to think about getting his own place sooner rather than later because it was too hard to see them together. It reminded him of things he’d never have again.
****
He’d been back for over a week when he walked out of his bedroom and into the kitchen. He stopped short when he caught the two of them entwined with each other and kissing passionately.
As happy as he was for his brother, it felt like a knife pierced his heart, and tears stung his eyes at the thought that it should be him. He deserved a happily-ever-after like Devon, didn’t he? Fuck. He would never get it because he knew if he found a woman, she would never be able to get a smidgeon of emotion from him for the rest of his life.
His heart and soul were back in the hell hole where he’d lost so much. He’d never regain the happy feelings he’d had or the focus or anticipations for the future. For him, it was one day at a time and sometimes one minute at a time.
“Oh, hey, Drake, sorry,” Devon said and smiled.
“Don’t be sorry, man. You both are so lucky. Just don’t ever let go of each other.” He ignored the looks of concern as he pulled down a coffee cup, filled it, and then turned to leave. “I’m going to go down and work out. I’ll see you both later.”
He walked to the elevator and took it to the first floor, where they had set up a gym much as Travis and Kane had in their building. It seemed like an essential addition since most of the owners were in the military or some sort of law enforcement, and it was part of the job to keep in shape. For him, it was what kept his sanity in check.
Any anger or aggression he’d woken up with was brutally beaten down, making it so he’d be able to cope.
When he was done with the workout, his muscles ached and were weak. Sweat covered his body and dripped down his face. Only then was he able to take a breath without it feeling like his heart was dying. Maybe because he’d tortured his body so much, the pain of that overrode his internal agony.
He had no idea how much longer it would be until the pain lessened in him. In the meantime, he did whatever he could to keep it at a level he could deal with.
Fortunately, the business was helping. He’d met so many incredible people and started to look forward to the next day enough that it gave him hope.
