Daddy's Little Warrior (Daddy 13)

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.