Page 3 of Healing Conviction
CHAPTERONE
Two months later.
“I want that quad tight all the way up and all the way down, even on these last few reps. No excuses.”
Sweat dripped down Draco’s brow as he concentrated on tensing muscles that’d atrophied for months. He raised his straight leg up to his physical trainer’s hand for what felt like the billionth time and blew out a harsh breath on the way down.
“Good. Last one. Don’t wimp out on me.”
He grunted before gearing himself up for another leg raise. “Is that the best shit-talking you’ve got, Melly?”
Melly smiled, clearly trying to hold back a laugh before sobering again. The woman ran him like a workhorse, but he’d thrived off of that brand of straightforward coaching ever since his first fishing trip with his stepdad. There’s no tough love like a father trying to teach his kid how to dock a boat.
Draco began another inhale and exerted his strength in his quadriceps as he lifted his leg a foot off the PT bench to reach Melly’s hand. Once he tapped it, he carefully laid his leg down straight again before relaxing.
She whooped, making her black corkscrew curls bounce against her shoulders, and lifted her hand for a high five, but he couldn’t keep his frustration from bleeding through her celebration.
“Don’t leave me hangin’, Draco. You killed it.”
He stared at it for a second more before high-fiving her back. She slapped hard, no doubt testing that he’d been working on arm strengthening. His upper body had bounced back much more quickly than his legs and balance, though. At this point, a simple high five was the least of his problems.
“Listen.” Even as Melly narrowed her eyes at him, her face was still soft with compassion. “I give you crap, Draco, but most of our patients don’t even leave the hospital after six months of physical therapy, let alone two. The doctor wasn’t kidding this morning when he told you your recovery has been nothing short of miraculous. Your hard work has paid off like crazy.”
The drugs help, too.
There was no way he’d tell her the truth, though. His BlackStone Securities teammate, Devil, had ‘borrowed’ experimental recovery meds from the government pet project they’d been subjected to. That was, of course,beforeDraco and the rest of his teammates had been unceremoniously ousted from their special ops paramilitary team, MF7. The drugs hadn’t been strong enough to cure him from a coma, but once he’d woken up, they’d worked miracles.
“I know, but I’m ready to be back to one hundred percent.”
She scoffed and patted him on the back as he sat up. “In my world, youareone hundred percent. Just maybe not in fighting shape.”
“Thanks for the pep talk, Melly, but inmyworld, fighting shapeis one hundredpercent.”
Her dark eyes were full of sympathy as she nodded and sighed. “I know. You’ll get there Draco. And even if you don’t, that’s okay, too.”
The reality of the sentiment burned a hole in his chest, right next to the gunshot wound, and he couldn’t help but think about his teammates. How while he was dying to get back to them—to his old life—it seemed they’d been living life fine without him.
He felt like a pussy for caring at all, they were busy and he was a goddamn adult. But it’d been weeks since they’d had enough time to visit him in the hospital. They’d hung around for his PT appointments at first. But eventually everyone had to go back to their routines. It’d been a punch in the gut to realize he wasn’t a part of them anymore.
So much had happened. Everything was different. Their constant absence was just another reminder. Life moves on whether you’re living it or not. That’s what happens when you’re in a coma for a year.
A fucking year.
Thatparticular bomb had been a tough one to shield against. Poor Nora had been the one to break it to him, along with updates on everyone else’s lives.
Jaybird’s fiancée gave birth to their daughter the day after Draco had woken up. In an interesting twist of events, Devil was now dating Jaybird’s sister, the girl the BlackStone team had set out to save a year ago when they’d saved Nora. Snake was attached at the hip with a woman he’d helped escape an abusive relationship. They were hiding out at the crew’s vacation cabin up in Mount Ash until things settled down.
Since everyone else was preoccupied, Hawk was working nearly twenty-four seven to keep BlackStone Securities, their private security firm, afloat after their facility was bombed two months ago.
And Phoenix… hell, Phoenix had betrayed them all.
Normally, Draco would sooner think everyone else had gone crazy than believe his friend and teammate had turned on them. Unfortunately, it’d all been caught on camera and the security feed was pretty fucking damning. Draco could still see the distorted footage in his mind of the man who’d shot him and kidnapped Nora, opening Phoenix’s door for him before they left BlackStone Securities in the dust. Like he was Phoenix’s fucking chauffeur. It made Draco nauseous to even think about.
The loneliness would only be worse when he moved back into BlackStone. His teammates weren’t there, and it was going to be the first time he stayed in the facility without his friends. It was a huge former warehouse and being the only person inside was going to take some adjusting. Not to mention half the facility had been blown up days before he’d woken from his coma.
Their war room, shooting range, and his beloved weapons room had all been decimated. The residence wing survived, thankfully. Needless to say, BlackStone no longer felt like the sanctuary it had once been.
It’d taken the team two months to revamp the facility’s security. Even if everyone else was skittish, Draco felt comfortable enough to live there. That way he could be in familiar territory as he continued to recover, not to mention monitor the ongoing construction and the rebuilding of his weapons room.