Page 1 of Broken Daddy
1
He had the saddest eyes.
Devi wondered why.
A man like him didn’t have such tragic eyes without it being something truly awful.
And that made her heart ache. She wanted to fix him. But then, Devi was a fixer. She liked to take care of everyone’s problems.
And she was pretty good at it. If she did say so herself.
Too bad she wasn’t as good at taking care of her own issues.
“Good afternoon,” she said cheerfully to Sondra and Mr. Tragic Eyes.
Even though he’d been in every day for the last week with Sondra, who was a regular at the café, Devi had yet to figure out his name.
Would it be rude to ask? How else would she find out?
“Hello, Demi,” Sondra said.
Devi held her tongue against correcting her. The customer was always right. And Sondra was one of their best customers. Aaron would have her head if she was rude to her.
Not that she would be. Devi liked to think that everyone had some good in them. Well, almost everyone.
There were a few exceptions.
And she didn’t think that Sondra was a bad person, she was just a bit . . . forgetful.
“Spiced chai with oat milk?” she asked Sondra. She got the same drink every morning in a to-go cup, even though she would sit in the café and drink most of it.
If anyone ever wanted to kidnap Sondra it would be easy since she stuck to the same routine every day that the café was open.
Devi wondered if Mr. Tragic Eyes was guarding her. He definitely looked like a bodyguard. He was strong and muscular. Constantly on alert.
Yep. He was a bodyguard.
Maybe one of his charges was killed while he was guarding them and that’s why he had those sad eyes.
Although he didn’t look like the sort of man to ever make a mistake.
“It’s Devi.”
Shock brought her back into the present and she stared up at him in surprise. Because he was the one who’d spoken, right? It had to be him. There was no one else that could have such a deep voice.
It was the first time she’d heard him speak, although that wasn’t why she was stunned.
No, it was because he’d said her name.
Her. Name.
Devi.
“What?” Sondra asked, turning to glance up at him. “What’s a Devi?”
He didn’t reply and she figured she would have to explain.
“Um, me. I’m Devi.” She waved at Sondra.
