My Cruel Salvation (Fallen Saint # 3) - J. Kenner Page 0,57
a tax shelter.”
As he’d hoped, a smattering of chuckles drifted up from the audience.
“But what I really hope is that you weren’t thinking about me at all, but about the people this foundation has helped. We’ve rescued those who’ve been abused. We’ve helped train and educate those who needed a hand up. We’ve worked with law enforcement to shut down the drug rings that enslave the innocent, and we’ve helped rescue hundreds of victims across the globe who became caught in a deadly web of human trafficking.”
He leaned forward, his hands on the rail. “That is what you should be focusing on. What you had been focusing on. You helped tell the stories of the good work we do here. You helped spread a message of hope to those who had lost a loved one or who themselves needed help.
“But then one story—one prurient fact shifted that focus. Suddenly it wasn’t about the good that the foundation has done and will do in the future. Instead it became about my father. A man who is exactly the type of horrific human being this foundation was created to fight.”
He closed his eyes and drew in a breath, not caring if he showed a hint of weakness. Because the truth was, he was weak where his relationship to his father was concerned. He’d fought and suffered to leave that man behind, but you could never really escape your past. That was a lesson Devlin had learned the hard way.
He tamped the anger down to continue his speech, seeking out familiar faces in the audience as he said, “There was never a time that Daniel Lopez—my father—wasn’t a vicious, violent bastard. And now that man—that cruel excuse for a human being—is stealing the spotlight from those who deserve it. Now, a man who never felt love and who ruled with fear and intimidation is reaching out from the grave to weaken the very organization that I built to be a stronghold against men like him.”
His voice had taken on a hard edge, reflecting the hatred that he was allowing to bubble to the surface.
It took some effort, but he managed to dial it back, wanting to keep this conference professional. He’d show emotion, yes. But there was a limit to how much he was willing to expose of himself to anyone other than El.
He drew a breath. “This isn’t a conversation I ever wanted to have, but it’s one we must, because Daniel Lopez—the Wolf—has no place in these halls. So I will tell you a story. Once, and only once. And then this foundation will return its focus to our mission of battling the disease of human trafficking and other similar crimes and providing help, education, and training to those who need it.
He paused, looking out on the crowd. Finding El in the audience, the pride in her eyes bolstering him as he paused before continuing to sing the praises of his foundation and the good, work they did, raising up those who needed help and supporting law enforcement as best they could.
The irony wasn’t lost on him. The twisted reality that—because of an order he gave—a team was in Chicago right now preparing to kill a man. A man who deserved it, yes. But it was still Devlin who had signed that death warrant.
Some in this room might call him a hypocrite, but he himself had no doubts. Neither did Tamra or Reggie or Ronan or any of the other Saint’s Angels in that room. Most important, he knew that El was behind him. That she supported not only who he was, but what he did. And that she understood the deeper story. The one he wouldn’t tell the crowd tonight, but that informed everything he’d ever done, including leaving her all those years ago.
He squared his shoulders and began again. “Once upon a time, a young woman ran away from her exceedingly wealthy parents. She met a man. An exotic man. A man with power and charisma who took her off the street and brought her to his home. She married this man, got pregnant, and had a boy. And somewhere in there she learned the truth about her husband. That he wasn’t a good man. That he hurt people, and not only considered it a business model, but that he actually took pleasure in it.”
He swallowed, then continued. “She got up the courage to run, taking the child with her. That child, of course, was me. Daniel Lopez is