My Cruel Salvation (Fallen Saint # 3) - J. Kenner Page 0,98

out of first grade?”

“Don’t you—”

“You should have just called me out. Met me in the ring. We could have had a fair fight.”

“Fuck you,” Manny said, then punched him in the gut again.

Devlin gasped, lights flashing behind his eyes, but he kept his eyes on Manny and managed an edge to his voice when he said, “Then again, you always were a little cheater, weren’t you? All those computer games you played? Aurelia told me how you would reprogram them so that you could win. She was proud you had computer skills. I thought you were a sore loser.”

“Cheat? Me? That’s a laugh riot coming from you. Because cheating’s all about setting the stage, isn’t it? And you set the stage on a worldwide scale. Remade yourself, broke the rules. Kicked the game in the balls and just started over.”

He took a step closer his head tilted back so he could sneer into Devlin’s eyes. “So you tell me, Saint? Who’s the bigger rule breaker, Manny Espinoza or Alejandro Lopez?”

Devlin said nothing.

“Well?”

Devlin held his tongue. Manny took another step forward, staying just out of range should Devlin decide to lash out and kick him. He reached a hand down and flipped two fingers. Immediately a man dressed all in black scurried to his side. Presumably one of the men from the car. He had a gun, and he aimed it at Devlin’s knee. “Move a muscle, you lose the knee. Do you understand me?”

Devlin kept his voice level. “I do.”

“You want to know why I’m doing this?” Manny’s voice was soft, but hard. “Because I want to watch you lose everything. Every goddamn thing. I want to watch you lose your reputation, your house, your woman, your friend.”

He tossed a sideways toward Brandy. “She wasn’t part of our original plan. Pity I got the wrong girl, but I’m sure her death will haunt you as well.” He turned and faced Brandy. “Sorry, sugar. Wrong place, wrong time, wrong friends.”

Brandy’s throat moved, but she didn’t otherwise react, and in that moment, he was not only proud of her, he understood how she’d managed to cope so well after the rape, and how she’d found the strength to go public. Brandy Bradshaw was a hell of a lot stronger than anyone had realized.

Not that he could tell her any of that. Hell, he couldn’t even look at her, not without risking their lives. He needed to keep his attention on Manny. He needed to figure out how to deal with this boy he’d once known, who’d grown into a vengeful monster.

“Aren’t you even going to tell me why?”

“Why? What kind of an idiot are you? You took everything from me. I lost my sister because of you. She used to have so much fun with you in the evenings. I had to go to bed. I had to go away. But little Alex Lopez got to be wherever he wanted to be. You took Joseph, too, don’t you even think of denying it. And the worst of all? You took The Wolf.”

“Who says it was me?”

Manny just laughed. “Do you really think I’m stupid?” He stared at Devlin. “Admit it. Admit that you killed him.”

And even though Devlin knew that he was playing with fire—that he was taunting a goddamn snake—for once he wanted to tell the truth. He wanted the people who had admired The Wolf to know that he was the one who had taken that bastard out.

He looked in Manny’s eyes and said slowly and clearly, “Yes. I killed him.”

He thought that Manny would fly off the handle with the admission. He thought that he might order the man with the gun to shoot him. He thought he might at least punch Devlin in the gut again.

Devlin was braced for all of that, but he wasn’t ready when Manny started to laugh.

“He always told you to watch your back,” Manny said when the peals of laughter had died. “He always told you that the enemy you had to fear was the one you didn’t see coming. Didn’t he? Didn’t he?”

Devlin just nodded.

“Well you didn’t learn your lesson very well, did you? Because you never saw me coming, did you?”

“No, Manny, I never saw you coming. I guess I expected too much. I thought you would have the heart your sister did. I thought you would be good. Too bad I was wrong.”

“Good? Good? I was fucking incredible. And after you left, your father was mine. He liked me. He