Page 118 of My Beautiful Sin

The corner of his mouth twitches. “My list.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Yes. I do.” He nods toward the cookies. “I need something to drink. Something stronger than milk. You?”

“Whatever you’re having.”

He gets up, then returns with two glasses and a bottle of bourbon. He pours, hands me a glass, then sets the bottle firmly on the table. “I have a feeling we’ll both be wanting a refill.”

I fight a smile. “I don’t doubt it. Go on.”

“You know I was in Sniper School after I joined the military. I was good. My father had trained me well.”

“You were Alex then.”

“Alejandro, yes. I was. Then he fell off the map.”

“And that’s when you became Devlin. And I guess you used shell companies or something to launder Alejandro’s inheritance so Devlin could have it.”

He nods.

”Okay.” I nod, processing it all. “You said you’re not working for the government. So what are you doing?”

“I said Myers and Bell weren’t government operations, and they weren’t. But I started in intelligence. So did Ronan. We were ghosts, sent in to take care of problems that needed a particularly deft hand.”

I lick my lips. “Go on.”

“After my father died—”

“After you killed him,” I say, voicing what he hasn’t told me, but what I’m certain is the truth.

“Do you blame me?”

I hesitate. “No.”

“Would you turn me in for that? Should I be prosecuted for murdering that swine?”

“No.” The answer comes immediately to my tongue, and I lift my chin defiantly, daring him to say that I’ve just proved his entire point.

“After that, I started the foundation. You know this part, too.”

I nod. “But you use the foundation for more than charity work.”

“No. I told you the truth about that. Saint’s Angels was initially funded by me personally. Now it’s self-sufficient.”

“Saint’s Angels.” I can’t help but smile. “Is that what you call it?”

“I’m not one for modesty,” he says, and I burst out laughing.

We share a smile, and I gesture for him to go on.

“I do use the foundation, though. I use it to find people who need to be taken out.”

“People like Myers or Bell,” I say.

“Exactly.”

“Or Adrian Kohl.”