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Sighing, Corrado glanced back at his nephew Carmine had been found near death behind Tarullo’s Pizzeria They didn’t knohat had happened yet, but one thing was clear: whoever ambushed them intended for the boy to die, too

That fact made Corrado feel even sicker He had never been particularly fond of children, with their needy ways and grubby little hands, but one thing he treasured was innocence He envied it He hadhis years with La Cosa Nostra, but he prided hi anyone he felt didn’t deserve his wrath

And staring at his nephew, so helpless and vulnerable, Corrado couldn’t iine ould possess sos even the wickedest ofa kid in cold blood was one of those things

Things were different now, though As , and he wondered what that ht years old, he had been thrown headfirst into the lifestyle When he woke up—if he did—his world wouldn’t be the same Whether Carmine liked it or not, he couldn’t escape the life Not after this He was now a part of it, and Corrado kneould spend the rest of his life trying to make sense of the chaos

Hatred brewed in Corrado’s gut, hot liketo the babble of a devastatedrevenge on the people who had hurt theanization demand it—an eye for an eye—but so did his weary heart

Corrado’s heart, a decade later rew stronger every passing day He would survive the shoot-out in the Chicago warehouse The Kevlar Killer would live to see another day

On Dece comatose for six weeks, Corrado Alphonse Moretti opened his eyes

2

The black Mazda RX-8 sped along the worn gravel road, twisting and turning as it penetrated deeper into the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains Haven clutched the passenger seat as the car haphazardly weaved through the dense forest

“Are we lost?” she asked hesitantly as she stared at her boyfriend Car with the radio Sunglasses shielded his eyes fro any attention to the road

“No”

Haven glanced out the windshield, squinting fros looked the sa them How could he know? “Are you sure?”

“Positive”

She shook her head Stubborn “Where are we going?”

“You’ll see”