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Vincent glanced around Corrado was blocking the o, no way to leave unless Corrado allowed him to pass "It’s been six months since my last confession"

"Six months," Corrado repeated "I’ to do then"

Vincent scoffed "Probably not as h as he pulled his hands from his pockets Vincent’s hair bristled when he saw the black leather gloves It was a sight he kneell, the sight of thethe life fro no trace of himself behind

Corrado’s victims rarely knehat hit theht, firing a single shot through the base of their skull, severing their spinal cord and killing them instantly It was neat and tidy, painless and quick He was in and out and on to the next thing within a matter of minutes Corrado wasn’t in the business of tortureunless you ry, when he took things personally, a different side of hih his cale when that happened He never ot sloppy, but the otherwise unruffled er merciful He would tear aleft behind was no longer recognizable

"Did Sal send you?" Vincent asked, trying to keep his voice even

Corrado shook his head "I came on my own"

Not business Personal

Corrado took a step forward then, tugging his gloves to ht, and Vincent instantly took a step away He did it again, and again, and again, like the two of theo

"I don’t want to believe it," Corrado said, "but seeing you here--seeing you like this--I can’t help but wonder if it’s true"

"It’s not how it seems," Vincent said

Corrado shook his head "It never really is, is it? But that’s irrelevant, and you know it You crossed a line, and it doesn’t matter why you did it or what you planned to do on that other side, the fact that you went over there is inexcusable Lupo non ia lupo How many times did we hear your father say that when he was alive? How many times? Wolves don’t eat wolves We don’t turn on our own"

"You’re right," Vincent said "If you can’t trust your own kind, who can you trust?"

"No one, according to your son," Corrado said "Non fidarsi di nessuno Did you even stop to think about how this is going to affect hihts of Carmine made Vincent’s chest ache "Is he okay?"

"Of course he’s not okay He’ll never again be okay! It’s his job to kill you!"

Flinching from the hostility, Vincent took a few quick steps back "You can’t let him do it"

"I don’t plan to" Corrado stealthilya beat

A loud voice echoed through the cathedral then, stalling the Corrado backed up, putting some space between him and Vincent, as the priest swiftly approached "Gentlee, and I’ve never condemned you for your life choices, but there co that into the house of the Lord This is a place of worship, of love, of acceptance We’re always open, but only to those who check their sinning at the door"

"You’re right" Corrado shoved his hands back into his pockets "This isn’t the time or the place for this"

"And what, exactly, are you two squabbling over?" the priest asked "You’re fa," Vincent said "That’s all"

"Right, ahis throat "If you’ll excuse ht"

Father Alberto raised his eyebrows at him "I hope not too late I expect to see you planted in one of these pews to"

"I wouldn’tfrom the priest to Vincent "It’ll all be finished before the sun co toward the exit as if he had not a care in the world Vincent and Father Alberto both watched, reht Vincent sighed, running his hands down his face in exasperation Not good Not good at all

"Oh, Vincenzo, what have you gotten yourself into?"

"A situation with no way out," he said quietly

"I don’t believe that," Father Alberto said "There’s always a way out"

"Alive?"

Father Alberto was quiet, staring at the door Corrado had disappeared out of as he pondered Vincent’s question

"That’s what I thought," Vincent uess there are worse things to be than dead"

"Coive you rest," Father Alberto said, quoting Matthew 11:28 "As true as thatso defeated You should never give up"

"I’ainst the current for a long tiot swept downstrea I can’t I’m too damn tired to do it anymore"

"So, what, you just let yourself drown?" Father Alberto asked with disbelief

"No," Vincent said "I wait for someone to throw me a lifeline, and then I drift away"