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Corrado quietly slid through the lot under the cloak of darkness, avoiding going near the ned the place so not to draw any unnecessary attention He headed to the trailer, walking swiftly yet silently, and gripped the door with his glove-clad hand It was unlocked and gave no resistance when he pulled on it, opening right away

Gavin sat hunched over at a s away frohtened when Corrado stepped inside, his shoulders tense and body rigid, but he didn’t turn around to look His focus remained on the notebooks scattered in front of him, illuminated by a dim lamp on the corner of the desk Lines and colues, various statistics written down as probabilities orked out in the ebra probleht have looked like he was a student studying diligently for an arithnorant

"You should never sit with your back to a door," Corrado said "Didn’t your father teach you that?"

"My father taught s he taught me is that if Corrado Moretti shows up at your door, you’re about to have a really bad day"

The corner of Corrado’s lips twitched "It’s good to see you, too"

Gavin’s shoulders relaxed a slight bit as he slowly turned around to look at hiuarded Corrado couldn’t blae

"Did you need soh the neighborhood books, but if you need"

"No, quite the opposite, actually," Corrado replied "I stopped by to tell you your services were no longer needed"

Corrado reached into his coat swiftly and Gavin tensed once ainst the desk as far as it would go Fear shone fro that never came Corrado merely pulled out a thick envelope and held it up "What’s the matter? Did you think I was here to kill you?"

Gavin answered at once "No"

Knowing it was a lie, Corrado let out a sharp laugh as he tossed the envelope down on the desk, on top of one of the notebooks "You haven’t done anything that warrants deaththat I know of But I appreciate your help and wanted to give you a little soratitude"

Hesitantly, Gavin reached for the envelope and glanced inside In it, wrapped together, was ten thousand dollars in crisp, new one hundred dollar bills Gavin blinked rapidly as he ski Corrado had coo to keep an eye on Haven Gavin had kept her safe during his absence, even periodically sending coded es to the jail to update him

"That’s all I caet back to your books"

He reached for the door to leave when Gavin ju the envelope "Wait"

Corrado turned back around "What?"

Gavin shook his head as he stepped forward "I can’t take this I knoas supposed to be a job, that I was supposed to keep an eye on her for you, but it doesn’t feel that way It feels wrong to take your money It feelsdishonest"

Corrado raised his eyebrows "That’s an awful lot of feeling, Aht you there’s no place for emotions in this life"

"I know that," he said, "but she’s not really a part of this life I know you said she’s iular girl Being with her wasn’t work It was kind of nice Andhe did teachthis feels a hell of a lot like stealing"

Corrado took the envelope and slipped it back into his coat with a shake of his head "How did she get to you?"

"Huh?"

"I’ot under your skin andacross the room to where a small white kitten lay, fast asleep in the corner "Honestly? I don’t kno it happened"

Corrado stared at hi to leave "They never do"

44

Car against the ith his are roo painted off-white except for the dark concrete floor Bright fluorescent lights hung fros on display around the roo for attention, but nothing stood out more than the scene in the middle of the room

Haven sat on a small brown stool, a canvas set up in front of her Crumpled paper littered the floor around her feet, sketches she had discarded tinged with splatters of paint she had spilled throughout the day The messy chaos that surrounded her fascinated Caranized person he had ever met She couldn’t let laundry pile up, floors needed to be swept every day, and dishes had to be washed as soon as they were dirtied She believed everything had a place where it belonged, but at times like these, all of that went out the

When Haven painted, it was just her and the canvas A tornado could hit and take the roof off the building and she probably wouldn’t flinch The apocalypse could co to take her to Heaven, and she would keep hi until she finished No one interrupted her, not even Car by the door

He didn’ther there, listening to her hu as she worked aago he had been so close to giving up, exhausted by life’s sudden twists and turns, but she showed up right when he needed her the most

It had been a few o A new school year started, and she had enrolled at a small art school dohile Carmine continued on with his lifethe sa Durante It was the sa his circu was different He approached it another way He wasn’t as recklessnot now that he had a reason to coh Hated every second of life in La Cosa Nostra with every fiber of his being

Haven sighed loudly, the sound exaggerated in the empty room She stood and pushed her stool back to pace back and forth in front of the canvas The painting of the tree looked fine to Car with it She added a bitso her paintbrush down as she took a step back She eyed the canvas intently, tilting her head to the side as if looking at it froe