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The thought el mad

“Well?” Francis said

“What do you want to know, Franco? Did I screw her? No, I didn’t It’s a little tough hooked up to a heart monitor”

He saw the distaste in his brother’s eyes, the disappointh his hair “I know you didn’t… sleep with her That’s not what I was asking”

Angel felt like an insect before his brother’s penetrating gaze And the worst of it was, Angel kneas all in his own mind, knew that Francis felt none of this tension, none of this childish coht out the worst in Angel

“Are you screwing her?” Angel asked, sickened and shamed by his own question, but unable to hold it back

Francis eyed hi time Each second of silence felt like an hour “I’m a priest,” Francis said finally

Angel felt a rush of relief, then a surprising pride He remembered all the ti brother, listening to ten-year-old Francis’s drea a priest “You did it, huh? Good for you”

“All in all, it’s been good It made Ma think God would overlook everyth

ing about her”

Angel found hiain “If she made it to Heaven, you’ve been screwed”

Francis laughed “That’s for sure”

“What’s it like, being a priest?”

“Good A little … lonely sometimes”

Angel saw unhappiness in his brother’s blue eyes, and a vague shadow of dissatisfaction He knew suddenly, the way he used to just “know” things about Francis, that his brother was talking about Madelaine again “You love her”