Death Bliss
"The corridor is secure. The morning-shift capo reports to me. Nonna Carmela cleared your plate at dinner, and the household saw, and the household understands what that means. You are under my protection now, and my protection is not conditional, and it is not temporary, and it is not a bargain I am making with my uncle or with anyone else. It is a choice I am making, and I am making it now, and I am making it because the page you handed me tonight is the truth I have been waiting for since Palermo, and you are the person who handed it to me."
I reach up and press my hand over his chest, over the two folded pages beneath his shirt, over the place where his heart beats steady and slow. The p