Vico's face stayed stuck on his look of mild perplexity, making it hard to say whether he would jump into an indignant response or take explosive offense at the offer, as seemed to be his normal modes of reaction.

Then a beat passed and he did neither. Vico scoffed a low laugh, muffled and barely an expulsion of breath as he kept his voice down. The hallway might have been abandoned, but it never did an assassin any good to draw needless attention to himself. He thumped Adamo on the shoulder with the back of his hand, rolling his toward the ceiling. "This is a mission, amico. It's not supposed to be fun. Now hurry up."