Miles Away (Carrion #1)(42)
“Let’s talk more at the bar,” Landon said as his eyes darted towards the stairs.
“Probably a good idea…” Knox said quietly. “Need a change of clothes though,” he mentioned as he looked down at his bloodstained shirt. Landon looked his brother up and down and laughed in a snarky tone.
“Follow me, my man… I’ll hook you up,” Dustin quipped.
“Oh, this should be classic…” Landon said with a laugh.
Knox, who was rarely seen in anything less formal that a three-piece suit, was about to be stylized by his brother, Dustin, who lived in t-shirts, designer jeans and the freshest pair of Air Force Ones he could put his hands on.
“You all realize that I do own casual clothing, right?” Knox asked in annoyance.
“Your kick-around threads consist of Dockers, a polo shirt and a pair of Ferragamo shoes,” Dustin remarked, his laughter exploding from his chest as he watched Knox’s reaction.
Knox, wearing a nonplussed look on his face, asked, “What’s your point?”
Shaking his head, Dustin turned on the heels of his sneakers and said, “C’mon. I’ll hook you up.”
Landon, watching his brothers depart down the hallway, shook his head, with a smile. When they had disappeared from sight, Landon darted back into his father’s office, swallowed by the darkness of the room.
CHAPTER TWENTY
MILES PUT CORINA in park in the driveway of Letty’s father’s house. Earning a look of warning from Letty, Miles stared back at her with a confused look on his face.
“What?”
“Let me do the talking…” Letty said sternly.
“You know I’m more a man of action, than a man of words…”
“Good. You can keep G company while I deal with my father.”
“Deal with him? What are you gonna do?” Miles said with a laugh. Letty sounded as if she was fixing to make Juan Alves a pair of cement shoes.
“I’m determined to find out why I haven’t received a stitch of mail from you in seventeen years.”
Not saying another word, Letty opened the passenger door and stepped out, looping her arms through the handle of the shopping bags. Miles cut the engine of the car and quickly stepped out. Opening up the back door, he proceeded to unstrap G from his car seat, at the same time that Letty had done the same from the opposite side of the vehicle.
Laughing sheepishly, Miles said, “Oh, go ahead…I’ll grab the bags…”
“No, no… You can. He likes you…. I’m just used to doing everything myself.”
“Yeah, well, those days are long gone,” Miles said with a smile. Letty, returning a happy gaze, held Miles’s eyes for a moment. As Miles pulled G from his car seat, holding him tightly in his grasp, Letty backed away smiling faintly as she shut her car door. Miles lifted G from the car and draped his diaper bag over his right shoulder. G slapped his hands happily against Miles’s arms.
“C’mon, little dude. Let’s go see Grandpa…”
G squealed happily at the sound of Juan’s name. “One? One?”
“Yeah, we’re going to see Papa Juan,” Letty said.
Miles laughed. “Did he said Juan or One?”
“Pretty sure he thinks his grandfather’s name is the number.” Letty laughed as she pinched her son’s cheek gently. “You just leave Papa Juan to me,” Letty said to G who laid his head against Miles’s chest. Following Letty to her father’s front door, he gulped slightly as her fingers grazed against the door. Juan didn’t answer on the first set of knocks, so Letty knocked even louder before sliding her key into the deadbolt.
“There you are!” Juan said with a start as the door swung open. “Thought something happened to you,” Juan began, looking happy to see Letty back again.
Letty’s father peered up at her as she crossed the threshold with her hands full of grocery bags. Letty gave her father a charged look. Juan peered up Letty as she crossed the threshold.
"Everything okay, Letty?" Juan asked his daughter, calling her by her nickname he gave her when she was just a little girl. Concern ran rampant in his voice as he stared up at her with eyes as round as saucers. “Did somethin’ happen?”
Letty, without saying a word, glared at her father as she stepped aside to let Miles into the house. Crowding the doorway with his solid six-feet-six-inch frame, Miles's boots stepped upon Juan Alves's hardwood floor with Gabriel hanging onto him tightly. Miles had an unreadable expression on his face as he stared at Letty's father. The pair had always had a prickly relationship. No one would ever be good enough for Juan Alves's little girl. It was a good thing Miles wasn't looking for any sort of approval from him. Holding G in his left arm, Miles waved with his free hand as Juan scowled at him.
"YOU!" Juan snapped as he climbed off of the couch in a hurry.
"ME?" Miles asked in an innocent voice as he pointed a finger towards his own chest. A smile grew from Miles's lips as he looked down at Juan with an amused look upon his face. Miles waved at Juan with his free hand as Juan scowled at him, his brow furrowing into folds like a bull dog.
"Yeah YOU! Get outta my house!" Juan screamed as he pointed towards the door which was still ajar.