Miles Away (Carrion #1)(66)
“Are you f*cking kidding me!” Sasha spat. “That bastard! We trusted him!”
Landon was suspiciously quiet on the subject. As Sasha ducked into the pantry, Landon slid a scrap of paper across the counter to Miles.
Be careful what you say around the girls. They can’t be trusted. Rip this up.
Miles ripped up the paper as he was advised and shoved it in his pocket. Leaning in closer to his kid brother Miles whispered, “Elaborate. Which girls. Letty, too?”
“No,” Landon whispered back. “The Capadonno girls. Sasha, Rainey, Sonora and Rumor. They are just as shady as the guys.”
“Yeah? Sasha?”
With just a nod, Landon confirmed Miles’s question just before Sasha reappeared from the pantry with a loaf of bread in her left hand, and a fresh tomato in her right.
“Landon, can I make you a sandwich?”
“No, I’m good. I’m about to go out.”
“Yeah, I won’t be staying long either,” Miles said as he sheepishly tapped his fingers on the countertop.
“Hey,” Sasha said. “You and Letty should come to Sunday dinner tomorrow!”
“I don’t know, Sash…” Miles said reluctantly.
“No, no. I insist! Dinner is at three,” Sasha said with a happy smile on her face.
“She cooks for an army,” Landon said with a laugh.
“Taking notes from Mom’s book, huh?” Miles said with a wink.
“I can only hope. That woman was a saint,” Sasha replied.
“Yes,” Miles said coolly. “She was.”
As the conversation fizzled out, Sasha began singing along to a commercial jingle as she prepared lunch for her daughter and Michael.
“Your vitals look good, Michael,” Letty said as she scribbled down his blood pressure and temperature on his chart. “Now you know I can’t be here all the time, so you should go easier on the next part-time nurse Sasha hires.”
Michael didn’t seem interested at all in discussing his health or the prospect of a new weekend nurse. Placing his hand firmly upon Letty’s own, Michael squeezed Letty’s hand tightly. Immediately, Letty stopped talking and was silenced by Michael’s cool gaze.
“You disrespected me, Leticia. You know I don’t stand for that.”
“Excuse me?” Letty asked, not having any idea what Michael was talking about.
“When you started working for me, you promised me that you would never get romantically involved with any of my enemies.”
Letty looked taken aback by Michael’s words and his stern tone of voice.
“I’m sorry? Michael, I’m not romantically involved with any of your associates, and quite frankly I’ve lost track of who all your enemies are. I am here as your nurse, nothing else.”
Michael’s grip tightened upon her wrist, his nails digging hard into her skin.
“Don’t play coy with me, girl,” Michael spat in nothing more than a whisper.
Letty tried to pull her arm away, but this only served to agitate Michael further.
“You know damn well where I stand with him. You were there. You know what went down…” Michael spat.
“Me being here as your nurse has nothing to do with loyalties. In case you haven’t noticed, you’re not a man that takes no for an answer. You pursued me relentlessly for this position. I am here because you need a nurse. I am leaving with your son because I love him,” Letty said, her voice quaking as she spoke. “Let go of me, Michael.”
“You made a promise to me to not engage with my enemies… He IS the enemy!”
“Michael, you’ve lost it. Miles doesn’t want to hurt you. He just wants to live his life free from under your control!”
“Clearly, I overestimated your intelligence then, Letty. He has hoodwinked you if you think that Miles is not going to take my life before this is over.”
“And would you blame him?” Letty spat as she fought to break free of Michael’s grip. “You, his own father, tried to kill him!”
“You’ll be sorry that you ever crossed me, Leticia. Guaranteed.”
Miles continued to shoot the shit with Landon at the counter when the sound of raised voices came from the parlor.
“What the f*ck?” Miles said as he recognized Letty’s raised voice. She sounded upset.
Pushing out his bar stool, Miles ran from the kitchen with Landon on his heels. Rushing into the parlor, Miles sped to the sound of the noise. Their voices had risen to a fever pitch and as Miles crossed into the room with Landon, Letty screamed out, “Michael Capadonno get your hands off of me!”
Michael had Letty’s sweater clenched in his fists as he pulled her face close to his.
“You’ll be sorry, Alves! Just as sorry as my duplicitous son!”
“Your duplicitous son will kick your geriatric ass if you don’t take your hands off my woman.”
Michael didn’t do as he was asked though, only becoming more agitated by the second. Letty wasn’t exactly trying to keep calm anymore either though.
“And tell me, Michael, what is it that is so duplicitous about your son? The fact that he went to your dying wife’s side rather than picking up merchandise for you? Or the fact that he acted as a real man should?”