Miles Away (Carrion #1)(79)
“Rumor,” Sasha said as she kissed her cousin back, “You look gorg.”
“So do you, Sash! We brought the Cristal!” Rumor said as she passed the bottle of expensive champagne to Sasha.
“Oh, my God. You didn’t have to do that!” Sasha said exuberantly as she placed the bottle down on the console table in the hallway.
Bending down to her uncle’s level, Sasha placed a caring hand on Sonny’s shoulder. “Hi Uncle Sonny, how are you feeling?”
Sonny muttered something incoherent to which Ruin replied, “I have no idea what he’s trying to say. He’s been mumbling like that all day.”
Sasha gave her uncle a sympathetic smile as she patted his hand. Unfolding back to her full height, Sasha approached Ruin to give him a friendly hug.
“So good to see you again, Richie,” Sasha said politely as she gave him a chaste kiss on his cheek.
“It’s Ruin now. Everyone calls me that,” Ruin replied. “And you look very nice as always.”
“Oh stop,” Sasha said, blushing as she waved Ruin off. “You are the first to arrive. Let’s go get Uncle Sonny set up in the dining room.
Ruin wheeled the aging gangster into the dining room and sat him at his usual place near the head of the table. Sonny sat slumped over in his wheelchair, muttering something entirely indecipherable. Catching a worried look from Sasha, Rumor waved her off.
“Don’t worry, Sash. It’s normal. He does that all day long.”
Raising her eyebrows but keeping her mouth shut, Sasha battled whether to speak up for the old man or not. Much like her father, Sasha had always been fond of her uncle Sonny. Although the media made them out to be monsters, Sasha had never witnessed it herself. Sure, she knew both men had a temper, but mostly, Sasha only knew the side Michael and Sonny wanted her to know—that of the kind, genial family man.
“All right, guys. Take a seat. I’m sure everyone will be in shortly. I’m going to go check on Dad,” Sasha explained. As Sasha exited the dining room, Rumor and Ruin took their seats at the other end of the table near the foot, far away from Uncle Sonny. This move was not a slight. There was a hierarchy to the seating arrangement. Michael would sit at the head, Miles at the foot, and everyone else would fill in the middle, with Michael’s consigliere sitting at his left, and his brother on his right.
As Sasha traveled down the long hallway that led to the parlor, she heard the front door open. Rushing into the foyer, Sasha met Knox with a nervous look upon her face. He looked as dashing as always, wearing a black pinstriped suit and a brand new pair of grey Ferragamo shoes. Sasha kissed Knox on his right cheek. Knox lingered for a moment and whispered something into Sasha’s ear before making his way into the dining room. Sasha retraced her steps to the hallway and made her way into the parlor.
“Dad?” Sasha called from the doorway expecting her ailing father to be resting in bed, but instead, he was attaching a cufflink to his shirt sleeve as he stepped out of the powder room. Dressed handsomely in a white dress shirt and a pair of grey linen slacks, Michael was the picture of sophisticated style. Smiling that her father had managed to get himself dressed for dinner, Sasha gushed, “You look very handsome!”
Michael grinned at his daughter, but the smile quickly faded. “Thank you. Is everyone here?”
“Not yet. They are slowly trickling in. Uncle Sonny is here.”
“Oh, good,” Michael replied, as he slowly walked across the room, his shoes clicking against the floor. Sasha followed behind to make sure he didn’t need any assistance.
“I’m fine, Sasha. You go check for the door,” Michael instructed.
Letting out a sigh, Sasha nodded, and departed the room.
Knox took a seat directly across from his Uncle Sonny at the table as he stared at the old man with a solemn look on his face.
“Uncle Sonny…” Knox said plainly.
“Uh?” Sonny muttered, looking up at Knox for a moment before his thoughts trailed off again. A few moments later, a snore rattled from the old man’s nose.
“This was a great chat,” Knox said sarcastically, as he peered across the table. Knocking twice on the wood table. “Always good talking to you, Uncle Sonny.”
Sasha opened the front door as a sea of people flooded through. Family matriarch Aida, Sonny and Michael’s mother, was being assisted up the front steps with Landon on one arm and Dustin on the other. Raine trotted in loudly behind them with her cousin Sonora. Right on their heels was Sonny and Michael’s sister Gloria and her long-time boyfriend Luke “The Face” Demograzzi. As everyone took their seats, it became abundantly obvious that two seats remained empty. The foot of the table, Miles’s chair, and the one directly to his left, remained unoccupied. To the right of Miles’s chair, Landon sat looking worried as he tapped his fingers against the table. But then, as everyone chatted loudly amongst themselves and waited for dinner to begin, Landon heard a ferocious roar come from the driveway.
Happily, Landon announced, “Ah, that would be Miles and Letty,” with a broad smile on his face.
Michael who sat at the opposite end of the table rolled his eyes at his youngest son as a grim look overcame his features.
Corina’s tires screeched up the long driveway with an on-edge Miles behind the wheel. Quickly eyeballing the parking lot for an empty space, Miles didn’t find one, so he parked directly behind Knox’s car, boxing him in.