The hair stood up on Letty’s arm.
Miles. Someone is going to make a move on Miles again. I recall it like it was yesterday. We were sitting inside the Mi Famiglia restaurant when Vic Schiabetta shot at Miles through the window of the restaurant. As the glass window shattered, a bullet zoomed across the dining room, missing Miles’s head by a fraction of an inch. We ran. From Vic. From Knox. From Michael, himself. Stop Letty. Don’t go down that path. You don’t want to make the psychiatrist rich again, do you? The past is the past. Leave it there.
Releasing a breath, Letty tried to slow her heart as it hammered in her chest.
“Now, if you don’t mind, Michael, I’m going to put on Jeopardy and get you ready for bed. Sasha and the others should be home soon…”
“There goes our peace and quiet!” Michael shouted, the fear quickly evaporating from his eyes.
“It’ll be nice to spend time with your kids,” Letty replied, with a smirk on her face.
The fact is, each and every one of the Capadonno kids has some sort of dysfunction. The funniest part is that Miles, the one who had just done seventeen years in Philly’s toughest correctional institute, was the most normal of all of them… even sweet little Landon.
“Whatever…” Michael said as he rolled his eyes. “I plan to confront Sasha to about that jar of sauce.”
Patting Michael on his leg three times, Letty replied, “Whatever will make you happy, Michael.”
Grabbing the remote control, Letty clicked the power button and put on Jeopardy. It was their nightly ritual. Letty would sit with Michael while he watched his shows and then she’d go home once he fell asleep. Alex Trebeck crossed the screen in his usual charming manner, and Michael seemed to relax again. His calm wouldn’t last long, though.
The heavy walnut front door crashed open as the quiet of the house was interrupted by discord.
“Oh, here we go,” Michael said to Letty as a stressed-out look grew across his face.
Letty’s hand gently covered Michael’s own as her index finger stroked his skin. Letty’s eyes lifted from Michael’s face to the source of the noise coming from the foyer. The familiar sound of shouting voices caused Letty to roll her eyes. Raine was always the drama queen of the bunch. She was Michael and Andie’s youngest daughter, and by all accounts, Michael’s baby girl. She might be an adult but she sure didn’t act like one.
“Fuck you, Anthony! We’re done! DONE!” Raine’s high-pitched voice screamed out, her voice raw from their screaming match.
“Raine, what the fuck is your problem?!” Anthony Spinelli called out to her. “It’s always fuckin’ something!”
Spinelli’s Jersey accent was as thick as the morning fog coming in off the bay.
A sigh released from Letty’s mouth as she turned back around to face Michael. “Raine’s home,” she said to him, sounding unimpressed. Michael looked just as dissatisfied at the turn of events as Letty did, but instead of looking at Letty, Michael cast a deeply irritated glare towards the foyer.
“Get off of me, Ant’ny!” Raine spat out as she continued to argue with her longtime, on again off again boyfriend Anthony.
“Rainey?” Michael called out with a sound of deep disgust in his voice. Setting off a chain of events that Letty certainly didn’t see coming, Michael quickly ripped his blankets off of his legs and proceeded to rise up from his bed. Michael, who had barely been out of bed at all in six months with the exception of toilet breaks and bath time, had risen to his feet.
“Michael, please let them worry about their own problems,” Letty pleaded as Michael’s bare feet slapped against the cool marble floor.
Letty watched nervously as Michael’s legs steadied themselves. With purpose, he walked in his bed clothes from the parlor into the dark hallway beyond. Letty’s heart raced in her chest as she watched him. He shouldn’t have been out of bed, and he most definitely shouldn’t be getting involved in his daughter’s relationship problems, but as time had proven before, Michael Capadonno does whatever he damn well pleases.