Miles nodded, not wanting to interrupt her again. Every time he did, Letty looked like she was going to choke the life out of him.
“But this, Miles… I never expected to see this…” Letty said, looking up at him with glassy eyes.
“What did he do?” Miles asked through gritted teeth, desperately trying not to show how bent he was becoming.
“Tonight, as I was getting Michael ready for bed, Rainey came storming in with her on again, off again boyfriend. They’re obviously fighting. Their voices were raised and it sounded like Ant’ny slammed your sister into a wall.”
Miles’s eyebrow raised over his right eye as he listened to Letty recount what had happened tonight. Miles’s heart was racing in his chest as he waited for Letty to continue.
“For a moment, your father sat there, rather calmly as he listened to what was going on. It sounded as if Raine was breaking up with Anthony again… but this was nothing new. They broke up at least once a month. This time was different with Anthony’s hostility. I never knew him to be a violent kid, but I know what I heard,” Letty continued.
“Let me guess… The old dude jumped off his rocker.”
Letty scoffed. “You could definitely say that. He walked from his hospital bed to the console table in the hallway.”
Letty didn’t need to finish. Miles knew the rest. He’d seen it happen himself on countless occasions.
The great thing about being born into the Capadonno family… You get a front row seat for the shit show that was my father and his associates. Although I have a feeling I know what happened, I need Letty to tell me herself.
“He sends a vase of flowers crashing to the floor, he grabs a gun out of the table and shoots Rainey’s boyfriend to death,” Letty said in a shaky voice looking into Miles’s eyes for a source of stability. Miles gave it to her. He never showed fear, much less in front of her.
She looks to me for strength and guidance, I damn well am going to give it to her.
Cupping her cheek in his hand, Miles’s calloused finger ran down Letty’s face as her heart rate began to calm again.
Letty continued, “He calls Dustin who shows up with Dante and the Fish. I guess they’re something of a clean-up crew. Dustin was pissed. Absolutely furious. He asked me if I was all right and then he went upstairs to check on Raine who had stormed up to her bedroom in a whirlwind of tears and anger. But when Fish and Dante see me, they say to your dad, ‘Want us to take ’er out?’ Bastards…”
My blood is on fire. No one would be laying a hand on Letty Alves.
“And he said what?” Miles demanded to know through gritted teeth.
“Huh?’ Letty replied, seemingly in a daze.
“My father. What did he say to their offer?”
“Oh, he snapped. He was absolutely furious.”
Interesting.
“Hey, Letty… let me ask you a question,” Miles said with a perplexed look on his face.
“Yeah, baby?” Letty asked him, her full attention on Miles’s face.
“What made you decide to work for my father? There’s plenty of hospitals and doctor’s offices around. Why him?”
A flicker of a secret flashed in Letty’s eyes. A slight grin creased her face.
“I think you know why, Miles…”
“Yeah, I think I know why, too,” Miles began. “But I want to hear it from you.”
Letty let out a dark laugh. “Have you ever heard the term, ‘Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer’?”
Miles chuckled slightly under his breath. “You know I have…”
“Well there you go. I did it for you.”
“Have you told anyone else any of this?”
Letty gave Miles a glaring look. “I ain’t a rat… and you sure as hell aren’t a rat, either.”
“You know me a little too well, Letty. C’mon. Corina wants to stretch her legs.”
Corina hit the winding road out of Town Center, her engine roaring as they sped forward. Miles kept driving for about twenty minutes, following the signs for Apple Ridge. Finding a quiet spot, Miles pulled off the side of the road, putting Corina in park. Out of the corner of his right eye, Miles watched as Letty’s hand went to change the station on the radio.
She wears no rings on her fingers. This fact is not lost on me.
As a crappy pop hit blared out of the speakers, Letty rolled her eyes, the sickeningly sweet melody turning her stomach. Letty quietly flicked the dial as the sexy guitar rift of “One of These Nights” by the Eagles filled Corina’s cab.
“Oh, my God, I love this song…” Letty gushed, all the stress from the evening washing off of her.