Dustin rolled his eyes. “What the hell boat did you all roll off of?” he asked of the men whom he had never met before.
“Boat…” Silvio replied with a deep Sicilian accent. “Is that what you call a joke?”
Shaking his head, Dustin waved to his father as he left the room. “I’ll leave you to your uh… company.”
Knox glared at his father before he grabbed his suit jacket to leave.
“I’ll be around the next few days, Pop,” Knox explained.
“Whatever… Just clear out. I’ve got people coming.”
Dustin and Knox exchanged a bewildered look before they exited the room.
“Gentlemen! Have a seat…”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
THE BELL OVER THE ENTRANCE of the Cash and Carry Supermarket clanged loudly as Letty Alves strolled through the door clutching her purse tightly. Letty gripped onto Miles’s hand with her free hand. Miles had an amused smile on his face as he ducked under the doorway to enter the store. He towered over Letty, but there was no question as to who held the reins in the relationship.
“Do you do this often?” Miles asked, as he willingly followed Letty’s lead.
“Do what?” Letty asked as her eyes scanned the shelves for Adobo seasoning. Spotting the brand she used, she plucked a medium sized container off the shelf and tossed it into the shopping basket Miles was carrying.
“Cook for your dad?” Miles clarified.
“Oh, I stop in a few times a week to check on him. He hasn’t been the same since Mom passed,” Letty explained.
“Oh…” Miles replied sheepishly. “Sorry.”
Remembering how much of a support Letty was during his own mother’s illness and her eventual death, Miles felt terrible that he couldn’t be there for Letty.
“So you take care of everyone, huh?” Miles asked, as Letty led him to the poultry counter.
Placing her order for lean chicken breast, Letty looked back at Miles with a smile. “You know me.”
“Yes I do…” Miles said with a charged edge to his voice.
Letty placed the freshly wrapped chicken into the shopping basket. They continued into the dairy section as Letty hunted down the cheeses she used to make her father’s meal of choice. Miles’s eyes hadn’t left Letty. Zoning in on the gold pendant that hung around her neck, Miles continued with his line of questioning.
“So who takes care of you?” Miles asked in a voice so full of inflection and concern that it caused Letty to take pause.
Turning on her heel, Letty faced Miles with a surprised look on her face. Looking into his brooding eyes, Letty saw right past the tough fa?ade. Cutting right to the quick, Letty saw vulnerability in Miles’s eyes. Placing her hand on Miles’s chest, the faintest of smiles pulled at Letty’s lips.
“Who takes care of me?” Letty repeated with a coy look on her face.
“Yeah. You heard me. You’re so busy taking care of everyone and everything. Who takes care of Letty?” Miles pressed.
“That’s what I have you for,” Letty said with a wink.
The breath rushed from Miles’s mouth as all his protective mechanisms fell to the ground. Looking down into Letty’s eyes, Miles felt that he had finally come home. His lips curled into a smile and tears flooded his eyes. Bringing Letty’s hand to his mouth, he kissed the flesh of her hand as he choked back his tears. It was a sight for Letty to behold. As her chest seared with pain and soared with happiness all at once, she gazed into Miles’s eyes hardly able to fathom the depth of the pain he felt. This man, who was the absolute embodiment of strength and resilience, brute force and rugged brawn, still had the sensitive heart that Letty had fallen for all those years ago. Releasing Letty’s hand, Miles’s eyes fell back on the gold pendant that lay delicately from Letty’s neck. Placing his index finger under the tiny gold disk, Miles attacked the elephant in the room head on. With a flicker of doubt in his eyes, Miles asked, “Who is G?”
A nervous smile crossed Letty’s face. “He’s someone important. Someone I want you to meet.”
Nodding, Miles accepted Letty’s response as he tossed a brick of asadero cheese into the shopping basket. Staring up at Miles, Letty let out a nervous breath as she followed him to the check-out aisle. The cashier quickly rung up Letty’s groceries one by one giving Miles a precarious look.
“Your total is $27.42,” the pimple-faced cashier told Letty as he loaded up her groceries in a brown paper bag.