Dustin rolled his eyes as he closed the gap between himself and Knox. “Chicken shit. Now hold still,” Dustin said as he prepared to place his hands on Knox’s face.
“What the hell are you doing?” Knox begged to know as his younger brother grabbed his nose. “OWWW!”
“Shut up and hold still. I’m gonna set your nose,” Dustin said calmly.
“No! I’ll go to the ER,” Knox exclaimed, his eyes glaring at Dustin with a look of warning.
Dustin glanced back at Landon and laughed as he pointed a finger towards Knox.
“You believe this joker? The ER. Ha!” Dustin laughed facetiously, not backing off of Knox despite his protests.
Landon lifted his eyebrows and smirked. He knew what was coming next.
“Now hold still!” Dustin barked at Knox as he placed his hands on either side of Knox’s crooked nose.
“Count of three…” Landon said as he cringed. “One…two…”
Snap!
“Owwww! You mother humping son of a bitch!” Knox screamed, his tirade echoing through the house.
“There! Looks better, right?” Dustin asked happily to Landon.
Landon laughed. “Yeah… like a hundred bucks. Nothing his plastic surgeon can’t fix.”
“Shut up… I don’t have a plastic surgeon.”
“Might want to get one now,” Landon said with a smirk.
“Can we go now?” Dustin asked impatiently as he glanced at his watch.
“Go where?” Landon asked with a raised eyebrow.
“For a drink. Tia Marie’s,” Dustin explained. “You comin’?”
Knox sniffed, realizing that his nose felt a lot better since Dustin had reset it. Too bad it was as crooked as the best of Carrion’s politicians.
“Yup, I’m coming,” Landon said firmly as he grabbed his black leather jacket off a hook in the hallway. “Hey, where’d Miles go in such a hurry?”
“Somebody was messin’ with Letty,” Dustin explained.
“They’re just trying to bait him,” Landon said as he shook his head.
“They know that the way to get to Miles is to mess with his girl,” Knox explained.
“He’s nothing if not loyal,” Dustin said. “He can keep a secret close to his chest, but when it comes to Letty, he comes undone.”
“Let’s talk more at the bar,” Landon said as his eyes darted towards the stairs.
“Probably a good idea…” Knox said quietly. “Need a change of clothes though,” he mentioned as he looked down at his bloodstained shirt. Landon looked his brother up and down and laughed in a snarky tone.
“Follow me, my man… I’ll hook you up,” Dustin quipped.
“Oh, this should be classic…” Landon said with a laugh.
Knox, who was rarely seen in anything less formal that a three-piece suit, was about to be stylized by his brother, Dustin, who lived in t-shirts, designer jeans and the freshest pair of Air Force Ones he could put his hands on.
“You all realize that I do own casual clothing, right?” Knox asked in annoyance.
“Your kick-around threads consist of Dockers, a polo shirt and a pair of Ferragamo shoes,” Dustin remarked, his laughter exploding from his chest as he watched Knox’s reaction.
Knox, wearing a nonplussed look on his face, asked, “What’s your point?”
Shaking his head, Dustin turned on the heels of his sneakers and said, “C’mon. I’ll hook you up.”
Landon, watching his brothers depart down the hallway, shook his head, with a smile. When they had disappeared from sight, Landon darted back into his father’s office, swallowed by the darkness of the room.
CHAPTER TWENTY
MILES PUT CORINA in park in the driveway of Letty’s father’s house. Earning a look of warning from Letty, Miles stared back at her with a confused look on his face.
“What?”
“Let me do the talking…” Letty said sternly.
“You know I’m more a man of action, than a man of words…”
“Good. You can keep G company while I deal with my father.”
“Deal with him? What are you gonna do?” Miles said with a laugh. Letty sounded as if she was fixing to make Juan Alves a pair of cement shoes.
“I’m determined to find out why I haven’t received a stitch of mail from you in seventeen years.”
Not saying another word, Letty opened the passenger door and stepped out, looping her arms through the handle of the shopping bags. Miles cut the engine of the car and quickly stepped out. Opening up the back door, he proceeded to unstrap G from his car seat, at the same time that Letty had done the same from the opposite side of the vehicle.
Laughing sheepishly, Miles said, “Oh, go ahead…I’ll grab the bags…”
“No, no… You can. He likes you…. I’m just used to doing everything myself.”
“Yeah, well, those days are long gone,” Miles said with a smile. Letty, returning a happy gaze, held Miles’s eyes for a moment. As Miles pulled G from his car seat, holding him tightly in his grasp, Letty backed away smiling faintly as she shut her car door. Miles lifted G from the car and draped his diaper bag over his right shoulder. G slapped his hands happily against Miles’s arms.
“C’mon, little dude. Let’s go see Grandpa…”