“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.
“So bad,” Letty said as she flashed Miles a smile.
Miles shrugged. “We won’t be staying long. He’ll probably not even notice.”
The two exchanged a heated glance. Breath rushed from both of their mouths as they tried to calm their heart rates before entering the mansion. A moment later, Miles and Letty opened their car doors and made their way to the front door.
Dustin took a seat next to Knox at the dinner table as he adjusted his crimson tie against his crisp white dress shirt. Shooting a dull look at his sister, Raine, they both looked bored to tears at the prospect of a family dinner. Sasha navigated around the table making sure everyone’s wine glass was filled and everything was in its perfect place. She doted upon her grandmother, Aida, and kept a close watch on her father and Uncle Sonny. Michael sat at the head of the table like a king on his throne. With a malcontent look upon his face, he glared down the length of the table at the two empty chairs. One, at the foot of the table, and the other on the left-hand side of it. Looking over his family members like subjects, even in his quiet moments, Michael Capadonno appeared to be filled with rage. Everyone turned in the chairs as the front door groaned open. The heels of Letty’s boots clicked loudly against the floor as she and Miles made their way to the dining room. Sasha rose from her chair and quickly went to meet them halfway. Leaning to kiss Letty on her cheek, Sasha greeted her warmly.