“Letty,” Sasha said kindly. “You look beautiful.”
Sasha looked at Letty’s ensemble up and down, admiring the elegant lines of Letty’s black pant suit. She wore her blazer open with a cream satin top underneath with a strand of long pearls falling gracefully from her neck. Letty’s long curls fell down her back, and her shadowy eyes and deep ruby lipstick gave her a very sophisticated appeal. Letty smiled politely back at Sasha, but her eyes quickly diverted to Miles’s face as he stepped into the room behind her. Dressed from head to toe in black, Miles was wearing a perfectly tailored black Valentino suit that he had purchased the day prior on his shopping trip with G. He wore a slate dress shirt under his jacket and secured his tailored pants with a sleek black leather belt. Despite his formal dress, there was no taking the bad ass out of the boy, because the tattoos on his neck and hands had caught his relatives’ attention, and the skull ring on his finger was a constant staple of Miles’s wardrobe. Gently, Miles reached for Letty’s hand as he smiled genially at his relatives. Bending down to kiss his sister Sasha on her cheek, Miles looked around at the dining room and smiled.
“I see some of Mom’s old lessons did stick with you,” Miles said warmly.
“Just a few,” Sasha said with a smile. “When you’re ready, Miles, I have you sitting at the foot of the table, with Letty on your left, and Landon can be on your right.”
“My right-hand man…” Miles said with a wink as the kid waved at him.
“Miles,” a tired voice called out.
Miles’s grandmother, Aida, gingerly stood up from her chair. Slowly making her way around the table, she bypassed her grown sons and clutched onto Miles’s bulky arms. She whispered something into Miles’s left ear which brought a smile to his face.
“Good to see you too, Nonna,” Miles said as he hugged her gently.
As his aging grandmother made her way back to her seat, Miles’s eyes fell upon his father’s face, and as the pair exchanged an icy glance, Michael leaned back in his chair, revealing the sleek body of a black Smith and Wesson handgun sitting on his lap. Miles, smiling broadly with an arched eyebrow, pulled his jacket back, and placed his hands on his hips, showing that he too was packing. There was a black holster on his hip, with a small black handgun resting inside. Shaking his head, Miles grabbed Letty’s hand and walked off to find their seats.
Letty led the way, saying to hello to anyone that she knew. When she came to Landon’s seat, Letty kissed him on his cheek. As she broke from the exchange, Letty looked up, only to be met with an uncomfortable gaze from a very familiar face.
“Ruin,” Letty said as she looked up at the man who had evaded her since their son was born. A hostile glare burned from her eyes as she bit bottom lip.
Before Letty could even say a word, Miles did all the talking for her.
“Not here. Not now. But you and I are gonna have words,” Miles spat angrily as he gave Ruin a cold look.
Ruin didn’t say anything as the other Capadonnos looked their way. Clearly, the paternity of Letty Alves’s little boy was a mystery.
“Baby, what’s he talkin’ about?” Rumor asked as she pointed a perfectly manicured nail in Miles’s direction.
“Nothin’. I have no clue what he’s goin’ on about,” Ruin said as he gave Miles a look of warning.
Letty scoffed under her breath as she glared at the man who had fathered her child. Letty’s stomach turned, and it wasn’t so much the surprise of being in Ruin’s presence, or the words that he spoke, but the fact that she could be so stupid to think that a man like Ruin Rizzolli had any merit.
“Yeah,” Miles said as he sucked air in through his teeth. His cold glare hardened as he stared Ruin down. “You’ll find out. No doubt about that.”
Landon and Letty’s eyes met nervously for a moment, both exchanging a look of fear and uncertainty. It didn’t last long though, as Miles took his eyes off of Ruin’s emotionless face, and placed a hand on the small of Letty’s back.
“Come, let’s get you seated.”
Miles was prepared to sit between Ruin and Letty, but as Miles pulled out the chair at the foot of the table for Letty, she protested.
“No, Miles. You were intended to sit there. It’s fine.”
“Are you sure?”
Letty nodded as she met Miles’s intense gaze. Taking her word for it, Miles pulled out the empty chair next to Ruin as he helped Letty get seated. As Letty scooted in to the table, Miles growled at Ruin in a muffled tone, “Don’t even fucking look at her.”
“Hard not to. There’s so much of her,” Ruin said with a raised right eyebrow.
It took everything in Miles’s power not to knock him straight through the wall. Hearing the growl from Miles’s throat, Letty placed a gentle hand on his arm.
“It’s not worth it, Miles.”
“Yes. You are. You are worth it, Letty.”
“HE is not. You love me, right? Curves and all?”
“Fuck yes.”