Opening the car door, Miles stepped out.
“Miles, no!” Letty screamed.
She fought to get out of the backseat of the car but Miles had made some customizations to the car. The back doors wouldn’t open from the inside. Letty tried to climb over the front seat but Landon held her back. Bucking and breaking against him, Letty fought to get to Miles. But as scrawny as Landon looked, he was a strong kid.
“Stop! Be still and be quiet! You heard what he said. Miles has a plan.”
But Letty didn’t calm down. She only became more agitated as Landon tried to keep her from chasing after Miles.
“They’re gonna kill him!” Letty pleaded as she clenched Landon’s shirt in her hands. Landon grabbed Letty’s hands, trying to calm her down. Holding his hands over hers, Landon looked into Letty’s face with a sincere look on his face.
“No, they will not,” Landon said calmly and assuredly.
“How do you know?” Letty asked Landon becoming more annoyed by the second.
Landon laughed darkly, “They won’t kill their own acting boss.”
Letty’s mouth gaped open. “What?”
“Miles doesn’t need to worry about getting hit by the Capadonnos anymore. It’s New York that has a target on his head. My father got the target off his own head and put it on Miles. The boss of New York is the one behind the kidnapping of your son and your father.”
Letty took in a sharp breath as she watched Miles confront his family. Miles stood with his arms spread wide in the bright glare of the headlights.
“Quite the family reunion you’ve got here, Pops,” Miles said facetiously as he glared at his father.
“Indeed, Miles,” Michael said in a cold voice. A slithering smile tugged at Michael’s lips. “It’s all for you, son.”
“For me, huh?” Miles said feigning amusement. “A homecoming party for me? You shouldn’t have.”
“Anything for you, Boss,” Knox said slyly as a cool grin slipped across his face.
“Last time I checked,” Miles said as he pointed to his father, “that old fucker was Boss. Not me.”
Dustin laughed dryly. “I think it’s time you brushed up on your current events, bro.”
Miles stared at his father and his brothers with a hard gaze.
“Care to fucking elaborate?” Miles spat, his arms splayed wide as he baited his family for a fight.
“Oh, Miles. You’re my firstborn son,” Michael said, sounding nostalgic. “My baby boy and the heir to my throne.”
Miles’s jaw clenched as his father spoke. It wasn’t possible for a son to hate his father more than Miles hated Michael. The fury within Miles rose with every word his father spoke.
“I’m not a well man, Miles. And before I fade into the afterlife, I want to ensure that my constituents have a just leader. A king of the Capadonno names. You are that man, Miles,” Michael explained with a mischievous expression painted across his face.
“You stupid son of a bitch!” Miles growled.
“Actually, the plan is fucking brilliant,” Knox admitted. “He got the target off of his own head by not only stepping down, but also by reminding Nunzio Rigatti that you killed his grandson.”
“Brilliant is not the word that I would use,” Dustin admitted, “but obviously the old man’s plan worked. “
“Looks like you’re shit out of luck, brother,” Knox quipped with a smug expression on his face.
But instead of glowering at Knox like he expected, Miles did something unexpected. An amused smile broke from Miles’s lips, showing off his set of straight teeth.
“Well played, old man,” Miles said as he clapped his hands together. “There’s just one tiny little thing you forgot about…”
Knox scoffed as he pointed at Miles. “You believe this joker? Thinks we forgot something.”
Dustin crossed his arms over his chest. “Are you insinuating that you bested the Butcher?”
“That’d be the day, right?” Knox said as he elbowed his father playfully.
Miles rolled his eyes at the shit show.
Clearing his throat, Michael glowered at Miles.
“What is it that I have forgotten?” Michael asked in a stern tone of voice.
Pulling his gun out of the waistband of his jeans, Miles took the safety off of the gun, holding it behind his back. Taking three long strides forward, Miles pressed the gun to his father’s temple.
“Nobody fucks with a Capadonno!” Miles yelled.
Bang!
The shot echoed into the night scaring off a flock of crows from the treetops. Michael had a stunned look upon his face as blood oozed down his face from the gaping wound Miles had left in his forehead. After a few excruciatingly long seconds, Michael fell to the ground, his skull cracking against the slate pathway. The men huddled in the dark outside the Capadonno mansion whispered to each other, their collective thoughts raising to a moderate hum. Holding his gun in the air, Miles walked through the crowd brazenly looking each of the men in their faces.