Miles Away (Carrion #1)

by Addison Kline

  That’s it. Answer those questions and you’ll make me a very happy man.

  I’ll see you Friday.

  With love still,

  Miles

  Letty’s lips grew into a smile as laughter ripped from her mouth. She could just imagine the scene that Miles had just painted for her. What if she had married one of the random guys that had come and gone? In Letty’s heart, it wouldn’t have mattered. Her life was divided into halves: Before Miles and after. Folding up the letter, Letty began clearing off the bed, stuffing letters back into their envelopes for safe keeping. She felt like she had a much better understanding of the man Miles had become. He wasn’t so different from the boy she loved. The same heart still beat in his chest. The same eyes still sought out hers all these years later. Despite her silence for seventeen years, Miles still loved Letty. The thought took Letty’s breath away.

  I guess there are some loves that can transcend time and distance, hardship and travesty, Letty thought. What a fortunate woman I am.

  They both had felt forgotten about. Letty didn’t know where to mail letters. Miles hadn’t received a single reply to his. Now they could make up for lost time.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  LANDON PRESSED THE REMOTE access button in the roof of Dustin’s car as the security gate of the Capadonno compound clanged open loudly. Winding down the driveway, Landon approached the massive house, keeping his eyes locked on the road ahead. Parking his car in the gravel by the tree line, Landon cut the engine and sat in the darkness for a moment. He was about to get out of the car when the front door of the house opened up. Vincenzo Rigatti, high-ranking member of the Rigatti crime family of Brooklyn stepped out with Nunzio Rigatti, boss of the Rigatti crime family of New York, and Antonio Pena, boss of the Atlantic City based Pena crime family, flanking his sides. With his eyes on the rearview mirror and his hand still on the door handle, Landon Capadonno watched the men carefully, knowing damn well who they were.

  “Shit...” Landon said under his breath.

  A grey Mercedes Benz pulled up around front. The men, who were chatting amongst themselves, looked around at their surroundings, and quietly lowered themselves into the car. As the car wound down the driveway, disappearing amongst the trees, Landon started the car again.

  “Why not. I don’t have shit else to do...” Landon said as he depressed the gas pedal.

  The engine quietly purred as Landon trailed the car swiftly down the driveway and into the main artery of Carrion.

  “Let’s see if I understand this, Pop...” Knox began as he paced the floorboards. “Fish was trying to protect you... and you kill him because you have some little crush on your son’s whatever-the-hell-she-is. Do I have this straight?”

  “Letty is special. She’s taken care of me, and as far as Miles goes, she was warned to stay away from him.”

  “Well, guess what, Pops... If it wasn’t for Miles, Fish would’ve killed her,” Dustin said as he lowered himself into an armchair.

  “Letty knows better than to get in too deep with him,” Michael insisted as his hand slapped against his mattress. “He’s an ex-con. He’s scum. She gave me her word.”

  “Is this how you talk about all of us when we turn around, or just Miles?” Dustin demanded to know. “You are a fucking snake.”

  Michael shrugged his shoulders. “I am what I am, and I make no apologies.”

  Knox buried his hands in his pockets as he continued to pace.

  “So your spiel is that Fish disobeyed you. What about Letty? She disobeyed you, too. Do you plan to whack her, too?” Knox asked, his face turning red as his eyes measured up his father.

  “If you were anyone else, I’d slap the shit outta you.”

  “I’d pay to see that one,” Dustin said with a laugh as he propped his feet up on his father’s bed.

  “You’re a bigger fool than I thought if you think Miles isn’t in Letty’s bed right this second,” Knox said with a laugh. “So again, I ask… What are you gonna do?”

  Michael’s jaw jutted out defiantly. “That’s my business.”

  “And as your consigliere, it also happens to be mine! Now you’re drawing fucking media attention. That is a big problem for me…”

  “Don’t get your panties all up in a twist. I’ll reveal my plan soon enough.”

  “Where do you get your fucking energy from? Doctors claim you’re dying, meanwhile your crazy mind is running circles around Carrion,” Dustin griped. “Sit your old ass down, watch some fucking TV.”

  “So when are you gonna tell Miles you made him king?” Knox asked in a petulant tone of voice.

  Brushing his fingernails against his shirt, Michael looked up at Knox with a shrewd look upon his face. “I’m not. He’ll find out soon enough.”

  Landon followed the grey car through the streets of Carrion, keeping a careful distance, but not daring to let the car out of his sight. He trailed the car clear across town and as it wound around the corner, Landon halted, not daring to follow, as the car came to a stop. Sitting in the dark of the car, Landon watched as the three men climbed out of the car and approached the curb. Gravitating towards the pulsing music of Destiny Nightclub, the three men vanished through the red front door, a sly smile creasing the face of Nunzio.

  Pulling the car around the curve, Landon slowly maneuvered up the street, slowing as he approached the club. He couldn’t see inside the windows, the club was dark except for the strobe lights and the dim lighting above the bar. As he was about to pull off, the club door opened again as a group of excited people poured out onto the sidewalk. Landon rolled his eyes as he quickly recognized them. His cousin, Sonora, shot her arm up into the air, waving excitedly as she called out his name. Raine, his sister, looked decidedly more chipper than she had earlier that day as she wrapped her hands around a new guy. Landon watched, not saying a word as his relatives rushed towards the car. Rumor and Ruin trotted hand in hand. As they approached the car, Ruin pulled Rumor close to give her a sly peck on her lips.

  “Hey, Landy!” Rainey said in a high pitched voice. “Mind giving us a ride back to the house, I’m waaaaay too drunk to manage myself…”

  “Us too!” Sonora yelled out as she raced ahead, teetering on her stiletto heels.

  “Yo, Cap! Mind if we ride along? We walked over from my place on Royce Avenue.”

  Guess I’m a fucking cab service now, Landon thought.

  Without even a nod of approval, Landon found himself with a carload of people, each of which reeked of alcohol and perfume. Sonora, who had hopped in the front passenger seat in her silver glitter mini-dress, was getting glitter all over the interior of Dustin’s car.

  “He’s gonna fucking kill me,” Landon griped quietly. “Now I gotta get the inside of his car detailed because princess has to wear a fucking bag of glitter as a dress.”

  “Landy!” Sonora squealed, clearly not hearing Landon’s complaints. “Take us to see Uncle Mikey!”

  “Uncle Mikey, huh?” Landon said with a laugh. She made him sound so cuddly.

  “Yup, let’s go…” Landon said wearily as Sonora cranked up the radio in Dustin’s car. As “Buffalo Stance” began to play, a groan ripped from his throat.

  Before he pulled off, Landon pulled out his cell phone. Texting Letty, Landon typed, “Tell me you have him with you.”

  Not thirty seconds later, Letty replied, “Yup. I got him. Safe and sound.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  MILES WRAPPED HIS bath towel around his waist as he pulled a comb through his soaking wet black hair. Giving himself a once over, Miles walked out of the bathroom, towel wrapped tightly around his waist. Pushing open the door to Letty’s bedroom, he positioned himself in the doorway with a smoldering smile growing from his lips. Letty, who had cleared off the bed, peered down over her reading glasses at Miles as a bellowing laugh ripped from her mouth.

  “Well look what the cat drug in,” Letty said from a pair of pursed lips as she glared at Miles. The look in her eyes was a leth
al mixture of sex and scorn. Rage and redemption. Letty peered up at Miles with a pair of expectant eyes. Wearing an elegant white satin nightgown, Letty was even more beautiful than Miles remembered. Miles stared down at her, a look of pure need in his gaze.

  “Miles Capadonno… Mmmmmm…Mmmmmm…. Mmmmmm. Blast from my fucked up teenage past,” Letty said to Miles, eyeing him up and down, drinking him down like a delicious glass of chianti.

  Letty is saucy. I like that in a woman. Letty doesn’t look anything like the sweet teenager I left behind. She is so much more now.

  Moving her magazine off her lap, she placed it carefully on the nightstand beside her. Pulling back the covers, Letty patted the bed, and waved Miles on with a crook of her finger. Miles had a cocky look on his face as he crossed the room, not breaking eye contact with Letty.

  “You have no idea how long I’ve waited for this moment,” Letty said as she pulled Miles in bed with her. Curling her arms around his neck, Letty planted a kiss on Miles’s lips, taunting his animalistic nature out of its cage.

  A growl resonated from Miles’s throat as he laughed, “I think I have an idea.”

  Running his lips along the length of Letty’s jawline, Miles lost himself in the gentle scent of her shampoo as he left a trail of kisses along her jaw. Letty gasped as he sunk his teeth into the flesh of her neck, delicately nipping, seeking to get a rise out of Letty. It wasn’t hard. She was a woman whose blood ran hot, and Miles loved to see her passion boil over. Wrapping her legs around Miles’s body, Letty gave in, her need as desperate as Miles’s own. Every touch was a reminder, a flesh memory. Digging up reminders of the spark they shared in their youth. But this was much more than a spark, as they rediscovered each other’s bodies and reattached their souls to one another, a wildfire spread.

  The desperate loneliness and need and yearning that had tortured them for seventeen long years caused them to break into a frenzy. Passion washed over them like a wave, teetering them closer to the edge of combustion. It was a precarious balance between heaven and hell, insanity and ecstasy. As their bodies reached the boiling point, Miles laid a final kiss on Letty’s mouth before falling exhausted upon her breast. As her body quaked beneath him, Letty whispered in Miles’s ear, “Welcome home, baby.”

  Letty had fallen asleep next to Miles, as he lay on his back, eyes cemented to the ceiling. The hum of the ceiling fan above his head did nothing to lull him into slumber. Instead he watched the blades of the fan circle round and round, letting the cool air hit his face. Sleep never came easy for Miles. A great release of pressure had come with his first day out of prison. He could move about freely. He could do what he pleased. He could lie in bed next to a beautiful woman who was unquestionably devoted to him. Despite the freedom that he had earned though, Miles knew, there was still a set of shackles on his feet. The law no longer owned him, but the Capadonnos still laid claim to him. There were two ways out of the mob: die by the gun you lived by or enter witness protection. Neither of these options worked for Miles. In the wee hours of the morning, as Letty slept silently next to him, Miles cemented his plan.

  As the gears in Miles’s head churned, a high-pitched cry sounded from the next room over. Miles sat up in bed, looking over at Letty, who was sleeping soundly. It was a trying day for her as well.

  She must be exhausted, Miles thought as he climbed from the bed. Pulling on his jeans from yesterday, Miles quietly walked from the room to check on G. Cutting across the dark room, his bare feet hitting against the soft carpet, Miles turned on the lamp next to G’s crib. Upon doing so, the loudest of belly laughs emitted from the child, followed by a high-pitched squeal.

  “ILES!”

  “Yeah it’s me, kid. Early bird, huh? It’s only five thirty.”

  “Haha yeah…” G replied, clearly finding the situation amusing.

  “All right, lil’ man, come on. I might as well get up, too. Not like I’m getting any sleep,” Miles said as he lifted the little man from his crib. Lying him down on the changing table, Miles quickly changed the kid’s diaper, and tossed the old diaper into the pail that sat next to the door. Carrying G out of the room, Miles walked down the hallway and descended the staircase in search of something to eat.

  At around quarter to ten in the morning, Letty stirred in her bed. Reaching across the sheets for Miles, she was immediately panicked that he wasn’t lying next to her. Rising up in bed with a start, Letty looked around the room sleepily.

  “Jesus…” Letty said as the daylight blinded her sight. “What the hell time is it?”

  Looking over at her alarm clock, her eyes bugged when she read the 9:46 A.M.

  “What? Oh for fuck’s sake!” Letty snapped as she jumped out of bed. “What day is it? Holy shit, I’m losing it. It’s Saturday.”

  G typically woke Letty up well before dawn and that was fine by her, because she had errands to run before heading to the Capadonno compound to take care of Michael at noon each day. But on the weekends, she just needed to stop by to manage his medication and make sure his vitals were okay. There was a stand-by nurse that filled in for Letty on the weekends, but Michael didn’t like her much, and generally sent her home when any company arrived at the compound. The fact of the matter was, Michael trusted Letty, and that put enormous pressure on her shoulders to make sure that his medical care was handled appropriately seven days a week, twenty four hours a day.

  Rising from bed, Letty quickly pulled on her bathrobe. As she went to open her bedroom door, she found a note that was attached to the door with scotch tape. Pulling the note off the surface of the door, Letty unfolded the note immediately recognizing the handwriting as Miles’s.

  Letty,

  Little man got up at the ass crack of dawn. We ran out for a bit so I could get clothes. Knowing you, we’ll be back before you wake up. Maybe when you wake up we can go get some breakfast.

  Love,

  Miles

  P.S. Your ceiling fan is noisy as hell.

  Letty’s heart sped as she read the note, but immediately calmed when she saw that Miles had just gone out for a little while. If there was anyone that she trusted enough to handle her son, Gabriel, it was Miles. Calming down a little, Letty put the note on her dresser and opened her bedroom door. Miles was right. They were back before Letty had even opened her eyelids. The obnoxious sounds of The Wiggles belted from the TV in the living room, as the quartet of brightly dressed men sang G’s favorite tune “Hot Potato.” G was sitting in the middle of the living room in his wooden rocking chair, laughing loudly at his television program. Miles, who was sitting next to him on the rug, stared at the TV with a bewildered look on his face.

  “Kid’s shows have gotten much, much worse since the eighties… Holy shit,” Miles griped as he peered up to Letty as she walked down the stairs, one by one.

  “That’s his favorite,” Letty said with a laugh. “It could be worse. At least he grew out of his Barney the Dinosaur phase.”

  Miles remembered the purple singing dinosaur well. His brother, Landon, was more than a little obsessed with Barney.

  “Thank God,” Miles said with a laugh. “Did you sleep all right?” he asked Letty, his eyes looking bright despite the two hours of sleep he managed to capture.

  “Very well. You did not, though,” Letty said with a raised set of eyebrows.

  Miles shrugged. “I take what I can get.”

  “So you got new threads, huh?” Letty said as she admired Miles’s new jeans, boots and black Henley.

  “Yeah… Got some stuff for the kid, too.”

  Letty tried to think of what it was that G could possibly need, but when nothing came to mind, Letty asked.

  “What did you get him?”

  “Go ahead, G. Show Mommy your new kicks.”

  With a happy smile on his face, G rose from his rocking chair and toddled over to his mother at the foot of the stairs.

  “Look! Boots!”

  Letty laughed at her son as she admired the tiny biker boots that adorned h
is feet. They were almost identical to the ones that Miles was wearing.

  “Ha! They’re adorable!” Letty said with a broad grin on her face. Then looking up at Miles she said sheepishly, “You didn’t have to do that.”

  “I wanted to. Me and G, we’re buddies. Right kid?”

  “Right, dude!”

  “See?” Miles said with a smirk. “Now go get dressed. We’re starving.”

  “Okay, let me just get a quick shower.”

  “Hungry ma!”

  “Okay, okay! I’m hurrying!” Letty said as she ran back up the stairs. A moment later the bathroom door slammed shut as Letty began to get ready.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  KNOX CAPADONNO pulled up outside La Veranda Café with a stony look in his eyes. Stepping out of the car, he shook out his suit jacket, casting a glare up at the building. Glancing around him, Knox keenly eyed his surroundings, making sure that he wasn’t being trailed. The Carrion Strip shopping center was relatively empty. There were just a few shoppers carrying shopping bags to their cars. An elderly woman wearing a thick overcoat pushed a shopping cart towards the grocery store. Satisfied with the lack of traffic out and about on a Saturday at ten a.m., Knox walked through the front door of the café. In his breast pocket, his cell phone began to vibrate. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his phone and brought it to his ear.

  “Yeah…” Knox said as he answered the call.

  Dustin’s deep voice rattled through the end of the phone. “Yo, you still in town?”

  Knox winked at the barista as he held his cell phone to his ear.

  “Yeah. I’m in town ’til Monday morning. I’m due back in New York on Tuesday,” Knox said with a short tone. “Why, whaddya need?”

  “Old fucker’s gone off his rocker… again,” Dustin complained. “Threw his motherfucking glass of orange juice against the wall. This weekend nurse… She didn’t cook his eggs like Letty does. When the girl got sassy and said, technically, it wasn’t her job to cook for him, he fired her. Bitch just ran out of the house screaming.”