Eli (Mallick Brothers 4)

"This is Ryan," Dusty said, moving in next to him, her hand, oddly, at her throat, like she was trying to rub away something there.

Ryan leaned down, kissing her temple, whispering Breathe to her.

"It's nice to meet you," I said, giving him a smile because I truly did mean that. I was happy to meet them all, to get to know the people that helped shape Eli into the man he had become.

I glanced over, seeing Fee and Hunt in a circle with Eli and Becca.

"Come on," Peyton said, linking her arm through mine, giving Ryan and Dusty a smile. "Let's go mingle while your man gets reacquainted. You know," she said loudly enough for all to hear, clearly trying to lighten the mood, "it is an absolute shame to be in a room with this many good-looking men when not one of them seems single. And who are you?" she asked, stopping in front of one of aforementioned good-looking men. This one, I was pretty sure, wasn't a Mallick. His coloring was off, his hair a little darker, his eyes brown, his bone structure, while drool-worthy, was different. If anything, oddly, he looked almost like a male version of Scotti.

"Kingston, honey," he said, giving her a warm, brotherly smile. "I'm Scotti's brother. And that," he said, waving out, happy to make introductions, "is Atlas. And there's Nixon. And, finally, over there, is Rush."

"Strange names," Peyton declared as one of the guys - Atlas - moved in closer.

"Yeah?" he asked, head ducked to the side as he looked at her. "Says the chick with a name associated with a mini skirt and nosy school board."

There was a pause, Peyton's eyes going wide. They didn't know it, but I did. That look was a rare one for her. She was impressed.

"Was that just a Harper Valley P.T.A. reference?"

His smile was charmed, happy, it was clear, that she got it. "Sure was."

"You're on your own," Peyton said, turning to me, slapping her spoon down in my hand, then linking her arm through Atlas' and leading him away.

"I like her," Fee declared, stepping in beside me. "She's got balls. And don't worry; there won't be any jealous woman brawls. Atlas is the only single one of Scotti's brothers."

My head swiveled, looking for Eli, finding him in a circle with his brothers, looking completely uncomfortable, his jaw tight, his stance stiff, but not quite freaking out.

"There was a little bit of drama that went down on his release day," Scotti explained, moving in next to her brother, watching the Mallick men. "No one could get in touch with him, and they were worried something might go down, and he would be unprepared."

I could feel my eyes rounding, my pulse starting to pound.

See, that was the weird thing.

I didn't get to see Eli being a loanshark, being a criminal, so even though I knew that was his past, I didn't exactly associate him with it. It was a bit, ah, sobering, to hear his past might have been coming back to bite him in the ass.

"Don't worry. It turned out that it was nothing, but they are likely just filling him in on all that drama," Scotti explained.

"He looks like he wants to bolt," Fiona observed.

"He's tense today," I agreed. "This was how he was when he first got out. He was rigid and guarded. Slowly, he's been letting that go. But when he woke up this morning, yeah, he was like this."

"He will adjust," Scotti said, voice hopeful.

He would.

That was true.

The biggest feat was getting him in the door.

"I honestly had no faith in you," Lea declared as she walked up, handing me a glass of red wine. "I don't mean to be offensive," she clarified. "It just seemed like such a pipe dream. But you did it," she said with a smile as she clinked her glass to mine.

"Actually, I didn't," I admitted. "I wasn't comfortable going behind his back, so that night, I told him what happened. And we didn't talk about it again."

"But you're here," Lea said, brows furrowed.

"I honestly don't know what the change was. He brought it up to me. This was all his choice. I didn't want to pressure him."

They nodded, seeming to understand, obviously not caring about the how so long as he was there.

"Is Becca okay?" Scotti asked.

Fee shrugged a shoulder. "She's too stubborn to admit it even if she was upset. She's with Helen in the kitchen getting the gravy ready."

"She looked broken up," Kingston observed.

"She was six when he went away," Fee agreed. "She asked me where Uncle Eli was every single time the family got together for over a year."

"I almost wish my guys had a recollection of him," Scotti started, then winced. "Is that bad to say?"

"No," I said, shaking my head. "I understand that. I'm sure he wishes he knew who, well," I paused, but there was no delicate way to phrase it, "any of the kids are."