Taking Shots (Assassins, #1)(72)

“Nice to meet you,” he said dropping her hand, even when she tried to hold on. Shea looked past her as Elli’s brothers came up with their wives on their arms.

“Shea, my brother Liam, his wife, Adina, Liam, Adina, my boyfriend Shea Adler.” Liam took his hand in his, shaking just as strong as his dad did, even Adina had a good strong hand shake.

“Nice to meet you.”

“My other brother Noah, his wife, Lauren, Noah, Lauren, my boyfriend, Shea Adler,” Noah shook his hand hard, while Lauren just stared at him with her mouth hanging open. She must be the one that was in love with him. He smiled sweetly at her, causing her to blush deep red before she high tailed it out of there.

“My wife is a big fan,” Noah said with a grin. Shea smile.

“Yeah, Elli told me when I met the kids,” Shea said, taking Elli’s hand in his.

“Ellibelly, it’s so weird hearin’ you be called Elli,” Liam said to Elli before looking at Shea, “We never call her just Elli, it’s always been Ellibelly or Eleanor.”

Shea nodded, looking over at a very embarrassed Elli, “Daddy calls her Elli bug,” someone said, “Yeah, but that’s daddy,” someone else said, Shea wasn’t paying attention. He hated that Elli was getting embarrassed even though Grace had said it would happen. His sister warned him about this kind of stuff, but for some reason it still bothered him that Elli wasn’t comfortable. He wanted to leave because he knew she wanted to.

“Well, come on now, dinner is almost ready from what Miz Harris says,” Olivia said still staring at Shea, she was looking at him like he didn’t belong, or maybe she was looking at Elli like that, hell he didn’t know, the woman was creeping him out.

Everyone walked ahead, leaving Olivia and Michael with Shea and Elli.

“Shea, son, would you like a drink?”

“Yes, please,” Shea said. Michael motioned for Shea to follow him. Shea looked down at Elli, kissing her cheek before pulling her along with him.

“You want a beer, Elli bug?” Michael asked. Elli was about to answer but her mom beat her to it.

“Now honey, the girl has gained weight, it’s probably all the drinking she does,” Olivia said, Shea whipped his head back at Elli’s mother. She was looking Elli over with disgust all over her face. He looked over at Elli and saw the heat creeping up on her face.

“None of that now, Livie, leave Elli bug alone,” Michael said, handing Elli and Shea a beer.

“Whatever, when she gets as fat as she did, don’t say I didn’t warn y’all,” Olivia walked over to where they stood by the mini fridge, looking Elli over.

No wonder Elli didn’t like her mom.

“Livie, please,” Michael said taking a good long swig of his beer; Shea did the same, as Elli downed hers.

“I mean, Eleanor, why don’t you belch at the end honey! No wonder you’re gaining weight again, how much have you gained? Six, eight pounds?”

“For the love of God,” Elli muttered, throwing her bottle in the trash, “Isn’t it time to eat?”

“We might need to skip it to save you from yourself.”

Elli looked up at the ceiling; it looked like she was counting. Shea didn’t know what to say or do, he felt so helpless.

“Now that’s enough, Olivia, not another word,” Michael said grabbing a hold of her arm and directing her out the room, “Come on now kids, let’s eat.” Shea watched as they walked before turning to Elli, who was grabbing another beer. When he turned her, he saw the tears in her eyes.

“Baby, don’t let her get to you.”

“Just let it be, Shea,” she said walking past him.

Great, this was going to be f*cking great.





It was going just as Elli thought it would go, straight to hell. How the hell her mother knew how much weight she had gained would always be a mystery to her, but the woman always got it right. And, of course, her brothers would bring up her god awful nickname, and Victoria’s attempts at flirting with Shea were expected, but what she didn’t expect was Shea to just completely ignore her.

God, he was perfect.

They all gathered in the first dining room since it was bigger, and classier as her mother always said, it also sat fifteen people if needed. The room was straight out of Better Homes and Gardens. Classy white, with light blue accents, some of Elli’s prints of the kids hung on the wall, not like her mother would ever own up to it, though.

Shea pulled out Elli’s chair when they reach the table, and Elli flashed him a smile as she sat, the smile fell when she saw her mother sit next to her and Victoria in front of her.

Great.

Everyone else sat down, her daddy at the other end of the table, beside Adina and Lauren since Liam and Noah wanted to sit beside Shea. As Mrs. Harris and the rest of the kitchen came out to serve dinner, the guys started talking hockey. Liam and Noah were dumbass about hockey so they basically listen as Shea talked about the last Assassins game and how they won. When all the food was laid out and after her daddy said grace, everyone dug in.

Shea was looking around the room as he ate; he did that a lot, Elli noticed. Always took in the scenery, another reason she just adored him, because she did the same.

“I have to say, your children are beautiful,” Lauren and Adina grinned big as Liam and Noah kept eating.