“Thank goodness for that.” Relief lives there. A faint, brief flicker at the edge of his grin.

“Well it’s not a pretty habit, I’ll grant you, but needs must as they say. I’m a man with few resources and even fewer friends.”

Hangdog in his glance, deferential down through the set of his shoulders to the gentle press of his hand as it slides nearer to his heart. Not overplayed, only natural, that progression, made all the more potent by truth.

“Besides, I always pay my debts— in the end. If I’d known you were on my side, I certainly would’ve treated you kinder.”

His bad, Ellis.