Kelly Ralston was of average height, but wearing tan leather boots, she was just four inches taller. She had auburn hair and light brown eyes. She was wearing a dark leather jacket over top of a light blue tee-shirt. Her jeans were tight fitting… and she was gorgeous. Rob whistled under his breath.
"Well, Stella. It looks like you've got a run for your money." Rob muttered. Stella stared at him.
"Or, maybe, Rob… you do." Stella pointed to Lyle. Rob, Charlie and Stella all looked over at him. Lyle was sitting there, his back straight and stiff as a board. His green eyes sparked with intrigue. His face broke out into an almost embarrassing grin. He shut his laptop tentatively and made an attempt to straighten up his hair.
"Oh, bloody hell. Looks like poor Lyle over here has got a crush on the new girl!" Rob groaned. Left Ear smiled knowingly and patted Lyle on the back.
"Dude… you don't stand a chance. Not when Handsome Rob is in the picture." Left Ear mumbled so that only Lyle could hear. Lyle pretended not to hear him. Kelly entered the garage, shutting the door on her way in. Charlie turned toward the group.
"Guys… this is Kelly Ralston." Charlie said, waving his hands across the group. He introduced each one of them individually:
"That's Lyle Brook. He's my computer genius- well… my standard computer genius. You know he's who really invented Napster? At least that's how Lyle tells it. Said Shawn Fanning was his roommate in college and stole his idea."
"That's Left Ear. Demolition and explosives. When he was ten, he put one too many M-80s in the toilet bowl... lost the hearing in his right ear. He's been blowing stuff up ever since."
"Stella Bridger. Our top safe-cracker. Her father was my hero and mentor, John Bridger."
"And Handsome Rob. Premier wheel man. Once drove all the way from Los Angeles just so he could set the record for longest freeway chase. You know he got 110 love letters sent to his jail cell from women who saw him on the news?" Kelly nodded at all of them and smiled.
"So… you're the guys who did the Italian Job." Kelly grinned and clapped her hands together, "God, my dad has told me all about the Bridger's and Charlie and... well that amazing maneuver you guys pulled off," she beamed.
"Wait… how do you know about us?" Rob asked. Charlie smiled and looked at Kelly.
"Wait a minute! Your last name is Ralston right?" Stella asked.
"Yep." Kelly flashed a smile. Stella had picked up on exactly who Kelly's father was.
"You're Peter Ralston's daughter?" Stella asked. Both Kelly and Charlie nodded.
"Oh my god. My father told me all about your father! They went to college together and they had their first job together. And then your dad met Isabella Bianchi and they went through this whole tumultuous relationship and then Isabella went missing and your father pulled out of the business!" Stella's eyes lit up, she couldn't believe that she was standing in front of Kelly Ralston, Peter and Isabella Ralston's daughter!
"And then, you transferred to Italy with your father to maybe find Isabella and you got kidnapped and then found out that the kidnapping was a set up to get to your mother and father! But your mother found you before your captors could get to her or your dad! And then your mother trained you to fight and you- you shot the leader of the gang that kidnapped you!" Stella rambled on, but Kelly interrupted her.
"Actually, Stella… my mother shot Alonzo Russo." Stella looked over at Kelly.
"Really? It wasn't you?" she asked. Kelly shook her head.
"Nope. I wasn't that good when we found him." Left Ear stood up and went over to Kelly.
"So wait… then how did you end up being a computer genius?" he asked. Kelly smiled and looked over at Stella.
"I think Stella can tell that story even better than I can." Stella nodded.
"Well, she moved out to America again after she- Isabella- killed Russo. And she continued to help her father out during jobs, and her mother stayed at home and paid the bills with some of the job money, and by the time Kelly was… I don't know… twelve…" Kelly nodded in approval at Stella's estimate, "She was twelve when she planned and pulled off her very own heist." Charlie nodded
approvingly and everyone else was stunned that this brand new girl to be added to the group was that good.
"So she went back to Italy under a fake name--"
"—Emiliana Smith."
"Yeah, Emiliana Smith, and she studied computers there and online courses at Harvard and she had a job working for an architectural firm in Italy. And while she was doing all of that… she still pulled off job after job after job. And then her mother called her one day and said that her father had a heart attack and she went back and she stopped doing jobs for a while. God, you're one of the most successful people out there in the underground job world!" Stella beamed and just hugged Kelly. Kelly laughed and smiled.
"Okay, are you writing a dissertation on me or something?" she joked, hugging Kelly back. Left Ear and Rob turned toward Lyle, who was still sitting at his desk. His eyes were fixated on Kelly and he looked at her with pride and absolute fascination.
"Oi. Mate. Stella's got more competition with Lyle than I do." Rob said, nudging Left Ear. Left Ear laughed at his remark and grinned, turning back to the rest of the group.
