Crown of a Prince (Finn Shelby)

35.

Ailbhe made her way to the gym quickly, leaving the two peaky boys Tommy had made her take with her for security at the door. They weren't new faces, both boys having been a few years ahead of her in school and always dying to be a real 'Peaky Blinder'. The way they took orders from Tommy and his brothers, the way they avoided Ailbhe's eyes and shifted nervously all made Ailbhe sure they regretted the way they used to tease Ailbhe Kennedy for her accent in the playground.

She strode in past the front doors and walked past the man who stood taking names at the door. He didn’t look up or look at her properly, he just smelt women’s perfume and saw a woman try get access to his men’s only gym and he wasn’t going to let that happen.
 
“Oi, little lady! Men only” Ailbhe heard him shout after her.
 
She stopped in her tracks and turned around. The man’s face went pale as the colour drained out of his face and he realised who he had just shouted at, who he had just called ‘little lady’. Everyone in Birmingham knew who Ailbhe Kennedy was and more important what family she belonged to.
 
Ailbhe tilted her head at him and raised her eyebrows, waiting.
 
“I’m so sorry Miss Kennedy, do forgive me” He blurted out, finally finding his words.
 
People had lost their eyes for disrespecting peaky blinders before and he definitely didn’t want it to happen to him. She smiled sweetly and yet he knew that at the drop of a hat, she could have his gym taken off him. She turned back around and walked straight past all of the ‘men only’ signs.
 
She cast her eyes around the gym, looking for Finn and Isiah but also Bonnie and his father. She spotted Finn and Isiah first, they were fighting in one of the rings that were raised up above ground level. She stayed back, just watching them and waiting for them to finish. She didn’t want to distract them and being honest, she liked the view. Finn was pumped and breathing heavily as he swung for Isiah and landed a punch in Isiah’s stomach. She watched him duck and dive, avoiding Isiah’s punches with skill. He was quick on his feet and despite being lighter than Isiah, he was faster and more agile. His arms had gotten stronger, his shoulders broader in the past few months and Ailbhe had been pleased to notice the changes.
 
The man at the side of the ring rang a bell, indicating the end of their round and the two friends stopped fighting and bumped gloves. They were laughing at something Finn had said when they turned and saw Ailbhe standing behind them. Finn’s eyes widened in surprise to see her
 
“Ailbhe, what you doing here?” He panted slightly, his face shining in sweat that also shone on his chest that was bare. She felt herself lost for a moment, admiring the way the veins on his forearms protruded and how his arms looked.
 
Finn grinned, knowing she was staring as he took a drink of water.
 
“Alv?” he asked, trying to get her attention away from staring.
 
She snapped her eyes back up to his knowing she had been caught staring and admiring him.
 
“Tom sent me, there’s someone to fight Bonnie and I thought I’d come and thank Mr Gold for... for carrying out the retribution for me” She stammered a little on her words.
 
It had been less than twenty-four hours since her brush with death itself and it was still strange to discuss. She had put on a long-sleeved shirt that had a bit of a collar but one could still notice the marks on her neck, the bruises on her wrist.
 
“So, you didn’t come to see me?” Finn asked, raising his eyebrows with his cocky smirk on his lips.
 
She felt herself smiling but rolled her eyes at him.
 
“No, now get back to work” she snapped but she was still smiling.
 
Sighing, he took another sip of water and nodded, knowing that their trainer would be on his back soon to get back to work.
 
“Bonnie is over there, so is Aberama” Finn told her, nodding his head in their direction.
 
Ailbhe cast a glance where he nodded and saw Bonnie in another ring. He had destroyed his opponent as usual. He was skipping at the ringside and she made eye contact with him. He smiled and nodded his head at Ailbhe. She smiled back and looked back to Finn, caught by surprise when he leaned in and pressed a kiss to her lips in the middle of the gym. He slipped a hand around her waist and to her back, kissing her for a moment more and really laying his claim. When he pulled back, she rolled her eyes at him.
 
“Was that for me or for Bonnie Gold?” she remarked, feigning irritation.
 
But Finn just winked at her, pulling away and casting a look towards Bonnie Gold who had seen it all. He looked relatively unbothered as far as Ailbhe was concerned but she silently hoped maybe that would put a stop to his advances.
 
“Oi! Shelby get back in that fucking ring before I cut out your eyes myself” A man shouted behind Ailbhe clearly not impressed with Finn’s little break he had taken.
 
The man who had shouted came up beside Ailbhe, casting her a glance and speaking softly to her
 
“No offence intended towards yourself Miss Kennedy of course” He told her, trying to make it clear that he was not disrespecting her in any way that could be misconstrued as insulting.
 
 “None taken Sir” she replied, smiling and watching Finn climb back into the ring. He looked in her direction once more, giving her a wink.
 
She made her way over to where Aberama Gold stood, leaning against the ring that Bonnie had been fighting in.
 
“Mr Gold” Ailbhe greeted him, going to stand next to him.
 
He tilted his hat at her, beady eyes looking straight into hers.
 
“I doubt you’re coming here to fight Miss Kennedy although from what I hear you are quite the fighter.”  
 
He commented, casting his eyes sideways to take a look at her. She looked herself and yet Aberama noticed the red marks around her neck, the bruises on her wrists and how she looked a little more tired and pale than usual beneath the make-up.
 
“When I have to be Mr Gold” she replied, her eyes avoiding his and her fingers tugging at her collar in attempts to hide her injuries.
 
Aberama and Bonnie were impressed. She didn’t want them thinking she was weak or compromised. She had fire and toughness that ran deep. She wasn’t like some of the women that surrounded powerful men. She was her own force in itself. They had heard plenty about how clever she was, how intuitive and how she had kept Tommy Shelby’s race horse industry turning over more money than they knew what to do with but they had also heard how she was as tough as nails. Tommy and Arthur had told them about the men who attacked her, how one lay face down in a shallow grave without his hands, eyes and tongue but also how she had stabbed him in the neck with a letter opener. She was no victim, they saw that now.
 
“Therefore, I assume you come bearing news” He added, looking back at Bonnie who was skipping faster than Ailbhe thought was humanly possible.
 
“Who am I fighting first?” Bonnie asked, putting his skipping rope down and he had barely broken a sweat.
 
“He goes by the name Goliath. He fights out of Camden Town” She told them, relaying the information Tommy had given her.
 
Bonnie nodded his head, not caring who was going to be opposite him in the ring because he was going to win. He knew it.
 
Ailbhe cleared her throat, looking at the trainer who stood behind them. She stared at him, waiting for him to leave them. He got the hint and made himself busy elsewhere.
 
“That’s not the only reason I came today” Ailbhe spoke up, trying not to sound hoarse from the pain in her throat and neck.
 
Bonnie and Aberama turned to face her, waiting for her to explain.
 
“I wanted to thank you, for what you did this morning” She looked up at them, a flash of vulnerability showing in her eyes.
 
Tommy had told them that the Italians had attacked Ailbhe, in attempts to kill her. He also told them that they had intended to rape her before killing her. It had set the men on edge to think that there were savages like the Changretta’s men on the streets of Birmingham, who would harm women in a way that was so violent and cruel. They would have carried out the killings for free they had told Tommy but he insisted on paying them.
 
“No thanks necessary Miss Kennedy” Aberama shook his head.
 
She looked between the father and son, her eyes giving away her emotions that she was still processing. She understood no more needed to be said  but she had wanted them to know she was grateful.
 
“Tommy will bring you both to meet Goliath tomorrow morning” she nodded, gathering her composure and readying to leave.
 
“Miss Kennedy?” Aberama called her back for a moment.
 
She turned back to face them.
 
“If I may say, you and young Finn Shelby make a charming couple” Aberama told her, nodding his head at her and keeping his eyes on hers.
 
“Thank you, Mr Gold,” she nodded, pulling a smile on her face “I certainly think so”.
 
Ailbhe didn’t see any malice in his eyes and yet she couldn’t help but feel like there was a threat in there somewhere, a warning that he knew something about her that she didn’t want known, that he had one up on her. It didn’t frighten her, nor make her feel uneasy but she thought about it numerous times on her way home and what it would mean for her to rely on Aberama Gold to keep a secret of hers, what it would mean to perhaps be indebted to one of the country's most lethal hired guns.