Another love

Part Twenty-Two

(Trigger warning! Mentions of domestic violence)

As usual, the Eden Club was in full swing, the club was filled with fumes of alcohol and drugs, with people dancing and participating in basically anything because, at the Eden Club, anything went.
Sarah was drinking and laughing with Sabini's cousin when she thought she heard Tommy's voice,
"Irish whiskey. Bottle."
She immediately tensed hoping she was wrong, but it was when she heard Arthur shouting for the waiter to 'hurry up' that she knew she was in trouble. Sarah caught the cousin's gaze as he looked over her shoulder, she knew it was her paranoia because her back was facing him, but she could have sworn Tommy was staring at her. Thankfully, someone else has reported the blinder's presence and sensing what was about to happen, she excused herself and weaved her way to the bar so that they wouldn't see her. As she suspected all hell broke loose as there were sounds of smashing glasses, screams and the loudest of all Arthur Shelby's gravely tone, she took a deep breath and made sure her back was facing them at all times as she heard The music stop and Tommy starting to shout

"We came here not to make enemies. No. We came here to make new friends! Those of you who are last will soon be first. And those of you who are downtrodden will rise up. Yup. You know where to find us."

She flinched when she saw John square up against a man who wasn't standing too far away from her. This time Sarah was certain that Tommy had seen her, she'd turned around just as he put his cap back on, his eyes had caught hers, but she quickly leaned into the man next to her so that Tommy couldn't do a double take without walking over to them. Sarah stayed at the Eden Club eyeing every person up, still contemplating her next move, she could see one of the men she was waiting for about to leave, so she decided to risk it

"Excuse me, can you pass me a pen?" Sarah asked the barman, who glared at the woman until he realised who it was, he quickly handed it over as she slid a napkin in front of her, she quickly scribbled the address before gripping the Jewish associate tight by the arm, she pushed the napkin into his hand and nodded at him to leave, he frowned but walked off with it.

Once the club had emptied Sarah ended up sleeping at  Sabini's house, except she didn't sleep at all, she spent the whole night worrying about the repercussions that Tommy's actions would have on Ada, she had the bruises on her body to prove that he wasn't above hurting a woman, but it was the next morning when she heard Sabini giving orders that she decided that she needed to go to Tommy instead of Ada. He'd told his men that they would be going to Small Heath to finish Tommy off, she couldn't go with them without arising suspicions, so instead, she waited until they left and drove herself to Small Heath, she knew the journey better than they did so she didn't have to worry about them spotting her.
It wasn't hard to follow Sabini and his men to Tommy, the hard bit was having to stay in the shadows and not running over to help him as she heard him trying to speak through all the blood that was in his mouth

"Sabini."

"Don't say my name. Jesus! Franco, take my name out of his mouth. While you're in there, do a bit of digging for gold. Pay for the petrol,"

Sarah had to cover her mouth to stop her from screaming as she heard the sound of both Tommy's grunts of pain and the crunching from Franco pulling out his gold tooth.

"You see how much I know about you? I even know what's in your fucking mouth. Look at me. Look at me! Look at me. You take up with the Jews. Yeah, you think that's what London's all about. You can just come down, pick a side. You fucking clown!"

From the corner of her eye Sarah could see a man approaching from the corner, using a cane for support, she slowly moved forward and nodded in the direction of the violent scene. He eyed her suspiciously, but he'd obviously understood because the next thing she heard was police whistles and Sabini and his gang scatter from the scene of the crime. Sarah slowly moved out of the shadows and toward where Tommy was, she was about to walk over to see him when Campbell spoke, looking at her as he walked over to Tommy

"I suppose we should see if the bastard's still alive." He said as he leaned over him. Sarah quickly ran away towards her car, so that Campbell wouldn't find out who she was.

Sarah was shaking from head to toe as she got home, both from the rain and the sight of a bloody Tommy, no doubt there would be hell to pay from Sabini the next day when he found she'd stayed at her flat instead of their house, well his house. He only had Sarah there for his own pleasure or to show off his beautiful fiancé. She was due to meet Ada for lunch at the end of the week and was preparing herself for the news of Tommy's possible death, she spent the whole night crying from the uncertainty of Tommy's life, but when she hadn't heard any news she took it to mean he was alive.

**********

Just like she thought there was hell to pay the next day when Sabini questioned her about her whereabouts the previous night, and when she couldn't give him a good enough answer she paid the price with a broken rib before having to stroke his ego for the rest of the week. Sometimes Sarah questioned whether her plan was worth it, she was more than capable of killing him, but she knew then she wouldn't get what she wanted out of him. When the day came for her to meet Ada for lunch, she was surprised by how the day itself had turned out.....