An adventurous assassin gets called to Small Heath to kill Thomas Shelby. She soon learns just how much the decision to accept this mission changes her. Thomas Shelby stirs long unfelt feelings, and she struggles to decide the fate of her future.
Thomas felt the hairs on his arms stand as the sound of shovels hitting dirt flooded the silence of the tunnel. He felt the ache in his chest from the pounding of his heart when Danny whispered his name and moved around him to stand directly in front of the wall of the tunnel. The Germans were digging through, it wouldn't be a minute before they were successful, and death would follow. Theirs, his, one of his brothers. Tommy crouched low to strengthen his stance, feeling every second pass, as if they physically fell on his shoulders.
No...this wasn't...it couldn't...he had to be quick....He had to wake. He worked his way from sleep to consciousness, just needing out, out, out. The light of the morning stung his eyes from their abrupt open, but the relief of filtering what was his reality over what was his past overpowered the pain.
When his sight focused, he saw that the ceiling was painted with floral garlands and birds. Even with the glass wall attached to a balcony overlooking the fields of the manor, he felt claustrophobic and restless. A screw tightened somewhere deep in his chest. The thrilling sequence of the memories that ran on a never ending loop in his mind were so fucking chilling that he was surprised Celia couldn't feel it. Celia.
Thomas turned to look at her, she laid on her side facing away from him.
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He hadn't woken her up to this. He took a breath of relief, and another, until the images in his mind slowly vanished to the back of his mind, where he actively worked to keep them during the day. Thomas wished there was one night, he could dream and not be swept with chills. One night he could meet a beautiful woman, bring her home, and have an unbelievable night of fucking, without fear of waking her up to his troubles. Thomas scoffed, at least he got part of his wish.
As if she could hear him thinking of her, Celia turned on her other side to face him, still asleep. The night of the Cheltenham races, she'd looked up at him when he'd walked up to Mr Kimber's table. If he hadn't looked away as quickly as he had, he would have stopped with the motions of his plan, because looking at her did a strange thing to his throat and chest. He immediately knew she was familiar, because he'd lived the same reaction to a woman who'd walked past him at the Leaky Tea Rooms. That day he'd been lucky enough that she was walking away from him, because it made it easier for him to look away. Unbelievably, the hours with her proved just how bland the fact of her beauty was to the shadow of truth to who she was. This woman was something else entirely.
Thomas remembered the previous night. Their act in the kitchen had continued with a second round in her bedroom, with her on top. He remembered the feeling of her lips on his, the touch of her hands, and the warmth of her body as he came undone against her. His blood rushed south. What was wrong with him? One day with Celia, and he was taken back to the days before he'd first stuck his dick in a woman.
Thomas got out of the bed.
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He found the pieces of his suit - trousers, shirt, vest, jacket, tie - on the floor and put them on. With every layer, his thoughts succumbed to silence. He was left to listen to the stray drops of rain hit the ground outside. The thumping of shovels came to mind, and the hair on his arms immediately stood up again. He sighed and shook out his trousers to produce any kind of noise for his mind to focus on. He wished for just a fucking moment that he could remember what it was like to be in silence with a sense of peace.
"You know the trick to sneaking out of a woman's bed in the morning is avoiding noise." Celia said, voice gently teasing.
Thomas breathed a short chuckle as she sat up in the bed, pulling the comforter over her breasts and under her arms.
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She ran her hand through her hair.
The same strange feeling in his throat and chest stirred, untightening the screw in his chest. He wanted to say something to her, but he couldn't.
He'd lost his mind. It's like whatever mechanism that controlled his mouth had stopped interfacing with his brain, and it was the same with his heart, which was hammering like he'd just closed a business deal, when in fact he was just standing in front of a woman. He should leave. Go home to Small Heath and forget the last couple of days.
Even though he straightened up to go, he couldn't actually make his body walk away from her.
"Is everything okay?" She asked. He may have been staring for too long.
"Have a drink with me tomorrow night." He finally found his voice. Her eyes widened, and he realised his words surprised her. Then there was a flash of want in her eyes before she dampened it down.
"That's not what this- I mean we can't." She didn't finish, but Tommy heard a guardedness in her voice. Then he remembered what he already knew, but had conveniently forgotten in the rose smell of her skin, the soft touch of her mouth. Which is that if the two of them left the comfort of her home together, the world they lived in would try to chew them up and spit them out. Tommy was sure she'd watched her parents experience similar circumstances.
"Did your mother say no to your father the first time he asked for her company?" Tommy asked, moving to tie his tie.
Celia blinked slowly at him, her lashes going down and then up, her expression unreadable. Her lips parted as if to say something, and then closed. She looked away.
Thomas stopped, before tightening his tie to his throat. He moved towards her, and then stopped when her copper tinted eyes looked at him again. "Celia, I don't care," he stressed.
"And what if I do?" she asked. It was a fair sentiment. It wouldn't be the first time his lifestyle cost him. The two of them might not make sense on paper, but he wanted her, and her not wanting him sent something clawing through his chest.
"The life I live isn't one, I'll live forever. I plan on changing my lifestyle." Thomas slid his hands into his pockets. "And I want you with me."
"That's a lot to say to a woman you barely know."
Thomas sat down on the bed. "What I do know, I like," he said. She smiled, but didn't say anything for a few seconds. Then she reached out and fixed his tie, pulling on the fabric so it tightened properly around his neck.
"So you want to live above the rules?" She asked, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth, and all Tommy could do was nod. "Okay, but I get to pick the place."
