Bancroft - Peaky Blinders Reverse Harem x Reader

Chapter 13

The sound of my name falling from a Shelby brother's lips in hushed tones is the only thing that can distract me from my embarrassment the next morning.

I freeze at the base of the stairs. I've just mustered up the courage to venture out of my room, my cheeks burning at the thought of coming face-to-face with John Shelby.

But they're talking about me. And they're only getting louder.

"...We gotta tell her, Tom. It don't feel right, not anymore. Next time he's up here waving a gun in her face—"

"There won't be a next time," Tommy's voice sharply cuts Arthur off. "If any of you are so careless again, you'll wish it was another man's gun in your face, and not me. That understood?"

"Fucking 'ell, Tom," John mumbles. "She's got a right to know."

There's silence for a few moments. My heart hammers in my chest, thumping furiously against muscle and bone. What are they not telling me?

I worry the silence means the conversation has ended, but then Tommy speaks again.

"We'll put it to a vote," he says. "Just like when she came here in the first place. If you'll recall, we were unanimous at the time."

"Things changed," Arthur replies. "She's under threat now. One target on her back's bad enough. Two, we don't stand a chance."

"All those in favour of telling Bancroft the truth?" Tommy says.

I wait with bated breath, but have no way of seeing who raises their hand. I don't dare draw any closer to the room, for fear of being heard.

"As I thought," Tommy says in his low voice. "Those in favour of continuing as we begun?" Another silence.

"That settles it, then," he says. "A tie-vote means no change."

"Fuck you, Michael," I hear John mutter. "You're only voting what Tommy does."

Tommy begins to speak with all the air of patiently explaining a simple concept to a toddler. "If we tell her now, she'll react. She'll be angry. Angry at the situation, angry that we kept it from her. Who knows what she'll do?"

"Then, when?" Arthur asks. "Eh? When she turns twenty-five? Send her off into the world, not a clue what she's in for?"

"She'll have a clue," Tommy says, less of the patience in his tone now. I can tell by the way the words leave him he has a cigarette in his mouth. "She's with us. She'll learn everything she needs to know."

The door opens at the end of the hallway. I move without thinking, darting through an open door into the closest room, realising too late it's John's office. I pull the door until it's almost shut, holding the handle and praying nobody thinks to come in.

Thomas Shelby's footsteps ring through the hallway, but they're moving in the other direction. The front door opens and shuts again. Silence once more. He's gone.

I clench my jaw. I refuse to hide in here like a little mouse, pretending I didn't hear everything they just fucking said. No. Tommy's gone, and I'm going to get some answers.

I pull the door open and stomp out, ready to interrogate the three of them until they crack, but I walk right into something solid.

Solid, and wearing a lined suit.

"Bancroft?" John Shelby takes me by the shoulders, raising an eyebrow. "What are you doing in my office?"

My eyes flash with embarrassment, then anger. But his face only breaks out into a grin.

"Waiting for me, were you?" He asks with a wink. "Wanting a live-action replay of last night?"

"Choke on your own saliva," I say calmly.

He lets out a laugh, seemingly pleased by my insult. "You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"Let me make one thing clear," I say. "Close. Your. Fucking. Door. If you choose to bring a hundred women back here and fuck them so loud we can all hear, well, there's not much I can do about that. But at least don't subject me to having to actually see you go at it."

He cocks his head. "You didn't enjoy it then?" He asks.

My heart isn't thumping anymore; judging by the fluttering in my stomach, it seems to have fallen out of my ass and onto the floor.

"No."

He grins. He doesn't have to say that I'm lying. He knows it. Knows that deep beneath my embarrassment, I've been struggling to rid my head of the image of him naked ever since I saw.

"Well." He pulls a strand of hair from my face, tucks it behind my ear. "You ever change your mind, you know where I am. Which reminds me." He pulls himself upright. "What the fuck are you doing in my office, if not for that?"

I scowl. "Wondering what exactly you're all keeping from me."

John's lips fall open for only a second before he's recovered. "No idea what you mean," he says smoothly.

I reach behind him, my body close against his as I grasp the doorknob and pull it shut. "I think you do. And you're going to tell me." The latch clicks into place. "Right now."

He hesitates for a moment, his face pained. "Tommy would kill me... It's not worth it," he finally decides.

"Fuck you, if it's not worth it." I cross my arms over my chest.

"Sorry, Bancroft." To his credit, he truly does look it. "If you want answers, you'll have to get them from Tommy."

I swallow, eyes flickering helplessly across my surroundings for a moment. "Fine," I decide. "I'll just ask Arthur."

"You can try," John shrugs. "But he's not about to betray Tommy, either."

"Then tell me where Tommy is." My teeth clench so hard, pain shoots through my gums. "Right now."