Bancroft - Peaky Blinders Reverse Harem x Reader

Chapter 42

Another week passes by in a blur of buttercups and iced water — and a foul-tasting tea of Polly's that brings on my menstruation. Just as Tommy predicted, my leg almost fully heals, leaving only a stiff soreness in the muscles each morning or in the cold.

He works, and I oversee the horses, carefully bringing them back to the stables under different names and from different 'sellers' using the 'insurance money' to record on our books. I begin to settle.

Sometimes, in my wildest moments, I even think I might be capable for the life ahead of me. Wisps of thoughts pass me by in the dead of the night, thoughts that Tommy and I could do it together. That if he were by my side and running things, there wouldn't be a man in all of England able to stop us.

We camp again, this time on a clear night with every star in the sky visible. I mount a horse once more. Life is good.

We ride back to Small Heath, and I'm laughing at some sarcastic remark he's made about me saddling my own horse, until we see an unfamiliar car outside of the house.

And a woman, stood at the door, arguing with Arthur.

I freeze. I can't even breathe, can't even pull the reins to stop.

Her hat is pale blue.

"Bancroft," Tommy warns me softly.

But I cannot respond. I can't turn back to him.

"Bancroft," he tries again, but I slip down from the saddle and walk to the house, in a haze.

"...Right fucking now, or I'll break in every fucking window."

"Go ahead and try it," Arthur snarls. I see the glint of his gun. "See how it ends for you."

"Arthur," I say, the word falling free now my senses are beginning to return. "Don't. That's... that's my mother."

She turns around, and it truly is her. Her face is more bloated, her eyes darker, but it's her. She gasps in relief and dashes forward, throwing her arms around me in a hug.

I can do no more than stand stiffly.

"I've been searching for you everywhere," she weeps. "Now that your father's gone, I could finally come and find you..."

Tommy's voice is sharp beside us. "Now the police have allowed you back in the country."

She turns to Tommy, and her lips are a thin line. "Thomas Shelby," she says. "We finally meet in person."

I glance between them, confused. Tommy's appraising her with a cold stare that nobody could endure — indeed, she soon blinks and looks away.

"In person?" I repeat.

"Your mother's been trying to get her hands on your money from the moment she found out your father died," Tommy says. "Stole enough gold in New York to hire a lawyer, who looked into the will and such."

"How dare you," Mother snaps. "I have been trying to get back to my daughter for years." She looks at me, her eyes pleading. "Your father was a wicked man. You know this. He framed me completely, made up all sorts of lies and documents so he could get a divorce. But I'm here now." She squeezes my hand. "We can be a family."

I look back at Tommy. "Why didn't you tell me?" I ask.

"Because you deserve so much better than to be broken all over again," he says.

My head spins. I'm paralysed.

"Come inside," Arthur tells me quietly. "Let us sort this out."

But mother pulls herself up in triumph. "The will is void," she says. "My daughter has a guardian. And let's not pretend any of you actually care about her. You accuse me of wanting her money — the money I'm entitled to. What does that make you, eh?"

"Like fuck we don't care about her," Arthur says, moving forward, but Tommy stops him with a hand on his chest.

"Leave it, Arthur," he says. He looks at me. "Let Bancroft here decide. We owe her that much."

My head spins. I'm not stupid. I still don't trust her. But...

"You know I need to do this," I say quietly. I look back at mother. "Go wait in the car. I'll pack some things."

With a flourish of her coat she leaves. Tommy stares at me for just a moment, and his face hardens.

"Right," he says. "You're leaving."

"Not forever," I whisper, before I second guess the words. The will is void, just as she said. What reason do I have to come back here? The Shelby's are free of their legal duty to me.

And stupidly, I want Tommy to beg me to stay. I want him to tell me not to do it, to insist I don't leave the house. For the first time, I long for that same, possessive man who'd cornered me in the Garrison bathroom. I want him to tell me what to do, what the right thing is.

All he has to do is say the words, and I'll stay. I'll crumble.

"I have a meeting," he says. "Arthur, ensure Bancroft gets off safely."

He nods at me in farewell, then walks away. I choke on a sob in my throat, tears filling my eyes as I watch. He leans in to my mother in the car and says something I cannot hear, before getting into his own and driving away.

"You're mad," Arthur tells me softly.

And then he leaves, too, walking back into the house and shaking his head, and suddenly it's too late to change my mind. I wish that I could take it all back, that my head would stop spinning, that I would know all the right things to say. I wish the sight of her hadn't turned me into a child once more, confused and desperate.

I head upstairs and pack.