Bancroft - Peaky Blinders Reverse Harem x Reader

Chapter 50

The sound of my bedroom door opening wakes me up with a jolt.

My hands have closed around the gun on my bedside table and I'm sat upright before I've even opened my eyes. When I do, I see Thomas Shelby's dark silhouette in the doorway.

Somehow, its even more terrifying than an intruder.

And between his fingers, is a Trojan condom.

"Lizzie," he reads aloud, his voice colder than I've ever known it. He fixes his gaze on me entirely.

"Michael told me you went away together," I say. It's a miracle my voice doesn't squeak.

"Did he?"

"Yes," I whisper. When he doesn't speak, I swallow and continue. "Did you like my other gifts?"

"You walked out on us."

"I know."

"On me."

"Do you think I don't regret it?" I whisper.

"I don't know what to think," he says. "One minute, you tell me you love me. The next, you're packing a bag."

"I made a mistake. I wish I could take it back. But, I also think I needed to go through it and learn my lesson."

"And what lesson's that?" He asks. "Your mother strip you clean and run off with your money, did she?"

"No," I scowl. "Between you and Ada, you'd think I'm an imbecile."

"Oh, so Ada's involved too, is she?"

"I asked her for help."

"And where did that get you?"

"With my mother in prison, for starters. After I narrowly avoided the hit she put out on me."

Tommy raises his eyebrows and blinks slowly. "She fucking what?"

And so I tell him everything, from beginning to end. How badly I wanted to come back from the moment I left. How I'd outsmarted my mother, and Ada had brought the will — though I left out the details of how she got it, making it sound as though she'd simply happened across it in her London home. By the time I'm finished, Tommy's lit a cigarette and half smoked it.

"There's one thing I don't understand," he says. "Why did you stop speaking with Aberama Gold after you found out? After all that trouble to find him."

"Because I realised I don't need him." I pull my knees up to my chest. "I don't want him to teach me. I want you. I trust you."

He grunts in disapproval. "Must be a nice feeling."

"I'm going to have to work to earn your trust back," I say. "I realise that."

He says nothing. I bite my lip, and stand slowly from the bed, feeling vulnerable and bare in the thin scrap of satin that constitutes my pyjamas. But I walk across to the desk in the corner of the bedroom, and pull out the extra documents I had the lawyer draw up.

"I have two options for you," I tell him, handing them over. He flicks on the lamp and begins to read.

"The first, I sign over fifty percent of Bancroft Enterprises Limited," I tell him. "You can hold it solely, or with your brothers. We form a partnership. The second," I flip through the pages in his hands, pulling out the separate document, "is a consultancy agreement for a five year period. You teach me everything you know, and I remunerate you for your service."

He says, "And if I refuse either?"

"Then someone will end up forcing me into a marriage or killing me for doing a shit job. I just hope it's the former."

Tommy's silent, but I feel something shift in the air. It's like I've passed some unspoken test. Like he expected me to say I would go to Arthur, or Polly, or Aberama Gold.

"I'll do this with you, or not at all," I say quietly. "And if you hate me, take the consultancy. After five years, you can tell me to go fuck myself and never lay eyes on me again."

He looks at me and waits before changing the topic. The air thickens. "I didn't fuck Lizzie Stark."

My heart skips a beat, making up for it with an extra thud. "You didn't?"

"Not for lack of trying," he says. "But I kept seeing your face. It made me feel sick."

I'm not sure if I should be flattered or offended. I decide not to ask.

"Well," I say slowly. "While we're coming clean."

"What have you done now?" He asks, sighing.

I swallow. "Michael fucked me with his gun and then I kissed Ada."

Tommy's eyebrows raise so high that for a moment, I think I've finally done him in, and he's having a coronary.

"Right," he says.

"I didn't try to fuck anyone. And I didn't want Michael inside me." I look down at the ground. "I didn't even want him to kiss me. I just wanted him to hurt me for what I'd done."

"And did he?" He asks.

"It was very transformative. I still have bruises," I say. "It hurts to sit down."

His jaw clenches.

"It was after he told me about you and Lizzie." I suddenly can't meet his gaze. I clear my throat. "I'll keep leaving you gifts. You did it for me when I needed it. But if you want me to stop, just say the word."

He says nothing.

And then he says everything. "I'm so fucking furious with you."

My voice trembles. "I know."

"No. You fucking don't." He's shouting, well and truly past his calm demeanour. "You called Ada for help. You saw Michael. You even had Polly helping you out. Why not me, eh? I could have fixed the whole fucking thing for you."

"I didn't think you would want to."

"After I told you I love you?"

"Love?" I whisper. "Present tense?"

"Does it fucking matter?" He asks. "Have I not made myself clear? I wanted you to come to me. I can understand you leaving. I can almost forgive it. But what I can't fucking forgive, is falling for you when all I hear are empty words in return."

Tears fall from my eyes. "I'm going to prove you wrong," I vow. "I'm going to prove you so wrong." And then, "You only had to say the word, Tommy. You only had to ask me to stay, and I would have. I'd do anything for you. Clearly you don't understand that. I took a fucking bullet, and I'd do it again, for you. I am offering you half of my kingdom," my teeth clench around the word, "Not because I have to, or because I'll need your guidance forever. But because I want to build something with you. I don't know how to be loved." I swallow. "I'm still learning. I've never experienced it before, and I've never had anyone to whom I could show it back. But I am going to prove it to you, until the day you ask me not to."

He searches my eyes for any trace of hesitancy or deception. But I am immovable. When he speaks again, his voice is low once more. "I'm not a man who gets proven wrong, Bancroft."

"Then I suggest you adapt quickly," I scowl. "I'll be seeing you at breakfast tomorrow. I got your favourite sausages from the butcher."

"The butcher wasn't working today."

"He changed his mind when I told him specifically what I was after," I say. "I did have to clear out half the money jar for it, though. I apologise."

His jaw clenches, then relaxes. "I don't usually eat breakfast."

"Too bad." I turn away from him and get back into bed, making no efforts to be modest as I'm bent over on my knees before him, tugging the duvet free. "I'm going back to sleep. You can stand in my room all night if you wish. I won't know either way."

It's not until a few minutes later I hear the door open and close once more.