Bancroft - Peaky Blinders Reverse Harem x Reader

Chapter 61

John's words fill me with a courage I didn't know I possessed. And when McGuffin slams the pistol into John's face, and his head rolls back as he groans, I don't crumble.

I slice the rope between my wrists against the wood once more, with a new fury burning in my veins. I slip and with a burning sensation, the jagged wood slices into my wrist — its so painful I can't breathe for a moment, my face tensed in pain.

I have to hide it.

"You said you've run out of time," I say to McGuffin, while my head spins. "Why?"

My wrists pick up their frantic pace against the wood as he speaks.

"I didn't bring you here to ask fucking questions."

The top of his cheeks pool red. It's the first time I've seen this sort of reaction from him.

That's how I know to keep pushing.

I think it over, all too aware of the blood dribbling down my hands. I can't let him see. I need to keep talking.

"The only thing you'd gain straight away by getting my signature is money," I say. "Is that it? You have debts?"

"Shut up," he snarls.

"Taking me and John like this is a desperate move. Your debt must be due... sooner than you expected." I feel the first fibres of rope tear, and my stomach swoops with hope. "But here's what I don't understand... why me? You'd be able to rob virtually any place you chose. Would be far easier than all this."

McGuffin leans back and sighs. "Enough, or I'll start pulling his teeth out."

But the rope between my wrists is tearing with every movement. No you fucking won't.

"So not money, then," I say. "What else are you running from? The police? You need them on your payroll to cover up a crime?"

The gunshot rings out through the room, making me flinch and catch my skin on the splintered wood once more. McGuffin stands to his feet, red with rage. After a quick check of John and myself, I see we're not hurt — the gun had only gone off in his hands.

"You really want to fucking know?" He kneels before me, his face close to mine, and evil hatred burning in his eyes. "Your cunt of a father fucked me over. We were a partnership, you see, and your little fucking enterprise is half mine by right. So I killed the bastard." He grins, watching me for a reaction. "That's right. I put him in his grave."

I glare at him with disgust. "Because you're fucking pathetic," I say. "Nobody wanted you in Ireland. Nobody wants you here. You've been getting into debt paying all your men, trying to buy their loyalty. I'll bet their price has gone up, since I started killing each man you sent after me. You've got no territory. No power, nothing."

"Because your father fucked me!" He shouts, grabbing the collar of my shirt. He takes heavy breaths before speaking again. "So sign your fucking name, or I'm going to fuck you just as badly." He points the gun back at John, still unconscious. "And I'll make him watch."

My shoulders begin to tremble, but I clench my fists. I'll make him shoot me before I let that happen. "Like I said before. Go fuck yourself."

With all my might, I rip my hands apart, and the last fibres of rope tear away. I launch at McGuffin, my hands closing around his pistol, but my feet are still tied to the chair and the weight of it sends me falling to the ground. My ankle twists against the unmoving chair, and there's a crack as my head hits the concrete unsupported. Pain rips through me, and he's on top of me, wrenching the gun free from my grasp. He spits in my face and I claw at his eyes, making him shout as blood and skin scrapes beneath my fingernails.

I try to push myself up, but before I can, he slams back down onto me. He kneels on my wrists so I cannot move my arms, and then his hands close around my throat.

I choke and gasp, trying to break free from him, but he's heavier and larger than I am. My whole body goes into distress, my head feeling light and unsteady. I can feel the vomit trying to push through my throat but it can't make it to my mouth, and I choke on that, too.

My whole body contorts in desperation, trying desperately to break free, to find some source of oxygen. I can feel my heart pounding in my chest, the tears pooling in my eyes. I can't even turn my head and look at John — one last glimpse of happiness.

There's only one, hollow victory. They'll know I didn't break. When Tommy and Arthur find us — and I know they won't rest until they have, even if it takes so long we're only skeletons by then — they'll know I didn't give in. That I outlasted McGuffin, and I didn't betray them. I didn't leave them.

Stars pop in my vision. And, as I struggle against the pain and the panic, I think death will be a welcome reprieve.