The Darkness Within (Peaky Blinders) Thomas Shelby

44. Lethal

And we all get a taste for blood tonight

Coz we've all had a taste of love

And we all get a taste for blood tonight

For love

- Dangerous, by James Blunt

Kiara walked through the front door of her home, removing her coat and hanging it up before stepping through the corridor, looking into the rooms. She had stayed until lock up at the Garrison and it appeared as if the place was empty. She didn't call out, she walked quietly until she was at the bottom of the stairs and then made her way up on the creaking floorboards.

The bedroom door was open just a crack and Kiara lightly pushed it, swinging it open and revealing her husband sitting on the edge of the bed, readying to light his opium pipe.

"There you are, Love. Busy night was it?"

"No more than usual." Kiara responded, finally stepping through the door and beginning to make her way over to the dressing table. "I sent Harry home early, with Grace not working I had to stay til lock up."

"Should have sent someone to let me know. I would have come and picked you up. Thought maybe you'd gone to visit your mother."

"I might be tomorrow. It's been a while." She said, beginning to get ready for bed, watching her husband in the mirror on her dressing table as he paid no mind, rubbing his eyes in exhaustion.

Oh how she loved him like this. The suit gone, leaving only a while shirt, his hair a little dishevelled. She loved the suits and the bladed flat caps as well, his powerful presence in a room. That was the Thomas Shelby she had fallen undeniably in love with, but it was this Thomas Shelby, the off guard regular man that had sealed it all. It was something only she saw. He took off his, for lack of a better word, uniform only when he walked into their bedroom and he put it back on before he left. This Thomas Shelby, sitting on their bed, stifling a yawn before looking up and meeting her gaze in the mirror, now a small lazy smile tugging on the corner of his mouth... he was entirely hers. No one else's.

But had Grace seen him like this the night before? Whores were different, it'd be over quickly, no emotion, not even that of friends, barely a word, he'd never make himself at home, never stay very long... but Grace was not a whore and he had been there all night. They would have talked and Kiara knew they got on well, this odd friendship, he would have made himself comfortable, and perhaps she would have made him tea. He didn't go there with the intention of anything happening... so what had led them to the bed? What was said or done that prompted it? If it had happened at all, she couldn't trust the Inspector. But what would that man have to gain with this?

When Grace had entered her mind, Kiara broke the eye contact in the mirror, Tommy looked for a moment longer before falling onto his back with his pipe.

"Before you smoke that... I should tell you something." Kiara chose to speak.

"Good news? It's been a good day, I'm not sure I want to break that."

"Depends how you look at it."

Tommy sighed and sat up once again, placing his pipe down. "I'll try and stay positive then."

"Well, Inspector Campbell is definitely leaving. I know your men already told you as much, but this time it came directly from him. That's the good half of the news."

"Directly from him?" Tommy asked. "Who was he speaking with?" A moment of silence passed, a very small and brief one, but Tommy didn't like it. "Kiara."

"He was outside the Garrison when I got there this morning. He'd been waiting."

"Waiting." Tommy echoed in a quiet voice. "Waiting for you?"

"Introduced himself as Chester at first. I didn't know who he was, but he definitely knew me." Tommy got to his feet without a word and walked to his wardrobe, pulling it open and grabbing a coat. "What are you doing?"

"Don't wait up, I might be a while."

"I'm not finished, Thomas." She stated, causing him to stop as she just now turned in her chair to face him. "He knew where you were... last night. He was going to arrest you, but he called it off." Tommy looked at her curiously, unsure what this meant. "He threatened Harry, pulled a gun on him and he gave you up. Don't blame him for it though and you shouldn't either." Tommy shook his head slightly saying he didn't, but said not a word, knowing his wife had more to say. "Campbell said his job was finished, that he got what he came for and after you two have been working so well together it seemed unfit," she echoed the inspectors words from early that day, "to interrupt." Thomas' jaw clenched as she saw him swallow back a lump in his throat, his blue eyes staring into her green ones that remained calm.

She had been practising all day, remaining calm. So many times she wanted to run her arm along the shelf and shatter every bottle sitting on it. So many times she wanted pelt glasses at any many that came in who even had the slightest shade of blue in their eyes. So many times she wanted to scream until her lungs gave out, catch her breath and do it again until her throat burned like raw sand paper. But she didn't.

Anyone who came near her could see that ferocious green, but slowly it faded until it become cool, steady and calm. This was what terrified Tommy. He liked that ferocious angry green. He loved it. But that's not what this was. Her eyes had almost glazed over in a cool and collected glare, a calm one... but not by any means something that could be messed with. She was angry, he knew that, but he'd never seen this kind of anger.

"What didn't he want to interrupt, Thomas?" Kiara asked, almost half playing dumb, but he knew better.

He knew better than to deny it, but he also knew better than to answer. Another moment passed between, his bright ocean blue eyes clashing with her green ones... deadly green. That was the word. Deadly, maybe even lethal. Never before had he seen his wife like this.

"No? No response?" She questioned eerily, making his heart pound harder and he used all his will power to remain standing and not to double over and breath heavily through his mouth as he suddenly felt out of breath. Never had Thomas Shelby felt this scared before in his life. He knew she hated Grace, but only just now did he realise how deep that hatred ran... and he had no idea what she was going to do.

Kiara stood from her chair and stepped towards him, tugging at the coat he had thrown over his shoulders and straightening the collar out. Then she looked up, resting her hands on his chest, a smile on her lips, not an unfriendly one, but there was something there, sarcasm? Insincerity? No. Cynicism.

"So, go on, Thomas. Go do what you need to... but you best take that pipe with you."

He stepped back, out of her reach as her hands fell from his chest and he said nothing, reaching for the door and walking through it, slamming it behind him. She heard his footsteps down the stairs, she heard them stop half way for a moment and then continue the rest of the way. But she never heard the front door open or close. He made it to the living room, he paced, he swore silently to himself, he kicked the table, flipping it onto it's side... that she heard. Then he moved to the whiskey cabinet and eventually fell back on the couch.

Oh, how she loved him. Every single piece. The off guard comfortable Thomas Shelby she found in their bedroom, the suited up powerful and intelligent leader that walked the streets with his weaponized cap, the light hearted fun, smiling and laughing him before the war, the more broken and burnt, brooding Thomas Shelby he became after. All of it.

Oh, how she loved him... but oh how he drove her to insanity.

It's a short chapter, but I didn't really want anything else in there. I thought that was enough :)