Bête noire → Peaky Blinders [Tommy Shelby] [ BOOK 1 ]

Nine.

Chapter nine: Guardian angel

Just as the clock struck midnight, Caroline had already gathered her jacket, slipped it on and prepared herself for a long walk home in the freezing cold wrath of the dark, stepping into an abyss of the unknown, unaware of the dangers that lurked in every street corner, ready to pounce on a young beauty like herself.

In a sense, Caroline was heroic. She understood the streets weren't safe at any time of the day, but especially in the night. So, she thought about offering to walk Grace home. She may not have been the one to carry out such a cruel act to her just a few days prior, but she was related to the perpetrator so on his behalf, she wanted to make things right in hopes to cover up the loss of her respect. But when she turned her head to call her name, she saw Grace and Thomas talking in whispers to each other, more or less a centimetre away from closing the gap between their lips.

She didn't smile nor frown, rather, she sighed as she clutched the fur of her coat and exited the pub, embracing the smoke and the fumes she walked through in order to make her way back to Watery Lane, quite fast in her heels to get to Oscar who was undoubtedly awake, waiting on her safe return.

Her ears pricked up on heavy footsteps that trudged behind her, the stones crunching under the heavy weight. Immediately, she stiffened, wondering if Collin had came back for her, so with her hand digging into the pocket of her coat, she found the feel of her small pistol and whipped around, not thinking about the dark, fearful thoughts swirling around in her brain, though she was faced with a familiar set of icy eyes that shone with the peculiar mixture of misery and amusement. 

Caroline didn't take her finger off the trigger. "I do not need a chaperone, Thomas. I suggest you walk your girlfriend home. She may need the help more than I."

"I beg to differ, love." Thomas retorted and noticed a snarl forming on her face. "You work for me now, meaning, we protect each other. This is me fulfilling the fine print on the documents."

Caroline snorted. "I didn't read the fine print, meaning, I don't care. So, you best be on your way, Thomas. I have a brother to get back to."

Tommy still wasn't bothered by the gun that was pressed against his throat. When he swallowed, he almost dared her in a way to pull the trigger, shoot him in the jugular and watch him bleed out beneath her, testing to see if she'd care. If she didn't, she was still a Kimber and was a mere rat amongst the Blinders, gathering all the information she could in retaliation, only, she exhaled sharply and lowered the weapon.

"Your brother." Thomas remembered the sleepy boy from the races and furrowed his brow. "What age is he?"

"What's it to you?"

"I have a brother as well."

"I gathered that."

"The youngest is eleven."

"Oscar is twelve."

Thomas struggled to grasp a sense of who exactly Caroline Kimber was, and no matter how lost he got in her eyes, trying to follow the cold trail which led to her sombre heart, he soon realised he was chasing a ghost. He wanted to know why exactly this woman from Cheltenham was spiralling into despair whilst gracing the world with a small smile that she reflected from time to time. She used to have the world in her fingertips; splashing money on the finer side of life but now, she had nothing, and he knew poverty wasn't the only reason as to why she was so miserable. Maybe, they were alike. And maybe, just maybe, he wanted to help her.

After a moment, Thomas cleared his throat from his foggy thoughts and continued on. "Now that you are working, maybe it's best that Polly looks after Oscar as well as Finn. She wouldn't mind. She loved children."