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

Thirty.

Chapter thirty: Hurt people, hurt people

Alfie's focus moved from the pricey ring to the luggage Caroline protected as though her life depended on it. The details were less exquisite than the piece of jewellery, but it still had traits of gold and it would be easy to detect Caroline's ownership. From the white lace and the specks of diamonds, it was evident that she didn't travel without style, but, he didn't know what was inside, therefore, she could pose a threat to him despite being an alley.

"I'm sure a rich thing like you ain't used to strip searches."

Caroline's eyes widened. "I am not, nor will I experience it today."

"Not your clothes, you fool." He suggested his hand towards the case. "I need to check your luggage for any harmful material that could injure me."

She hummed sceptically. "I understand the purposes behind it, but do you really think someone like me could cause anybody like you harm?"

"Yes, I do. In fact, you're probably more dangerous than Tommy. You definitely get away with a lot more than you bargain for with your looks and everything." Then Alfie stood up. "Now, we can either do this the easy way or my way. Hand it over."

"This is pointless."

"Give it over."

"I have nothing to hide."

"Your refusal says otherwise. Prove me wrong."

Caroline grit her teeth and with a sigh, she passed her luggage over to the man, digging her sharp fingernails into the sofa's arms to prevent lunging towards Alfie to retrieve her belongings. When he opened it, he was immediately greeted by the scent of her exquisite grapefruit perfume, and with a smirk, he picked up a silk nightgown and tossed it aside.

"Watch that! It's been imported from Japan!"

"There'll be no love making under my roof with lingerie like that, darlin'. Pay no heed to it."

She hated pet names. As a substitute for her own name, men used terms such as 'darling' and 'sweetheart', though she knew she was the complete opposite. Perhaps her looks were the biggest deceiver of all which allowed her to play the part of an innocent woman, but when Alfie spoke, the words rolled off his tongue and the lingering angst seemed to fade away.

Alas, Alfie had reached the bottom of the suitcase and came to face two blue bottles that were filled to the brim with white powder. Another jackpot was the gun and the knife that were hidden beneath the surface to an extra compartment she made herself specifically for circumstances like this. When Alfie held the bottles up and clinked them together, her stomach fell and her chest deflated. Suddenly, she wasn't the brave and bad vixen, rather, a scared woman who was ashamed of her ongoing addiction that allowed her to escape reality.

"Now, I don't believe these will cause me any great effect, however, I can't say the same about you."

Caroline sprang from her seated position and ripped the bottles away from his hands. "My private matters are none of your concern. If you'll excuse me, I'd like to go home."

Alfie pulled her up forcefully by the arm after she dropped on her knees to quickly replace her items back into their case. "Thomas is paying me a whopping fifty pounds to keep you safe here, which tells me that your matters are his concerns. If you die on my account, I may as well die too, and I don't want to die in his hands, so, throw your shit out."

"I can't."

He raised a brow when she lowered her head. For someone so confident and over bearing, the topic of drugs surely made her guard crumble around her ankles, causing her to be vulnerable and naked in front of him, displaying her insecurities so unwillingly. She was a young, beautiful, engaged woman and he wondered why she could possibly be taking the class A addition. To him, she seemed to have the world in her hands and money flowing from her ears. How could she resort to such horrors?