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

Thirty one.

Chapter thirty one: Devil red

Awakening to the sensitisation of an arm draped around her waist was something she'd grown accustomed to after sharing a bed for so long. Whether there was a time gap between their late night congregations, she always craved his hold. She felt complete in his arms as he would rest his head atop of hers, his beating heart her favourite lullaby to rock her to sleep, but, when she groggily opened her eyes in the morning, her chest deflated. She was alone in new territory without Thomas.

Caroline didn't necessarily despise wake up alone. In fact, she supposed she was better off alone solely based on attachment issues. Her love for Thomas grew so strong that she relied on his company to keep her content, which defied all boundaries she set before she dived head first into the relationship. She believed she was merely dipping her toes into the water before entering, but within the month of the frequent conversing and secret kisses, she realised that all that time, she was thrown in at the deep end.

She'd been told by several speculators that she was the first woman to make Thomas smile in broad daylight. She wondered why this could be. In the beginning, she assumed he was addicted to the sexual contact she provided for him so erotically in her passion-stained bed sheets, but when his own family members commented on the matter, it was then obvious that he wanted more than just her body. He wanted to captivate her soul in exchange for his own.

Irrational, narcissistic, impulsive, corrupt and rude. All of the negative characteristics about herself were displayed so proudly, and her understanding of her flaws made her all the more off-putting for men that caught a glimpse of the truth, yet, Thomas adored her to extents unknown, even to himself. 

It baffled onlookers that he cared so much for her that he sent her away from the battle ground-his best comrade needed to be of service but in the long term, he couldn't imagine placing her in harms way. Maybe with this, he was getting a brief understanding of his feelings for the woman. Maybe he despised how much he needed her just as much as she did for him. And maybe, he too was waking up alone with his arm around a ghost, or worse, another woman.

Caroline briskly sighed and kicked the linen sheets off her with frustration. The thought of being betrayed by the only man she ever loved sickened her to her core, causing her system to kick start and immediately seek revenge. She wondered how the relationship would run on very little trust, but perhaps the fault was her own. Thomas wouldn't have sent her to live with a man if she didn't trust her, so it was probably for the best that she relived both herself and him by granting him peace of mind.

Dressing herself in a basic outfit that would help her blend into the working class community, Caroline exited the bedroom wary of both the dog and Alfie. It came to her attention that his humble home was on a standstill. Without a message to tell her that he had left, she suspected he was at work, because of course, he owed her no explanation. As far as he was concerned, just like the many other unfortunate women, she would remain at home, cook and clean until she lost her mind.

It came to her attention that she was alone. Peering around each white wall that came before her, she noticed that the rooms were unkempt and held at least ten bottles of alcohol amongst stacks upon stacks of paper. He seemed to be a man of many businesses but little patients for the declaration of logistics. 

Before she entered the living room to figure out her next plan of attack, the post that had been delivered simultaneously and the bundle of letters which had been thrown through the letterbox cascaded along gravity and hit Caroline's ankle.

It was none of her concern, but a compelling urge to scan her eyes over the postage told her to check his income, and so she did. Caroline took a glance around the room, double checking she was alone without a figure looming over her own, and when she flicked through the bundle, of course the stacks were directly written to Alfie himself, but when she roughly came to the middle, one single envelope wasn't addressed to him, but miraculously, it was for her.