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"I've always admired bravery, but sweetie this is stupidity," Luca shamed me his hand brushing against my cheek as he shoved a strand of hair behind my ear. I wasn't sure how many hours had passed or if anyone had even noticed I was missing. I almost hoped the didn't. I didn't want Finn here. "Why are you so willing to die for them when they wouldn't be willing to die for you?" He loaded his pistol and placed it against my head. The metal felt cold against my temple as I stared the man down. If he was going to kill me he was going to have to do it while looking me in the eye. "Any last words Mrs. Shelby?"
"Fuck you!"
~~~ I could barley keep my eyes open as I struggled to stand up. Everything hurt. The last thing I remembered was the sound of gunshots and then my vision went black. "Mam? Mam are you alright?" An officer ran towards me his expression changing as I fell to my knees. "Can you tell me your name?" I just stayed at him blankly trying to hold back my tears. Who had come to rescue me. Who had died in order for me survive. "Mam can you tell me your name?" The officer asked again his voice gruffer then when he asked the first time. "Mam!" His shoe hit my knee making me look up at him. His eyes widened at the sight of me. If the cracked lip and black eye weren't enough to cause him to be at a loss for the words the fact that I had a bloody hand print around my neck would have done it. I stared down at my crimson stained hands how did I get here? Where was Finn? Was he alive? What had Tommy dragged us into this time? "Josephine. Josephine Shelby."
"Can you tell me what happened?" He asked.
"No." I croaked watching as her fell to his knees infront of me. I watched as blood began to soak through his shirt his eyes growing blanket by the second. I couldn't look away. I didn't want to know who shot him. I didn't want to know if I was next.
"Jo it's okay. It's Tommy." My neck snapped up to see a blood stained Thomas. He looked sleep deprived as he crouched infront of me. "You're safe now. Luca is dead. His men are dead. You're safe." A cry broke through me as I threw myself at him. I didn't feel safe. I felt as if everything I knew. Everything I imagine my life to be had been ripped away from me. I had been so close to death. I had watched my life flash before my eyes, and honestly I was ready. "Let's get you home. Finns waiting."
"Finn." I whispered. The thought of him made me feel warm before the cold overtook my body again. Why wasn't he here right now. ~~~ In the days that followed I felt like a different person. It was similar to the emptiness that engulfed me after Frans death, but this one was almost more confusing. Finn hadn't left my side. Apologies falling off his tongue as often as he breathed. He blamed himself. I blamed Thomas. Ada hadn't spoken to her brothers in days. The only reason she had spoken to Thomas was to find out I was okay. She had moved me into her flat demanding that if Finn wished to see me he would leave the family business behind. I wasn't sure if he would, and I wouldn't blame him if he didn't. Slowly I regain my strength and I agreed to Ada's plan of moving out of small heath. There was nothing left for me here. If I stayed I would die, and what Luca had said stuck. Why would I for people who wouldn't die for me.
"She bought us tickets to Paris. Has a place lined up Finn." I whispered into the phone. I was trying to hide the fact o was crying. Trying to make him feel less guilty. "I won't ask you to come. I wouldn't do that to you. Not after everything..."
"Jo your my wife." Finn argued. "I can't just let you leave." His voice was strained and I could hear Arthur and Tommy arguing in the background. "Stay a few more days okay. Please. I'll figure something out for us."
"The tickets are booked for tomorrow. I love you Finn. I'll always love you." I hesitated for a moment wondering if I should end the call. "If you don't come to tomorrow the option isn't taken away. It will always be there."
"I love you to Jo. Always have. Always will."
"Like Ada loves Freddy?"
"Oh Jo how many times do I have to tell you. Our love is so much greater then that."
~~~ Finn Shelby wasn't at the train station the next morning. He didn't show up a week later when the house was unpacked, and he never called back when I told him Ada and I were settled in, but I wasn't going to give up on the possibility that he might show up. Not now. Not yet.
