Part 13: Dance of Darkness
Fandom: Peaky Blinders
Pairing: Tommy Shelby x Grace Burgess x OC
Summary: Tommy and Lucy spend a little more time with May.
Word Count: 3,445
Notes: Warnings for references to violence.
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Chapter 8: Temptation
“What happened here?” Lucy asked, brushing her fingers along the scrape that marked Tommy’s right temple.
“I went to the Digbeth Kid’s grave site to give his mother the first payment from the fund,” he said glumly.
“She hit you?”
“Only a few times. It was the ring that scratched me.”
“Mm,” she ghosted her fingers along the red markings once more before dropping them. “How was the meeting with Campbell?”
Tommy let out a bitter chuckle, leaning back in his chair. “You remember those Irish people who blew up the Garrison? The ones I had you look into?”
“Irene O’Donnell and Donal Henry?”
“Mhm. They’re working with Campbell.”
She straightened. “Irish working for the King?”
“Funny, isn’t it?”
“What did they want?”
He reached into a drawer, and pulled out a file, handing it to her. “For me to kill this man.”
Thumbing through the pages, she frowned. “Why?”
“They weren’t particularly forthcoming with that information.”
“Hm…” she rested the knuckles of one hand against her lips as she scanned over the papers. “You tell Campbell about how Henry meets with anti-treaty Paddies in the backroom of the Mother Red Cap in Saltley?”
“Yeah. I also told him that he needs to take care of Henry first before I even think of taking on the assignment.”
She closed the file and handed it back to him. “Good. Donal Henry’s an ass.”
“You’ve never even met him.”
“I know what you’ve told me about him. And I’ve heard the reports from our men who have followed him. That’s more than enough to convince me.”
∗ ∗ ∗
“Donal Henry’s dead,” she told Tommy as soon as the doors to the office were shut behind her. “They just found the body and confirmed it.”
Looking up from his desk, Tommy’s eyes darted away, nodding.
“So, shall we start planning the murder, then?”
“I suppose so.”
They began to pour over the file Campbell had given Tommy in earnest. Lucy kept chancing glances up at Tommy as she leaned back in one of the chairs in front of his desk, a leg crossed over the other. He was hunched over his papers, sighing and pressing his fingers to his temples, massaging circles into them while he cleared his throat. It was unsettling to see him looking so anguished and stressed, to the point that she considered suggesting to him that he just let her take the whole assassination on by herself.
Brows furrowing, Tommy pulled his hands back, staring at the bloodied smear that stained his fingertips. The rubbing had torn open the scabs on his temple from where the Digbeth Kid’s mother had struck him. He stared at his hand for several long moments, before closing the file and putting it in a drawer, clearing his throat as he stood to get a drink from the shelf, wiping a rag over his fingers.
There was a knock at the door, Lizzie poking her head in to tell them that there was someone here about the accounts clerk position they’d put an advertisement for in the paper. There was mumbling outside the office as Lizzie ushered the man in, and then approaching footsteps, the door closing.
“Michael?”
Lucy looked over her shoulder to see the boy smiling, and grinned to herself, turning back to face Tommy’s desk as she shook her head fondly. Good to know that the incident back at the auction hadn’t scared him off, she supposed.
He was a stubborn one, not dissuaded by Tommy’s attempts to tell him that the position was already filled, listing off his qualifications after setting his application down and taking the empty seat next to Lucy in front of the desk.
When he was done, Tommy put his glass of whiskey down and picked up the phone, setting it down in front of Michael.
“You phone your mother,” he gestured to Lucy and she stood, following him as he headed to the door. “Good luck.”
Lucy snorted. “Poor kid,” she said, once the doors were closed. Tommy chuckled.
“He did make a compelling argument for himself, though.”
“Mhm. And it would be nice to have the vacancy finally filled. The work’s starting to pile up. You think Polly will actually agree to it?”
Tommy sighed as they headed for the doors leading outside, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Maybe. She’s been better, since he got back, but she’s still…”
“Unpredictable?”
“She’s very protective of him.”
“Understandable.”
He hummed in agreement. “But could cause issues. And not just regarding this. You heard him in there. He’ll be eighteen by the end of the week. I think she still sees him as a little boy, in a lot of ways.”
“Not exactly the way that a young man wants to be treated,” Lucy huffed, pulling on her cap as they stepped out onto the street. “Only so much we can do, though.”
“Mm. I’ll try talking to her. Give her some assurances.”
∗ ∗ ∗
“May!” Lucy rushed through the kitchen into the main part of the betting shop, heading straight for the brunette standing in the middle of it all, wide eyed and looking a little lost. John was standing in front of her, incredibly close. “It’s good to see you again.”
“Hello, Lucy,” May greeted, looking relieved at the presence of a familiar face.
“Sorry that I’m late,” Tommy cleared his throat as he came in behind her. “There was a family matter. Esme, keep it locked up for a minute.”
“Yes, Thomas,” Esme said.
“I’ll show you around,” Tommy told May. John didn’t move, continuing to stare at Tommy with a mischievous look on his face.
“John, scram,” Lucy said. He snorted, but spun on his heel and headed to his office.
May began to wander about curiously, eyes still wide as Tommy explained where the offices were and how they conducted business.
“When I drove into Small Heath I thought I was going to get murdered. Then I mentioned your name. It was like being escorted to see a king,” May leaned against the desk across from them.
“You came here to get my girl, right?” Tommy asked. Lucy bit her lip at the potential double entendre that was there, elbowing him just lightly enough to be subtle. He shot her an amused look for a fraction of a second.
“Right,” May said.
“Come with us, then,” Lucy beckoned with her head, and May followed them outside and down the road to Charlie’s yard, where the horse was being kept.
“This is Charlie. Charlie, this is May Carleton,” Lucy introduced them. “And Curly.”
Curly waved excitedly at May while Charlie gave her a respectful nod.
“Go get her, Curly. Go on,” Tommy said. The stableboy rushed off, returning a moment later leading the gorgeous gray filly by the reins.
“She looks in very good condition considering she’s not been out on the gallops,” May began to approach the horse, assessing her. Tommy stroked the horse’s snout. Lucy gave her a little kiss between the eyes.
“So what time is your box van coming?” Tommy asked.
“Midday.”
“You’ve got time to take the lady to the Garrison. Show her the spa and the tearooms,” Charlie said.
“Very funny,” Lucy glowered at him playfully.
“I’d like that. Why not?” May interjected. Lucy shot Tommy a look. He shrugged.
“All right, then.”
“Do you keep other horses at the yard?” May asked, as they began the walk to the pub.
“Tommy has a stallion. I have a chestnut filly. We take them out riding, whenever we get the chance,” Lucy said. May nodded.
It was quiet in the Garrison, when they stepped in. Empty.
“I just had it done up. There was a fire,” Tommy went behind the bar, asking May what she would like to drink.
“It’s so early, but gin.”
Lucy hopped into a chair at the bar. May slid into the space next to her. Close enough that Lucy could smell the flowery scent of her perfume. Tommy grabbed a bottle and a glass, placing it in front of May and pouring the clear booze until it nearly touched the rim. May looked somewhat horrified.
“Goodness. With something?”
Tommy’s eyes darted to the glass of liquor, up to May, then back again. Lucy pressed her knuckles to her lips to try to hide her smile. He looked so utterly confused. Like the idea of a mixed drink was an entirely new concept to him.
“Like what?”
“Tonic water or…”
Lucy giggled. Tommy turned back around to stare at the shelf of booze behind him. “Uh…” he cleared his throat. “We have, um…cordial,” he snatched up the bottle, went back to May, nodding to her glass. “There’s not much room in there, but…” he poured the cordial in, stopping just when she was worried that the glass might overflow. He gave Lucy a glass of whiskey, before pouring one for himself.
“Do you want to fuck me, Mrs. Carleton?” he asked, turning to face her, leaning against the bar in front of May, who looked like she’d been dangerously close to choking on her drink. Lucy raised her eyebrows. Wouldn’t exactly have been the approach she personally would have taken in regards to them all getting into bed together. But she couldn’t deny Tommy’s success rate, so she’d let him work without interjection. “Perhaps because I…perhaps because I represent something to you?” he pulled out a cigarette. “We should have this conversation before the booze starts talking for us,” he explained at May’s perplexed expression, striking a match.
May looked to Lucy, eyes wide. Lucy just smiled at her, shrugging. Betting that the woman was smart enough to be able to figure out the whole arrangement on her own without needing it spelled out for her. May’s eyes darted between them. Yes, definitely smart enough.
She spoke slowly, clearly choosing her words carefully, as she explained that she was there purely because of the horse. And the money Tommy was paying her to train her.
Lucy eyed her carefully, not entirely sure she believed her. But certainly not willing to push the subject anymore, should she be wrong. Tommy let it go as well, simply raising his glass in a toast to their horse and the Derby. Lucy clinked her glass with his before drinking.
“So is that what you say to women?” May asked.
“Sometimes,” Lucy volunteered. Tommy shot her a look. She just grinned around another sip of her drink.
“Only if I don’t know what they want,” he said.
“And what if they don’t want to fuck?” it sounded funny, to hear such a seemingly posh woman curse like that.
“Then life is simpler.”
“You want a simple life?”
Tommy scoffed, placed both hands against the bar. “Do I look like a man who wants a simple life, eh?”
“So what do you want?”
“For what I’m paying you, Mrs. Carleon,” Tommy leaned forward. “I want a horse that will pay out at Epsom on an each-way bet.”
May reached out and pulled the cigarette box Tommy had left on the bar and pulled it closer to her, fumbling with it as she began to talk about the background checks she had done on him. He had no credit record, but she had heard about the medals he’d won for his time in France.
Tommy looked down, face contorting for a moment, just a moment. Like it almost always did whenever someone brought up his medals. “Does that really impress you, Mrs. Carleton?”
“Call me May.”
Lucy felt one side of her lips pull up in a smile. Aha. Progress.
“And you…” May turned those big doe-eyes onto Lucy. “I heard quite the shocking stories about you when I made some enquiries about you in London.”
Lucy bit her lip, setting her glass down and fingers almost immediately starting to fidget with her rings. “Yes, I’m sure you have.”
May frowned. “We need not discuss it any further, if you’d prefer. You hardly know me, but…” she straightened up in her seat. “I am sorry for what happened to you.”
Lucy blinked. So few people had actually said that to her. She wetted her lips. “Thank you,” she was not quite sure what else to say.
“You seem to have done quite well for yourself, though…”
“Mm. Yes, I suppose you could say that,” Lucy looked to Tommy, who was leaning against the bar in front of her, watching the interaction shrewdly. One side of his lips pulled up when he caught her glancing at him.
“When I saw you two at the auction I was certain that you had to be married,” May was looking between them curiously.
“We’re not.”
She raised an eyebrow, looking half amused. “Yes, you said that before,” her eyes danced in a way that made it clear her words were not intended to be malicious or even prying. “And yet it still seems to me that you are married, in just about everything but in name.”
“You didn’t seem shocked when I asked you about fucking,” Tommy pointed out.
May chuckled. “I think you’ll find, Mr. Shelby, that the posh can be just as debauched as the poor. In that we are the same. The scandals I could tell you about…”
“Well, we need to arrange a time to talk that,” Lucy grinned. “I’m always eager to collect good blackmail material should I ever need it.”
May laughed. “I would enjoy that, I think, so long as you’re willing to tell me tales of life as a gangster,” she looked them both over. “I think that this partnership will be quite informative and educational for all of us.”
The door opened, and Finn stepped in to inform them that the box van had arrived. Tommy dismissed him.
“You know, I still don’t know what you’re going to call your horse,” May commented.
Tommy hesitated, thinking it over. “The horse will be called Grace’s Secret.”
Lucy almost dropped her glass, jerking with the name, eyes widening as she stared at Tommy, heart suddenly aching with the reminder of the woman that they both missed so much.
∗ ∗ ∗
“Well, don’t you both look fancy,” Lucy grinned as she stepped out of her flat, locking the door behind her.
Polly smiled, smoothing down the material of her dress, tightening her fur coat around herself. “Thank you, Lucy.”
Tommy had gone by to pick up Polly before Michael’s birthday party, and to talk about the possibility of employment for Michael. “I see that no one is sulking or has a black eye, so I’m assuming talks went well?” she asked, as all three of them began to walk towards the Garrison.
“We had to bump up the rate to four bob,” Tommy, said flashing Polly a good natured smile. “And I promised to keep him away from the old business.”
“Fair enough.”
As she walked past him when he held the door open to the pub, he whispered into her ear. “You look nice.”
She felt herself blush. She wasn’t even wearing anything all that exciting. Just a somewhat nicer, more form fitting suit than the ones she wore normally. “Thanks.”
Arthur, John, Finn, and Esme were all already crowded into the snug. Plopping down in a chair next to Tommy, Lucy nudged Arthur with the toe of her shoe.
“How’s London treating you?”
“Oh, it’s the best, Luce. You’ve got to come down, sometime. See the club now, eh? Now that we’re in charge,” he grinned at her from over his glass. She nodded politely. Arthur and the Black Country boys had taken Sabini’s club, the same one that they’d visited when leaving their message to Alfie. Arthur was technically in charge of running it. Considering the man’s new proclivity for snow, she wasn’t entirely sure how long that arrangement would be able to go on.
The door opened. “There he is. Look,” Arthur straightened as Polly came in with Michael. Everyone stood, cheering in congratulations, wishing Michael a happy birthday. Tommy handed him a leather case, inside of which Michael found a golden pocket watch, and when he informed that his employment had been accepted, his face broke into a massive grin. Tommy raised a toast, and they all clinked their glasses together.
Lucy leaned subtly into Tommy’s side, smiling as everyone at the table started to play a round of cards.
“If I find out you’re cozying up to me to sneak a look at my cards, I’ll be very cross with you,” Tommy threatened into her ear, even as his thigh pushed against hers under the table.
“Pfft. I don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s just a little cramped with so many people in the snug, that’s all.”
“Mhm,” he snorted. She beamed at him, looking him up and down. She couldn’t wait to get him in the privacy of their own home later, where she could snuggle up to him openly without fear of anyone noticing.
When she looked across the table, it was to find Polly staring at them, eyes narrowed. Lucy shifted, her warm mood cooled somewhat at having those dark eyes staring at her, somehow accusingly, though Lucy couldn’t possibly imagine what for.
Polly was too smart not to have some notion of what was going on between them. While they were not open about their relationship, they also weren’t always the most restrained when it came to certain things–touching specifically. They were constantly struggling–and more often than not failing–to not hold hands, brush against each other, link arms as they walked…and they’d admittedly gotten even sloppier with it as the years went by.
No, certainly Polly had to know what was going on between them. There was no way she didn’t, even if none of them actually acknowledged it.
And yet, for some reason, the thought of it finally being made official just how much Polly knew about their relationship terrified her.
∗ ∗ ∗
He watched as the men around him unloaded the crates from the boats, giving a vague, noncommittal answer as Johnny Dogs asked him how his life had been.
“But Tom, really, come on. How is it? You know I hate to see you not even married yet,” Johnny crowded in closer, grinning. “I have a fine looking cousin, she would make your life hell. You deserve her. We haven’t had a good old wedding in a long time,” he chuckled. Tommy smiled, eyes glancing over to where Lucy was helping to coordinate the unpacking, running a hand through her auburn hair. “Surprised that you haven’t hitched yourself to your lovely Red Demon yet. Pretty and wild as she is.”
Tommy shot him a look. Johnny laughed. “Not as subtle as you think you are, Tom. I see things,” he pointed to his eyes, still smiling gleefully.
“Lucy isn’t interested in marriage, Johnny,” Tommy said. And it wasn’t like he was ever going to push the issue on her. And he couldn’t argue with her reasoning; the expectations and duties that came with being a wife certainly were not the type of things that Lucy would enjoy. Sitting at home all night, cooking, cleaning…no. His Lucy needed to be a part of the action. Running about with them men. Or else she would lose her mind from boredom. It wasn’t something he was in any rush to do, either. They loved each other. They were together. That was all that really mattered to him. Though she knew that the offer was open, should she ever want it.
“Too wild to truly be tamed, eh? Nothing wrong with that,” Johnny laughed good naturedly.
“Have you had a look inside these boxes, Johnny?” Tommy asked, eager to steer the conversation in a less personal direction.
“Why do I want to look at car parts, Tommy, when I haven’t even got a car?”
He put an arm around Johnny’s shoulders, explaining in a low voice how he wouldn’t mind should one piece of merchandise go, ahem, missing, every now and then. But no more than that. That would be tax. And they didn’t pay tax. Johnny mumbled his understanding.
“Good man,” he patted him on the back, stretching up until he caught Lucy’s eye and beckoned for her to follow him. She jogged over to him, and he began to make his way up the stairs, where Billy Kitchen met him halfway.
“I put an iron door on. We’ve got bars on the windows and across the skylights,” Billy reported.
“Good.”
“So what will you be keeping in here, Tommy?”
“Temptation, Billy,” was all he answered, vaguely. “Temptation.”
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