The Sweetest of Hearts.1| T.S

•Billy Kimber.

VII. Billy Kimber.

On one Monday afternoon, Maude was sat in the snug with her brothers as well as the Shelby brothers. Grace was with them, eyeing Maude as she took everyone's orders. Four whiskeys were ordered before Grace turned to Tommy who was silently staring ahead of him, barely acknowledging her presence in the small room.

"Did you want whisky as well?" Grace asked him as she raised her eyebrows, frustrated as Tommy refused to give her even a single moment of his time. And now as he and Maude visibly grew closer, Maude also refused to give Grace her time, and when she did, she dodged every Tommy-related question.

"No, just beer." He muttered with a shake of his head as he continued to stare ahead of him and Maude followed his line of sight to the window showing the outside of the front of the Garrison. Her eyebrows furrowed as she looked back at him and her gaze met his.

"Why no whisky, Tom?" Henry asked Tommy, but his gaze lingered on the barmaid slipping out of the snug. When the door closed behind her, he looked at Tommy." You expecting trouble?" He asked as he raised an eyebrow, sharing a look with the other three men around the table.

"Aren't you boys always expecting trouble?" Maude asked as she raised her eyebrows, crossing her arms over her chest as she looked over at the four, her head tilting to the side.

John glanced at her, a lopsided smirk tugging at his lips. "Well you should know, you've been spending a lot of time with the boss, ey?"He asked as he quirked an eyebrow at her, and all eyes inside the small room turned toward her.

Tommy glanced at Maude who remained silent as she stared back at John, a witty remark ready to roll off her tongue. But Tommy turning towards his brother kept Maude quiet. "John shut up." He demanded, shooting his brother a pointed look and John's smirk only grew.

Grace silently entered the room and handed out everyone's drinks, feeling angry as she completely got ignored. She slipped back out without so much as a word, remaining by the door for a second after she closed it.

Arthur chuckled as he stared at his brother. "It's about time, Tommy." He muttered softly before taking a swig of his whiskey, hiding his smile behind the glass.

"Time for what?" Tommy asked as he quirked an eyebrow at his brother, but before anyone could make a smart remark or get any wiser about what was going on between Maude and Tommy, car headlights outside the pub caught their attention.

Maude looked at Tommy, quickly realizing that was what he was waiting for, what he was looking at. That was the trouble he was expecting and she had a hunch on who exactly was bringing the trouble. Everyone inside the room was immediately tense as they looked at the window

"Coppers," Daniel muttered as he turned to look out the window before looking over at Tommy.

"No," Tommy replied with a shake of his head as he stared at the window with his eyebrows tightly knitted together.

"Maude, you should go home," Henry demanded as he turned to his sister with a stern look when she opened her mouth to argue with him.

"No, she stays," Tommy demanded as he shook his head, looking at Henry with a pointed look.

"And why the fuck is that?" Henry asked as he raised his eyebrows, planting his hand firmly on the table as he shot a quick and confused glance at Maude before turning back to Tommy.

"Because she's sitting in on my meeting," Tommy explained his voice holding a warning that no one should further question him on the matter. His gaze was hard as she stared at Henry, but it quickly softened when he turned to Maude. He only cared for her opinion at that moment, solely because he didn't want her to do something she didn't want to. Because he didn't want to scare her off and lose her before he even had her. "Do you have a problem with that arrangement?" He asked her as he raised his eyebrows.