Crown of a Prince (Finn Shelby)

79.

Despite having spent most of the evening wrapped around her, Finn felt a tug of desire in his groin. He couldn't get enough of her and for some reason, the thought of her standing over him with all the power lit another fantasy in his mind's eye.
 
"Come on, leave him be" Tommy told them, gathering them together and back towards the party.
 
Lizzie held out Tommy's jacket, making sure he put it on to hide the drops of blood that stained the sleeve of his shirt. Finn closed the curtains and was sure to lock the door behind them. They would have to go back to the party as if nothing happened. As if Linda had not just tried to kill her husband and Polly had not almost just killed Linda.
 
*
"What the fuck are you doing dealing with a man like that Tommy?"
 
Lizzie's question was a good one. It was on all their minds as they stood outside the dancer's tent and heard Mosley's speech. It had made the hairs on the back of Ailbhe's neck stand up and not in a good way. She felt cold and like they had just witnessed something they would look back on and realise it was a turning point in all their lives, a turning point in history itself. 
 
Sir Oswald Mosley was an evil man and he was going to destroy their lives along with the lives of millions others if he got the chance. But that was their plan, that Mosley would not get that chance and that they would stop him.
 
"You're going to have to trust me," Tommy told them quietly, turning and pulling out a cigarette.

Ailbhe saw the slight shake of his fingers as he turned away from them to light his cigarette. Lizzie reached out, steadying his hand and lighting it for him, catching his eyes for a brief second that made Ailbhe feel as though she was interrupting something innately intimate just by watching.  
 
"Again" Polly remarked, finding themselves in yet another situation where they just had to have blind faith in Tommy.
 
Mosley approached them, seeing how they gathered outside as though they were outsiders at their own party. In the old days, Ada would surely have preached about socialism and class ideals that pushed them out of even their own home to somewhere they felt more comfortable. 

Thomas, Finn, Niall and Liam seemed relatively uninterested, lighting a cigarette and looking back at the guests. The women however didn't take their eyes off him for a second. He was the kind of man that women knew not to take their eyes off.
 
"I'm going to fuck the swan," He told them, so decisively Ailbhe had pity for the swan. She seemed to have no choice in the matter.
 
It was the one thing Polly had told him was off-limits. But that was the type of man Mosley was. For the men who make the rules, there are no rules. That was what Tommy had told them.
 
"Somebody, go and tell her to come to my room. The Queen Ann bedroom, yes?" He checked, turning his head towards the young woman who had been trying to avoid interaction with him all night, the woman to who Finn Shelby's hand seemed glued.
 
Ailbhe's eyes darted to Lizzie and she could feel Finn tense beside her, going to step forward with his fists clenched but Liam grabbed him from behind, subtly and held him still.
 
The Queen Ann bedroom was Ailbhe's room, it always was hers when she stayed over. Mosley was trying to taunt them, trying to goad Finn into doing something stupid. He wanted to let them know he had more information than any of them thought.
 
"You're staying in the Princess Amelia, Mr Mosley" Tommy reminded him, knowing exactly what Mosley was trying to do. 

From Niall and Liam Kennedy's clenched jaws and Finn Shelby's flared nostrils, it was clearly working. Tommy hid it well. But the idea of Mosley touching his sister made him feel the rage he had been burying inside him come so close to the surface he wanted to cut away piece after piece of Mosley until even his own mother wouldn't recognise him.
 
"How do you know she'll come?" 

Polly intervened. She had seen the men's quick reactions and knew it was best avoided.
 
"Because they always do" He replied, tearing his eyes finally off Ailbhe and making her quietly sigh in relief as he turned his steely gaze to Polly.
 
Polly barely entertained it, turning and leaving the conversation swiftly. Mosley seemed to be enjoying testing every boundary set before him as he stepped forward and took Lizzie's hand in his, lifting it to his mouth and pressing a kiss to the back of her hand. She didn't even look at him, feeling how Tommy was doing everything in his power not to put a bullet in Mosley's head at that very moment.
 
"Now, forgive me. I'm going to borrow your husband for a little while" He told them, gesturing towards Tommy who directed him away from them thankfully before he could even try and kiss Ailbhe's hand. Ailbhe wasn't sure whose patience would run out first and whose tempers would be lost but it was an even toss-up between Finn, Liam and Ailbhe at that rate.
 
Once they had been led away Lizzie swore louder than she meant to, almost loud enough for those still in the tent to hear.
 
"Bastard, son of a bitch" She spat, her fists clenched down by her sides.
 
"Easy there, boss" Niall nodded towards her, holding out his hip flask. He thought she needed it more than him. He was right, watching her snatch it and take a sip but not looking any calmer for it.
 
Finn stayed quiet but Ailbhe knew that in a way, that was worse than him shouting and roaring. He was thinking, thinking so hard it looked like he was going to blow a fuse or get a nosebleed. She wrapped her hand around his arm, holding onto him and hoping she could reel him back in and stop the mind racing. She needed him back, needed him with her tonight.
 
"He'll get what's coming to him" Liam promised them, wanting to put a bullet in Mosley's head just as much as the rest of them but they had to wait. Tommy's orders.
 
Liam, Niall and Lizzie headed back inside, towards the guests and left Ailbhe still outside with Finn. She sighed, leaning in and resting her forehead against his upper arm since that was as high as she could reach.
 
"There's no way you're staying in your room tonight Alv, you're staying with me," He told her, feeling her small hand undo the tightly clenched fist at the end of his arm and lace her fingers through his until he relaxed around her.
 
"Thank you" She sighed, not wanting to be anywhere that Mosley knew. She had considered getting their driver to bring her home, but Finn's bedroom was a better idea.
 
"We're bad people Alv, I know that but he's just... he's fucking..." He said, trailing off and not knowing what to say.
 
Finn tried to find the words but couldn't. He didn't know how to even begin describing the level of fucked up inside Oswald Mosley's head.
 
"He'll die soon Finn... and we'll live" She whispered, squeezing his hand in hers and hoping that if there was a God out there, that he heard her prayers that they would survive this, that no more Shelby's or Kennedys would be taken from them.
 
"Come on" he sighed, keeping her hand in his as he pulled it together and remembered it was meant to be a party, tugging her along with him back towards the crowd.
 
"But if one more man even spends too long looking at you, I'm taking you upstairs"
 
He warned her, his face still serious yet Ailbhe knew his tone was light-hearted. Although, she definitely wouldn't object to being thrown over his shoulder and taken upstairs to be reminded who her heart belonged to. In fact, now she kind of hoped for it.