The Darkest Minds ¤ Thomas Shelby

No Longer Sitting Back and Watching

"Then I pity you." Liv laughed before taking a sip of her drink. 

"I think he'll try to kill me." Grace feared about the man's wrath now that he knew about her motive to get close to them. 

"He's too soft." Olivia settled but Grace could hardly find that believable. 

"Soft?" She questioned knowing that a gangster like Tommy was anything but. 

"Soft, like you. Let's face it Irish, you don't have the guts to handle the violence. You never dealt with the hard stuff. You stayed home while them when off to fight the wars. Never paid any mine to what terrors they see behind closed eyes. In fact, you should be knitting in a corner somewhere waiting on your husband to enter the room, surrounded by children who never have to worry about being stripped from their home. A soft girl like you could never handle this life. No matter how hard you'd try." Liv responded making Grace shift in her seat. 

The Irish woman wanted to scream that she was wrong. That as long as Tommy was by her side, she could handle anything that was thrown at her. But then she remembered how he had once pimped her out as a whore. It made her wonder if he had ever done anything that vile to his wife. How much did she withstand so not be seen as soft? 

"What was he like, before France?" Grace's thought made her drift to a past that she would never know. She wanted to know if Tommy was always this cold and serious. She wanted to know how these two had even come together in the first place. 

"He laughed, a lot. He wanted to work with horses." The wife humored the woman giving her a little detail. After all, it wouldn't change Tommy's mind even if the man had feeling for the woman. Grace had sold them out, she would have to pay the price. 

"He won medals." Grace added with a smile thinking it was a prize to have them. 

But Olivia knew her husband better. She herself had seen what nightmares played over and over in soldier's minds. She even had a few of her own. The moment she saw what the package contained; she knew it would never have a place in the house. 

"Threw them in the Cut. Not a single man came back the same. Even with all the terrors, Tommy is a soft man. Which is why he might actually forgive you. He might still make you part of company insisting it's all business but we're woman, we know better. This business wouldn't even be running if it wasn't for me, Polly and Ada. And if you think for one second Polly will allow a traitorous bitch to prance around then you're mistaken. So, you wouldn't only be facing off against me but the woman who raised those boys and the girl who would like nothing more than to be apart from this company." 

Liv had painted the big picture. Grace was a snitch no doubt about that. She had tried to ruin the family and failed. Now instead of simply facing Tommy, she was dealing with another obstacle entirely. After all, behind every power man stood a woman. And these women were not ones to mess with. 

"So, if it were me, I'd leave." Olivia added watching Grace's blank face. But Liv needed to make sure her message was loud a clear. "I'd leave because you will never be one of us and I'll make damn sure you won't speak a word otherwise. You see, the men aren't the only ones with nightmares. But I'm a woman and deception is easy with men who never pay attention to much. I know the terrors that haunt a man like Thomas Shelby, I've experienced it." 

With each word, Liv stood and began to make her way around the Irish woman. Grace didn't move an inch as the woman circled her like shark circling its prey. Olivia Shelby had been a nurse in the war, of course she had also seen the terrors that came with the warzone. 

"I'm only going to say this once, Grace. If you're not going from this city by daybreak, I'll kill you myself. And this time, I'll make sure they never find a body." Liv sneered before grabbing the bottle of liquor and pouring herself another glass with a smile. 

Her statement made the look on Grace's face turn completely blank and she listen to the threat. Being a barmaid in a well-known bar meant a lot of traffic flowed through the area. And many people meant many mouths to feed information. 

This made the woman think about when she first started, and the Irish were barely moving into the area. There was much talk about Tommy's wife being involved in a killing on the lane. but Grace could never prove it. Now Olivia had uttered a very clear threat, and something deep down told Grace that it wasn't one to take lightly. 

Grace simply got up and began to make her way toward the door. But despite her instincts to keep waking, she wanted to hold some form of her dignity. Which is why she turned around to make one last comment to woman before her. 

"Maybe what really upsets you, is the thought that one day you might lose him." Grace said with a smile thinking she had poked at Liv's insecurity. 

But Grace simply smiled and a laugh as she poured herself another glass. She raised her cup to take a drink before responding to the woman who held a smug smile. 

"Oh, honey, if there was any time I could've lost him, it would've been the moment he stepped off that train and was met with a child who wasn't his. But even while he was sleeping around, he always came home to me wearing a ring. And even when you tried to save him from the coppers on the lane, he never even left with you. He left with a girl that doesn't belong to him. So,, tell me, Grace, if you stay what are you fighting for? Are you willing to fight for a man who would choose family over and over again?" 

Liv's last statement simply made Grace looked down before leaving the bar. After all, if there was one thing that was a constant with Tommy, it was the band that never left his finger. 

With Grace out the door, Liv downed her drink before grabbing her coat and the bottle and exiting where she came. She had to get back to the house and figure out the next step. 

Once Olivia had gotten into the house, she tried to settle into a seat and wait. But as each second ticked by she began to stand and pace. The more she paced the more anxious she got. She couldn't simply sit by and allow the men to defend the lane. Hell, when the men were gone, it was the woman who stood side by side defending one another. 

It wasn't till Ada had entered the room with the same anxious expression on her face that she knew she had to do something. But she wasn't the only one thinking of something to do. The two Shelby woman shared a look before leaving the room. Ada and Liv were a duo that would often gotten in trouble when they were younger but now, they were woman ready to defend their own.