Canary - Thomas Shelby

chapter 8

"Nice dress El. You can wear that to my bar anytime. Good for business" Arthur said with a whistle.

"That's enough Arthur" Tommy said glaring at his brother. Elena found it funny that Tommy got jealous over Arthur complimenting her. If only he knew how much his family talked him up to her in his absence.

"Buy the boys a drink. Anybody hurt?" Tommy asked looking over everyone before grabbing the rather large bag of money out of John's hand.

"A few cuts and bruises" John answered. Surprisingly everyone looked okay; Tommy must have had quite the talk with them earlier for it to not have turned into a full-on brawl.

"Then off we go, Lady Sarah."

"Steady on" she replied not exactly eager to head back over to Kimber but she was ready to have it behind her.

Tommy:

Tommy had deposited Elena at a table nearby. He felt her gaze on his back as he poured the money onto the table. The goal was to get Kimber's focus on Elena so he could talk to the more reasonable advisor.

"Your money, Mr. Kimber. Rescued from the Lee brothers and returned to you with a request for a fair hearing." Tommy said once all the money had been poured out. Tommy could already feel Kimber's attention half gone as he looked behind Tommy to Elena. She was playing her part well.

"Your own protection is failing, Mr. Kimber. Your boys are taking cuts. I want to suggest that from now on, you contract out your racetrack security to the Peaky Blinders. We would be saving you a lot of money, Mr. Kimber. A lot of money. In return, you give us 5% of the take and three legal betting pitches at every race meeting north of the River Severn, rising to six after one year if we are all satisfied with the service. What do you say, Mr. Kimber?" Tommy continued making his case for why they should leave the Lees for the Peaky Blinders. A legal betting pitch could change everything.

"I say you talk business to my accountant. I want to dance" Kimber replied pushing past Tommy. It was too easy.

Tommy sat down to hash out the details with the accountant. He kept an eye on Kimber and Elena who were currently on their second dance. She laughed along and appeared to be having an enjoyable time but Tommy could tell her body was tense. He just hoped the deal could be over soon.

"With all the strikes and troubles, you can't depend on the police. Anyway...we're more honest" Tommy said as he could tell the accountant was convinced, the deal was basically done.

"Looks like you two are making a deal," Kimber said sauntering up to the table. Elena stood to the side taking a sip of her drink, she winked at Tommy as Kimber had his back to her.

"Then let me throw a small condition into the mix. 2 hours with that vixen you call a barmaid," Kimber said shooting a lustful look at Elena.

"Absolutely not" Tommy answered not even thinking. The tension at the table quickly increased. He may be willing to pawn Elena off for a few dances but he would not leave her alone with that man. Even if it meant ruining the whole damn deal.

"Excuse me, mind who you are talking to. I'll even throw in an extra 100 pounds" Kimber gruffed. Tommy felt himself see red at the audacity of Kimber as he stood up ready to throw punches on his way out.

"Over my dead .... " Tommy started before he felt a hand on his arm and Elena interrupted him

"I think what he meant to say was yes," Elena said winking at Kimber. Tommy was going to strangle her and haul her unconscious body out of there before Kimber could so much as look at her again.

"What are you doing?" Tommy asked nearly yelling and getting the attention of several people in the vicinity.

"I'm deeply sorry Mr. Kimber. You will have to excuse Thomas; he really does have your best intentions in mind. There's a little detail on his mind" Elena said pulling both Kimber and Tommy close. "You see I'm afraid I got a case of the clap, which was inevitable with the sleeping around. But that wouldn't bother you, Mr. Kimber? Happens to the best of us, am I right? And I'm sure you've seen your fair share" Elena laughed.

Tommy felt his body relax. Elena was such a genius he could kiss her right here.

"The clap?" Kimber asked pulling back far away from Elena.

"Yeah. Syphilis' Tommy answered playing along "When you took a shine to her, I thought I'd let you have your fun. But I can't let you go through with it, call it my better nature"

Kimber stared stunned at the pair, clearly no longer interested in Elena.

"I'm deeply sorry about that Mr. Kimber. Can we shake hands and forget this ever happened?" Tommy asked offering his hand up.

"As long as you keep that whore away from me," Kimber said shooting a glare at Elena.

"Gladly," Tommy said shaking on it. It was best the pair leave and he could finish the details of the deal later. Based on the looks Kimber was giving Elena, he didn't want to be within a ten-foot radius of her. Nodding at the accountant on the way out, Tommy grabbed Elena's hand and the pair slipped back into the hustle and bustle of the normal race tracks.

After a few minutes of walking towards the exit, Tommy pulled her away from the flow of the traffic. He lovingly grabbed Elena's face into his hands as he felt a large smile coming to his own face. He couldn't believe that they had pulled that off, especially after Kimber had tried to pull Elena into the deal.

"God Elena that was so brilliant I could kiss you," Tommy said before realizing what he said.

"Sorry El... I meant." he started pulling back.

"Oh come here," the beautiful girl across from him said, grabbing his shirt and pulling him into a kiss. Tommy felt his whole body freeze. Realizing what was happening, his brain clicked into place and he took control, deepening the kiss.

The pair stayed connected for several moments though it felt like half of a second to Tommy. Elena finally pulled back catching her breath and a big smile came to her face.

"You better hope you don't catch the clap" Elena smiled.

Tommy just laughed before pulling her in for another kiss.

"You're going to be the death of me El" he whispered against her lips. For once, everything felt right.