The Poisoned Rose

Chapter Fifty-Eight

"Do I scare you Rose?" Tommy asked her, his icy blues eyes following her every move. 

Deliberately moving slowly so that she was directly in front of him, Rose shook her head, "Why would I be scared of you?"

"Because of who I am." Tommy replied, his eyes glancing down towards her lips, "Because I am Thomas Shelby, leader of the Peaky Blinders."

An emotionless laugh slipped out of her mouth, "I think you forgot who my family was. And anyway why would I be scared of a leader. Do you know what happens to arrogant leaders?"

Tommy stepped closer to her so that they were almost touching, "They win?"

Rose leaned her face towards him, she was so close to him now that he could feel her breath upon his neck, "They die."

And with that, Rose sauntered back over to her chair, and poured herself a drink, "Are you suggesting that my death is imminent?"

"Quite the opposite actually." Rose smiled sweetly at him, "I am giving you advice."

"To not be a leader?"

"To not be arrogant." 

Laughing, Tommy sat down opposite her, "Pour me a glass, would you?"

"Pour it yourself." 

Tommy leaned forward, his hand grazing Rose's knee, and then he carefully poured himself a drink, "Lizzie says that I drink too much."

"You do drink too much."

"Does it bother you that it is now just Lizzie and I living in this house?"

Rose raised an eyebrow, "Why would it bother me?"

"Do you think about John often?"

"Of course, he was my husband." Rose replied, her eyes never leaving his.

"You don't look as though you do."

"Looks can be deceiving."

Tommy smirked, as he stared at her, "In fact, you look very happy. Why are you so happy Rose?"

Clearing her throat, Rose stood up, "I am not happy. There is a war on Tommy, we need to plan and prepare your strategies."

"We don't have to do that."

"Yes, we do." Rose told him, growing bored of the conversation, "Or you shall lose."

Tommy stood up too, walking towards her, almost as if he was stalking her, "I will not lose, not with you by my side."

"Who said I would be by your side?"

"You're here, aren't you?" Tommy's hand gently moved up to touch her cheek, "You have always been a beauty Rose, my brother was lucky to be married to you."

"He wasn't lucky to have you as his brother."

"No, he wasn't." Tommy began to trace his finger along her cheekbone, "First I shoot him and then I fall for his wife."

Rose stared at him in shock, "You don't know me. Not like him, he knew exactly who I was."

"I know who you are, you are like me, you love power." Tommy whispered to her, "Together, we can have power."

Shaking her head, Rose replied, "I don't love power, in fact I hate who it has made you become."

"That's not true." Tommy grazed his lips against her neck, working his way up towards her mouth and then gently pressed his lips onto hers.

Pulling herself out of his embrace, Rose confidently told him, "We have work to do Thomas."