Bête noire → Peaky Blinders [Tommy Shelby] [ BOOK 1 ]

Five.

Chapter five: I bet

By the time Caroline stopped dancing, she was slightly out of breath and had trickles of sweat beads running down her temple, fire in her eyes and a frenzy for the beat in her soul. Although she could have kept dancing til her feet were blue, John's features mirrored the same, only his eyes were pale green with dread. It couldn't have been exhaustion. It was certainly something to do with his family and the growing concern they both shared in regards to the tense evening.

Breathless, she looked to the table at the side which her family previously sat around. The only people remaining of her inner circle were Collin and a very worn out Oscar. His head was in his hands as he tried to stay awake, and with anger rising in her face, she wondered how stupid her parents could be to leave their son alone with the supervision of men who ran on money, not the love of a family.

She turned round to John, void of any prior excitement. "It was lovely to meet you, John, but I have to go now."

He scoffed, not believing her excuse. "Come on. Just one more dance?"

"No I-"

"Why not? Just one, I promise."

"I-"

"Please?"

"Listen, John." The sudden poison that traced her irritated tone took the man aback. "I am tired and I have to leave. As I have said before, it was lovely to meet you."

Just as John watched her storm off and grab a smaller boy by the arm, accompanied by body guards, the dread he felt before seeped back into his brain and with an absurd thought that crossed his thoughts, he chuckled to himself. He could have sworn he saw Billy Kimber at the table not that long ago before he left. With a woman so divine, surely there was no relation between her and the king of the races. Though, at her sudden change of aura, every fibre in his being told him to chase after her and place a bullet in her head, because undoubtedly, she was just as cruel and cunning as her father. She was an enemy.

Caroline was beyond furious, and her quick steps in her heels and the shoves she brought to innocent bystanders that got in her way proved it. She was seething, only seeing red as she held onto Oscar's hand tighter than possible, escorting him to the car she drove herself to the arena.

"Care, please!" Collin's sandy hair blew in the wind as he struggled to catch up to his girlfriend with another member by his side. "You cannot go home right now, okay? We were told to keep you here!"

She opened the door and beckoned for her brother to get in the back seat. "Hurry, Oscar." Quickly, after the boy was out of earshot, rage polluted her features yet again, petrifying the men. "Why were you told to keep me here?"

Sharing glances, Collin took one for the team, seeing as how he was closer to her than the rest of them and with any luck, she'd take the news better if it came out of his mouth. "Business that we've been told strictly that you cannot get involved in, not this time."

"If you do not give me a fucking reason not to leave, I will simply kill you all right here, right now and find out myself."

"Please just listen to me-"

"I don't want to listen to you, so close your goddamn mouth, Richardson." She spat, uninterested in the way his face fell with shocking sadness at her words and the gun she raised in their direction. "So, I'm giving you a final warning. Either your next reply is the truth, or you're all dead."

She wouldn't hesitate, that much they all knew. Caroline had killer instincts. Her beauty was a mere distraction from the cold blood that pulsated from her tarred, blackened heart. But, the evil behind her brown eyes only shone through, exposing her for the Siren she really was; how she was able to lure men for her gracious appearance, only to end their lives in an excruciating death, for she didn't care about anyone other than herself.