Charlie had found Briah alone in the stables when she arrived at Arrow House and she preferred it that way. She brushed the mare's coat and gave her plenty of treats from the hessian bag on the hook while they waited for everyone to return from the church. The urge to go inside and help herself to the alcohol was strong but she resisted, knowing she would need her mind sharp for the night ahead.
"What have they done to you?" She asked the horse who had been quiet and lethargic since she entered the stables. "They haven't tamed you have they?"
"No, just a bit of morphine for the sports tonight." Johnny Doggs said as he walked in the stable with the other horses. "Everyone's inside."
"You drugged my horse." Charlie scoffed.
"Gotta fix the race somehow, redcoat's have got it comin' if you ask me."
"Why are there redcoats here?"
"Grace's family, cavalry for the King." He said before spitting at the ground in distaste.
"Oh great. I'm sure that's going well for the peaky boys." Charlie chuckled.
"Tommy's called a family meeting in the kitchen in five minutes." Johnny said, locking the stable doors and waiting for Charlie to join him.
She had nothing else to do so she looped her arm through his offered one and they headed to the back of the house and through the staff entrance to the kitchen. Tommy looked stressed as he paced the pantry waiting for everyone to arrive and he froze as he saw Charlie standing amongst the chaos like the calm of the storm. The moment only lasted a second but she could see the gratitude in his eyes at seeing her there. Spinning away he asked Johnny where Arthur and John were just as they entered through another set of stairs, lost and confused.
"Right, you're all here." Tommy said as he lit up a smoke, avoiding looking at Charlie while he did so. "Today, this is my fucking wedding day."
"Yeah," John interrupted, clearly angry, "and you said there'd be no bloody uniforms."
"Nevertheless, nevertheless John," Tommy calmed him, "despite the bad blood, I'll have none of it on my carpet."
"What about the cobblestones?" Charlie asked teasingly, earning a glare from Tommy and a laugh from his brothers.
"Now, for fuck's sake, nothing will go wrong. Those bastards out there are Grace's family. And if you fuckers do anything to piss them off, your kin, your cousins, your horses, your fucking kids, you do anything-"
"What about snow?" Isaiah asked suddenly as John pulled him in a playful headlock.
"Yeah, their women are sports, I'll say that." John laughed.
Tommy stalked over to the two and Charlie could see the need for control burning in him. "No. No. No. No cocaine. No cocaine. No sport. No telling fortunes. No racing."
He was making his way around the circle, edging himself closer to losing his temper as he did.
"No fucking sucking petrol out of their fucking cars."
Charlie barely contained her amusement as he warned Finn who was prolific at the act.
"And, you, Charlie."
Charlie's head shot around, eyes narrowing as she dared him to give her instructions but he turned to Charlie Strong instead. "Stop spinning yarns about me, eh?"
"I'm just trying to sell you to 'em, Tom."
Tommy wiped his eyes as if he hadn't been sleeping well and it was catching up with him. The cigarette in his mouth was burning quickly and she could feel the snap coming on.
"But the main thing is, you bunch of fuckers, despite the provocation from the cavalry, no fighting." Tommy said, dangerously calm.
Isaiah looked away first and Tommy caught the act, storming towards him with an angry finger. "Oi! No fighting. No fucking fighting. No fighting. NO FUCKING FIGHTING!"
Charlie had to bite her lip as she found herself enjoying his anger and one of the rarer moments of him losing control around other people. A poor waiter happened to walk through as Tommy finished and he found himself thrown to the floor, a bottle of champagne rolling away from his grasp. Charlie swiped the bottle needing a taste of something to suppress the heat warming up her neck. Tommy threw his jacket on and pointed to Charlie as she drank from the bottle hastily.
"Drawing room now." Tommy ordered and John winked at her as he headed to the stairs to join the party.
Grace noticed Tommy walking through the hall talking closely with a stranger until they entered the drawing room. Curious to find out what they were doing, she excused herself from her cousin's latest tale of his time in India only to be interrupted by Polly.
"There's a man I don't recognise from the guest list. Is he one of your lot?" Polly asked, pointing to a solitary figure standing in the corner.
"No, he isn't. Also, I saw a woman with Tommy that I didn't recognise. Who is she?" Grace asked, glaring at the closed drawing room door.
"Lady Charlotte." Polly smirked. "She's certainly one of our lot, like family that girl."
Grace could see the hatred in Polly's eyes and had hoped to have moved past their historical bad blood but Polly still despised her. It made Grace even more curious as to the relationship with the woman because Polly clearly liked her and Polly was known for hating any woman that came around the Shelby boys.
Grace began to walk away from Polly but she stepped in front of her, holding her arms tightly and leant in close to Grace's ear. "Be content with knowing you are married to him, but know you will never possess Tommy's heart again."
Grace ripped her arms out of Polly's grasp and rushed to the door, knocking madly as she rattled the locked handle. Her chest was constricted at the thought of what they were doing behind the locked door when suddenly it was ripped open by Tommy. His lips were swollen and hair disheveled as he tried to comb it back with his fingers but his clothes were still adorned.
"Where is she?" Grace asked, voice cracking.
"Where is who?" Tommy asked, lighting another cigarette.
"Lady Charlotte." She sneered as she searched the room, tearing curtains from the rails to find the woman but couldn't find a trace of her.
"You look like a mad woman." Tommy said as he watched her look in every nook and cranny for Charlie.
"I saw her, I saw you enter with her. I know what I saw."
"She left a minute ago, after we discussed some business."
"Business at our wedding, Tommy." She sighed.
"You wanted the wedding not me."
Tommy dropped leisurely onto the couch in front of the fire and blew smoke into the air.
"I didn't want our son growing up a bastard." Grace growled. "But with a father like you it seems inevitable."
"Watch it Grace." Tommy warned, feeling his anger rising after she not only interrupted the incredible blowjob Charlie had been giving him to relieve his tension but now insulted him directly. "You've got what you want but I can easily take it all away from you. Now get out of here before this wedding becomes a fucking funeral."
Grace practically ran from the room, bumping into a smirking Polly who had been waiting at the door. Closing the door behind her, Polly took a seat beside Tommy and looked up at the mirror above the fire.
"You can come out now." Polly smiled.
"Thank Christ, it was a bloody sauna in there." Charlie said, panting as she climbed out from the hidden panel and straightening her clothes and hair.
"The russian is here." Polly said, lighting a smoke from Tommy's tin. "Gave the code 'Constantine'."
"Fuck." Tommy growled as it didn't match.
"What, what is it?" Polly asked, sensing the tension.
"He's a spy, Pol, the code's wrong." Charlie answered, fingering her ruby neckless nervously.
"And now I have to make him disappear." Tommy huffed. "Right, Charlie, I need you to find Johnny and tell him all rules are off, we need a fucking distraction."
"He's already drugged my horse for some racing, I'll tell him it's back on." She nodded and left to complete her task, only stopping as Polly called out to her.
"Charlie, when are you going to come home?"
Charlie wistfully looked in the direction that Grace had stormed off. "When Tommy gets rid of the rodent problem."
"You made a mistake, Tommy." Polly tutted as she flicked the ash off her cigarette and watched Charlie walk away. "That's who you should be marrying."
"Pol." Tommy stopped her from pressing any further. "It's time for the fucking speeches."
Polly grimaced at the thought of being sat opposite the Irishmen and their redcoats, taunting them like they were bulls. Stubbing her cigarette out aggressively she got up and followed Tommy out, helping him flatten the wild mess of his hair Charlie had messed up. The guests were waiting for them as they took a seat at the table, Charlie sat beside John, making him laugh over something she said.
Tommy wished he could have sat down with them, enjoying the jokes and her company instead of next to Grace who was sending murderous glares down the table. The entire room was tense and Arthur stood to make his speech as best man only added to the strain. A collective breath of relief was shared as their speeches ended and dinner was served including a separate kosher dish for Charlie.
"What makes her so special?" Grace asked as she saw a maid bring her a specific plate.
"You're beginning to sound like a petulant child, Grace." Tommy replied under his breath. "If you must know, the food is for her religious beliefs."
"You don't care about anyone's religion." Grace scoffed.
"Obviously I care about hers."
Grace wiped her face daintily and placed her napkin down before excusing herself. Gossip filtered down the line of guests but no one commented as she left her own reception and practically ran up the stairs. Charlie looked down ashamed but not because she felt guilty, but because she didn't feel guilty.
The guests filtered off soon after Grace's departure and Johnny was waiting in the wings to guide the surly redcoats towards the stables for some racing and betting. Finn was already warming his horse up while Briah walked lazily around the courtyard in her drugged up state. Charlie wrapped her shawl around her exposed shoulders, feeling the bite of the chilly air, and followed behind more sedately than the boys.
"This isn't a place for women, you should be inside dancing." A redcoat said as he saw Charlie walking alone.
"I'll go wherever I please." She said before catching the eye of Johnny who was waving her over with a grin. "Maybe I'll dance here. Isaiah, how about a dance, love?"
The young man grinned as he snapped his fingers to the other gypsies gathered around. "You hear that, the lady wants a dance with me? Sing us a fucking song."
The men slapped their knees in time as they sung an upbeat tune about the mountains of their homelands and Isaiah spun around the space with Charlie laughing in his arms. Soon she was being passed around the rest of the Peaky boys, spinning from one pair of arms to the next at a dizzying pace until she found a familiar embrace.
"When I said I needed a distraction, I didn't mean for me." Tommy chuckled as he continued the dance with her.
"Perhaps you should try a little self restraint." Charlie said with a sly grin.
"Or I could restrain you." He teased before turning serious. "Polly said you were leaving tonight. Stay."
"I can't." She sighed sadly. "I'm needed in London and I think your wife would probably smother me."
Tommy could feel her breath across his neck and he wanted nothing more than to take her away so he could finish what he started but he had a duchess to meet and a Russian to dispose of and she was right, it might push Grace too far. Reluctantly, Tommy passed her back to Isaiah before heading off to complete his next mission of the night, wishing the day to be over already.