𝐀 𝐒𝐄𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐏𝐀𝐋𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐃 nails cut the stuffy air in a single, dismissive motion. Iron door hinges squeaked and scrapped as they opened, closed and let yet another person inside the room.
"State your name and the reason for coming here," Caterina tried to control the monotony of her voice, but as the time ticked on and the clients filtered in and out, she found it harder maintain the same unreserved interest in every issue brought in.
Whose idea was it, for her to accept the audiences as if she was the Pope, hearing the issues and pleads of the poor, begging for a scrap or protection from those above them? Her own, she noted with dismay, but she failed to calculate in the hours of actually sitting and listening.
The woman before her lowered herself in the plump leather chair, keeping a firm shaking grip on the purse in her lap. Her clothing was mismatched, clashing in colours and style, only adding to the fact she must be too poor to afford something up to date.
"My name is Lucia, signorina, and I've been selling me family's produce for years, signorina, at the Bull Ring, paid my fees and all," she took in a breath, adjusting the scarf covering her head.
"But a few months ago this new woman came, put up her stand and started selling her fabrics, fine wool and linen. And then one by one she turned the other women against me, and there's not a day that my stall in not trashed and me greens not sellable no more."
Stefano Ricci, who was the one to bring her the woman in trouble, observed the interaction from the side with quiet admiration. He was one of the first to turn his cloak on one Cardinale and step in the service of another, and he did not regret it for a moment. The woman he now called his boss, his capo, was all the people talked of and more.
One of Caterina's hands rested on her chin, almost grazing her red lip as she listened to the woman like a priest in the confessional, gazing away into the distance, impassive, remote. There was something godly, otherworldly in the way she held herself so arrogantly and yet so humbly at the same time.
She gave her a soft nod as a gesture of human sympathy. "What is her reason to do so?" Her tone prompted the other to speak on.
"My husband. He... He's a good man, gentle and kind, but he's also Chinese and their hatred is so deep rooted they want my family to starve for it. And I can't do anything because she's pays for her protection to Vincente Changretta," Lucia was trembling, silent tears streaming down her gaunt face, pale and weathered with worry.
The mention of his name made the Italian woman stand up a little more straight, finally turning her whole body towards the merchant.
"Why have you come to me instead of Don Cardinale?" Caterina leaned slightly over the desk. Her tone was bland, almost chastising. "You know I'm a part of Shelby Company now, and there is little I can do to intervene in Bull Ring. It's hardly under my jurisdiction."
"Signorina Cardinale, you're my only hope. The entire city speaks of your kindness, of your justice for us poor people. I lost the faith in the police and all those who tell us they can right the wrongs in the world. Please, I beg of you, I'll do anything, anything you ask me," the merchant cried out in her anguish and fear, turning into a weeping mess under the young woman's stern gaze.
Whiskey coloured eyes stared ahead, closing only for a momentary sigh.
Up until now, people mainly came to her for little things, like landlords upping their fees or bureaucracy, the little things that made a little man's life bitter, but this — this was an opportunity. If played right, it could be a setting stone for something much bigger than this underground operation she was harbouring in her office.
There was a war brewing, entirely inevitable, a clash of generations she was determined to win no matter the price she had to pay.
"Please, get up," she stood up, making her way around the desk to comfort the woman. "I'll send two of my men with you tomorrow to help you with your stall. One of them shall remain at the Bull Ring for the next couple of weeks, and if she attempts something more severe she will be made aware under who's protection you are. You and your family needn't worry."
"Signorina, you are my saviour! Good God will bless you tenfold," the woman insisted. No, not God, Caterina thought, he had no business in Birmingham.
Lucia jumped from her seat with a renewed vigour, grasping Caterina's hands between her own and shaking them. "Anything, ask me anything, I am at your service," she went to kneel at her feet but Caterina was quick to catch her by her elbows and straighten her up.
"I will take your word for it. Now go home and kiss your children and your husband," the younger woman instructed firmly, pressing a tissue into her hands. Tears of anguish were replaced by the ones of pure relief.
Caterina watched on, unmoving from her place as she leaned on the desk behind her, palms of her hands tightly gripping the lacquered wood. Even when the doors slammed shut and silence once again reigned in the room, she stayed, the promise she made weighing heavily on her mind.
"How bad?" came her tense whisper.
Stefano kicked himself off the wall he was leaning on, brushing down the non existent dust on his suit to join her by the desk. His youthful dark eyes flickered over her hunched figure with concern. She'll work herself into an early grave, for sure.
"There's been a word of unrest in the Nechells," he begun, pushing his hands into the pockets of his navy suit.
"Of what sort?"
"Apparently your father's company hasn't paid the workers for the last couple of months. They've gone on strike on Friday and are threatening to destroy the machinery inside the factory," he explained.
Shifting on her feet, she crossed her arms over her chest. "And he's not doing anything?"
"I have a friend who is consigliere Bianchini's assistant. On the last meeting there was even a word of selling some factories because of the debts," it was not hard to pinpoint his fellow conspirators in the Cardinale Company. Somehow, Roberto managed to turn even his most loyal allies against himself and the business, and yet no one had the gall to overthrow the patriarch that still held one quarter of the city in his hand.
"But I think there's something more to it, and it most likely has to do with Changretta."
A displeased sigh followed her grimace. As time went on, the Changrettas had become more courageous, taking house by house, restaurant by restaurant, street by street. Back then she had managed to rein them in, as a matter of mutual respect and friendship they shared, but now it seemed they took far too many liberties and expected her to accept them without retribution.
Not in her neighbourhood.
Cat reached forward with her hand, grasping Stefano's one with a firm shake. "Thank you for doing this. I know how much you're risking by coming here."
"I'm doing it for justice," he stated, and meant it. Only Caterina Cardinale could reestablish the company, bring it back to its former glory, the only one that could keep so many families in the Nechells from starving.
A soft smile graced her features at his words. "And I'll remember that."
Their interruption burst in the room in the form of the sharply cut Blinders leader,
"Ricci," he greeted the man standing next to her cooly.
"Signor Shelby," Stefano replied curtly, taking that as his sign to leave. He had a vague idea why the Shelby man seemed unfavourable of his presence, and found it mildly amusing. Still, out of respect he bent down to press a cheeky kiss to the back of Caterina's hand.
"Signorina Cardinale," he covered the mop of his dark hair with his fedora, clearing out of the room in a moment.
"Keeping tabs?" Thomas asked, shrugging off his coat and letting it fall over one of the leather chairs, followed by his peaked hat.
Cat nodded slightly, wiping her hands off the fabric of her pants. "You really think I would just leave my people in the hands of that merciless old bastard?"
Without a word, Tommy grabbed her hand, pulled her closer so he could kiss her. It was perfectly unreal still, after a full week, she felt like an effervescent dream in his hands.
He found she cleared his head better than whiskey or any kind of smoke, better than any kind of poison he used to take. Grounding, and at the very same time completely lethal to his train of thought as soon as he tasted her lips.
For a moment they were teens again, deftly sneaking around with their first love, feeling the rush of adrenaline every time they come close to being discovered.
It was not as if they didn't want their family and friends to know about their entanglement, but they oddly enjoyed the secretive sneaking around, stealing kisses when no one was looking, Tommy absentmindedly tracing shapes on the back of her hand underneath the kitchen table.
"Tommy," Cat murmured as his hands cupped her face, blues of his eyes roaming over every inch of her face; the half closed lids of her eyes and the gentle slope of her nose, beckoning lips demanding his presence.
"Hm?"
"A penny for your thoughts?"
"I'm an incredibly lucky man," he admitted proudly. The urge to kiss her whenever he liked, to show the world she was his, his equal and his best part consumed him. "Can't I surprise my girl with a second of my day?"
She couldn't help but chuckle at the uncharacteristic softness of his voice. "Now, you know I don't believe that for a moment," batting her eyelashes, she escaped his embrace like a shadow.
Lifting one of the slates of the office's closed blinds, she took a peek at the employees milling about the office, her eye catching on the unexpected figure hovering by the entrance. "Michael's chatting up your secretaries," she commented, not complaining once Tommy slid behind her, resting his hand around her waist and his head on her shoulder.
"I'm not paying them to flirt with him," he scowled slightly. "Liz is the only one actually getting shit done. Employee of the fucking year."
There was something different in the way Polly's son acted ever since that unfortunate day at the auction. He seemed sharper, perhaps a bit colder. Still, Polly hadn't noticed anything and that was all that mattered. "Look at him. Full of hope, a spark in his eye. We'll break him."
"He wants this life. It's in his blood," Tommy argued. Their stained blood and all that came with it would always catch up to them, no matter how hard they tried. He's seen it on Ada, who had been determined not to get involved with the family business at all, and the way she now itched for a word from home.
"Doesn't have to be, we can't be slaves of our own bloodline." She stayed quiet for half a beat, then asked. "You'll really let him in?"
"I see potential in him," said he, "I promised Pol he'll be dealing with the clean books, nothing of old business. And a higher wage than advertised."
"You see yourself in him. That's a spitting image of Tommy Shelby if he didn't go to war."
"You wouldn't like him," came his reply and for a moment, a pang of something akin to hurt flashed through her. It hurt her to see him think so little of himself at moments.
"What makes you say that?" She wanted to turn around and face him but Tommy's grip on her waist tightened, bringing her flush against him.
"You like the danger," with a deliberately slow motion of his hand he moved the locks of her hair away from her shoulder, exposing her bare neck to the warmth of his presence.
"You like the thrill," he murmured against her skin, lingering just bellow her ear.
It took all her strength not to melt right there on the spot. "Oh, you bastard."
"What was that, Miss Cardinale?" His sharp grin turned awfully criminal as he let her turn around and wrap her arms around his neck. Would it be such a terrible thing if she simply stayed like this for the rest of her life?
Hardly containing a grin of her own, they fell into each other so naturally, standing barely a breath away. "You're a devil, Shelby."
"The Devil," his lips found hers again, and she swore she could never grow tired of the utter contentment she felt underneath his touch.
One of her hands weaved itself into his short hair, eliciting a satisfied groan from the man as she tugged, as the kisses turned more frantic. His fingers pressed against her hips, almost bruising, the pain only making her shudder with pleasure.
If I go to sleep I might wake up and realise this was all a dream, she had told him once they reached the door of her house that night when they finally surrendered to their desire.
And I'll be there to kiss you good morning, he promised and it was the one he intended to keep until the day he died.
"You have work to do," she chastised him playfully once they pulled away for air, knowing full well that if they continued this way neither of them would do anything productive for the rest of the day. Not that she would complain, at any given occasion, especially if he continued to trail his lips down her neck like he was doing at the moment.
"No, I don't. They can wait," he replied stubbornly, like a petulant child being parted from his favourite pastime.
"Go, shoo, work that magic gypsy charm on your new horse trainer," he laughed and so did she, his eyes never leaving her as she reluctantly pulled away from his warmth.
"Mhm right, you're telling your boyfriend to go charm another woman?" The blue-eyes menace adjusted his rumpled shirt.
Even dressed head to toe in black and grey Tommy Shelby glowed. "Boyfriend, eh?" She shot back cheekily.
Tommy swooped down to collect his coat and she allowed him to press one last parting kiss to her swollen lips before he was gone, leaving her to smile at the closed door like a lovestruck teenager.
*:･ﾟ♛･ﾟ:*
With a free afternoon on her hands, Cat opted on spending it outside instead of her usual spot in the office or behind The Garrison's bar. She relieved Esme of the children duty for the rest of the day, the woman thanking her profusely. Bringing her and John's youngest with her, she went to visit her parents at the Patch while Cat remained behind with the other five rascals.
John's brood, Cat reckoned, had more energy than the entire Small Heath combined, and could surely power the entire city with their incessant babbling. They ran around her in circles, wearing her down until she complied and agreed to take them to the nearby park and later, after dinner, take them to buy a little sweet treat at the sweetshop.
It was safe to say they promised her she was the best auntie in the whole wide England.
"Will, stop tugging at your sister's hair," she tired shouting, but to no avail. The boys continued to poke Katie and Mary until the girls retaliated with full force, pinching and biting, wreaking havoc through the playground.
Thankfully, there were no other children playing there on this particular afternoon - Cat was not in the mood for judgmental looks and sneers that usually came from many mothers.
She heard him long before he spoke, the click click of his cane against the stone sparking ire in her belly. "What a fine, sunny afternoon, wouldn't you say Miss Cardinale?"
Chester Campbell was the worst kind of human stain she couldn't possibly be rid of.
"Inspettore," the young woman did not even look up at him, simply stretching her legs in front of her. "Never took you for one to scour the playgrounds. Though, I must admit, I've heard of many perversions among the police force," she smirked mockingly, testing his temper.
It took a great deal of self-control not to grimace when he lowered himself on the bench she sat on, folding his arms in front of him.
"My, my, do you kiss your mother with those foul mouth of yours?" He chuckled mirthlessly, knowing full well where to strike in order to produce a reaction. "Or do you perhaps service the entire Shelby spawn?"
Very witty, she wanted to snark. "How unseemly of you to ask me that, Inspector, when it is your wife you should be asking," she turned her head slightly, just in time go see the red starting to creep up his collar. "It stings, doesn't it, Chester?"
The Irishman simply chuckled, like a disappointed parent would, observing the way the brunette roamed through her pockets for a pack of smokes.
"I trust my wife's vows, but what would you know about honesty? I'm sure you haven't told your lover all the dirty details of your past. Have you told him about your past lovers yet?" Her hand stopped halfway up to her cigarette, a bolt of dread shooting up her spine.
"That's none of your fucking business, bastard," she spat, making the smirk on his face grow.
"I suggest you keep your boyfriend on a leash, he's been acting out lately. I might be merciful when I want to but the Crown seldom is," the patronising tone of his voice irritated every cell of her body, and for a moment she hoped to end up in Heaven just so she wouldn't encounter him in the afterlife.
"Do you know why I chose Tommy Shelby for this mission? A mission of outmost importance for the Crown-" his preaching was cut off by Caterina's biting tone.
"You think, just because he's a criminal, a gypsy, he's like an expendable workforce for you. Deal or no deal, you will attempt to exterminate him as soon as the deed is done. But from the moment you decided to blackmail me too, this became very, very personal."
Nearly jumping out of her skin when his lecherous hand grabbed her thigh, Cat forced herself to remain perfectly still even once she could feel his foul breath near her ear. "I can make the rest of your pitiful life absolute Hell, you Godless wench, you'd beg to die," hissed Campbell.
If he expected fear from her, he would remain disappointed for the Italian did not budge one bit. Instead she brought the dying cigarette to her lips and exhaled.
"You think you've gotten more dangerous since we last saw each other. Though, I must admit, your threats have become more creative," she mused slightly, flicking her eyes from her lap to the Irishman in a lazy motion.
"A higher government position doesn't make you a bigger fish, Major Campbell. It just puts a bigger target on your back."
"We'll be seeing each other very soon," he promised, leaning heavily on the dog's head of his cane.
"Oh, I hope so, Chester," there was something unsettling in the way she flashed him her teeth, almost predatory.
"We do have a history."
*:･ﾟ♛･ﾟ:*
That night, every building that once housed a gelatteria owned by Caterina Cardinale burned. An unfortunate incident involving the machinery that mixed the treat, said the police inspector upon the inspection of the scenes. No further investigations were made, and the insurance was paid out for the thousands of pounds worth of damage.
Those that spoke of black-clothed shadows that were seen in the dead of the night coming and going out of the said buildings were quickly silenced and disregarded.
The workers of Cardinale Import got their first wages in months.
*:･ﾟ♛･ﾟ:*
ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ's ɴᴏᴛᴇ
how do I write Tommy and Cat without all the angsty pinning ugh