Harlow had told Ada everything once they had snuggled up on the sofa with a cup of tea, and the Shelby was beyond excited. She was the only one who had no interest in the business, and only wanted to know about their personal lives. It was nice to think about something else for a change. They had chatted long into the night, laughing and thinking about the future. Just two best friends who happened to be connected to the biggest gangs in Britain.
The following morning was chaos, everyone had risen at the exact same time resulting in collisions in the hallways, battles over plates in the kitchen and huge arguments over the bathroom. Sharing one house with three bathrooms and thirteen men was not something that Ada and Harlow enjoyed, but thankfully they were leaving today and heading back to Birmingham with Michael, Finn and Theo.
Once everyone had managed to clean themselves and distinguish which jacket belonged to who, the two gangs gathered in the living room, planning to discuss the day. Harlow perched on the sofa alongside Jack who's wound had been healing nicely. At first everyone thought he was going to make the most of being injured and use it as an excuse to relax, but at the first moment he got, he was back on his feet again.
"How was your date?" He winked cheekily, a smirk placed on his lips as he turned to face the brunette. Harlow raised an eyebrow, smiling softly, "I'll still slap you even if you are injured."
Callum laughed from behind him, leaning against the arm of the sofa, waiting for his oldest brother and Tommy to join them. Whatever they were discussing, they weren't willing to involve the rest of them just yet.
"Ada, where's your suitcase? I'm putting everything in the car now." Michael asked as he wandered into the room, looking for the Shelby girl who was slumped in the arm chair comfortably. As soon as she went to stand, Tommy strolled through the door followed by Dale, both of who had stern looks on their faces.
"Sit, Ada." Tommy muttered, standing in front of the mantlepiece as she rolled her eyes, perching back on the seat as Michael ceased his job, waiting to hear what they were about to say. Even she knew it was important to not retaliate in the current situation.
"As you are well aware, it is going to be very dangerous to be a Blinder or a Wentworth in London for the next few weeks. Dale and I discussed it and nobody leaves this house alone unless specifically instructed by either of us." Tommy announced as he tucked his hands in the pockets of his grey jacket. Harlow analysed his posture, relief flooding through her as she noticed he no longer looked sickly pale. Sometimes the flu could leave as fast as it came. However, along with the lack of illness came a lack of sympathy for him and this soon opened the floodgates for the anger to return.
She scanned her eyes across the busy room as Arthur sighed expressively, "So we're basically on house arrest?" He slouched on the edge of Ada's arm chair, and she quickly moved her arm so it didn't get squished under his weight, hitting her brother's back in protest.
"You've never left the house on your own anyway Arthur, just take John and you can do whatever the hell you want. It'll be your fault when you get shot." Jay snarked, pushing himself off the window ledge as he nosily gazed out of the window. He squinted as if he was watching somebody, but quickly looked away and turned his attention back to Tommy as Arthur pulled an irritated face.
"Theo, you're going to go with Harlow, Michael, Ada and Finn and stay in Birmingham for a week or so just until we can sort out everything down here." Dale addressed his youngest brother who nodded acceptingly. Theo didn't mind leaving the capital, it interested him little and he'd much rather return to Tommy's house which was surrounded by fields and a touch of fresh air.
"Michael, you keep an eye on the books in the betting shop, make sure your mum hasn't made any mess ups whilst we've been in London." Tommy instructed as the Gray nodded, snapping his head round as Harlow spoke up defensively, "I'm sure Polly is capable of juggling a few books."
The brunette sat with her hands clasped in her lap as she made eye contact with Tommy who stood silently for a few seconds, watching as Harlow dared him to say something against his Aunt. Fortunately he decided against it and she clicked her tongue in response.
"Can I have the keys? I need to get something." Harlow questioned bluntly, already growing bored of the meeting and rising from the sofa as Michael chucked the rustling bundle across to her. She clearly wasn't going to be allocated any type of function to carry out on her return, so remaining in the room of already stressed men wasn't going to help anyone.
"We're not finished." Tommy stated harshly as Harlow paused in the doorway with a smirk growing on her lips. She had been reasonable with him until now, but after spending a night out with Alfie, her view on the Shelby was starting to change.
Twisting over her shoulder, she glared at the rigid man, "Oh, that's funny." Harlow juggled the keys in her hand skilfully and Ada watched excitedly in anticipation, waiting for what she was about to say.
"I didn't think we were finished either, but then you cheated on me with an Irish whore so... I guess we are finished." Harlow shrugged with a smile as she strutted out of the room, pleased with herself as Ada slapped her hand over her mouth with an overwhelming sense of pride.
John and Arthur both sniggered under their breath and Jay had to hold in a small smile , trying not to show satisfaction at his best friend's expense. The Wentworths looked around awkwardly, not daring to look at one another in case anyone burst out laughing, but fortunately Ada took the limelight off them.
"You walked straight into that one Tommy."
***
As Harlow stood next to the car, she looked into the back seat, seeing that Michael had already chucked her handbag in there. She was grateful as they were likely to forget it, but she needed to grab her lipstick before it melted in the heat of the vehicle. Polly was very particular about the storage of makeup, especially before they had tonnes of money to waste away on anything they desired.
She had no plan to come outside, but she couldn't bare to sit there and listen to Tommy talk.
As she balanced them on her little finger, the keys dropped to the ground, clattering noisily against the concrete and as she bent down to pick it up, Harlow noticed a flashing red light under the car. Narrowing her eyes at the little device, she quickly jumped up as it began repetitively flashing and made a mad dash back towards the front door. She knew exactly what it was and did not like it one bit.
Just as she reached the fourth step, the most deafening explosion Harlow had ever heard echoed behind her and a few bits of debris came flying up towards the house. She turned in horror as she fell down onto the step, unable to stand as she watched the once beautiful car gleam with orange flames. The whole exterior of the car was gone, leaving only a mangled piece of metal sat in its place.
A loud ringing echoed in her ears as she blinked in what felt like slow motion. A blur of figures appeared in front of her face as the black smoke wheezed into the air. Fortunately there had been nobody on the street, so the only person who was affected by the blast was Harlow. Whoever had planted the bomb had failed with their mission; no one was dead.
Harlow squinted her eyes as she saw her brother's terrified face in front of hers, gripping her chin gently. Strangely, she couldn't feel it, but words such as 'shock' and 'bleeding' were being chucked around behind her. Concentrating on Jay's lips, she tried to focus her ears on what he was saying, not the vivid speaking that echoed all around her. Next to Jay was Ada who's eyes were almost black with fear, and she was holding one of Harlow's hands, shaking it every so often.
When it was clear that Harlow couldn't hear either one of them, they were moved to the side as Tommy knelt down in front of her, wiping blood from her forehead that she didn't even know was there. She couldn't feel any pain, everything was numb and quiet, yet so overbearingly loud at the same time.
Finally, as she gazed into the familiar, blue eyes of the boy she had loved for years, his voice managed to trickle through above them all, "Harlow? Nod if you can hear me."
Slowly, Harlow gave a small nod of her head with a shaky motion as Tommy let out a sigh of relief, turning to Jay who squeezed Ada in a comforting hug.
The moment he had heard the explosion, he had been taken back to France, surrounded by death, fire and the enemy. However this time it was so much worse, because the people that he loved the most were in peril. His only reassurance whilst in France was that Ada, Polly, Lizzie and Harlow were all safely at home, but in that singular moment, he was terrified he had lost her forever.
"Get her inside. John, go with Arthur and Michael and get the other car from the garage. They can take that one back to Birmingham. You need to get out of here as soon as possible." Tommy warned as the trio nodded, taking one last concerned look at Harlow before jogging down the street to collect one of the other cars.
"Well I think we know who did it." Levi added to Dale as they stared at the blazing car, watching the heat rise from the framework, blurring the houses behind it. Dale hummed in agreement, his eyes working on overtime to assess for any further danger. He hurriedly moved aside as Tommy and Jay helped Harlow into the house, ushering his brothers back inside to avoid speculation. Hopefully with their influence, the police wouldn't ask too many questions, but an explosion nearly always caused a great uproar.
"Come on," Nick urged supportively as he wrapped an arm around Ada, drawing her eyes away from the wreck. She hated to think how close it came to seriously injuring her best friend, and if the time had been different, any one of them could have died. She was sure normal people didn't live like this, they didn't live in fear that at any given moment they could be blown up or shot or stabbed. They certainly didn't stay in a house with ten of the most dangerous men in the country. Michael, Finn and Theo couldn't really be counted in that tally.
She nodded softly, leaning into his shoulder as they entered the house, shutting the door behind them allowing the fire to burn until every bit of flammable material frazzled out.