In response to the reviews on chapter six;

Guest – ha ha ha I know right?! No problem ;)

OccupationalLurker2016 – thank you ^^

Ilynany – ha ha ha yeah maybe ;)

LadyRedStar – oh sorry ^^'' ha ha yeah I loved that too he he

Waterlily91 – ha ha yeah someone call the fire arms!

Lollypop – Yes!

KD – I don't know ;)

Also, as of oncoming Saturday I will be offline so this is the last update you lovely bunnies are getting in a while ;)

Their horse had won. After the race, the winnings were split between her father and Mr. Shelby.

Alice absently sipped her wine, as she sat with her brother and sister. Her parents had gone for a walk and Mr. Shelby was off to God-knows-where. She felt glad he was gone for a while. She wouldn't feel like she was being kept an eye on the entire time.

It was when she took another sip of her drink, she noticed the young, dark blond across the room looking at her. He flashed her a friendly smile and she returned it, gladly. This man wasn't exactly bad on the eyes.

Her heartbeat picked up when the man stood from his seat. She immediately sat up straight, earning a frown from her siblings.

'Act normal', she hissed through her teeth.

The dark blond came up to them, holding out his hand.

'Couldn't help but notice you across the room. You stand out, you know?' he grinned at her.

She sat her glass down, taking his hand. 'Oh do I? I was unaware of that', she smiled.

'Sure you were. Any woman who wears a dress like that, is quite aware of the stares she'll be getting', he paused; 'my name is Will, would you care to dance?' he asked.

'I'd love to -' 'forgive me for stepping in but it is rather impolite to ask a woman to dance, without knowing she's in the company of another man or not.'

Alice tightened her jaw in annoyance, releasing the other man's hand to look at the man whom the deep voice belonged to. The blond across from her staggered back, fear evident on his face.

'P-pardon me, Mr. Shelby. I-I didn't know the lady was with you', he stuttered.

Before Alice could speak another word to the blond, he had run off. Now growing really angry, she turned to look at Mr. Shelby. She couldn't even dance with another man? Was he really going to be that way? She knew she was supposed to be seducing him but by God if he didn't make it difficult for her!

She didn't allow him to talk; she slapped him across the face as hard as she possible could. Everyone around them fell into dead silence, shocked that someone would dare to talk back to Thomas Shelby.

'You're an ass and a bully, Mr. Shelby', she spat at him.

With that, she stormed off, angry, upset and offended. Hot tears stung in her eyes; why was he doing this? He acted as if he owned her! If she could she would very gladly beat the living hell out of him –

She let out a pained snarl as a firm hand gripped her by her arm. Turning, she found said man glaring at her, his cheek stained red from where she had slapped him.

'Go ahead and beat me', she hissed; 'show them what kind of man you're really are.'

He didn't answer; he dragged her into the lavatories, forcing her into one of the empty stalls and pinning her against the wall with his body. She glared up to him, holding her ground, despite being only inches away from his face and the fact her heart was beating out of her chest, sending blood rushing towards her face.

She tried to still her anger, knowing that teasing him would get her more than simply insulting him would.

'You have such a filthy mouth, doll', he took hold of her chin, pulling at her bottom lip with his thumb; 'can't believe I've had my tongue in there', he chuckled.

'Maybe I'm doing that because I know you'll punish me for it', she said softly.

She brought her knee up, carefully rubbing against his loins. He put a hand against the wall beside her head, his eyes darkening. As she kept grinding her knee against him, she could soon feel his quite prominent arousal rub against her. Her breathing staggered for a moment; seeing him get all worked up like this was so amusing. His cage was too easy to rattle.

'Won't you punish me? I've been a bad girl, haven't I?' she asked in a rather innocent voice.

He took in a deep breath. 'You drive me completely and utterly mad', he growled.

She removed her knee from him, only to replaced it with her hand. He ground his teeth together and she could feel his body move into her. She only grinned; the powerful Thomas Shelby, so easily brought to silence by a woman stroking his cock.

She let out a faint gasp, when he took hold of both her hands, spinning her around so her front was pressed against the wooden wall. Before she could move, he pinned himself against her, his arousal throbbing against her lower back. His breathing was heavy in her ear.

She felt a moment of fear, at no longer be in control. But she soon pushed that thought aside and moved her rear against him. He let out a low groan, causing shivers to run down her spine. He dropped one hand to grip her hip.

'You have been a very bad girl, Alice. Teasing me like this…'

She smirked; quite enjoying seeing him this way. And she would admit, his hot body fully pressed up against her wasn't exactly a bad thing.

'Then punish me…'she breathed out.

He growled. 'No. It seems you'd enjoy that too much for it to be considered punishment', he murmured.

He ground his pelvis firmly against her, causing her to gasp. She wouldn't deny it; what he did caused her womanhood to ache unintentionally.

'Y-you don't know a thing about me', she answered, almost moaned.

'As a matter of fact, I do know a few things about you', he brushed her hair out of her face; 'I know your perfume, the feeling of your soft hair between my fingers, the way your skin flushes under my touch, the taste of your lips…' he whispered into her ear.

She tried her hardest to fight the fluttering feeling in her stomach at his words. All he was doing was seducing her…she couldn't fall for it…no matter how badly she wanted to. But that would mean that he had won their game and she refused to let him win.

He turned her back around, keeping her firmly trapped between his body and the wall behind her. Both of them were now breathing heavily and a soft moan fell from her lips at his hips grinding against her.

'Alice.'

His finger hooked under her chin, pulling her head upwards. She stared up to his blue eyes, flushed and her heart pounding loudly in her ears. She put her palms flat against his broad chest, tightening her nails in his clothing.

He leaned in closer, his nose barely brushing against hers. She could feel his warm breath, his steady heartbeat beneath his hands and his eyes…had she ever seen eyes in such a vibrant, blue shade before?

'Oi! Are you almost done in there?!'

Just before his lips touched hers, the voice from outside caused them both to look up. He cleared his throat, stepping away from her and pulling a cigarette from his pocket.

Brushing her hair behind her ears, she took several breaths to calm her racing heart. Had that really just happened?

As she walked out of the lavatory, a strong arm slipped around her waist. Knowing it was Mr. Shelby; she simply let it go and allowed him to pull her along with him.

'Well that wasn't exactly how I wished for that to go', he spoke to her in a hushed tone.

'I can only imagine', she mumbled in response.

Feeling very nervous still, she took the cigarette from his mouth, inhaling deeply to try and calm herself. He looked at her for a few moments, stunned.

'I'll have that back', he pulled the cigarette from her slim fingers; 'thank you.'

She blew out the smoke. 'Sorry. Being stuck in a lavatory will do that to you', she said.

He only chuckled, shaking his head. She didn't look at him; she was still trying to comprehend how weak in the knees she had felt being that close to him. One thing, she knew for sure; Thomas Shelby was very dangerous for her…

That evening, Alice was busy brushing her hair out when Olivia came into her room and took a seat on her bed.

'Dad wasn't pleased by how you treated Mr. Shelby', she said carefully.

'He was out of line', Alice pulled her hair over one shoulder; 'but I apologized', she shrugged.

Olivia shifted. 'He is quite handsome, isn't he?'

Alice gave her younger sister a humored look. 'Don't start with me', she warned.

Olivia held up her hands. 'All I'm saying is -' 'I know what you're saying, Liv, but Mr. Shelby isn't interested in me', Alice cut her off.

Olivia laughed. 'Don't act dumb, Alice! He's been giving you looks from the day we arrived in Birmingham', she exclaimed.

Alice stood up, putting on her silk morning-robe, running her hands through her hair as her mind travelled back to their encounter at the races. Just the memory of his intense blue eyes was enough to cause a chill through her.

'So?' she questioned.

'Dad wanted to present him with a bride -' 'Liv please I'm not marrying that man', Alice objected, turning towards her sister; 'I don't care what dad or mom say, I don't want him between my legs', she clarified.

Olivia rolled her eyes. 'Well there's a first. Never heard you say that before.'

Alice, now frustrated by her younger sister, took a seat back at her vanity.

'Get off my ass, Olivia. Just because you're still a virgin doesn't mean you can ridicule me for my nightly routines', she told her, looking at her through the mirror.

'It was those nightly routines that got your ass into a hospital. Or did you forget about how we all sat by your bed, thinking you were going to die?'

'No', Alice glared at her sister; 'it was a miserable, worthless cunt that got me in the hospital. And I'm well aware of my mistakes. How long are any of you going to be playing that guilt trip on me? Huh?' she almost snarled.

Olivia stood up, brushing off her nightgown. 'All I want you to know is that dad is willing to overlook your antics back home if you start treating Mr. Shelby with respect', she shrugged.

Alice scoffed. 'Sure. I'll get down on my knees and suck his cock the next time I see him', she smiled with a fake smile.

Her sister pulled a grossed out face, only making her laugh.

'God Olivia you're such a pussy. You should live a little more', she said.

Olivia went to the door, opening it. 'And end up like you? No thank you, dear sister', she responded.

Alice simply held up her shoulders, watching her sister walk out of her room. She turned her eyes back to her reflection, undoing her robe ever so slightly. She put her hand over the scar, biting her bottom lip.

She held up a tough act, very well she admitted, but on the inside it hurt her that her family (her parents in particular) thought so ill of her. That the nightmares, the panic attacks, were just classified as 'her going off her head'. She still remembered waking up at night, screaming out in pure terror. Her parents had been sympathetic, for a while. But that soon faded and they told her to stop looking for attention.

Only Jonathan and Olivia had been willing to offer her comfort and even then, did she see Olivia turning into their mother. It hurt her, it really did. Sometimes…she truly, deeply, felt alone in the world.

Sighing, she went out of her room, walking downstairs to get a drink. Thunder rumbled in the background as she took a seat in the library. Trying to focus on a book she had pulled out, she slowly began to fall back into her world of memories.

'You know sweetheart, you weren't very smart to come back.'

Alice held onto her bleeding neck, tears in her eyes as she staggered backwards. He only came closer to her and despite wanting to hold her ground, she moved away. He was scaring her like this…

'Darren…please…I love you', she pleaded with him.

He laughed. 'Love? Love is weakness. You were fun while it lasted but', he began to circle her; 'I'll think I'll hurt you a little, so you can give me some of those lovely screams', he smirked.

She darted away, forcing him to grip her arm, painfully. She struggled against him.

'Baby please…I'm sorry I told the cops -' he cut her off my smacking her across the face, letting her drop to the ground. She tried to crawl away, but he stepped hard on her leg and she could feel her bones snap underneath his weight.

She let out a hard, blood-curdling scream. He only smirked, walking around her so that her face faced his feet. He kicked her onto her back, studying her sobbing form.

'Smile for me, doll', he put his foot on her wrist; 'or this one snaps as well', he threatened.

She only cried; why was he doing this to her? Didn't he love her? Why was he hurting her?

He clicked his tongue, impatient; 'bad girl.'

Snap!

She clutched her wrists, crying out on the top of her lungs. Hot blood poured from the cut in her neck and all the pain made it seem like she was dying.

'Darren please!' she pleaded.

'Goodbye Alice', he stepped away; 'shouldn't have fallen down the rabbit hole, doll.'

She watched as he walked away, leaving her screaming, crying and begging for someone to help her.

Alice jolted awake, droplets of sweat covering her forehead. She held in her sobs, reaching for her Whiskey to calm herself. She rubbed her eyelids, whimpering.

'Goddamn nightmares', she sniveled.

She sank deeper into her armchair, her knees kept close to her chest. All the while, tears spilled from her eyes. Why were the nightmares returning all of a sudden?

Poor Alice! She's suffering from nightmares. If only there was someone to calm her at night *wiggles eyebrows*

And she almost made out with Tommy again. Just go for it girl! Or I will do it for you!

Stay tuned for more ;)

Lots of Love,

~TheOneWithTooManyInterests