Whilst Tommy had no intention of letting Elizabeth into Epsom, he should have been more aware that his wife had more determination than he gave her credit for. He just left her in the stables with May, kissing her chastely on the lips before he went about his own business.

Smiling softly across to her husband, Elizabeth gave him a soft wave before she turned her attention to the horse in the stables, stroking him softly as May Carleton stood on the other side, grooming the horse with a brush as Elizabeth closed her eyes and pretended not to be worried about Tommy. She wasn't just worried, however, she was petrified. She knew that Sabini had men who were not to be trifled with. She knew that Campbell was also a dangerous man. There were so many factors to consider.

This felt different to when Tommy went up against Kimber. Elizabeth didn't know why, but she felt as though this was ten times bigger. This situation was more dangerous. There was Sabini and Campbell after them. There was no escaping.

"You are worried for him."

May's voice dragged Elizabeth from her unwanted thoughts as she turned to move around the horse, folding her arms over her chest and crumpling the long grey coat she wore over her simple blue dress. Her other hand moved to her curls and she pushed strands of them behind her eat before meeting May's questioning stare.

"You…you are not blind," Elizabeth dared to speak. "You know that there is more to Tommy than wanting to win a race."

May scoffed and rolled her eyes, pausing with the brush and placing it down on the stool next to her before her hands dropped to her hips.

"Tommy Shelby has a reputation," May admitted. "I have heard of him and I do know that he is involved in certain business which some may consider to be unsavoury. He wants to be the King of Epsom, does he not?"

Elizabeth was about to scoff at that part but she kept silent and shrugged her shoulders, a hand moving through her hair as the tried to keep calm.

"I sometimes wonder what it is that Tommy really wants," Elizabeth admitted to May. "I know that he wants to leave this mess behind, but it seems to follow him everywhere."

"Do you happen to be speaking of Sabini?" May wondered. "Men talk and they whisper of Sabini being ousted. Of course, I struggle to care about those things. I care about the horses and that is all."

Nodding in agreement, Elizabeth gave May a small smile, wondering if this was a woman she could end up confiding in. Lord knows that Elizabeth had few female friends to talk with. As much as she loved Tommy she often worried that he brushed her worries aside. There were times when Tommy put his foot down as her husband and he told her what she was to do. Like that morning, but she had defied him. She had to prove to him that she wasn't as weak as he seemed to think she was.

Of course there were other things going on in her mind. She worried that this would give Tommy a taste of what he was missing. She worried that he was being pulled back into the life he had made for himself when he had returned to Birmingham. She wanted to leave and settle down. She wanted to focus on just their marriage, but she sometimes wondered if Tommy preferred to go back to what he knew best.

"It must be easier to care about the horses than anything else," Elizabeth said in a small voice.

May frowned and continued to watch the Shelby wife with an intrigued stare, her brow rising on her forehead as she folded her arms across her chest and realised that she should take the horse out to the field to allow it the chance to run before the race.

"I suspect you are unhappy," May declared and Elizabeth shook her head. "You seem rather forlorn. Of course, I suspect you might just be worried about your husband. No doubt he finds himself in a dangerous predicament at this moment in time."

Elizabeth scoffed softly and she shook her head before settling herself down on a stool and pushing a hand through her hair as May took the reins to the horse and Elizabeth looked around the tent, wondering if Tommy would truly know if she left the confines of this place and went for a walk. How much damage could she do? She doubted a lot. Then again, she didn't exactly know what was going on at Epsom, apart from Tommy being forced to kill a man and Arthur and the gang forcing Sabini off the racecourse.

But this wasn't right. Tommy shouldn't be forced to kill someone for Campbell. He shouldn't be blackmailed in this way. Then again, he should never have hoarded those guns. The entire thing was a mess Elizabeth wanted to forget about.

"I will be fine," Elizabeth promised May. "You go and do what you have to."

May seemed unconvinced, but she left Elizabeth to her own will as she gave her a brief nod and walked away with the horse following after her. Standing up from the stool, Elizabeth walked around the tent, her hands burying themselves into her skirt as she did so. She felt sweat form on her forehead and she dabbed it away with the back of her hand.

Time seemed to pass slowly for Liz. She had no idea what she was doing as she waited for any sign of Tommy. She heard no noise for a while before the flap to the tent rustled open. Turning her gaze behind her, she looked with haste at the man who had just entered, his eyes glowering over to her as his hands remained behind his back and Elizabeth moved to the other side of the tent and as far away as possible from him.

"What are you doing here?" Elizabeth demanded an answer, her hands moving to her hips as she stood defiantly before him, refusing to be scared by the sight of him. He might have had her beaten before, but she refused to show fear to him.

"Just making sure that Mr Shelby keeps his end of the deal," his Irish accent rang out as he wandered through the tent, his beady eyes fixed entirely on Elizabeth. "And what better way to do that than to make sure I keep his wife in my sight."

Elizabeth felt her stomach churn as Campbell stood opposite her, the pair of them looking at each other with discontent. Yet Campbell had a flicker of something else but hate in his gaze. He was looking at her as though he knew something she did not know. Of course, she suspected that was true.

"It's a shame about your husband, Mrs Shelby," he declared. "What do you think will happen when he kills that man?"

"You will leave him be," Elizabeth warned him and Campbell shrugged his shoulders.

"Aye, I could do," he agreed with her. "The police here are under my control. I can have Thomas Shelby in a prison cell by the end of the night and some of the men in there hate the Peaky Blinders, Mrs Shelby. Can you imagine what they would do to him?"

The fear then rose inside of Liz as she took a step forward, her hands balling into fists as she shook her head. "Leave him be," she demanded. "Just leave him alone. You promised…"

"Because men never break their promises?" Campbell chuckled and took his turn to shake his head. "No, Mrs Shelby, but I think we could come to an arrangement. Just you and me without the interference of your husband."

Elizabeth knew that she should probably run. That would be sensible. Run before he could tell her what he wanted. He enjoyed this. He enjoyed seeing people at their most vulnerable and destroying them. He crushed everything that stood in his way. But Elizabeth remained still. She remained still for her husband's sake. Tommy would do anything for her and she would do anything for him.

"What do you want?"

The words made her feel sick as soon as she had said them. And Campbell knew. He stepped forward and Elizabeth remained still as his hand moved to her cheek and she shuddered in disgust, closing her eyes as he came closer to her. She kept her eyes shut, waiting for him to speak. But he said nothing. Instead the next thing Elizabeth felt was his lips on top of hers.

Opening her eyes, Elizabeth felt repulsed with herself. She tried to push him from her, but he was forceful, his hands wrapping around her upper arms as his mouth continued to work against her, his teeth nipping at her bottom lip as she tried to move her mouth away, finally succeeding.

Campbell pulled back too. "If you're not willing to be accommodating, Mrs Shelby, then the deal is off."

Ignoring the urge to spit, Elizabeth watched as Campbell turned back around and she knew that he would do it. He would take Tommy from her. He would ruin them. But this would ruin them. If she let him have her then Tommy would never touch her again. There was no doubt that she would disgust him. He would never look at her in the same way again. But she had to keep him alive. No matter how much it ruined them.

"No." Elizabeth said, her voice shaky as she stood still, her hand moving in front of her as she struggled to stay upright.

He turned back around then, rocking on his heels as Elizabeth remained still and Campbell nodded.

"Then prove yourself," he demanded from her.

Elizabeth wished Tommy had give her some form of gun. Then again, she suspected he had never intended for Campbell to find her.

"Strip."

It was one word and Elizabeth felt the tears begin to form in her eyes. Pushing them aside with her fingertips, she remained strong. She kept Tommy in her mind as she dropped her coat to the floor and slowly moved for the buttons at the back of her dress. She ignored Campbell's glare on her as the dress loosened on her frame before it pooled at her waist. It slipped down her legs and finally stopped at her feet.

She remained in her slip, her arms folding over herself as she looked down and Campbell moved back towards her, his fingers slowly moving down her sides and to her thighs, squeezing the flesh there.

"These magical thighs which open for everyone," Campbell continued to taunt her. "I wonder what Tommy will say when he realises his wife whored herself to me."

Grabbing her thighs he pushed her downwards until she was on the damp grass beneath him. Bending her legs, Campbell pulled them around his waist as Elizabeth remained limp, her head to the side as she felt his hands fiddling with the tops of her stockings.

"Get the fuck off of 'er."

Elizabeth frowned, not entirely sure who had just spoken in the tent. It wasn't Tommy. It wasn't even a male and it certainly wasn't May. Campbell became a dead weight on Elizabeth before he heard the clicking of a gun behind him. Sitting up and on his knees, he turned his head to the side and looked behind his body to see the woman stood there.

"Polly." Campbell greeted her and Elizabeth scooted her body from underneath Campbell's, moving with haste to stand up and grab her coat, pulling it around her body as it was the first item of clothing she could find.

"You'll have no more Shelby women," Pol declared and Elizabeth could see the colour drain from her face as her hand remained steady with the gun. What did she mean by that? "You've ruined me. You'll not ruin 'er…you'll not 'ave 'er."

"Think of Tommy," Campbell urged her and Elizabeth watched the scene unfold, wondering if she should intervene. But she remained still. "I'll have him arrested. Killed."

"No," Pol said with a shake of her head. "You'll do nothin' to 'em. Tommy wanted to be the one to kill you for what you 'ave done, but I don't e'll mind if I 'ave that pleasure."

"You wouldn't," Campbell challenged her.

Shaking her head, Pol remained still. "You 'ad my son locked up."

And with that she fired the shot at Campbell. Elizabeth winced but managed not to scream out loud at the sight she just saw. Closing her eyes as the blood spattered on the ground, Elizabeth heard Pol move, clearly the sight of Campbell doing nothing to affect her.

"Did he get anywhere with yer?" Pol demanded from Elizabeth and she shook her head as the elder woman took her by the upper arms and shook her slightly.

"No," Elizabeth said. "You came before he could do anything. What did he do to you?"

Pol shook her head and took Liz by the arm and picked the girl's dress up from the ground, hiding it underneath her coat as she wandered from the tent.

"We need to get out of 'ere and find Tommy before anythin' else 'appens," Pol said. "And not be 'ere when they find 'im."

Pol dragged Elizabeth to the ladies restroom and told her to get dressed before she reappeared again, this time with her coat undone. Pol took her to the side in the bar then, finding a quiet table where they could look onto the field before them. Pol ordered them two shots of whiskey and Elizabeth downed it with haste as Pol eyed her suspiciously.

"He was threatening to have Tommy arrested," Elizabeth said, wondering why she was so eager to tell Pol. "I…I would have done it…let him…and I know that Tommy would never look at me again if he had done, but I cannot lose him."

Pol regarded the girl with curiosity before sipping on her shot and nodding her head. She understood. She understood all too well.

"It seems we're both whores to men we love," she whispered and Elizabeth wanted to push her and find out what had happened, but she remained silent instead.

"Thank you," Elizabeth blurted out, looking Pol straight in the eye. "I know that you hate me…so thank you."

Shaking her head, Pol looked over Liz's shoulder as the familiar sight of Tommy came into her view. The entire bar suddenly emptied as more men appeared, their hands by their sides with guns inside of their palms. Elizabeth stood with haste as Tommy came towards her and reached forward, his hands taking hold of her cheeks.

"You get outta 'ere," Tommy demanded Liz and she looked at him with confusion as Pol stood and the men slowly advanced towards Tommy.

"Times nearly up, Mr Shelby," the man declared and Elizabeth's brows furrowed.

"Liz," Tommy dragged her attention back to him as she looked at the men. "Listen to me, eh? Get out and go with Pol. Go back there and stay safe."

"Tommy, what the 'ell is 'appenin?" Pol demanded.

"Tommy," Elizabeth whispered, taking his hands into hers on her cheeks. "What do you mean? I do not understand."

"I love yer, Liz. Remember that. Always. I will always love yer."

"Enough." The man spoke again and grabbed hold of Tommy by the arms along with five other men.

Tommy didn't even bother to fight them as Elizabeth moved forwards, only to have another man point his gun at her. Pol grabbed her arm and stopped the girl from making a mistake she might regret. Shaking her head, Elizabeth tried to push forward but failed miserably as Pol restrained her after a nod with Tommy.

"Tommy!" Liz shrieked. "Tommy!"

She continued to yell, even as the men left and warned her not to chase them. She tried to escape Pol's grip but she failed miserably as Tommy was pulled away from her sight and she shook in Pol's grip, wondering where her husband had been taken to.

…..

A/N: Pol to the rescue! Sorry for not updating sooner, but uni is very stressful!