Chapter thirty-two: Not while I'm around

"Well," Thomas started to explain. "it all started the day you brought me here, your father observed us arguing and for some reason deduced that we there was an attachment between us." She snorts and rolls her eyes. "My sentiments at the time exactly. I thought we were going to be discussing business, and then he made it clear that he didn't want you to marry Emmett. He cited different reasons for it back then and presented his conditions to me."

"How large of a price did he put on my virtue?" she asks as she crosses her arms.

"100,000 pounds," her mouth falls open. "and the use of him and his men, should the need arise."

"At that price, he could have just hired someone off the street to rape me and get it over with. The effect would have had the same result."

"Your father loves you Kate." He shakes his head. "He didn't want you hurt."

"Well, I'm hurt now!" she points out before asking. "What made you decide to agree to such a thing?"

"You did."

Her eyes widen. "Me?!"

"Kate, I was going to turn the offer down, and then you walked in the room. Remember?" She nods, remembering the way he'd stared at her for a second. It had been hard lust in his eyes in that second, it wasn't the look of love he often bestowed upon her now. "And I thought, "Why not? She's a beautiful girl. Should be fun." I'm not going to lie; I wanted you Kate." She glowers at him. "I wanted you from the moment I kissed you in the club."

"You're a bastard!"

"Yes, I was." he admits honestly, causing her breathing to still. "So, I slowly started working on you and all was going well, until that night you came in I almost strangled you." he places his hand on her knee and she doesn't shrug it off. "We talked and that was when I genuinely intrigued by you. I wanted to know more about you. Then Rosemary dragged us to that fair."

"Did you pay that gypsy woman to make that prediction that about us?"

He shakes his head. "No. I threatened to cut her tongue out, but she wouldn't shut up." Kate smirks at the irritation in his voice. "But it was when we got back and I saw the way your mother and Emmett treated you in the next few days, I started to see why your father wanted me to," she shoots him a look. "come on Kate, you clearly deserved better and you know that."

"Keep talking." She orders.

"Fine, then you came home for Polly's birthday and…that's when I started to realize that I was…starting to care for you. I mean, you charmed Finn, helped Arthur and Polly love you and you were different. You saw the worst of me, several times that day, but you weren't intimidated by me. When I saw you come down the stairs, in that dress, without your ring, I knew I was f**ked." Against her will, Kate laughs lightly at him. He smirks and pulls her into his side. "I think you knew I was having feelings for you." She bites her lips, saying nothing, but she knew it back then, or had at least suspected it. "I told you, I'd met a woman that I was developing an affection for." She nods, remembering that moment. "I wasn't lying to you anymore; I meant all of it, even when I told you that were the most beautiful woman in the world." Kate can't keep the faint smile off her face at his words.

"So, when I kissed you in the rain, I was hit so hard by my feelings for you, that I headed straight back to Birmingham to avoid you. Which didn't work, because those two weeks in absolute hell back in Birmingham. Shouted at Finn for bringing up your name and Polly kept pestering me to figure out what had happened. God, I couldn't stop thinking about you and I hated everyone. I only came back to tell your father that the deal was off. I didn't want anything to do with you; I didn't want that kind of attachment to someone that was above me. But then, you came down the stairs, in that wedding dress…I saw you." her heart stills in her chest as he gently touches her face. "I saw the way you looked at me. I knew…that if I didn't win you, I would regret it for the rest of my days."

Kate bites her lip. "Father," her voice is hoarse, so she clears her throat. "says that you ended the bet. When?"

"For me…it was the moment I saw you in the dress. I didn't tell him, because I didn't want to risk him throwing me out of the house before I could made you see that you belonged with me. But, your father and I officially broke the agreement, the night Emmett bought you those tickets from France. Before you hit the ground crying, you reached for me." She blinks, not remembering that, but she believed him. "After that, I was determined to never let you go. You needed someone to love, understand and protect you more than Emmett would. I wanted to be that man for you, and I still do. You know how I feel about you, you felt it last night. No one had to pay me to love you. You made me love you Kate."

"Damn, you, Thomas Shelby." Tears now puddle in her eyes and she wipes them away. "Are you telling me the truth?"

"Yes, I want to have a future with you. I understand why you're upset with me, but had I ignored your father's suggestion, you'd probably be marrying Emmett tomorrow."

That reminder works, all anger quickly subsides. "Oh, God!" Kate shudders in revolt as last night in the library comes flooding back to her. "And that is the one reason why I am going to be able to forgive you." Thomas's face lights up. "Because in spite of the fact that I'm somewhat upset with you, I am relived because you did prevent me from making the biggest mistake of my life. I'd have been damned to a life of misery without you."

"Speaking of Emmett, I know that something happened last night. What was it?" she's silent for a moment. "Nothing he could do you is going to make me love you any less." Those words make her crumble slightly. "I know something happened. You keep trying to push it out of your mind, but you can't." he tilts her face up towards his, studying her face very carefully before stating. "I need to know Kate. Did he hurt you?"

"Emmett, isn't who either of think he was." she exhales deeply. "He didn't really hurt me, but….the night in the library…he, put his hands on me."

"Where?" His eyes flash with fury. "Why didn't you call me? I was in the other room; I wouldn't have let him put a hand on you!"

"I couldn't call you. He was…choking me. I-I couldn't breathe. He was…furious with me." Well, his fury was nowhere akin to the anger boiling up inside of Thomas. She swallows hard. "He thought that we'd…already been together." She can't look at him as she admits. "I told him we hadn't but he… checked anyway."

"He f**king touched you?" She nods. "Inside of you?"

"Yes." the rage boiling up inside him, is clearly going to come out all over Emmett, should Thomas run into him.

"I'm going to kill him." Thomas snarls furiously, leaving her no doubt that Thomas would kill Emmett.

"No, you're can't."

He shoots her a look before spitting. "You better have a damn good reason why you don't want me to kill him. Because he is going to die a long and painful death."

"There are a few other problems. He's going to sue me and my father, if I don't marry him."

Thomas snorts. "Is he that pathetic he needs to sue a woman to get her to marry him?"

"That's not the problem. He's after my fortune, he's told me so himself. I'm not concerned about the money, so what if we are dragged through court for several months? I don't care about that."

"I do." He states. "He's not dragging you through court, splashing you all over the papers as entertainment for everyone, just because you don't love him."

"He confessed to me that he's the one who has the hit on you." Thomas stares in surprise. "He's in league with inspector Campbell. I couldn't' remember why Campbell would want in, but then I remember I lost my temper and crippled him."

Thomas is silent for a moment before nodding. "Right. Well, at least he has some honor in him."

She stares at him. "Are you insane?! What honor!?"

"I thought, for the longest time the man was a stupid idiot who was completely oblivious to the fact that I was making love to you. He was actually p**sed enough to hire someone to take me out. It's almost flattering."

"He's sick. He put a hit out on Rosemary as well." Thomas's eyes flash with fury. "If it was just me, I'd say let's take whatever chance we can, but I won't risk her being hurt."

The fury dies down and he exhales. "It'll be alright Kate. No one is going to harm you, not while I'm around." He kisses her assuringly, but she can feel the emotions pulsating through him. "I promise."

"I'm still upset with you." she murmurs.

"I know and that's alright." he studies her carefully. "Do you still love me?" she nods her head, causing him to smile. "Then it's going to be alright. We're going to be alright."

"We'll talk about us later." She nods before swinging her feet down off the couch. "We should go downstairs and tell them everything that's going on."

"Yes." He stands up and helps her. "I've got plans to make with your father and Emmett Webber, is going to regret the day he even looked at you. And he will pay, for touching you. "

Angel029: Yes, she does!

Cordapia: I As bad as her father's motive was, he wanted Kate to be with someone who truly loved her. Lucky for Kate, he picked the perfect man for her.

TheHoodedAssassin: Of course, she did. Ha, you're going to love Rosemary in the next chapter. She's got a lot of great moments coming up.

Idcam: And he manages to do it with such ease!