Days seemed to turn into weeks and week into months as Liz refused to leave the house. She had done nothing since that she had seen Thomas Shelby with another girl pressed against him. She had remained silent. She had loitered around the manor. She even stopped arguing with her brother. Billy had been shocked the first time he had yelled at her and she had done nothing but look at him with a vacant expression. Usually she would glower back, her hands in fists. She would be silent, but Billy would see the resentment there.

She hadn't even bothered to glare at him.

Elizabeth felt broken. She felt as though Tommy had taken everything from her and destroyed it. She had been hopeful before. She thought that he would come back alive and that would be enough, but it wasn't. She wanted him to come home and find her. Surely he had to know where she was? She read the newspapers and she knew her face had been shown.

Mary Kimber was not daft either. She could see a change in Liz ever since she had come home that evening. She had initially thought nothing of it, but she began to ask questions and Liz began to distance herself. She had even gone so far as to yell when she dared to mention Tommy's name. Liz's voice had been darker than Mary had ever heard. She said that she never wanted to hear his name or any mention of him again. Mary had promised never to say anything again.

Of course, that was before she knew that Thomas Shelby would be entering her home on the day of the races.

"Elizabeth."

It was a simple command and Liz obeyed. She placed her book down on the windowsill of the library, taking one quick look over the green grass of the vast lawn from the window. Standing up, she shrugged into her cardigan and moved towards the hallway. Billy stood there, dressed to the nines in a posh new suit, a cigar held in his hands as he looked to his sister.

Billy had to admit hat Liz looked unhealthy. She was pale and he could see that she had lost weight by the way her shirt looked too baggy tucked into her floor length black skirt. The red cardigan she wore was loose on her frame and continued to fall from her arms, revealing a dotting of purple bruises on her upper arms. Billy wondered if she would ever answer him back like she had done before.

"Yes?" Liz asked her brother.

He eyed her up and down for a moment as he waited for Mary to make an appearance. "We're going to the races for the afternoon," Billy informed her. He never said anything more, nor did he discuss business with her. He preferred to keep her hidden away. "Don't be wandering off anywhere, I have some men here to keep an eye on things. We shouldn't be late."

"Of course," Liz said, keeping her answers small. She was about to turn and walk off, but Billy had his hand on her arm and he noted how she flinched from his touch, her chin jutting back and her eyes visibly squeezing shut.

It almost made him smile. He had complete and utter control over his sister. He had finally conquered her, unlike father. Moving his hand to her hair, he twirled a loose curl in his fingertips and Liz did her best not to push him from her.

"Your hairs grown," he commented, noting how it came down past her shoulders and towards her back. "And you've lost weight, Liz."

Liz looked to the ground as Billy's knuckles ran over her cheek. "I have not been feeling particularly well."

"No?" Billy asked in an almost mocking tone.

"No," Liz whispered back.

"Well," Billy spoke, bending down slightly to look Liz in the eye, "you should go have a lie down, eh? Get some rest and see if you feel better when I come back. I might bring some friends with me…see if they fancy having a drink. You'll be hospitable then, won't you, Liz?"

Liz almost wanted to cry out in frustration. She detested Billy's work partners. She hated the way they leered at her and Mary. But more than anything, she hated the way Billy encouraged it. Mary had been unused to treatment like that, but she had soon realised that she did not bear the brunt of Billy's frustrations.

"Of course," Liz whispered and Billy bent down to kiss the top of her head.

She quickly rushed off as soon as his grip had ceased. Running up the stairs, she picked her skirts up into her hands and ignored Mary as she passed her on the staircase. Mary watched for a moment, her hand curled around the bannister as she saw Liz storm across the landing, her hand over her mouth and her head held down. Looking down the staircase, she saw her husband standing there, his gaze on his sister as she walked above him. But that wasn't what infuriated Mary. What infuriated her was the smug look on his face. He was slowly breaking his sister.

Sitting in her bedroom, Liz held the ring in her fingertips, looking down at the dull stone. She had tried to throw it away, cursing the day she had met Thomas Shelby. She had thrown it from her window and onto the dirt in the flowerbeds beneath her. She had sat for an hour before running downstairs to find it. She couldn't throw it away. She didn't have it in her. Even the letters in her desk drawer remained untouched.

Why couldn't she hate him? It would make it much easier. He had promised her that he would come back and not forget her. That was what he had done. He had been back for a day and had found someone else to move onto. She hated him for it. She hated herself even more for still loving him.

Dinnertime soon came around and Liz sighed lowly, wondering if she should wait for Billy to return to eat, not that she found herself hungry but she had only had a slice of toast that morning. She heard nothing throughout the Manor for the entire afternoon, then again, she never heard anything. It was far too vast for her to notice the comings and goings of anyone. She liked it that way sometimes, but other times it gave Billy an advantage to sneak up on her and scare her half to death.

Sighing, she moved slowly through the corridors and down towards the kitchen for a cup of tea. It was only as she passed the games room down the hall from Billy's bedroom did she hear a loud smashing noise. Arching a brow, she looked to the closed door before she heard raised voices muffled by the thickness of the wood.

Was Mary in trouble? It sounded like Billy's voice. Liz moved closer and opened the door, walking in and looking around to see Billy stood there, his finger pointed towards a girl dressed in a flowing red dress. Her hair was blonde and hung in ringlets down to her chin whilst her eyes were glowering to Billy. Her face was pale, washed of any colour as she looked sternly onto the sight in front of her.

"Elizabeth," Billy's voice snapped her from staring at the blonde as Billy stormed towards her, grabbing her by the arm and slamming the door shut.

"What the hell is going on in here?" Elizabeth demanded to know, seeing the fear in the woman's eyes as she clung to her bag as if her life depended on keeping it close.

"None of your business," Billy snarled at his sister, looking back to the woman he was supposedly entertaining. "Now, Grace, watch…this is what you should do."

Liz wondered what Billy was talking about before she looked to the ground where a small tumbler laid on its side, the alcohol staining the pale carpet underneath it. Billy looked down to it as well before he pushed Liz on the shoulder, making her knees bend towards the ground until she fell there, her knees making contact with the rough carpet.

Grace watched on as Billy smiled cockily, watching on as his sister began to pick at the tumbler. It was then when Liz's cardigan fell down her arm and Grace let her eyes widen at the sight of the purple bruises which sat on her pale flesh. Who was this girl? Was she his sister? She wasn't his wife for Grace had met her at the races.

"See how obedient she is, Grace?" Billy checked as Liz stood again, leaving the cardigan dangling down her arms as she placed the tumbler back on the side.

"Leave her alone, Billy," Liz finally managed to speak. "You're frightening her."

"I'm doing no such thing," Billy adamantly said and Liz extended an arm, motioning to Grace as if to prove her point.

"She looks terrified," Liz declared before looking over to Grace and speaking to her. "Go home."

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Billy demanded from his sister as Grace contemplated making a run for it, but she remained rooted to the spot she stood in, her feet unable to move her to the door.

"Telling her to go home before you do something," Elizabeth said, failing to care about the look of anger on her brother's face. He could do what he wanted to her, but Liz was not having him use other women like he would do Grace. "I fail to care what you think, Billy, you are not touching her so long as I am here."

Billy turned a deeper shade of red and Liz knew that she had taken things too far. But she didn't care. Billy deserved this. He deserved to know how much like father he was acting, but Liz knew that he didn't care.

"You little bitch," Billy roared, his hand making contact with her cheek as Grace gasped out loud, her hands moving to her mouth as Billy grabbed hold of Elizabeth by the hair and pushed her down to her knees as he bent over her, his hands grabbing roughly at her.

"Look, sir, I told you-"

The opening of the door dragged Billy from his thoughts as he looked upwards, struggling to notice how his sister remained sat on the ground, her legs bent underneath her and tears pooling in her eyes. The butler stood in the doorway with another man behind him, his hands held up in a surrendering motion.

He had come there to save Grace, the guilt of what he had done eating away at him, but that was not a sight he saw. The sight he saw was much more heart-wrenching than he could have imagined. He felt himself stand still, his dangerous blue eyes fixed on the girl on the floor. He drank in her features and he knew it was her.

She hadn't ran away.

She hadn't abandoned him.

She had been dragged back home.

Everything Pol had told him was a lie.

And then she looked up and he felt the guilt inside of him begin to eat away. How could he not know? How could he have believed Pol? He knew Elizabeth. He knew that she would not have ran off without telling him. He may have known the girl for a short space of time, but he had intended to marry her. He gave her his mother's ring. He gave her everything he had. And then he foolishly believed that she had run off.

Looking over her, he noted the bruises on her arms before his gaze came to her face and he saw the look of defeat on her face. His eyes found hers and he saw nothing. He saw no notion of caring from her. And why would he? He had been back nine months and hadn't bothered to come for her. Did she resent him? Did she not know that he had no idea she was here?

"What the fuck do you want?" Billy demanded from him, pushing him from his own thoughts.

He was about to move with haste and grab Liz from the ground and drag her with him. He couldn't leave her here with Billy.

"And why are you looking at my sister like that?" Billy demanded.

It was then when Liz stopped her staring at Tommy. She detested him. She wanted to hate him with every shred inside of her, but as he stood there and watched her, she couldn't help but feel the opposite. It was almost as though he was shocked she was there. Unless he was? Did he not know? Liz didn't know, but at that moment she remembered the alleyway.

"I have no idea," Liz said, sniffing lowly and moving to stand from the ground. "I have never seen him before in my life."

She knew that the truth would get him killed. It would ruin him. Billy would draw his death out and make it as long and painful as possible. Liz didn't want that for him. She may be upset with him, but she didn't want to see him six feet under.

"So you have no idea what he is called?" Billy pushed, still unable to understand why he was looking at his sister like that.

"I wouldn't know," Liz spoke, an air of nonchalance to her as she moved slowly towards the door, ignoring the sets of eyes on her as she went.

Tommy was unable to follow her then, not knowing what had just happened between them. How could he leave her? Why would she say that she didn't know who he was? He had so many questions and none of them had been answered. He wanted to chase after her. He had to.

"Why were you looking at my sister like that, Shelby?" Kimber demanded. "No…I don't give a fuck…just get out! Both of you get out now!"

Grace ran first with Tommy behind her, but Tommy didn't follow her down the staircase. He noted Liz walking down a corridor and he ran after her, grateful that Billy had slammed the door shut. Grace called after Tommy in a hushed tone, but she ignored him. He was too intent on finding Liz.

He caught up with her, softly grabbing her arm until her back was against a wall when he turned her around. Liz felt her pulse flutter at the impact, her breath coming out in short and sharp pants as she looked into his gaze, his piercing blue eyes baring straight into her.

"You…you're here," Tommy whispered, his hand moving to her cheek, almost as though he couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Liz, I had no idea. I promise-"

"-Not now," Liz hissed to him, pleading with him to see sense. "You have to go. Billy will kill you, Tommy."

"Like he might you, eh?" Tommy wondered back, noting the reddening of her cheek from where Billy had hit her. "You need to come with me, Liz."

"No," she adamantly responded. "You need to go. I have been here for five years, Tommy…believe me…I can handle my brother."

"No," Tommy said, shaking his head defiantly. "You can't. I'm 'ere, Liz. I'm 'ere now."

Liz felt her blood boil and she knew that Billy would soon hear them. She shook her head adamantly. She would sort this. She would keep Tommy away from Billy. She had to.

"I do not need rescuing," she hissed at him. "I have coped all of these years. I can manage. I will find you…but go, Tommy, go before he finds you and shoots you in front of me. Do you think that he would not?"

Tommy seemed to believe her then, but a part of him knew it was wrong to leave her. He had left her for too long already. Shaking her head, Liz pulled herself free from his grip and rushed off, turning round the corridor and giving him no chance to catch up with her. He cursed to himself, but promised that by the end of the week he would have Liz away from Billy Kimber for good.

…..

A/N: Thank you to everyone who is supporting this story. Let me know what you think thus far!