It was a week later when the men went hunting. Despite it being Good Friday, Tommy wanted business as usual. Ada had gone back to London and I was sat in Tommy's office at his house when Frances came in. "Sorry to disturb you, Mrs Shelby. But there is a woman here to see Mr Shelby. I did say he wasn't in but she demanded to be let in anyway." she explained and I rolled my eyes. Which of Tommy's floozies was this? "Alright, Frances. I'm coming." I told her, standing and smoothing my tight skirt.
I followed her out into the hallway and was surprised at who I was greeted by. "Mrs Shelby, this is the Grand Duchess Tatiana Petrovna." Frances introduced before excusing herself. "Mrs Shelby? You must be Evie." the woman smiled, coyly. "It's Evelyn, only my family call me Evie." I corrected her. "Of course. Mr Shelby says your name with so much hidden lust I wanted to see how it tasted in my mouth now I've got a face to put to the name." she told me, watching me intently.
"Mr Shelby isn't here at the moment and we do not know when to expect him back." I told her, crossing my arms against my chest. "That's quite alright. I am happy to wait." she replied with a smile. "You are married to his younger brother, am I right?" she asked. I nodded, unsure where she was going with her line of questioning. "And they are not brothers that like to share." she told me, suggestively. I was about to ask her what she meant by that but was interrupted by Frances coming back in the room. "Sorry, Mrs Shelby. There is a phone call from one of the men from the shop, it sounds urgent." she told me. I glanced at the Duchess once more before following Frances to a side room.
"Hello, it's Evie. Who's this?" I asked as I picked up the phone. "It's Billy, Evie." the voice on the other end replied. "Hey, Billy. What's going on?" I asked. "Polly, Lizzie, Linda and the rest of the girls from the shop have gone out on strike." he told me. My brow furrowed, confused. "Gone out on strike?" I asked, unsure that I heard him right. "Yeah, there is a big march going on down the Bullring and they've just shut up shop and gone." he explained. "Fuck sake." I muttered. "What do you want me to do?" Billy asked. "Are there enough men to open?" I asked. "There's only two of us here." he replied. "Alright, Billy. Both of you lock up and go home. You'll both get paid for the day." I told him, rubbing my forehead. "Alright, Evie. Cheers." he replied, hanging up.
I could hear the men filing in as I left the side room. The Duchess nowhere to be seen as Tommy went straight to his office, closing the door behind him. "John, Arthur. Can I talk to you?" I asked, crossing my arms. They looked at each other before coming over to me. "What's up?" Arthur asked. "Linda, Lizzie and Polly have taken the rest of the girls down the shop out on strike. There is a march going on down the Bullring and they've all gone." I told them, watching their reactions. "Fuck sake." Arthur muttered. "What about the shop?" John asked. "Billy and another lad were there but that's not enough to open so I told them to just leave and we'll pay them for the day." I told them. "Alright, I'll go tell Tom." John told us before heading towards the office.
"Everything alright?" I asked Arthur, who looked more distracted than usual. "Dad's dead." he told me, simply. "What?" I questioned, my eyes flashing to Finn. "Some woman called Rosie Rice wrote to Tom. He'd been in a bar in Boston, two men were waiting for him and shot him twice." Arthur explained. "He asked for our forgiveness." he added. "And do you? Forgive him?" I asked, looking up at him. "Tom said we don't." he mumbled. "What do you say, Arthur? You're the only one that knows in your heart." I told him, putting a hand on his arm. Arthur thought about this for a moment before Finn and Michael came strolling over. There was a twinkle in Michaels eye as we made eye contact. "John tell you about dad?" Finn asked, drawing my attention back to him. "Arth just did. How are you feeling?" I asked, searching the teenagers face. He shrugged. "I didn't really know him." he told me and I nodded in understanding as John rejoined us.
"Well, we've got business to do." he said, looking at Arthur. "I thought we were going to spend the day with the kids and my family?" I asked, crossing my arms against my chest. "Can't. Tommy's given us instructions." Arthur told me, placing his hat on his head. I looked at John for a moment but I knew he had made his decision. "Well, I'll go back to Birmingham then. There are some things in the office I need to deal with. The kids can stay with Aunt Zee for the day. Finn, you and Isaiah need to get back to Birmingham. Let everyone know it'll be business as usual tomorrow." I said and Finn nodded before going to find his friend.
"Michael, are you going home or to the office?" I asked, settling my eyes on the blond man. His eyes searched mine for a moment. "I've got a few things I need to do at the office. I can drive you." he replied, lighting a cigarette. "Well, that's sorted then. Let's go." John said before making a quick exit with Arthur. I watched my husbands retreating back and shook my head slightly. "I just need to grab my coat and then I'll be ready." I told Michael, pulling my eyes back to his. He nodded, letting out a cloud of smoke from his mouth.
The drive back to Birmingham began in silence. Michaels eyes were on the road ahead as I looked up at his profile. "You know I can't leave John, don't you? You don't divorce Shelby men." I began and he nodded in acknowledgment. "Do you want whatever this is to continue?" he asked, eyes still ahead. The conversation sounded more like a business deal than whether or not I wanted to cheat on my husband. "Yes, I think so." I replied, "Do you understand the consequences if we get caught?" I added. "Yes, I think so." he chuckled, mirroring my previous answer. I smiled as he finally looked at me. "If either of us think anyone is getting suspicious we will have to stop." I told him and he nodded in agreement, still grinning. I smiled up at him before pressing my lips to his.
I gasped as my back hit the wall and Michaels lips were on mine. He easily lifted me by my thighs, wrapping my legs securely around his waist as my arms went around his neck. I ground my hips into his as he squeezed my thighs. "Evie?" A voice called and a door closed. "Shit." I whispered pushing Michael away from me as he dropped my thighs. "Lipstick." I whispered as I straightened my skirt and he sat at his desk. He looked up at me, wiping his mouth before running his thumb under my lip. I ran a hand down the back of his head, smoothing his hair as his office door opened.
I rested my hand on the back of his chair, leaning over and pretending to look at something on his desk as Ada walked in. "So just put these figures into the report, leave out these ones and then that'll be fine." I said as I pointed to various figures on the page, Michael nodding beside me. "Hiya, Ads. Wasn't expecting you here today." I said, looking up at my sister with a smile. "Tommy wanted this dropped off today." she told me, waving a rolled up bit of paper. "These the plans?" I asked, taking the paper off her and uncurling it to have a look.
"Thanks, Ada. Sorry to drag you all the way to Birmingham for this." I told her, rolling up the paper again and looking at her. "It's alright. I needed to do a few other things while I was here." she smiled. "Well, we will see you next week for dinner?" I asked, placing the paper on the desk. "Of course, I better be off." she told me. "Can you lock the door on your way out? Those bloody church nuts keep trying to get in and save us." I laughed and earned a laugh from Ada. "Bye, Michael. Bye, Evie." she chuckled, closing the office door behind her.
Michael and I stayed in silence as we heard the main door close and then lock. I looked down at Michael and he looked up at me. Then with a swift movement, Michael sweeped the papers off his desk before lifting me and placing me on top of it, him between my legs. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he watched me with intense eyes. "Now where were we?" I smiled, looking up at him through my eyelashes.
"How was she, Tom?" John asked, a smile in his voice, as Tommy walked into the living room where John, Arthur and I were waiting. "Talkative, yeah." Tommy told us as I rolled my eyes. "I was fucking working, all right?" Tommy told me, taking his cap off. I raised my eyebrows at him, "How horrible it must've been for you." I replied and he watched me for a moment.
"From what she said, when she was out of her fucking mind, I'm pretty certain the treasury is underneath the house. What have you got?" Tommy told us, looking around us. "Ada got this from the British Library using her scholar's pass." I told him as John unrolled the plans. "She talks about her aunt coming up the stairs to have breakfast in the morning, which means it has to be in the building somewhere." Tommy informed us.
"Wine cellar. Septic. Kitchen cellar." Arthur said, pointing to various parts of the house plan. "And a tunnel under the river." John added. "They don't trust a soul in this country, so my guess is they've turned one of the cellars into a strong room." Tommy told us. "Did you find someone, Arthur?" he asked, looking to his brother. "Moss got me this. Stefan Radischevsky." Arthur replied, handing Tommy a file. "He's a kid from Greet, lives in Cheltenham. Dad's a Russian. He has dreams of owning a pub, but he's got a record." Arthur explained. "Breaking and entering." Tommy read. "Hmm." Arthur acknowledged. "And he speaks Russian?" Tommy asked. "Yeah." the eldest Shelby confirmed.
"Their butler drinks in a pub called the Masons Arms. Get to him, tell him who we are, offer him some money if he gives the kid a job in the house." Tommy began briefing his brothers before there was a knock on the door. "Wait." he called. "Talk to the kid, offer him one of the pubs we took of the Italians if he works in the house for four weeks, keeps his ears open. All right?" he finished and both John and Arthur nodded.
"Come." Tommy called, putting his hands in his pockets. The door opened and Lizzie appeared, a grin on her face. "The executive committee of the union of bookies and allied trades will see you now, sir." she announced. Tommy looked at me as Lizzie left again. "I have no fucking idea." I laughed, replying to the silent question he was asking. Arthur and John took the file and the plans, John kissed my cheek before leaving quietly.
I followed Tommy into the kitchen where Polly had a towel over her eyes and was waiting with Lizzie. "I heard you were giving speeches off the back of a wagon, Pol." I smiled, going around the table and leaning on the counter. "I can't remember a fucking thing." she replied, sounding worse for wear. "Well, Moss tells me you were threatening to burn down the town hall." Tommy told her, taking a drag from his cigarette. "Oh, Tommy, we were having a laugh. You know, actually, the crowd around me was bigger than the crowd around Jessie Eden." she told him, slowly taking the towel from her eyes and sounding proud.
"Who's Jessie Eden?" Tommy asked, glancing up at me. I was about to answer when Polly interrupted. "She's too soft. You're not gonna break the capitalist system talking about separate lavatories for women." Polly told him, raising from her chair and going to the stove. "Who is Jessie Eden?" Tommy repeated. "She's a new best friend." Lizzie told him, a grin in her voice. "She's a shop steward at the Lucas factory." I added. "A woman shop steward, I've heard of her." Tommy replied, his brow furrowing.
"There is a leaflet here if you want to take a look, Tommy." Lizzie said, holding it out to him. Tommy took it, unfolding it but not reading it. "So, separate lavatory? Is that it? Is that what you want?" Tommy asked, looking up at Lizzie and Polly who scoffed. I fought a smile. "I don't know what you want. You have to tell me what it is that you want and then I'll know." he told them, a hint of a smirk in his voice.
"I need to speak to you two in private." Polly said, signalling to me and Tommy. We shared a look. "Go back to work, Lizzie, and I will report back to you faithfully." she told Lizzie, who looked at Tommy and I before leaving. "I am going to assume all of this was Linda's idea." I told Polly, raising my eyebrows at her. "You can jump down off that high horse, missy. We've got a problem. I just remembered what Linda was shouting about yesterday. Arthur has opened his big gob and told her everything, including about the other robbery." Polly told us, crossing her arms.
"So Arthur tells Linda everything, eh?" Tommy asked, stubbing out his cigarette. "She's stolen his soul and taken it to a better place. The suburbs. Where men are honest with their wives." Polly told him, sitting at the table once more. "We can trust Lizzie." I told them, pushing myself off the counter and walking towards the table. "Yeah, but I can't trust Linda. I can't trust the fucking Russians to pay me or the army, and I can't trust my own brother to keep his fucking mouth shut." Tommy told me, lighting another cigarette. "Did you make progress last night?" Polly asked, watching him. "You could say that." I mumbled, earning a glare from Tommy. "Yes." he replied, looking back at Polly.
"John said the girl looks like Edna Purviance from the pictures." Polly said before tutting. "Be careful." she added before taking a drag from her cigarette. Tommy scratched his nose. "She's an excellent source of information regarding the location of the merchandise." Tommy began to explain. "Here we go.." I mumbled, rolling my eyes and taking a seat at the table. "You know, there's a general lack of discipline in this fucking company." Tommy shouted, point a finger at me. I looked at him, defiant, as I tilted my head slightly. "She stayed the night." Polly stated and Tommy shook his head slightly. "I'm working, Pol. I am working...for the good of the company." he defended.
"You're grieving. And when you grieve, you make bad choices. I know. I did it myself." Polly told him, watching him closely and I could see he was becoming agitated at the topic of conversation. "Look, no more marches. No more fucking politics. They can kill us. All right? Joke or no joke." Tommy told us, looking seriously between us both. "Did you tell Arthur about the priest?" I asked Tommy, ignoring Polly's look. "I've only told you two." he replied. "Thanks for the burden." Polly muttered, taking a drag from her cigarette.
A/N An extra long chapter for this one! Let me know what you think. :)