A/N: Thank you a million times over for the sweet reviews and follows. I am so glad to see you reading and want to hear from you! I hope you enjoy this chapter!
~o0o~
When Sophie came downstairs with John's children and Finn for breakfast, the chatter that she had heard from upstairs instantly disappeared and three pairs of eyes fell on her. She was afraid of this. The one thing that she had feared had come true—Tommy didn't look at her.
"Come on. Into the office." Tommy said gruffly, sticking his hands in his pockets and at his orders, Arthur and John followed him through the double doors and into the betting den. Sophie kept her head down, afraid that Polly would be angry with her, and went about settling the younger children for breakfast while Finn buttered some toast for himself.
"He has the nightmares all of the time. I should have warned you." Polly sighed, turning from looking out the kitchen window and smiling softly at the sight of Sophie spoon-feeding Henry. "At least he took it out on me and not you. It's not like it is something to be bloody ashamed of. All of us hear it. John and Arthur get them too, sometimes. Men and their pride." She rolled her eyes and Sophie laughed, the corner of her lips finally upturning. This woman had been on her side since she arrived, and had treated her kindly as a child as well. For that she would always be thankful.
"I was just frightened that he was hurt. I won't make the same mistake twice." Sophie promised and wiped Henry's chin as he happily gurgled.
"He isn't used to people doing something without wanting anything in return. But he'll come around." Polly sat down at the table with all of them. Everyone had been telling her that Tommy will 'come around' in one way or another, but Sophie didn't see that happening. "While we have a moment alone, I wanted to talk to you about the business."
Sophie stiffened but nodded. "I'm not going to say anything about what John told me. You are my family and…"
Polly put a hand on her shoulder. The twins, George and Finn finished their toast and she told them to go out front and play for a few minutes while Sophie finished feeding Henry. "Don't work yourself up, no one thinks you will. John and I trust you and I've been thinking about this since the moment he told us you were coming to stay. I'm the treasurer and I've taught myself over the years, but we need help. We can't keep a decent secretary or accountant. They slip through our hands like water…once they catch a whiff of something not right, they leave. The coppers ignore them of course, but we are left short-handed. We have the boys taking bets and doing what they need to do…but none of them can write worth a damn and the books are a mess."
"I took maths at school. And I know shorthand and I can type." A smile appeared on Sophie's face, "If you explain to me what things are, I know I can do it. I'll be honest. I don't like that everything is illegal, but I promise I will help."
"Well, you see…we are trying to work towards some legitimacy. The boys and I have talked in the last few months and we want to try and get at least ten percent of what is passing through here legally within the year. With your education, I think we can do it faster. You'll be working for making this business a respectable one." Polly was hopeful and it made Sophie feel better. She didn't feel completely all right with what the Shelbys did, but if it could change, she wanted to be part of that.
"And what about the children? And what about Tommy?" Sophie asked, gently smoothing down the cowlick on Henry's head.
"As treasurer, I make the decisions about who we pay what, and as far as I am concerned, you are now employed, so I will tell Tommy, but the decision has been made." Polly smiled smugly, "And as for the children, we have enough to pay for a nanny. I could even pay Ada to watch them. Hell knows she doesn't do anything else all day but run around with some boy."
Sophie shook her head, "I promised John I would help with the children. He's busy and they are my siblings. You may not want someone outside of the family to do your accounts, but do you want a stranger watching the babies?"
Polly sighed. "You are a good girl, Sophie. And clever. The Blinders will start you off slowly until we can find a solution, but I'd like to have you in the office tomorrow." She stood up and walked toward the doors to the office. It was almost opening time.
Resting Henry on her hip in her arms, Sophie walked outside to watch over George, Mary, and Emma, who were playing in the lane. Finn was standing by the wall with his friend Isaiah, the pastor's son. Maybe one of these children will turn out innocent, Sophie hoped to herself.
~o0o~
"This is the second time this week, Tommy."
"What are you implying Lizzie?" Tommy shrugged on his vest and did up the buttons, not looking at her. He couldn't bring himself to.
"Not implying anything, just stating a fact." Lizzie slipped her dress back over her head. It was rare for Tommy to come to her even once a month lately, let alone twice a week. Something had clearly been bothering him when he came to her door and judging by the far-away look on his face, it still was. It was even more unusual that it was noon. He had come to her in broad daylight during the lunch hour. She wanted to know why.
"Don't fucking look at me like that, Lizzie." Tommy snapped at her as he threw some coins on the bed and put on his hat. He knew he was being mean to the one woman that was always there for him. It didn't matter that he paid her; he knew she was in love with him and he hated that she saw him as cruel in this moment. He felt the need to protect her and he didn't like that she did this kind of work, not even for him. One day he would get her out of it. But it still didn't mean he liked it when she looked at him with sympathy or wanted answers.
"Is there a woman?" There was more than a hint of jealousy in Lizzie's voice. She grabbed the coins and put them in her purse on the dresser. He had been hard before she even touched him this time and their coupling had barely lasted a few moments. Tommy usually spent hours with her.
"No. No woman." Tommy shook his head and opened the door of her room. It wasn't exactly the truth, but he wasn't about to discuss what was going on in his already racing mind. "Have a nice day."
"Pull yourself together Tommy." He mumbled to himself, tugging his cap low as he walked out into the sunlight
~o0o~
"Sophie, I know with 'ow things worked out and all, I'm like an uncle to ya, but I don't see it like that. I see it as you are me little sister. Like Ada. And as your big brother, I've got some advice for ya…" Arthur started as he helped Sophie out of the Napier.
"Did Tommy ask you to speak to me?" Sophie sighed. When Arthur had left the office early, found her telling a story to the children, and offered to take to her to the pictures while Polly took over with the babes, she had been delighted for the break. Now she knew it was too good to be true as he offered her his arm.
"Well…" Arthur scratched his head, "No. But my advice is that it's the best if you leave him be. He's been angry all day at work and I know what happened innt your fault…" Arthur was truthfully shocked at how his brother had dressed them all down about Sophie coming into his room. He was acting stranger everyday and Arthur didn't want poor Sophie to get caught up in all that.
"From what I've seen so far, the rest of you act like he's the one in charge." Sophie squinted up at Arthur in the fading daylight as they approached the busy theater. When she had first met the Shelbys, it was clear to everyone that Arthur was in charge, but it seems in her time away something had changed.
"Oh, love, that's not it at all. I'm Arthur fucking Shelby, and everyone knows that." He smiled back at her and proved his point as the crowd queuing around the ticket office parted as they walked up. Whispers of 'Oh…it's a Shelby!' and 'Excuse me, Mr. Shelby' didn't escape Sophie's ears as they walked right into the pictures without paying. Sophie still couldn't get used to this. She saw more fear than respect in the crowds' eyes and it wasn't hard to see why. Arthur was tall and gruff and muscular. His mustache made sure that even if he was smiling, you wouldn't easily see it, and she kept her eyes straight ahead as they walked into the dark, empty theater. She only knew one side of him: well-meaning and protective. What other sides did those people out there know?
"You see, they let us Blinders in before the ordinary people. I mostly take girls in here to uh…." A hint of blush crept up his neck, "John wouldn't want me sayin' things like that to you. But I thought I'd show my new sister a good night out, eh?"
They took two prime seats right in the middle of the theater but barely got a chance to settle into the film when the swinging doors burst open and coppers started coming down the aisle, yelling for him.
"Arthur…" Sophie stood up and he put his hand on her arm.
"Stay here, Sophie. Wait until it's settled down then wait by the car, alright? Don't make a fuss." Arthur instructed her and he took a few swings at the coppers when they tried to touch him. She felt helpless standing there watching as they dragged Arthur up the aisle, him screaming and cussing the whole way.
~o0o~
"I should have told you earlier, Pol, I know, but I had to make a decision about it." Tommy looked away from his Aunt and took a long sip of the whiskey in his glass. She kept glancing at the clock. It was taking Sophie and Arthur much too long to get back from the pictures.
"Well you made the wrong one. You need to get rid of those guns now. Where the hell are you keeping them?"
"Uncle Charlie's yard. They'll be safe there for now." Tommy lit yet another cigarette. Polly asked too many questions when he couldn't even answer the ones he was asking himself.
"For now? Those are government weapons. Numbered, Thomas. You can't sell those. Dump them in the Cut for all I care, just make sure they aren't associated with us." Polly tapped her fingers erratically against the table as she studied Tommy's frustratingly impassive face.
"An opportunity will present itself, Pol, I'm sure of it. And we'll be all the richer for it." Tommy ended the discussion as he tapped his cigarette against the ashtray between the two of them. "Why did you let Arthur take her to the pictures if you are so bloody worried about it?" He caught her check the time again. Dinner had come and gone without them and Ada and John were squabbling in the next room over the children.
"Arthur wanted to take her. She deserved a treat anyway." Polly told him the partial truth. She had been thankful for it because it had gotten them both away from the house so that she could tell him the decision she had made on her own, which, in her opinion, was much smarter than hiding stolen government guns in a shipyard.
"A treat eh? A fucking holiday after a few days of running after the children?" Tommy looked up at the ceiling and exhaled. "What was it you wanted to tell me about her?"
"I know what you are going to say, but I've hired her as the Blinders' secretary and accountant. She's a bright girl. John thinks it's a great idea…" Polly tried her best to sell it, but his face remained cold.
"Yeah, course he does. It's his little orphan. No Polly. She can take care of the children if she absolutely has to stay."
Polly pursed her lips. "Has to stay? Is there something the rest of us aren't seeing because she's a perfectly charming young woman and all she wants to do is help. She made a mistake coming into your room but her intentions were nothing but good. Have you grown so cold that you don't see the good in people anymore?"
"She's going to be a burden. And I've said it before, she doesn't understand us. I don't care how you and John explain it. It is too much work for her." Tommy was throwing out every excuse he could think of. Sophie working as a Blinder didn't set well with him.
"Ada and I managed the entire business when you boys went off to war. I think she can handle it. Besides, you made your decision, so I am allowed to make mine. She starts tomorrow." Polly raised an eyebrow, daring him to challenge her on it but before he could, the kitchen door banged open and Sophie walked in, trying her best to support Arthur with her petite frame. He was bloodied and groaning and it drew the attention of John and Ada from the living room and Ada immediately hurried the children up the stairs so they wouldn't see their uncle like that.
"What the fuck happened?" John asked, taking over Sophie's position under Arthur's shoulder and helping him sit down. Polly grabbed a wet cloth and the bottle of whiskey sitting on the table, handing the latter to Arthur and he took a swig from it.
"Copper…" Arthur winced as Polly dabbed the congealing blood from his forehead. He held his wrist as if it was broken and there were deep cuts on his face. Sophie hurried to the sink to wet another cloth, her face pale from the harrowing ride home with Arthur bleeding all over the car and screaming like someone deranged.
"We had just sat down to watch the film when some coppers came in and took Arthur away. I waited by the car, like he told me to, but it was a few hours before he found me, and he looked like this." Sophie told them.
"Arthur, listen to me." Tommy gently hit his brother's cheek with his palm to keep his eyes open. "Who did this to you?"
"Some copper sent by fucking Churchill. Accused us of having some stolen guns after he bashed in my pretty fuckin' face. Now Sophie won't wanta be seen with me, isn't that right, love?" Arthur groaned again as Sophie cleaned up a particularly deep cut on his left cheek.
"That's right, Arthur, now hold still." Sophie's hand shook and Polly gently eased the cloth out of it and told her to sit down as she shot Tommy a look of warning.
"Well, what did he look like? What was his name?" Tommy couldn't think of anything else but this man. He didn't expect trouble about the guns this quickly.
"He was fuckin' gray. Had a cane. Fuck that hurts Pol. Insulted me intelligence. Said I wasn't the one in charge of the Blinders. Now where the fuck would he get that idea from?" Arthur glared up at his brother. "What is he talking about with these guns? I dun know about any guns. And that's what I said. And he told me the Blinders and him could work together to find out who took 'em. I said I'd think about it and that we'd have a family meeting and vote on it."
"Unbelievable." Tommy ran a hand through his hair as he turned away from his brother.
"Thomas…" Polly's voice was sharper this time.
"We will not be voting on anything right now, do you understand? We'll discuss it tomorrow." Tommy's eyes darted to Sophie and she was acutely aware that what he really meant was that they'd discuss it away from her.
"No. I wanna know about these guns, because you know somethin' Tommy. And that somethin' almost got my Sophie hurt. They were just going to go to the pictures. The cops are on our fuckin' payroll, even in the city, and this shouldn't have happened." John put one hand on Sophie's shoulder.
"Your Sophie, eh?" Tommy shook his head. "Arthur got the shite beat out of him and you are worried about her?"
"Thomas, she was left alone without a clue where Arthur was. They could have found her and hurt her too. If they would have known she was ours…" Polly couldn't even imagine the outcome of that.
"Good thing she's not eh? And she won't ever be. Good thing the coppers thought she was just a whore of yours brother." Tommy grabbed the bottle of whiskey out of Arthur's hands and John looked ready to punch him the second 'whore' left his lips.
"She is ours Tommy, don't say things like that." Arthur grumbled, confused.
"Why do you hate me?" Sophie stood up from her chair. It was the question at the forefront of her mind and had been for days. She couldn't sit there a second longer and let him say she didn't belong.
No one moved for a moment, not even Tommy. He seemed to be considering what to say to her. But even after searching for the words, he couldn't explain it to her or anyone in that room exactly how he felt. "Arthur, get yourself cleaned up. The rest of you, off to bed. We'll discuss the guns in the morning."
A/N: Why do you think Tommy is so hard on Sophie? I would love to hear your thoughts in a review! Thanks for reading!