BUSINESS
Since Sophie had come home, her family had noticed a significant change in their little sister. She'd been distant and unfeeling, her usual sunny disposition seemed to have completely dissipated. She hadn't spoken more than necessary and when she did, it was with a cold emotionless tone that her family had never heard from her before. She'd somehow spent even more time in the stables than usual, only reappearing in the family home late into the evening to eat before she disappeared off again. It had left Polly very concerned. She'd witnessed her overwhelmed with panic and fear in the car journey back from London, but that was the last real emotion she'd seen from her.
So the family (excluding Sophie) sat in the den, waiting for Thomas to return from London so that they could discuss their concerns. John sat quietly, sipping from his whiskey and ignoring his wife rambling on. Esme nurtured the young girl's gypsy side, always showing her how to read tarot cards or tea leaves. So now she claimed the change in Sophie's attitude was a dark cloud in her heart, or so she thought at least.
"I'll take her out to the Lee's, or Boswell's, the fresh air will do her good- clear the black cloud-" She continued to babble on. Polly connected eyes with Arthur, who stood leaning against the wall next to the stairs, both thinking the same thing - what on earth is the woman going on about.
Esme's voice grew quiet as the double doors opened, Thomas walking through them. He scanned the room, not expecting to see the faces of his family sitting waiting for him. Taking a deep breath, he knew whatever was about to happen was not going to be a pleasant discussion. Reaching into his pocket to bring out his cigarette holder, he focuses on Polly.
"Was there a family meeting I was not aware of?" He asked, holding a cigarette between his lips as he fished for his lighter inside his inner pockets.
"We need to talk about Soph', Tom." Arthur cleared his throat, brushing his hair back behind his ears from where it had fallen into his eyes. Tommy's lighter flickered as he lit his cigarette. Taking a puff, Tommy gripped it between his thumb and forefinger and pulled it from his lips, placing the lighter back into his pocket with the other hand.
"And what about Soph?" Tommy spoke, his voice low as he stared ahead.
"She's different Tommy, ever since the attack with the Italians. Will barely speak to anyone and spends all day out with the horses." Polly voiced her concerns. She gave him a stare filled with all the details she was avoiding sharing with the rest of the family.
"She's always out with the horses, Pol." Tommy brushed off, taking another drag.
"She's sleeping out with them, Tom." John pipes up this time. He gripped his hat tightly in his fist on top of the table. At this, Tommy seems to still, thinking deeply. Sophie hadn't slept outside with the horse since their mother had died. At least not for any serious length of time. She'd been known to wander out and spend the night in the stables a handful of times throughout her childhood but never for more than one night at a time. It wasn't particularly comfortable sleeping on the grass, the horses laid next to you but the fresh air and the stars helped gain a certain clarity. Thomas had slept outside with her when their mother died, keeping an eye on her to make sure she faced no danger.
"I'll speak to her." Tommy decides. He stands up straight as he finishes his cigarette. Turning around, he ignored the protests of his family as he swiftly left the betting shop. Mentally adding another thing to his list of things he needed to do and take care of.
Tommy was already worried about his youngest sister. Even before the attack, he knew she had been seeing a man in London and the thought of her growing up and getting married had terrified him. No man would ever be good enough, but not knowing anything about the man she'd been seeing set his teeth on edge. At least the attack she'd been victim to ruled out the possibility of him being one of Sabini's men. Unless that was how they knew where to find Sophie, had she been on her way to meet an Italian man when they'd swooped in and attacked her? If it was, then it was not going to be an easy conversation with the girl to tell her to stop seeing him.
He stalked through the front doors of the Shelby offices, avoiding any conversation with the women who worked as administrators in the building. Pushing the door open to his office, he strode towards the drinks cart to the left of the room and hastily poured himself a drink of whiskey. The burn of the sharp sweet liquor swished over his tongue and down his throat. His eyes closed shut, his head tilted back and let out a long sigh.
"What's the plan, Thomas?" Sophie's voice drawled. She sat leaning back into the expensive leather chair behind his desk. Her fingers tapped slowly on the arm of the chair as she watched Tommy closely. His face was still scabbed and bruised from the beating he'd endured but he appeared to be healing fairly quickly given the severity of his injuries. Sophie's own injuries were also healing very quickly, the skin around the cuts beginning to scab around the stitches which would no doubt need removing soon. The bruising had almost completely faded also.
"I hear you've been making deals with the Camden Jews. Your big expansion into London doesn't seem to be going too well, does it? You try to make a big statement, fucking up Sabini's club letting them know exactly who we are and what we want, and look where that got us huh?" Sophie vented. Tommy's eyes dart towards her at the sound of the click of a gun's safety being removed. She dragged the tip of the small pistol she held in her right hand across the top of the dark oak desk. "Ada, attacked… you attacked… me attacked."
"Sophie." Tommy spoke warily, turning his body to face hers. She was so detached it made his heart race, unsure of what she was going to do next.
"So, now that you've gone and dragged me into your shit. I want to know," Sophie raised the gun lazily, flicking the safety back on and dropping it on the desk. "What's the plan, Thomas?" Her eyes bore into his, as if she was looking through him, never truly seeing him. Her hair was wild, almost as wild as the look in her eyes.
Shrugging his shoulders back, Thomas stepped towards the desk and placing his glass on the desk.
"So you're in the know, eh?" Tommy spoke quietly, being very careful with his words. No one else in the family knew about his meeting with the head of the Camden Jews, so Sophie was most definitely seeing a man who was in the know of his business dealings in London. Which also meant that Sophie was most definitely involved with a dangerous man. "Your special man in London tell you all that?"
Sophie chuckled to herself, because he did in fact. She'd spent an hour or so a day on the phone in Charlie's yard speaking to Alfie. Mostly they talked about nonsense, she'd tell him about whatever Curly had been yapping on about with the horses or he'd tell her about whatever mess Ollie had caused that day, but every now and then Alfie would speak to her about his business. He'd told her about his meeting with Thomas, throwing in plenty of jabs at his beaten up face.
"Wouldn't you like to know." Sophie smirked bitterly.
"Sophie, don't go getting involved with any fucking dangerous men." Tommy levelled her with a cold look.
"Look where we're standing Tom. The only danger in my life comes from you." Sophie spat, standing abruptly from her chair. Tears brimmed in her eyes and she cursed herself frustratedly for letting her emotions shine through. "I watched a man's fucking skull explode from my hands, and it was because of you!" She pointed an accusatory finger at him. He pretended not to notice the slight tremble in her hands
"Sophie, I'm sorry." Tommy breathed out, at a loss for words. His heart ached at the sight of her. He was responsible for this, for her, for his family. Thomas knew Sabini would strike back in some fashion after the scene they'd created at the Eden Club but he expected it to be an attack on one of his businesses in equal measure. He'd been just as caught off guard as his sisters were when confronted by the Italians.
Sophie froze, not expecting the despair present in her brother's voice. It had been a long time since he'd been so vulnerable with her. She searched his eyes, an image of them, eight years younger on horseback as their horses walked through the fields. The sky, a rich dark blue with stars sparkling down on them. Her tiny twelve year old hands gripped the horse's mane gently but firmly as she turned back to smile weakly at her older brother. She wore his soft tweed suit jacket, which was thoroughly worn and battered and comically oversized on her, to fight off the chill in the air.
"I don't want you to go, Tom." Sophie had murmured sadly. She was met with that same desolate look as Tommy was giving her now in his office.
"I'll be back before you know it, phi'."
They stood now, eight years older but still sharing the same sibling connection. The war had taken many things from Thomas, with many believing that sensitive softer side of him being stripped from him and left in the tunnels of France, but Sophie had known that he just kept it buried deeper these days.
"I know, Tom." Sophie surrendered, her shoulders slumping as she wrapped her arms around herself. The anger and bitterness drained from her system and the same emptiness she'd been feeling since she came home replaced it. "I know you are."
Sophie sat back down, defeatedly. She could see it in his eyes that he was not anticipating the violent retaliation of the Italians. His own wounds were proof of that.
"John says you sleep with the horses now?" Tommy questions, nervously lighting another cigarette.
"Helps me think." Sophie avoids his eyes, instead choosing to gaze across the bookshelves of his office. "Or rather, helps me not think about certain things."
"What happened, Soph?"
"I don't want to talk about it. It's done now, I don't-" She cuts herself off. Biting her lip harshly, her eyes look up to the ceiling keeping her tears at bay. Stop it, she chants angrily in her head. As a few tense seconds tick by, Sophie calms her beating heart and looks Thomas in the eye. "I can't go back to that place. I'm not weak- I will not be weak."
"No one thinks you're weak." Thomas told her truthfully. Sure the family treated her with kid gloves sometimes but they knew she could handle herself perfectly fine. In many ways, Sophie was just as commanding, if not more so, than Tommy. It was very rare to see it, but Sophie had a confidence in herself that when push came to shove would scare off even the most worthy adversary. "The business with the Italians is nearly settled. 've made an alliance with Mr Solomons and the coppers in London so it's safe for you there now, alright?" Thomas said as he sat down in one of the chairs placed for visitors to his office at the other side of his desk.
She hated it when Thomas talked business. He switched into an uncaring, unfeeling body and it had that anger that had previously faded away, sinking deep into her skin again. It's always fucking business for him. They couldn't have a single conversation, even about something as painful for her as the recent events, without him flipping that switch in his head that made him nothing but the entity of Shelby Company Limited.
Sophie exhaled humorously, a smirk pulling at her full lips. "Oh I know, Tom. It's safe for me there, alright."
Tommy inhaled deeply, slouching back in his chair as his eyebrows drew together in confusion. He could sense the deeper meaning behind her words, unsure if he really wanted to know their true intent.
"I'm fucking Mr Solomons." Sophie spoke smugly, her voice light but her eyes were blazing as they burned into Thomas' soul. Her face resembled one he'd been unfortunate enough to see on Polly a few times in his life. That look of 'fuck you, I'll do what I want' written across her features. A devilish smirk on her lips and her eyes twinkling with enjoyment at testing his boundaries. Thomas glowered back at the girl, his eyes hardening and becoming purposely blank so that she could not read his thoughts and emotions.
"No." Thomas said simply. He took another swig of his whiskey, finishing the glass this time before setting the empty glass down firmly on the desk.
"Not that it is any of your business, Thomas, but we've been seeing each other for quite a while now." Sophie brushed off his words, standing casually and strolling to the drinks cart. She began to pour herself a hefty drink of whiskey.
"You're a pawn to him, Sophie." Thomas spoke calmly once again. Unbothered, uncaring, unfeeling. A scoff left her lips, shaking her head in irritated disbelief.
"A pawn?" She sneered, turning to face him. "Is that what you'd do?" She gestured the glass in his direction, cocking a mocking eyebrow at him. The office was thick with tension, if anyone else had been in the room they'd have suffocated on it. Sophie lifted the glass to her lips and threw the liquid back, finishing the whiskey in one gulp. Quicker than Thomas could register, Sophie had launched the glass at the opposite wall, causing a loud shrill smash to echo through the room. Tommy's shoulders raised, flinching at the sudden crash.
"Who do you think I spent the night with after the attack? Who do you think got rid of their mutilated bodies after I'd finished with them? Who do you think took fucking care of me?" She snarled ferociously. Taking quick but careful steps towards her brother she looked at him with disgust, tears threatening to spill over. "It certainly wasn't you." She whispered harshly through gritted teeth. Turning on her heel swiftly, she bolted out the room.
"Sophie!" Tommy called for her, the haunting look on her face reverberating through his being painfully. Tommy hated seeing the immense fear in her eyes, he vowed to never make her feel that again.
Storming through the streets of Birmingham, Sophie wiped the tears streaming down her soft cheeks away furiously. Would she ever have a normal vulnerable conversation with her brother ever again? He'd been so laser-focused on the boiler, he was completely oblivious to the damage caused to those around him. It would be the business that kills him one day, after it's killed the family first of course.
She reached the scrap yard quickly, heading toward the stables so she could take her horse for a ride to clear her head and be away from all the fucking fog. Charlie gave her an odd look, confused by her heated state.
"The phone's ringing for you, Sophie!" Curly said happily, completely oblivious to her flurried and angry movements. She cursed under her breath, stomping towards the phone that was kept in one of the small sheds in the yard. As she neared she could hear the ringing, clenching her teeth in annoyance at the persistent sound. Sophie yanked the ear piece off the stand.
"What?" She shouted in blind rage, still agitated and needing to get away.
"That's not a very nice way to greet me now is it, love?" Alfie teased warily from the other end of the phone.
"Fuck-" Sophie hissed, rubbing her hand over her face. "I'm sorry, Alf."
"What's wrong, Soph?" he said, concerned. She could picture him scratching his beard as his eyebrows furrowed in worry.
"Oh I-" Sophie paused, taking a deep breath trying to shake some of the tension in her frame. "Everything's just getting very overwhelming here."
"Well you know the solution to that then love, come back to London." He spoke lightheartedly, bringing a small smile to Sophie's face.
"You know I wish I could, Alf. Think I'm gonna take one of the horses for a ride, try clear my head a bit." She spoke distractedly, picturing herself back in Alfie's bed with no problems to worry about.
"Suppose it's about time I could witness that, innit?" Alfie said, rustling sounds filling his end of the line.
"You're coming here?" Sophie perked up, a wide smile covering her face.
"I guess I am, love."