Crown of a Prince (Finn Shelby)

5.

It had been a week since the funeral and nothing was better. Tommy disappeared at night and didn't come back until morning. John, Niall and Arthur were under instructions to find Mr and Mrs Changretta before they boarded the ship in Liverpool. Liam, Michael and Polly were doing everything they could to keep legitimate business running smoothly. But it was a struggle. The Peaky Blinders were in turmoil and it wouldn't be long before the vultures started circling, hoping for scraps to pick apart from what was left of their reign. But Tommy wouldn't let that happen, Ailbhe had faith. Even if the others' was dwindling.

But Finn, Finn was another story. Ailbhe had barely seen him since the Foundation dinner and she hadn't spoken to him either. At the funeral, nobody spoke. What could anyone say when a young woman, a woman in their family they were supposed to protect had died? But in the days that followed, while Ailbhe went back to work and picked up the slack in the office. Finn never came by. He didn't call or leave a message for her. Polly told her he spent most of his time out looking for leads on the other Italians and the rest of the time he disappeared with John or locked himself in his room not to be disturbed.

Ailbhe had gone to the door every day since the funeral, each time she knew he was in there. She knew he could hear her knocking and asking him to open the door, to come talk to her. Each time, he ignored her. Never saying a word but she wasn't going to give up on him.

Today was no different. She went to the door and knocked.

"Finn, it's me" she called out "Just open the door and talk to me. Please"

She expected to talk through the door for another five minutes, all the while being ignored until she gave it a rest until the next day. But the door swung open. He looked exhausted. His eyes were red and bloodshot, his face pale and yet his cheeks were pink. His shirt was open, his undershirt underneath showing and his braces hung off his hips.

"What a surprise Ailbhe" he exclaimed sarcastically, throwing his hands out, his words slurring a little.

He was drunk. The bottle of whiskey on the table was half empty. The room smelled of whiskey and smoke.

"Glad to see you're alright" She remarked, not even sure if she was telling the truth as he stepped back to let her in.

The room was dark and looked as though he hadn't tidied up in days.

"Where have you been?" she asked, not even sitting down nor taking her coat off. She stayed standing by the door. She felt nervous, he didn't seem himself. This wasn't the way Finn was when he was drunk but then again, maybe she had never seen him really drunk. When Finn was after some alcohol he got pink cheeks and he laughed a lot, more of a wheeze than a laugh. But he definitely wasn't laughing now.

She saw how his hands shook as he lifted a cigarette to his lips, even more so when he tried to light it.

"Hunting down Changretta's, I'm a real Peaky Blinder now Ailbhe" he laughed dryly, he sounded emotionless, dead inside. He didn't sound like Finn, not her Finn.

"But Tommy said legitimate business is priority from now on" she remarked as she moved around, tidying slightly as she went. Tommy had told her himself in a very brief phone call to the office, telling her to push his appointments back.

"And what Tommy says, goes" Finn shouted, his hands slamming down on the table "We all do what Tommy says. We beat men with our bare hands and hunt their families down like rats because John couldn't say sorry and because Tommy doesn't know when to stop"

Ailbhe stopped tidying. She watched him unravel in front of her. She saw it happening, his emotions that he had kept buried down and locked away under clouds of booze were coming out and it wasn't pretty.