Crown of a Prince (Finn Shelby)

78.

Ailbhe found Lizzie checking on Ruby and Charles who were asleep in the nursery. She looked beautiful, her dress was exquisite and looked as expensive as the night would suggest. Lizzie had a type of classic beauty, high cheekbones and striking eyes while she was tall and slim. Ailbhe had always wished to grow up to look just like her but she had grown up to be like Lizzie in all the ways that mattered.
 
"Happy birthday Lizzie" Ailbhe whispered, careful to keep her voice down as Lizzie shut the door of the nursery, not wanting to disturb the children.
 
Lizzie turned to face her, smiling when she saw her. She didn't see enough of her anymore and she missed the talks and the fun they used to have in the office when they worked opposite each other for hours on end.
 
"Thank you" She replied, leaning in to accept the hug Ailbhe offered with outstretched arms.
 
"Polly sent me to fetch you, guests are almost all here and people are looking for you and Tommy" Ailbhe explained, linking her arm through Lizzie's and falling into step beside her, heading towards the stairs.
 
"Tommy went to speak to Mr Mosley..." Lizzie replied, her voice getting quieter and her brow furrowing when she thought about him.

Ailbhe paused, seeing the telltale signs that Lizzie had been taken aside by Tommy already this evening. Her dress was a little crooked and although she'd fixed her lipstick, Ailbhe could tell.

"Not before he spoke to you clearly" Ailbhe joked, raising an eyebrow at Lizzie. 

Lizzie rolled her eyes. Of course, Ailbhe knew.

But Lizzie gave one look at Ailbhe and saw the flush in her cheeks, the sparkle in her eyes and knew two Shelby brothers had found a dark corner to drag their partners into.

"Has Finn ever heard of being subtle?" Lizzie teased, pushing aside the strap of Ailbhe's dress to reveal the trail of pink little marks he had left. But when Ailbhe straightened her dress, they were hidden thankfully.

"Jealousy is supposed to be a source of arguing for couples," Lizzie remarked, seeing the funny side to it as she usually did.

But she went quiet again.
 
Ailbhe knew about Mosley and his potential to already know Lizzie but she didn't like how much it bothered Lizzie. She seemed so upset, so ashamed and quiet but it was a long time ago and it was before Lizzie became the woman she was today.
 
"Tommy already told you of course" Lizzie muttered, knowing there wasn't much Ailbhe didn't know and if people didn't tell her things she almost always guessed them.
 
"Lizzie... none of that matters anymore. It was a lifetime ago" Ailbhe reassured her, knowing that it played on Lizzie's mind and probably on Tommy's too.
 
Lizzie looked back at Ailbhe, a grateful smile on her face even if it was forced.
 
"How's Jade?" Lizzie asked, finding it hard to forget the look of the girl who she had comforted on the front steps of their house as she sobbed uncontrollably and wanted to rip Johnny Dogs limb from limb when she thought he had been the traitor.
 
Ailbhe went quiet at the mention of her best friend. She had gone to see her in Finn's old flat in Artillery Square dozens of times, but she never opened the door. Ailbhe would bring food and drink, she would sit outside the door and talk through it. She knew Jade was in there, that she was okay since she paid the woman who lived next door to keep an eye on her when she would come out to get some air. But she never spoke back, never opened the door but collected the things Ailbhe brought and left the empty basket outside the door the next day.
 
"She's... I don't know Lizzie. She's lost but she has a baby to think about now." Ailbhe shrugged, keeping her voice low since they were starting to join the crowd.
 
"Kids change everything" Lizzie replied with a shrug. They did. They had changed everything for her and Tommy too.
 
"This is your night Lizzie, look at who you are now" Ailbhe reminded her in hushed tones as they approached the fireplace where Polly stood. She seemed relieved to have finally located both Ailbhe and Lizzie.
 
"You alright, sweetheart?" Polly checked, nodding at Ailbhe.
 
She had seen how Mosley had focused in on her, looking as though all he wanted was to devour her or make Finn so jealous he would lose his temper. Thankfully, neither had happened nor would they be allowed to happen.
 
"I'm fine... where's Finn?" She nodded back, looking around and missing out on the hushed whispers between Polly and Lizzie as she looked for Finn but she didn't see him.
 
She snapped back to what was going on as Lizzie cursed under her breath when she saw Tommy and Mosley approaching.
 
"Fuck" She whispered, recognising him immediately.
 
Polly turned her back to the men, leaning into Lizzie and asking
 
"Yes or no?"
 
Lizzie looked down into her glass, wishing to be anywhere else. But just Lizzie's reaction was enough to know that Sir Oswald had met Lizzie before, back when she wasn't Elizabeth Shelby.
 
"Fucking yes. Shit" She cursed, taking a sip just as Tommy and Mosley broke into their little circle.
 
Ailbhe tried not to look unhappy to see them even though she'd rather have an audience with a room full of tigers than Oswald Mosley right now.
 
"Sir Oswald, this is my wife, Elizabeth" Tommy introduced him, knowing just from the stern and cold look on Lizzie's face that she and Mosley had met before.
 
"Lizzie, Sir Oswald Mosley" He gestured back, trying not to over think it and trying not to remember that Mosley had put a hand on his wife. Tommy was a jealous man, like all men and the idea of anyone, especially an enemy having laid a hand on his wife was enough to make Tommy want to take his eyes. But this time had to be different, he had to be smarter.
 
"My my!  Your family does include a number of ladies who are each more striking than the last" He commented, looking between Ailbhe, Polly and Lizzie who looked back at him with an almost identical look of coolness.
 
Mosley looked between them, that blank and yet cold stare on his face.
 
 
"Since we all appear to know, and since knowledge is permission, I'm sure Mr Shelby in the spirit of our honest relationship, you won't mind me saying it was a bottle of champagne and an evening well spent."
 
He stated, lifting his glass and nodding towards Lizzie, remembering her face well.
 
Ailbhe looked at Tommy, knowing that there wasn't a jealous bone in his body but that every bone in his body was a jealous one. He was like his brother that way. Ailbhe worried what he would say, what could be his response that wouldn't break any of the rules he had given to them.
 
But it was Lizzie who spoke up, rifling through her purse and pulling out a coin.
 
"Actually, it was an evening wasted" Lizzie snapped, holding up the coin "For the champagne and brandy you bought me. As I recall it was the booze that put you to sleep a little prematurely"
 
She dropped the coin into Mosley's glass with a satisfying plop and Ailbhe might have been the only one to see Tommy almost smirk. Polly looked at Lizzie like a proud mother and Ailbhe fought the urge to smile.
 
"Perhaps a champagne and a brandy can get me that far tonight again" He retorted, a sickening smile on his lips as he lifted the glass as if he was toasting it and looked Ailbhe in the eyes.
 
She wanted to tip her whiskey over his head and shove him into the fireplace, watch his head become a mess of flames and smoke but she resisted. Tommy's orders.
 
Thankfully, they were interrupted by the announcement of the dance about to begin. Mosley turned, as if to abandon the conversation but Tommy called him back.
 
"Mr Mosley!" He lifted his glass in his direction "A toast, if I may. To the end of our deal and the beginning of something more"
 
He turned back towards the women, lifting his glass towards Lizzie and winking at her.
 
"Happy birthday Lizzie" he told her, the wink meaning more than anything as he looked at Ailbhe and Polly too, nodding subtly. It was his way of saying none of what Mosley did or said would go unpunished, that his time would come.