Crown of a Prince (Finn Shelby)

79.

"We couldn't have one fucking night" Niall groaned, carrying Linda between himself and Arthur. Linda was by no means heavy but her struggles and kicking, even in her more unconscious state was enough to make the task practically impossible.
 
"Clear that shit. Clear it!" Arthur ordered, nodding towards the table that had been so beautifully laid out for them.
 
But they didn't have time for that now. Linda was losing blood and they had to stop it fast. Finn swept his arms over the table, knocking everything to the ground as Ailbhe shoved anything left off the table.
 
Finn and her had been watching, ready to intervene, ready to save Arthur when the gunshot rang out. Ailbhe and Finn had no idea they weren't the only ones who had snuck out of the ballet. Aberama Gold and Polly had heard the noise and thankfully, Polly had her gun with her. She shot Linda before it was too late.
 
The shattering glass and noise was hopefully overshadowed by the applause from the crowd and mingling that had started after the ballet. But Linda woke up and her shouts and groans of protest started to get louder and louder.
 
Lizzie and Ailbhe tried to hold her down, grabbing her by the legs and hips, trying to pin her down but she was almost getting the better of them.
 
Arthur was a mess, sobbing and grabbing onto the writhing body of his wife.
 
"I would've taken your bullet Linda, I would have" He yelled, his emotions getting the better of him.
 
But Linda wasn't having any of it, screaming back at him about revenge and justice for the man Arthur had blinded because he was getting close to Linda.
 
"Linda stop moving, you'll make it worse!" Ailbhe groaned, trying to hold her down by her other arm but she wouldn't listen.
 
"Linda! Look at me" Tommy barked, grabbing her head and making her look at him "You've got a kid. If you die, he'll come to us to raise"
 
That threat enough seemed to quieten her a little. Linda would rather stay with Arthur forever than to see Billy be brought up with the Peaky Blinders.
 
"What gun did you use Pol?" Ailbhe asked, loosening her grip as Linda struggled less.
 
"Derringer" Polly replied, knife in hand as she passed it to Tommy.
 
They had to cut the bullet out, it was the only way they'd be able to stop the bleeding and sew it up. It was none of their first times removing a bullet but it was Linda's first. It didn't seem like an occasion to remember though, not like Finn was proud to remember his first bullet. Not when it was Aunt Polly who had shot her.
 
"It's still in there Tom, you've got to get it out" Ailbhe urged him, spilling some alcohol over the knife in his hand in hopes it would sterilise it.
 
But they had almost forgotten about the party outside the door. Mr Mosley was going to graciously remind them however.
 
"Mr Shelby, your guests..." He found himself quite lost for words.
 
He knew the Shelby Kennedy family were a rough bunch. That they were gangsters, established upon an old razor gang from the rough part of Birmingham. But he had hoped they had evolved beyond that. But with both men and women from both families around the table, pinning down Arthur Shelby's wife who writhed and shouted in pain due to the bullet in her arm, it didn't look like they had evolved that much.
 
"Get him out. Finn, get him out" Tommy ordered, pointing towards Mosley who stood just inside the doorway, in shock at what he had seen.
 
"Get the fuck out, family only" Finn snapped, losing his patience with Mosley once and for all.
 
Mosley found himself face to face with Finn Shelby, not the calm and steady man who had been at the party earlier with Ailbhe Kennedy by his side but the real Finn Shelby. All wide eyes and flared nostrils, pointing a gun straight at Mosley's head.
 
It was certainly enough to get Mosley out of the room.
 
"Lizzie go to the kitchen to get some iodine" Tommy asked of her. She didn't delay, rushing down the servant's stairs.
 
She mightn't like Linda but she certainly didn't want her dying, especially not on her dining room table at her birthday party.
 
"Tom, the other guests" Finn warned him.
 
If people hadn't started to wonder what the noise was about, they would soon realise that none of th Shelby Kennedy family were left at the party and suspicions would be aroused. They couldn't let news of this get out.
 
Finn was right. Tommy nodded, his mind working overtime, trying to figure out how to keep it under wraps.
 
Ailbhe turned to her brothers.
 
"Liam get the orchestra to start playing again, make it loud. Niall don't let anyone past the double doors" Ailbhe told them, knowing they wouldn't object. Ailbhe was good under pressure and she thought fast.
 
With that taken care of, Tommy focused on Linda. He rolled up a napkin, putting it between her teeth and getting her to bite on it. The last thing she needed was her screaming even louder.
 
Ailbhe held her still with Polly, making sure she stayed as still as possible even when the bullet was out and Tommy poured alcohol over the wound to stop infection.
 
Arthur was still a mess, weeping and mumbling.
 
"Arthur, calm down. We'll get her some opium, for the pain. She'll be alright" Finn promised him, grabbing his arm and getting him back onto his feet.
 
They disappeared, knowing there was some stashed in the library and thankfully getting out of the way for a few minutes.
 
Polly pulled a small bottle from her coat pocket, passing it to Tommy to both Ailbhe and Tommy's surprise. Polly had been so against the opium deal and there she was with a bottle for personal use.
 
"Use some of mine" She told them, avoiding their eyes but not looking bothered.
 
Tommy uncorked it with his teeth, pouring it into the glass of whiskey left on the table.
 
Polly felt Ailbhe's eyes on her, knowing she wanted an explanation.
 
"I brought some to celebrate the wedding proposal" She explained, looking back at Ailbhe who's eyes widened.
 
"He proposed?" Ailbhe gasped, sure that Tommy already knew. He always knew.
 
"Congratulations Pol" Ailbhe smiled, leaning across the table and hugging Polly around the shoulders. She seemed so genuinely happy it was nice to see.
 
Tommy made sure Linda drank enough to stop the pain and knock her out for a few hours. She needed to sleep, to stay out cold and rest.
 
Finally, Linda went limp on the table and her head fell back onto the pillow Ailbhe shoved under her head.
 
Finn and Arthur came back, having found opium but thankfully, Linda was already out cold. Arthur sank back down to his knees at her head, hanging onto her like a life raft and sobbing against her. It was heart breaking to see him so broken. He hadn't been like that in a long time and Ailbhe had hoped that Arthur was over that part of his life, that he was out of the woods. But there didn't seem to be an end for Arthur's woods.
 
"You should have let her do it, Pol. You should have let her do it" He sobbed against his wife's unconscious body.
 
Arthur would have taken the bullet, Ailbhe knew that. Arthur danced a very fine line and some days he crossed it, some days he didn't. But you couldn't predict them.
 
Tommy yanked him off his feet, grabbing him by the head and forcing him to look at him.
 
"Look at me. Look at me brother" He shouted, making sure Arthur listened to him "You got things to do. You've got a kid. We need you, alright?"
 
"Come on, Arthur. Niall wouldn't last two days without you" Ailbhe joked, trying to stop Arthur from sobbing so loudly.
 
Arthur sank into Tommy's chest, crying and sobbing into his younger brother's chest while the women just watched on, not really sure what they were witnessing.
 
"I save his life and he hugs him" Polly snapped sarcastically, shaking her head at Ailbhe.
 
Lizzie returned with the iodine, passing it into Ailbhe's open palm. She had grown up with three brothers and more than neglectful parents therefore, she had learnt how to clean up scrapes and scratches. As she got older, she had learnt how to cut out bullets and sew up knife wounds. It was a skill she had built on over the years thankfully.
 
"I'll do it" Arthur told her, trying to take the gauze and iodine from her hands. He seemed to have settled slightly, but only slightly and Ailbhe wasn't sure she should let him.
 
"Let him be, he'll do it" Finn nodded towards her, putting out his hand and pulling her back up to her feet, not letting go of her hand even when she was steady.
 
"Jesus Christ" Ailbhe sighed in a whisper, only Finn could hear her.
 
His hand instinctively ran up her back and comfortingly gripped the back of her neck.
 
"Promise never to shoot me?" he asked her quietly, knowing he'd be able to make her laugh and maybe ease the tension. He had leaned in, his breath hitting her ear and tickling the sensitive skin of her neck that she reminded herself to check if he had left any marks on. Finn was a biter, always had been.
 
"No" She replied, the quirk of a smile on her painted lips and a raised eyebrow.