NEW REIGN || Tommy Shelby

XIV. FINAL JUDGMENTS

- FINAL JUDGEMENTS -

Darby Sabini didn't scare her. No, his oily moustache, thin face, and impossibly dark eyes just made her angry.

"You're a hard woman to get a hold of, you know," he said, pacing step by step in front of her.

"Maybe you could have taken that as a hint," she spat, but he just clicked his tongue, looking over at her with a smirk.

"I mean, I said we only had to tie your hands, but my men here convinced me you're quite the snake."

"Snakes also bite. Why don't you come closer and find out?" she said, knowing full well he could see the anger raging across her eyes. Anything to mask the fear.

"I see why that bastard gypsy likes you," he said. "You're a fiery bitch."

She could feel both of the men by the door- their hulking figures blocking the sole exit- staring at her like prey, looking at her as if choosing which part of her they might take first.

She wanted to rip her hands free from the ropes and strangle them both.

"Why am I here?" she asked. Her fingers worked against the ropes behind her back, but her aching shoulders and burning wrists barked in protest; but still she twisted them, pulling and pulling.

"You're here because I know that Tommy Shelby ain't the head of you Peaky Blinders any more."

She laughed, the sly smile she learned from Polly sliding on her lips. How many times had she watched the woman lean into the hot anger of men and then pounce?

"If not him then who?" she asked again, with a slight raise of her eyebrows.

"Don't play dumb, King. We all know it's you who calls the shots now."

What the hell was he talking about? She loved being a Blinder, but its throne would always rightfully belong to Tommy. There was no more than a moment for her to gather her thoughts.

"I don't know what you mean."

"That doesn't matter," he said, with a too-casual shrug. "You'll need a new leader soon, anyways."

She said nothing. She couldn't move, could barely breath. Her silence was not part of her game, but instead of shock. Some kind of deep sorrow filled her chest as she looked up at Sabini, meeting his excited, growing smile. They had Tommy, she realized, wanting suddenly to puke. Or maybe to scream. Or maybe to kill them all. But there was only one way to escape this, to get away from them. She took a deep breath and looked up at him with the face he wanted to see.

"So you decided to take the new head of the Peaky Blinders as what, a hostage?" she sneered, keeping each word slow. Easy. The only thing she would never give away was her fear.

He looked at her with a proud smirk, elated that he had been right about her being the new leader.

"I knew it," he said, his voice still slick like oil on water. "Tommy's got a brain, there's no doubt about that, but you...you're something else."

"Tommy's smart," she agreed, leaning forward, close enough that she knew he could smell her perfume, trace the outline of her lips with his greedy black eyes, "smart enough to make the person who wanted to ruin you the most the new head of the Peaky Blinders."