𝓡𝓔𝓥𝓔𝓡𝓘𝓔 - 𝓟𝓔𝓐𝓚𝓨 𝓑𝓛𝓘𝓝𝓓𝓔𝓡𝓢

16

Maura was reading when Finn comes barreling into her living room, tears in his eyes. Well she was attempting to read but Polly had bandaged her hand with so many layers she could barely move her fingers.

"Finn?"

The boy begins to cry and it tears at Maura's heart. She tosses the book to the side and opens her arms. Finn wraps his arms around his sister as he cries into her arms. When she looks up, Tommy was lingering in the doorway.

There was a look in his eyes she couldn't quite decipher. It was a mixture of guilt and fear and it was clear it was eating him up as he stares guiltily at Finn who was sobbing on Maura's shoulder. Maura's eyes move to connect with her older brother's.

"What happened?" Maura asks. "And no bullshit Tom"

"Erasmus set a trap," Tommy says, his words were rushed and his face was pale. "In my car and Finn was in there-"

"Sit down Tommy," Maura stands, ignoring Finn's small whine. "You look like you're going to throw up and I really don't want to have to deal with Edward after I make him clean it up"

Maura places a hand on her brother's arm, leading him to the sofa. Tommy nods and slumps onto the sofa as his youngest brother curls into his side. The man throws the peaked cap from his head and allows his head to fall back against the back of the sofa as his hand mindlessly rubs soothingly on Finn's back.

"Now talk," Maura says.

"Erasmus planted a hand grenade in my car," Tommy says and Maura nods, encouraging her brother to keep speaking. "When I got there Finn was in the driver's seat play pretending that he was me and-"

"It's okay," Maura says, not finding it hard to figure out the rest of the story. "You don't need to finish the story if you don't want to"

Tommy nods his head and the three siblings fall into a comfortable silence as the fire on the hearth crackles loudly.

The door opens and Maura shushes Edward as he walks in, stamping his feet on the doormat.

"What?"

Maura points to Tommy and Finn who were both sleeping on her sofa. Tommy was still sitting, his head tilted back and his mouth was slightly open as small snores fell from the man. Finn had remained curled up in Tommy's side and the man had a protective arm wrapped around his youngest sibling.

When Edward steps close to Maura his eyes widen as he takes in the bruises on her body that he could see.

"What happened to your face?" Edward asks, gently using his pointer finger to tilt her face to the side.

"Erasmus Lee," Maura says, swatting his hand away from her face. "But he's five times more fucked up than I am"

"You didn't kill him?" Edward asks. "I would have"

"I couldn't be bothered with the cleanup," Maura shrugs as she pours herself a glass of whiskey. "Wanted revenge for Cheltenham though"

Maura points to the bruising gash on her forehead.

"Though smashing my head against Tommy's doorframe was elegant karma," Maura says. "Threatened to kill them all. Not a penny was stolen. They left a present of their own though"

"What?"

"A hand grenade," Maura says. "Planted in Tommy's car where Finn routinely plays his game of pretending to be Tommy. Anyway, Finn almost died today so Tommy came up with a plan. To create an alliance with the Lee family-"

"He's not marrying you off is he?" Edward asks, his face dropping.

"No you fucking idiot," Maura says. "You think he'd be peacefully on my sofa if he had tried to pull that shit? No, it's going to be John"

"Wasn't he engaged to Lizzie Sta-," Edward snorts before he can even finish his sentence.

"Not anymore," Maura says. "Tommy offered her some money and she accepted. Turns out Tommy's had a few hours of extracurricular activity with good old Lizzie"

"So is Arthur her next target?"

"Won't be too hard," Maura says. "If a woman's got a set of tits Arthur will throw it in her"

"So every woman?"

"Exactly,"