devil's backbone 🗝 tommy shelby

chapter 35

n// just a little tw this chapter has heavy mentions of infertility and the emotional struggles that come with it so if that is a sensitive topic i would advise u sit this one out <3 but just like general warning this chapter is just a little bit heavier over all very emotional y'all but i love u all smmmmmm and hope that u enjoy this long ass chapter!!

"Do I even want to know what you were up to while I was sleeping?" Sybil asked in the car on the way to the family meeting.

Her husband was quiet at her question, but Billie didn't miss the quick clenching of his jaw as she asked it. She knew he'd done something bad — it was written all over his face. She was his wife, after all; she knew him better than anyone.

"Tommy?" she asked again. "What's going on?"

"I don't know, Sybbie." he spoke lowly, pulling up to the building. "But when I find out, I'll tell you."

"Thank you," she breathed out. "Now come on, we're late."

Tommy said nothing more about the matter, getting out of the car and helping his wife out on the other side. He may have just killed an otherwise innocent man, but right now, he wasn't a killer. He was a husband, and the head of the family who was late to his own meeting.

Placing his hand on the small of Sybil's back, he guided her through the entryway, taking her coat as he always did. And much to his surprise, it seemed as if the meeting had already started without them.

"...We haven't even stepped foot in London yet, and they've already blown up our fucking pub." John was saying, sounding just as exasperated as Sybil had heard him earlier.

"Who said anything about Cockneys?" Arthur grumbled in reply.

"Who else?" Esme chimed in from the staircase.

"You know who did it, do you?" Polly asked.

Realizing the error of his wife's ways, John was quick to chime in.

"No, she doesn't know who did it."

It was then when Thomas and Sybil decided to make their presence known, somehow commanding the room by just stepping foot in it.

"I'm told only family are allowed to speak." Esme spoke again, still looking down at her book.

"Everyone's allowed to speak," Tommy announced. "On your feet, Esme. Let's hear what you have to say."

"I speak for our household," John said proudly. "So, could—"

"He said Esme." Sybil cut in, staring at her brother in law.

Quite frankly, Billie was starting to become more and more aggravated by his attitude that he had been taking on with all the women lately, and took immense pleasure in shutting it down.

Seeing his brother about to reply, Tommy got a word in before he could.

"Sybil's right, John. This company is a modern enterprise and believes in equal rights for women. On your feet, Esme."

Putting down her book, Esme timidly did as she was told, and took a moment before addressing the room.

"I'm not a blood member of this family, but perhaps indeed because I'm not a member, I can see things in a different light. So I'll get to my point."