Aurelia Cruz is a well respected club owner and madame in London, but she has things she holds very sacred and sacred things that hold her.
Thomas Shelby is a Birmingham gangster making his way up in the business world, and is trying to expand busin...
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Four months later and Aurelia was planning the wedding with Aunt Pol, Tia Valentina, Ada, Maria and Dorothy. They had discussed food, flowers, brides' maids, Maid of honor, grooms men, best man, location and now they were starting their search for the dress. "Seriously, conejita (bunny), I don't know how you're not up the duff yet with how much you two go at it." Maria said as they looked at fabrics. "Tea." Aurelia, Ada, Polly and Dorothy all say together. "What do you mean tea?" Valentina asked. "I make this special tea so I don't get pregnant yet. Suppose to drink it for a week after doing it but we do it so much I drink it every fucking day." Aurelia laughs. "Do you ever think of not drinking it?" Ada asks peeking over at Aurelia and seeing a grin take over. "All the time. But that's a decision for Thomas and I to make together and I don't even think he's ready for that conversation. I'll wait until after the wedding." Aurelia said with a shrug. "Oh, I love this one." She pulled out a pearl white tule fabric showing it to the girls but Ada had grin on her face as she shared the look with Polly. "Mrs. Imperiali! I think I like this one!" Aurelia shouts to the dress maker with a wide smile.
After hours of drawing up designs and trying on different shapes of dresses they had a wedding dress in the works. "Alright I think we earned a nice lunch." Polly said. "I couldn't agree, more." Valentina agreed. The day had been filled with more planning down to the nitty gritty and with most things planned out it was now about getting it all done by the time the day rolled around, in two months. By the time Aurelia got home Thomas and Marianna where already there and dinner was starting to be cooked. "Hello, darling." Aurelia pecks Thomas on the lips. "Hello, little princess." She kissed the top of Marianna's head. "Welcome home, love." Thomas said sipping on a cup of tea while he went over some last-minute paperwork. "Welcome home, momma." Marianna said as she was drawing. "Alright you two no work at the dinner table." Aurelia said picking up the papers from out of their hands earning choruses of objections. "No no no. You can get back to work after you've eaten." She said placing the papers on the other side of the table. The father and daughter sighed but agreed to Aurelia's rule. "Good."
After dinner Marianna left to go color in her room leaving Thomas and Aurelia alone. "I have a question to ask you" Thomas began still looking at the documents from before. "Mhm." Aurelia hums to show she's listening as she goes over some of the wedding details from today. "That tea you're drinking now; Is it the same tea you drink in the morning?" He asked pulling smoke from his cigarette. "Yes." She said lifting her eyes from her plans to her man who has yet to look over at her. "Do you plan to stop drinking it?" Thomas asked. "Ada and Polly said something, didn't they?" She asked setting her papers down, crossing her arms and raising her brow. "Of course, they did. I asked them to question you in the first place." Thomas answered setting his papers down. "What?" Aurelia chuckled not thinking he was serious. "I wanted to know if you had mentioned anything to them about children." Thomas said as if it were an everyday occurrence. "Any you didn't ask me because?" Aurelia asked. "You'd beat around the bush. Give me an answer you think I want to hear instead of the full truth." He shrugged. "That is not true." She claimed earing a raised brow from Thomas.
"Alright, fine, I do think about kids. Every time I drink this bloody tea, I think about it. But I know that something this serious is something I'd need to discuss with you. I was waiting till after the wedding to discuss it but you aren't a waiting man, Thomas Shelby." She teases and Thomas laughs. " No I am not a waiting man. Especially when it comes to you, zeița mea. (my goddess)" Thomas says cupping her cheek. "I want more children, however many you'll give me." He said leaning over and kissing her so sweetly. "After the wedding?" Aurelia asked and she saw Thomas' expression waiver. "Now?!" She asked in astonished and Thomas chuckled once more. "Yeah, now. If you're ready." He said leaning his forehead against hers. Aurelia kisses Thomas so fervently it overtook all of his senses. All he could feel was her body, her hands, her lips. When they pulled away Aurelia grinned before whispering; "Do you want me here or in our bedroom? Perhaps the office?" She teased as she began unbuttoning his shirt. Thomas grabbed the hand undressing him and brought it to his lips to kiss there he could feel her erratic pulse. "All three." He said before grabbing her and placing her on the dining table another ardent kiss exchanged so urgently that they knock over whatever was once there, now shattered on the floor in a mess of tea, cups and flowers with shards of their vase scattered on the floor.
The next morning Aurelia didn't have a splash of her special tea and Thomas couldn't hide his grin. The things in their life were finally in place. "I want to take you to see the racehorses today. They are at the trainers, Mrs. Carleton's, we can go there and get you familiar with them before next weeks race." Thomas said whilst reading the paper. "Papa is trying to ask you on a date." Marianna said bluntly making Aurelia laugh. "Is he now?" Aurelia asked raising her brow at Thomas. "Yeah, he's just being weird about it cause he's old." Marianna said eating the last bit of her toast. "Alright, you!" Thomas says picking her up out of her chair and hauling her over his shoulder. "AH! Papa put me down!" Marianna giggled as Thomas walked around the room pretending to search for the kettle. "I swear I just saw the thing." He said feigning confusion. "Papa it's on the table!" Mariana shouted through her laughter. "Oh, there it is! Thank you, princess." He said before placing her back down in her chair. "As I was saying, will go on a date with me to see me horses." Thomas said with more honesty about his intentions. "I'd love to." Aurelia agreed.
Arriving at May Carleton's Mansion was nostalgic for Aurelia. She had plenty of good memories here, both in a friendly and more explicit manor. "So how did you meet, Mrs. Carleton?" Aurelia asked as Thomas helped her out of the car. "Met her at an auction. We were both bidding on the same horse, I won. She came to me after and asked if she could train me horse for the races, set up a meeting to discuss it further and now she trains me horse." Thomas said avoiding the part about inviting May to the betting den and asking if the woman wanted to fuck him. "Ah. You thought she was attractive." Aurelia said smiling.
Not an ounce of her was insecure about the matter, for one May Carleton is gay and Thomas only loved Aurelia. Thomas cleared his throat and was about to respond when the door opened and May's head maid, Jane, opened the door. "Good morning Mr. Shelby, Ms. Angel." Jane greeted and politely invited them inside. "Morning, Jane. How's the grand baby?" Aurelia asks and Thomas observes the interaction with bewildered interest. "He's no longer a baby, miss. Georgie is three, walking and talking now gives his mother a right hard time just like she did me." Jane laughed taking the couple coats. "I'll tell Mrs. Carleton that you're both here." Jane announced before taking her leave.
"Right, what the hell was that." Thomas asked. "I knew May and her husband for years. Their story is quite complicated but their love was filled with unrattled loyalty. They would drink and dance at the club together until a bit before he passed." Aurelia said not giving away anything that was purely May's business. "And Mr. Carleton would only drink and dance?" Thomas said, he wasn't really asking he was just assuming in the form of a question. "Actually Mr. Carleton would fuck a girl, I believe Dorothy was his favorite or was it Janine he preferred?" May asked stepping into the foyer to greet us. "It was Janine. Hello, May." Aurelia said greeting the woman she hasn't seen since the races. "Hello, Angel and Mr. Shelby. I assume you're showing her your horse." May asked with a subtle smirk on her lips as she eyes Aurelia. "I am." Thomas said eyeing the situation himself. "Follow me." May begins to walk them to where the horses are kept but not without conversation.
"How have you been, Angel?" May asks looking over her shoulder as Aurelia for a moment. "Happy, May, very happy." Aurelia answers looking around at the familiar home. "I can tell from the shining rock on your finger. Congratulations. I assume that means Mr. Shelby knows about... everything?" May asks referring to when May and Aurelia were lovers. "No." Aurelia answers and this causes Thomas to stop walking in turn causing the women to stop as well. "Alright out with it." Thomas says grabbing a cigarette out of his tin rubbing it between his lips before finally placing it in his mouth and lighting it. "Years ago, Mr. Carleton would have Janine. May would have me." Aurelia said and part of her was very nervous about his reaction.
Another part of her knew Thomas would be fine with it having told Aurelia when he had been in threesomes where the women hadn't shied away from being with one another. "My marriage to my husband was an alliance between two friends, one who needed to marry rich and another who needed to marry to cover her sexuality. He was my best friend and he supported me so that no one would dig into why I was unmarried and why I never showed interest in men, we had an agreement and he honored that until the day he died. I was his wife in every other way but I couldn't make love to him." May confessed and Thomas looked between the two women for a moment no viable emotion in his eyes nor on his face. "I find both men and women attractive but after Steven I couldn't even think of being with a man so when May showed interest, I went with it and I liked it. I worked through the trauma with her and we became friends who experimented on occasion." Aurelia confessed biting her lip in anticipation for his response.
"Did you love her?" Thomas asked Aurelia trying to conceal his emotions. "In the same way I love Ada, nothing more." She told truthfully then Thomas looked to May for her answer to the same question. "I loved how she made me feel but all in all she was only a friend." May said and Thomas stepped toward Aurelia, his hand on her waist. "As long as you don't try and steal my wife, May." Thomas joked. "I'll only dream of it." May said with a smile, Aurelia rolled her eyes before tugging Thomas along by the arm. "Let's see the horses for god's sake." She groans in feigned annoyance.
To see Aurelia Cruz, soon to be Shelby, with a horse was truly a sight. Her hair whipping in the air, and the large smile on her face made her look so free it was if she belonged to the wind. "Ușor, dragă, iată, Golden. Cal bun. (Easy, darling, there you go, Golden. Good horse.)" She spoke to the large beast that had taken a liking to her. "Am I to be flattered or offended you named her after me?" Aurelia poked at her fiancé. "I love horses and I love you, naturally I'd name one after the other." Thomas slyly saved himself. "Mm. Well she's quite beautiful, fast as hell, strong hooves. Who's her rider?" Aurelia asks. "Darrel Morgan, he's a great rider." May answers. "How much does he weigh?" Aurelia asks. "About eight and a half stone." May answers. "Find someone who weighs about seven. She doesn't need someone to tell her what to do, she already knows that. She needs less weight to carry. Find a lighter rider by the next race and she'll win." Aurelia speaks full of confidence in her word. "How do you know that?" May asks skeptically.
Aurelia looks at May's helper and motions for him to grab the seven stone bag of grain beside him and bring it over. "Hand me that rope." The asks Thomas and he grabs the long rope handing it to her as she jumps down from the horse. "Place the bag on the saddle, please." She tells the man carrying the grain and he complies with a roll of his eyes. "Another gypsy trick?" He asks. "It's a whore's trick." Aurelia corrects tying the grain securely to the saddle with the rope. "Some men, no matter how skilled they are, are just not worth the weight they carry." She said before tapping the horse's side which made it take off on the track like lightening. "She has no rider!" May exclaimed in a fit of frustration. "Looks like she doesn't need one." Thomas points out seeing Golden Secret ride perfectly around the track and faster than he had ever seen her. When the horse finished its practice race and galloped over to Aurelia's side May was shocked. "I'll get her a lighter rider." May promised. "Good." Aurelia said before untying the bag of grain letting it fall to the floor with a loud thud.
