The Sweetest of Hearts.1| T.S

•The sweetest of hearts.

XLVII. The sweetest of hearts.

Maude and Tommy were already sitting in the big room as they waited for their family to arrive for the meeting Tommy called. Maude's eyes were firmly settled on her husband. He still refused to tell her what was going on, only telling her she'll find out soon enough.

Her heart felt like it was caught in her throat and she nervously waited. Her mind ran through every possibility, but never could she prepare herself for what Tommy was about to do.

Maude's gaze only diverted from Tommy when their family began filling into the room, everyone finding their seats on one of the chairs lined up in front of the desk. Tommy sat behind his desk, wads of Russian money lined up in front of him. He watched his family silently.

He waited for everyone to be sat before he spoke up. "Before I begin, I want to let you know I made a mistake. I made a mistake, and I want to apologize to all of you." He spoke to all of them as he got up to his feet, his gaze drifting towards his older brother. "Arthur, you warned me against getting involved in Russian business, and you were right." He said and Arthur hummed as he nodded his head. "I doubted your wife, for that, I am sorry. Linda, I have added 3,000 here, in the hope you will forgive me." He said as he picked up a wad of money and tossed it to the side.

Linda stared at Tommy before getting up to her feet, one hand pressed against her baby bump. "Apology accepted." She said as she grabbed the money before returning to her chair.

Tommy's gaze turned to the woman cradling a newborn baby in her arms. "Esme, I doubted you as well." He said softly.

"Now John has got innocent lives on his conscience." She muttered as she glared over at Tommy. "Ordinary working men... "

"Yeah, all right." John cut his wife off as he glanced at her over his shoulder with a frown tugging at his lips. "Esme, we got it."

"No. She is right." Tommy spoke as he picked up another wad of cash and tossed it to the edge of the table for his brother. "You and Arthur are going to have to share that burden. As well as Daniel and Henry," he said before picking up another wad of cash and tossing it to Henry before turning to Daniel and his wife. "Anna, I'm sorry to you as well." He said before picking up another wad of cash and handing it to her. "But I hope the house that you can buy with this can become a place of contemplation and perhaps, redemption."

John hesitantly got up to his feet, sniffing as he took the wad of cash from the desk before returning to his seat again.

"Charlie, for lost tools and dangerous goods and Curly's wise words," Tommy spoke up as he tossed a wad of cash at his uncle before picking up another wad and tossing it at Johnny Doggs. "Johnny, for board and lodgings." He said before picking up more cash and slamming them down on the edge of the table. "Michael, for the killings. Five for cutting and five for shooting."

"No, Tommy," Polly spoke as she got up to her feet and slammed a hand over the money he tried to hand her son.

" What?" Tommy called out, his voice loud and harsh. "Tell me, eh?" He demanded. "This is who I am! And this is all I can give you for what you have given to me." He said as he held the cash in the air to show her. "For your hearts and your souls." He said before going silent for a second, his gaze briefly turning to his wife. "Yesterday, I nearly lost my son." He said as his gaze shot to Polly. "You should fucking understand that." He insisted as he pointed a finger at her. For what, eh? For what? For this? For this?" He questioned as he pointed around the room, a dry chuckle slipping from his lips.

"And I know that you all want me to say that I will change, that this fucking business will change. But I've learnt something these last few days. Those bastards. Those bastards are worse than us." He yelled as he pointed a finger in no particular direction. "Politicians, fucking judges, lords, and ladies. They are worse than us. And they will never admit us to their palaces no matter how legitimate we become. Because of who we are, because of who we fucking are because of where we are fucking from." He said before his gaze landed on his sister. "Is that right, Ada? Our Ada knows. She got smart about revolution. And she knows you have to get what you want your own way." He insisted before his gaze rounded on everyone else again. "And the rest of you, you took the King's shilling. You took the King's fucking shilling. When you take the King's shilling, the King expects you to kill." He told them as his gaze landed on his older brother. "Right, Arthur? Yeah. That is how it works. Right, John?"