Daring, Charming , Real

Ch. 42

Three months later

Everything moved so quickly my head was held in a constant spin. Learning how to direct a company along with maneuvering through the stock market had proven to be a difficult task. Having my husband become my business partner was also a brand new experience. Anytime one of us wanted something it was typically brought up in the early hours of the morning between heady breaths and parting of the bedsheets. More times than none I had won those arguments.

Outrage had struck the morning the newspapers fell hot off the press with the damning headline "Shelby Company unlimited now co-owned by a woman" I had to remain guarded for weeks until the anger died off. It was unheard of for a woman to legally have her name on things, especially things this large in reputation. It didn't sit right with the rest of the town nor the several clients who made their opinions known. Thomas hadn't been subtle with his anger to the response either, thus why we had lost multiple contracts, clients, and a good bit of money.

After I settled in my new office and finished mourning over the man who should be here in my place instead, I went to work on all the things I had promised. Not only had Thomas held his word on the two charity branches in my name but also gifted me several apartment complex locations for his warehouse workers that I would be in complete control of. I'm not sure if he knew I was better fitted as a landlord or if he didn't want to deal with the hassle, either way I took it. I took the opportunity to hire my own people to help me run the several organizations and property I now owned. It was a whirlwind of emotions all focused on the fact I was now a full blown business woman. A creation crafted perfectly from the fingertips of Thomas Shelby, the most dangerous man to walk the streets in over a century. It felt so wrong but also the most liberating thing I could experience. 

Not long after the funeral I was back in contact with Niccoli. He sent over several paintings for the nursery, each one a little taste of his hometown. He said my child gave him an inspiration that he had been missing for a very long time. He sent the art as a token of appreciation for giving him his spark back. It made my heart happy to see something good come from me even if it wasn't direct.  It was enough to get me back in front of a type writer and writing again. The stories seemed to pour from my mind onto the paper with an intensity I couldn't describe. The pain and conflict that raged behind my eyes was finally dying down with each word I put into my books. Soon I had full fledged novels and soon even more than that. I kept them all hidden away, of course, in my tiny office upstairs. The thought of publishing rarely crossed my mind, especially the more erotic things I had started writing of recent. 

My hand grazed the dark oak door as I pushed inside Tommy's office expecting to be greeted with his heavy gaze. Instead I saw Mary dusting the shelves beside the window, humming to herself quietly. 

"Excuse me, Mary , have you seen my husband?" I asked.

"Yes Mrs. Shelby, he is upstairs in the nursery. Told me to come down here and tend to things. I think he really just wanted time with the baby." She gleamed at me with a soft smile. The crows feet lining her temples seemed too deepen the harder she grinned.

"Thank you."

I turned and headed up the staircase towards the nursery. It was well into the evening now, the hallway windows barely casted sunlight into the walkway. The nursery door sat ajar and creaked slightly as I pushed it open to peer  in. The warm glow of the overhead light casted down into the room as my eyes met with Tommy's from the corner. He sat nestled in the brown arm chair , his arms wrapped around the sleeping boy that laid upon his chest. I watched for a few moments until Thomas's gaze met mine. I gave a soft smile before turning away so that he could spend some more alone time with our son. It wasn't very often Thomas got complete silence and time outside of work that he could use to think about anything he wanted without a time restraint.

I found myself on the back patio, a small journal in hand as I jotted down different story ideas and what I might write about next. The sun was quickly descending on the horizon and despite the chilled air around me , I still felt warm inside my knitted blanket. Before long I was greeted by the soft click of the backdoor and heavy footsteps as Thomas made his way outside. He fished the golden lighter from his breast pocket and lit up a ciggerate looking out over the lawn infront of us.

"Good evening, Mrs. Shelby." He peeked over at my journal as he took a long drag of smoke between his lips, "Writing more of those dirty stories?"

I scoffed snapping the journal shut and beamed up at him, "Someone has been snooping in places that doesn't belong to them."

"Oh trust me , I belong in every word that pours from that pretty head of yours." His chuckle rumbled throughout his chest and sent a small heat across my core.

I chose to ignore it.

"How was work today?" I started.

"Stressful as always. You?"

"I'm afraid to admit the same." I let out a small huff of air before looking over the garden where his eyes seemed to linger. The flowers were sprouting but with the false spring dying down , I knew we would have to replant and try once again. The once shade of white and red now grew dark with a marmalade of browns and dying embers.

"Its getting dark." Thomas remarked.

"Should we go inside?" I raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

"You know it has been awhile. And it's been very hard lately for the both of us. So, why don't we play a game?"

"A game? What if Oliver wakes up and needs us?"

"Emilia, you have spent nearly every waking moment with him or in the office. Let Mary handle things inside the house for awhile."

I didn't argue because truthfully I had nothing too say. So instead I stood to my feet, laying the journal and pen on the bench.

"Well alright, what kind of game?"

He finished off the ciggerate before flicking its remains into the soil. I watched him step on it with his heel in order to assure the flame was smothered before he turned towards me, his lips now dripping in charm and curiosity.

His eyes seemed to darken slightly as he spoke, "Hide and seek."