Gentleman

Chapter Sixteen

Roselie sat on the small couch beside Alfie "Thank you for a lovely evening Alfie" she smiled politely.

"You're very welcome" Alfie seemed a little nervous, Roselie smiled at his shyness. She gently put her hand on his and looked into his eyes "Rose I..."

"Shhh" Roselie placed a finger gently on his lips before leaning forwards and kissing him. As the kiss intensified Roselie started to unbutton Alfie shirt.

"Not here, come with me" Alfie stood up and led Roselie by the hand towards his bedroom. As the door closed Alfie pulled Roselie into his arms. She was surprised by how gentle he was, but yet seemed incredibly masterful. He gently removed Roselie's dress before guiding her back onto the bed.

××××××

"Never in my life have I laid with a woman like you" Alfie inhaled deeply as Roselie rested her head on his chest. She lifted it up to look at him.

"How do you mean?" She smiled cautiously. Not knowing what his response would be.

"Because even though I know your intention may not be honourable, No matter how hard I try I find myself becoming more and more fond of you" Alfie tried to explain "I am drawn to you like gravity, and however powerful I may be. With you I feel a weakness...you are my weakness Roselie Shelby and I fear because of that, your brother Thomas, has an advantage"

"My brother is not my keeper Alfie, nor is any man. I am here purely because it's what I want. You say I am your weakness, Well what if I was to tell you that you are also mine?" Roselie wasn't sure where this honesty had come from. But the more time she spent with Alfie the more she realised her feelings for him were real.

"Then I feel I must share something with you" Alfie sighed "I wasn't going to tell you but I am to find of you to continue lying to you...Its about Thomas, and the crime you were imprisoned for.

×××××××××

Tommy was reading his papers when Polly came abruptly into his office "She's still not back" she scoffed and Tommy smirked.

"It must be going well then" he said coldly much to Polly fury.

"What the hell is wrong with you? You would honestly let her do this? Be a who're on your payroll? SHE IS YOUR SISTER FOR CHRIST SAKES!" Polly yelled.

"She knows what she's doing Polly, this was her idea" Tommy frowned as he lowered his paper and looked up at his furious Auntie.

"And you are more than happy to go along with it, because it gets you what you want doesn't it. Alfie Solomans in your back pocket..."

"Well...yes It has its advantages to our cause" Tommy nodded and Polly stomped out of the room, bit not before spinning on her heels to give her one last piece of her mind.

"You will get her killed if you don't drop this now"

××××××

"I'm sorry Alfie I have to go" Rosleie rushed to put her coat on.

"I didn't mean to upset you" Alfie stood opposite her in just his trousers. Roselie quickly put her hands inside his.

"You haven't, but I need to speak to Tommy about this" Roselie smiled weakly "I'll come back later"

"Okay" Alfie touched Roselie's face gently "Be careful" he kissed her forehead gently and watched as Roselie disappeared out of the door and into the street.

It was a little darker than Roselie expected and suddenly she realised it was a bad idea to be alone on the streets this time of night. As she walked she wrapped her coat around her torso.

Roselie was right to be worried, it wasn't long before she heard footsteps behind her. She glanced quickly and was surprised to see 2 figures of men following her "Shit" She gasped before speeding up a little, a man suddenly stepped out of an alley and blocked her way "Rose Shelby, we have a message for your brother..." before he finished his sentence Roselie felt a sharp pain on the back of her head. It knocked her to the ground. The men then all took turns to kick and hit her. Rosleie tried to curl herself into a ball, trying desperately to protect the child inside her.

××××××

Roselie lay on the ground barely able to move, her body felt broken. She looked up and saw a familiar shape rushing towards her "ROSE" the male voice yelled. Two arms scooped her up off the ground, she wasn't able to argue against it "It's alright I have you now darlin" Rose let her head fall against the chest of the man who held her. Then nothing....

Xxxxxxxxx

Roses eyes opened slowly, she found herself in a strange room. It all made sense though when she saw Joseph sat in the chair beside her bed "Joe" she manage and his head shot up instantly.

"Am I wearing your bed shorts?" Rose smirked.

"Yeah afraid so, I didn't think you'd approve of being naked" Joseph chuckled.

"What happened?" She asked as Joseph moved and perched himself at the side of her bed.

"You were jumped by 3 men darlin" He reached out to touch her but she flinched so he resisted and pit his hand down on the bed.

"How did you find me?" Roselie wondered and Joseph hesitated before replying.

"I followed you" He sighed "From Alfie Solomans place, I've had you followed for a while"

Roselie was angry, but too worn to shout "I saw you leaving Molly Bartons house" Roselie knew instantly Joseph had put two and two together "I know you have another of mine inside you" Roselie started to cry, much to Joseph's surprise.

"Hey don't cry darlin we'll figure it out" he gently touched Roselie's face.

"Its not that Joe, while I was with Alfie he told me something about Thomas and the rest of them" Roselie explained as Joseph continued to listen "He set me up"

"Who did darlin?" Joseph was confused.

"Tommy, he sent me to prison so he could keep Grace safe. I was Tommy's leverage to protect his wife" Roselie sniffed "I was 17 years old Joe and those men the things they...oh god" this was one of the first times Joseph had seen Roselie this vulnerable "It was a set up..."

Joseph didn't say anything he simply moved closer to Roselie and wrapped is arms around her "How could he be so ruthless, I'm his kin"

Joseph's face was filled with fury as he held Roselie close to him. Giving her the comfort she needed. He looked down at the state of her broken body and found himself even more infuriated, Tommy needed to pay for what he had done.