Red On Her Hands | Tommy Shelby

Chapter Seven

C h a p t e r S e v e n

Despite Tommy's request for her to wear a red dress to the Cheltenham Races, Lynette could not see herself wearing the bold colour. She knew from experience that her auburn hair already made her stand out, adding more red to the equation would make her look tacky. She needed to fit in with the type of people that would be at the races, as well as leave Kimber in awe.

She had lay in the steaming bathtub for several minutes, just admiring the dress that hung on the door of her wardrobe. She smiled at the idea of feeling glamorous for the day. She had been unable to dress up for any occasion during her time in Birmingham, her job at The Garrison required her to wear simple and comfortable clothing to make the job easy for her. That often meant a simple blouse and skirt, with no makeup and hair tied back.

Lynette forced her gaze away from the garment to look at the clock on the wall, she saw that she had just over an hour before she was due to be at the Shelby's shop. Making the decision to exit the bath before it became too late to allow her hair to dry fully, she stood and wrapped her body in the warm towel that had hung near the burning fireplace.

After patting away the water droplets on her skin, she pulled on her underwear and stockings. Pulling on her robe to cover herself, she sat on the floor close to the fire, allowing her hair to steadily dry in the heat. Occasionally she would run her fingers through it, twirling thicker section info ringlets to allow her hair to form into loose waves.

She found herself lost in a trance as she sat herself in front of the mirror, now happy with how her hair turned out as she worked on her make up. Her mind was distracted by the thought of Tommy, and their conversation in the early hours of the morning. She could still picture that look in his eyes when he had mistaken her invitation to sleep on the couch as an offer to spend the night with her. She couldn't deny that the idea did something to her, Thomas Shelby was a very attractive man.

She despised the idea of sounding like a young girl with a hopeless crush, but she could not stop the feelings that had begun to develop for the infamous man. She enjoyed his company, she treasured being able to see a side of him that only few could understand. But being with a man like Tommy, included attention that she didn't want. Her name would spread faster than rumours did in The Garrison, it wouldn't take much for it to reach Glasgow. Even with a different surname, she could not be so sure that people would continue to believe her death.

And on the flip side, she couldn't say for definite that Tommy shared those feelings. She could only conclude that he found her attractive based on the flirtatious comments he had made on few occasions, and the teasing she had witnessed him received from John the night Kimber had made a surprise visit.

The auburn haired woman shook the thoughts away hastily, before focusing on the final step of her make up. She picked up the small metal container in front of her on the vanity, opening it to reveal a creamy substance inside. She used her index finger to neatly apply the product to her lips. She rubbed them together before smiling at her own image, satisfied with her work.

Lynette began to style her hair into a braided design, using far more effort than she ever would on the daily. After finishing, she used her hair clip to hold the edges of the braid together. She felt almost complete with the concealed weapon now in place, in case anything went wrong today. Looking over her shoulder towards the expensive garment she had fallen in love with, she knew that there was only one more step.

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Polly Shelby was confused at the sound of high heels that had followed with the arrival of someone entering the Betting shop. As she sat at the desk in Tommy's office, she listened closely as the men outside the small room suddenly quietened. Her suspicions rose causing her to abandon her work and venture out to see what had occurred.