Stolen Heart [Tommy Shelby x OC]

Chapter 24

How is he?’ Lily shouted from the door as soon as Alexander opened it. But he didn’t have to answer it, because the moment Oliver saw her his wails increased.

‘My baby, I’m so sorry I left you.’ Lily murmured as she took him in her arms. Gently rubbing his back, she let his head rest on her shoulder. She walked inside her room, the one she shared with Oliver and cooed his favorite poem until he quieted down.

When she felt his body get heavy with sleep, she laid him on the bed. Looking at his sleeping face, she murmured inaudibly, ‘Mommy’s back, Ollie. She’ll always be with you.’

Wiping back the sudden tears, she went inside the bathroom for a hot bath. The travelling had made her muscles sore with disuse. And she needed to wash off the tension. When she was almost done, she heard a knock on the door. 

‘Just a minute!’

Putting on her blue housedress, Lily hurriedly dried her hair with a towel and went to open the door.

‘I made dinner. You must be hungry after the journey.’ Alexander said.

‘I am famished. Thank you, Alexander.’

‘We need to talk too.’

‘Actually, I am not so hungry anymore.’

‘Stop stalling. It is important.’

‘Fine, but I need whisky.’

Seated at the table, Lily heaped the delicious food on her plate. If Alexander wanted to talk, she needed the armour of a full stomach. But he was quicker. Because before she had taken her first bite, he said ‘You’re getting too much involved in the Shelby business.’

‘I told you it’s only a few days.’

‘You left Oliver alone for an entire day. In Greece, you would walk across the fields every fifteen minutes to check on him. Today, his wails pricked my eyes.’

‘You think I don’t know that? I am not doing it for myself.’

‘So what if Tommy finds the truth? You can’t make your child suffer for another’s well-being.’

‘Do you think Tommy will let us go once he knows the truth? He’ll take Oliver from me. Not because he loves him but just because he is Tommy’s. And Tommy takes things which aren't his to begin with.'

‘You think your friend Polly hasn’t told him yet?’

‘Certainly she has. But Tommy needs to find it for himself. And by the time he does, we’ll be on the ship to Greece.’ She said complacently.

‘I hope we leave with our faces unmarked.’

‘Which reminds me, he wants to meet you tomorrow.’

‘Fucking no.’ He almost spat his food.

‘It is nothing, just make small conversation. Admit you know nothing about his covert business.’

‘Will his razor blade make an appearance during our ‘conversation’?

‘Hopefully not.’

‘Too much hope from a cutthroat gangster.’

**************

Tommy looked at the guests seated on the sofa with mild discernment. The woman was wearing a pink blouse with the sleeves rolled up and pleated skirt printed with flowers along with a dark wool coat. Her son was playing with her unfashionably long wavy hair, which reached her back and were left open. He looked at the boy for a moment, who had dark brown curls and Lily’s eyes. His man was taking longer than ever in finding about Lily’s life in Crete, considering it was not a place people usually ran off to. But he would find out, they always did.