Emma

Chapter Twenty-Three.

Thomas sits down on the bed and exhales. I sigh, tired, and come sit on the floor next to him. My arms on his thighs, I grab his hands and wait for him to answer me.

"The Peaky Blinders are criminals," he starts. "They have control over Birmingham, over the authorities, the shops, pubs and pretty much everything. They own people, people who do the dirty work for them. And the Changrettas are after them. I don't know the full story, but the Peaky Blinders did something to them and the Italians are ready to get revenge"

From what I've heard, the Changrettas are very good at revenge. The Peaky Blinders won't stand a chance against them.

"And that is as much as I know"

"Who are they?" I ask.

Thomas finally raises his head to lock his gaze in mine. "Nobody knows Emma. Nobody ever saw who are the leaders of the Peaky Blinders"

"I see"

"And concerning my business with the Russians, I can't tell you anything about it"

"It's alright Thomas. I did not want to know in the first place"

He leaves my hand to put his fingers on my cheek. "I want to," whispers Thomas. His gaze falls on my lips for what feels like an eternity but only last a few seconds. His eyes then loses themselves in mine while his fingers play with my hair. "Fuck. Trust me, I want to. But I can't"

I stand on my knees and put my lips on his cheek for a long kiss. The cold of his skin bothers me for a few seconds, but when my forehead rest where my lips were, it does not anymore. I grab Thomas' hand and hold it against my chest as he turns his head to me. I raise my eyes to him and for the first time since I met him, I want to kiss him.

I want to feel his lips against mine. I want to know what it feels like to kiss Thomas Shelby.

"I told you," he murmurs with his gruff voice. "I want to"

I close my eyes and fall down on the floor, my head now resting in his knees. "But you can't," I whisper,

***

When we sit in our cabins on the train, the butler asks us if we need anything before departure. I thank him and he indicates us that if we do need anything during the travel, he is available. When we are left alone, Thomas makes his first remark of the trip. "I cannot believe you actually bought the railway company"

"I asked Ackley, he obeyed," I retort with a smirk on my lips.

"This is not a dress Emma," replies Thomas. "It's the railway company of England"

"And I am Emma Langdon"

***

When Thomas and I step outside of the Birmingham train station, we are immediately joined by John. He almost ignores his brother to come up to me.

"Emma!" Exclaims John as he proceeds to hug me.

I laugh out loud but hug him back. "I missed you too John"

He breaks our hug and when his eyes meet Thomas', John step away from us. I frown my eyebrows, confused, but do not say a thing.

"Where's Arthur?" Asks Thomas.

"In the car," answers his brother.

"Oh! I have something for you John," I say.

John and Thomas turn their head to look as I open my purse. I get a small box out and hand it to John. "It's a gift," I say when I see the confusion on my friend's face.