poison • thomas shelby

twelve.

THAILIANA WILKINSON

"Thailiana, open the fucking door!"

It was one o'clock in the morning when Thomas Shelby showed up at the Wilkinson house, determined to know the reason to her change of behaviour. He didn't care if he woke up her neighbours, her sister or even her, he needed to speak with her so that he could understand what went wrong. He'd been banging on the wooden door for over five minutes, with Thailiana waiting on the other side of it. She was steadying her heart, preparing herself to face the wrath of the man she grew to care for in the past week. It surprised her that he had payed enough attention to know something was wrong, cold, between them.

The woman moved to open the door, realising his pounding would most likely wake up Jade and that wasn't something she needed at that very moment. She found herself face to face with the man who caused her breakdown. His beautiful blue eyes pierced through her plain brown irises that once held a shine to them, he noticed how dimmed the sparkle had gotten and how red her eyes had become. She'd be crying, he realised that now.

"What's wrong, love?" He stepped forward, into her home, his hand reaching out to rub her arm. She wanted to pull back, she really did, to make him feel the rejection she'd felt when he asked her friend to the races but she stayed put, letting him caress her skin.

"Why are you here? Shouldn't you be with Grace?" Thailiana said, her voice quavering as they maintained their eye contact.

"Fucking hell," Tommy breathed out, closing the door behind him. "That's what this is about?"

"Of course it is!" Her confidence came back as soon as it left as the man approached her, her determination to get him to understand why she felt so hurt taking over. "How do you expect me to react when you ask my friend to the races, only five hours after we spent the whole night together?"

"Liana, stop shouting at me." Thomas warned, the nickname for the woman coming out before he could process it. She paused as she registered the name, her stomach churning with emotion. Thailiana let out a breath, a shaky one at that, trying to calm herself down.

"Tell me, Thomas, how would you feel if I spent the night with you and only a few hours later I was already asking your brother out to some fancy event, eh? How would you fucking feel?"

Tommy took a moment to think it through, he'd feel awful. He'd be jealous, possessive but he couldn't find the reason. Thailiana found her answer within the silence, already knowing how he'd react from the emotion in his eyes.

"Were you crying? Before I came here, were you crying?" He was begging to know the answer, the guilt building it's way into his heart. Thomas had never intended to make her cry, he couldn't bare the thought of her pretty face shining from the salty tears as they streamed down her skin.

"Yes, I was." Her face flushed, her cheeks becoming a colour that resembled the one of a rose. She should've realised that he'd be able to see right through her, his eyes and mind had the power to do so to just about anybody.

"Shit, Liana," The Shelby man approached the brunette, carefully wrapping his arms around her frail body. She buried her face into his chest, heart racing at the contact.  "I'm not taking Grace to the races."

"What?" Thailiana mumbled into his torso, her eyebrows furrowing as she tried to figure out if she'd misheard his words. Lifting her head to meet his eyes, she spoke. "I'm sorry?"

"I said, I'm not taking Grace to the races." Thomas repeated firmly, his gaze trailing all over her face. He couldn't recognise himself, here he was in the arms of a woman he'd known for such a short amount of time, his heart beating abnormally fast and his hands aching to reach out and caress her body.

"Why not?"

"It's not her I want to take."

Thailiana drew in a harsh breath, understanding exactly what his words meant. He wanted to take her. Shock flooded her body, removing herself from his hold.

"Why the sudden change?" She asked, curiosity getting the best of her. "Why did you even ask her in the beginning, Thomas?"

"Thought it'd help with the business I plan on doing there, but I'd much rather go with you." Tommy took a step closer to the petite woman, his body towering over her due to her short height. He was more than a head taller than her, that was for sure. "I'd prefer to dance with you." Another step, followed by another. Soon enough, his body was pressed against hers and they both took in the feeling.

"Don't play with my feelings like that again, Thomas Shelby." Thailiana glared up at him, attempting to back away from him but she was held back by his strong arm curling around her waist. "What type of business are you doing there, anyway?"

"Business with Billy Kimber, love," He smiled, pressing his lips to her forehead. "That's all you need to know."

The brunette didn't question him anymore, he wouldn't give her any answers even if she did. They just stayed in each other's company, wrapped up in each other's arms. And for the second night in a row, they stayed up and talked.

The only difference was that this time, they weren't sat on both sides of the sofa. This time, they were cuddled up. And for the first time in ages, they managed to sleep peacefully without nightmares clawing at the back of their minds.