✓ | GOLDEN LIAR ↠ Thomas Shelby.

29.

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE.

               "GET YOUR COAT," TOMMY declared from the very moment he stepped inside the room, his eyes falling on the woman that had taken to lying in bed when it was nearly noon, sprawled across the sheets as she struggled to keep her eyes open. "Or rather, get changed, then get your coat."

The blonde frowned up at him, lifting her head up ever so slightly so that she might rest it on her palm. "Where are we going?"

"Away from the city. Anywhere."

"And you're not going to tell me where?" 

Tommy nodded once. "When you put on a fucking dress, yeah, I will."

Felicity could've groaned at his stubbornness. As much as she loved the man, his tendency to do anything without specifying the details to her infuriated her to no degree. His obstinacy countered her own and whilst the two lovers adored each other with every fibre of their being, that didn't help the fact that both were far too stubborn for their own good. He was determined to keep her safe ― or at the very least, keep her in a state where she knew nothing about the business and nothing about any surprises he might have for her. She was annoyed by each secret he kept, but managed to not show said annoyance too often.  

"Pass me the burgundy one, then," she eventually said, pushing herself into an upright position and looking at him expectantly. When he stared back at her blankly, she did groan. "The red ― purple one on the back of the door."

He obliged, crossing the room in two large strides and extending his arm to her with the fabric cascading over his fist. "Be quick."

Felicity rolled her eyes with bemused laughter and watched as the man left, closing the door heavily behind him.

When she got downstairs fifteen minutes later with her hands behind her head as she tried in vain to twist her golden hair into a bun, she caught sight of the man, where he stood at the other end of the parlour with his back leaning on the wall and his features twisted into frown as he spoke with the older woman before him. Both he and Polly went quiet when Felicity entered, however, leaving her to wonder just what they were talking about that was so important and worrisome that they felt the need to cease conversation when she came about them. 

"You're ready," Tommy noted. 

Felicity did a little twirl in response before she stopped and looked at him expectantly. "Aren't you going to tell me where we're going?" 

"Coventry. Now, we'll have to go if we want to get there before two."

"Coventry? Why?"

Tommy sighed and almost didn't answer ― when he did, though, he chose to tell a lie that would only be relevant for about an hour, for he would tell her when they got there. . . or even in the car, away from the ears of Polly, who was forever becoming more and more cautious about undiscussed expansions away from Birmingham. 

"We need a day out, and Coventry's a lot closer than London." His voice softened with the next two words, perhaps after he realised just how harsh they had been close to sounding. "Come on."

⎯

               The first thing Felicity noticed was that the roads were not quite so dust―ridden and dirty as those that could be found in Small Heath, and as Tommy drove down the high street and made his way towards a backroad, she watched as people went about their day, unknowing of the gangster that drove alongside them with the angel at his hip. Eventually, he pulled into a lane and stopped the vehicle a little way on, so that it would be out of the way of the bustle and busy lives of those they had intruded upon.