Chapter Nine
"No fucking fighting!"

TWO YEARS LATER

Arabella's expensive black heels, bought all the way from Paris, clicked loudly against the ground as she strode up the gravel path to Tommy Shelby's mansion.

"Bloody hell, Tommy," she mumbled to herself, gazing up at the size of his home with wide eyes. Arabella had left Small Heath to take part in business in America just over a year after she joined the company, so was only now seeing the spectacular, and absolutely enormous, house that Tommy had splashed his cash out on for him, Grace and little Charlie.

To say Arabella was surprised when Tommy told her he planned to marry Grace, was an understatement. Arabella had heard stories of the Irish woman, and stories of how she broke Tommy's heart. Most of all, like most of the family, Arabella wasn't even aware Grace had come back into Tommy's life, not to mention he'd knocked her up.

She knocked her fist against the front door a few times, though she wasn't sure what use it would do since everybody was likely caught up in the party. The door swung open after a few moments, revealing Tommy, who was dressed smartly in a navy blue suit, a pretty white flower placed neatly on his left jacket lapel.

He removed the cigarette from his mouth, leaning against the doorway. "Get here when you can."

"Sorry, had delays," Arabella apologised, patting a hand on his shoulder as she stepped inside. "Nice wedding?"

"Wonderful."

"Good," she smiled as he closed the door behind her, placing the cigarette back in his mouth. Arabella was slightly disappointed that she'd missed the actual wedding, though she did find them very tedious sometimes – the after party was definitely where she thrived. "The driver is bringing my bags round the back."

"I'll get someone to take them to your room," he said, falling into step beside her as they headed through the hallway. Arabella turned her head to take in her surroundings, glancing briefly at the expensive paintings hung up on the walls.

"Thanks for letting me stay the night, I appreciate it," she told him. And from what she'd seen of the house so far, she was excited to stay somewhere so huge and expensive. It was a long stretch from her little place in America, and an even bigger stretch from her modest house in Birmingham.

"Bloody hell!" John Shelby exclaimed the moment she stepped into the room. "Look what the cat dragged in!"

Arabella rolled her eyes, unable to help but match John's grin as he pulled her into a hug. "Lovely to see you too."

He pulled back, his eyes drifting over her. She looked slightly different since he'd last seen her, now almost a year ago. Her wavy brown hair was much shorter now, framing her face in a way that made her look older than the teenager that had left Small Heath.

Arabella smoothed down her pink dress, glancing past John to scan the room for the rest of the Shelby clan, when suddenly a pair of hands were placed on her shoulders, spinning her around.

"Right, let's 'ave a look at you then!" Arabella smiled as she faced Arthur Shelby, who stopped short when he got a proper look at the now grown up young woman, a long way from the girl he remembered. "Bloody hell, look at you! Our Finn's gonna have a heart attack."

Arabella chuckled, hugging Arthur tightly, eyes instantly being drawn to the wedding band on his finger. "You got married?" She asked in surprise, drawing back slightly.

Arthur instinctively glanced at the ring, looking up at her sheepishly. "Yeah."

She smacked his arm, smiling good-naturedly to show she was only teasing. "Why the hell wasn't I invited?!"

"It all happened fast, didn't have time to get a letter to bloody America. Her name's Linda," he explained proudly.

"Well, I look forward to meeting her," Arabella replied, taking a moment to take in Arthur's appearance properly. Tommy and John barely looked any different, but Arthur looked much more cleaned up than he had been before she'd left. "Come on then," she looked over at the three brothers with a smile, moving to link her arm with John's. "I need a drink, it's been a long fucking day."

The four of them headed through the double doors into the main area of the party, where hundreds of people stood chatting with smiles on their faces and drinks in their hands, all spilled out across a few rooms in the Shelby mansion. Arabella's eyes scanned the area, searching for the people she hadn't seen now for far too long.

"Here," John said, unlinking their arms to pass her a glass of champagne. "Get this down you."

Arabella took the glass with a small smile, taking a sip as she met eyes across the room with a certain Finn Shelby. He raised his eyebrows for a moment, before heading over to Arabella and his brothers, fussing with his hair as he walked.

"Finn!" She greeted brightly, rising onto her tiptoes to kiss him gently on the cheek. He'd seemed to have grown at least half a foot since she saw him last.

Finn's cheeks flushed, and Arthur nudged Arabella. "Told you."

She chuckled lightly, inspecting the youngest Shelby over properly. He'd most definitely grown up a lot, looking older and much more mature. Arabella was closest to age with Finn, and the two of them had grown even closer since she started working for his brothers.

"How long have you been back?" He asked, unable to tear his eyes away from her. Arabella looked incredible.

"Not long," she replied, taking another sip of her champagne. "You seen Mallory? I've been dying to talk to her."

Finn nodded his head. "I'll take you to her."

Arabella turned to Tommy, John and Arthur to say goodbye, earning nods from all three of them in response. She walked side-by-side with Finn through the party, which was very much in full swing, searching the crowds of people for Mallory. Finally, Arabella's eyes landed on her best friend, looking very cosy with Isaiah, who had an arm wrapped around her waist. Arabella bit back a grin, which only grew when Mallory's eyes eventually landed on her.

"Oh my god!"

The two girls rushed towards each other, meeting with a warm hug, swaying slightly in each other's arms. Mallory pulled back for a moment, eyes drifting over her friend, who looked absolutely gorgeous, and, for the first time in a while, happy.

"How've you been?" Arabella asked, as Mallory continued to stare up at her in surprise. She'd wondered whether her best friend would be returning for Tommy's wedding, but when she didn't see her at the service, she'd lost hope.

"Great," Mallory replied, smiling brightly. "How about you? How was America? Are you here to stay? Are you going back? Where's your dress from? It's gorgeous. Are you–"

"Woah," Arabella laughed, placing a hand on her friend's arm to steady her. "Slow down."

"Sorry," Mallory laughed, flinging her arms around Arabella once more. "I just missed you so much!"

"I missed you too, Mal," Arabella told her. Truthfully, she had missed Mallory the most out of everybody. They'd been best friends practically their whole lives, and were almost inseparable, never having been away from each other for so long before. As they pulled away, Arabella's eyes found Isaiah's, who sauntered over to them with a cheeky grin.

And beside him, was Michael Gray.

"Guess you couldn't stay away, huh?" Isaiah grinned at Arabella as he reached the two girls.

"From you?" Arabella asked, pinching his cheeks teasingly. "Never."

The friends chuckled, but Arabella's smile faltered slightly when she locked eyes with Michael. "Hey."

"Hello," he smiled, the pair of them moving in for a friendly hug, both going the same way at first, leading to a moment of awkwardness before they managed it, pulling away barely a second later. Mallory, Isaiah and Finn all shared amused glances as they watched the awkward exchange. "How's business?" Michael asked her, shoving his hands into his trouser pockets. Arabella glanced him over, noting how much Michael seemed to have grown up since she'd been gone. Somehow, he was even more handsome, with an air of confidence and self-assurance around him that hadn't been as present before.

"Good," Arabella replied with a small smile. "Over here?"

"Good," Michael shared her smile. He watched her silently for a few moments, taking in her appearance. She wore a beautiful pink dress, her lipstick matching the colour of the material. He noticed her hairstyle was different, though it still suited her nicely, giving her a more mature look. As always, Arabella was the most stunning girl in the room.

Arabella glanced over at Isaiah, who impressively seemed to read her expression straight away, digging into his pocket to reach for a little blue capsule containing cocaine. A grin toyed on Arabella's lips. "Knew there was a reason I kept you around," she told him, just about to reach for the capsule when a voice spoke from behind her. Isaiah quickly shoved it back in his pocket, as Arabella turned around to see a petite blonde girl.

"Excuse me," she said, glancing between the group, her posh London accent standing out. "I was told to ask someone young. Will there be cocaine?"

"Sweetheart, I am young, informed, and, uh, very well equipped," Isaiah spoke, stepping forwards until Arthur clamped a hand on his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks.

"Kitchen. Now."

"Arthur, this lady wants to play in the snow," Isaiah told him.

"No, no snow today," he dismissed. "No snow today." The boys began to move to follow him, leaving the girls behind, until Arthur paused, turning back to face Arabella. "On second thoughts, you better come too."

She spared an apologetic glance at Mallory, who shrugged it off with a smile, taking the champagne glass from her hands as consolidation. Arabella followed the boys to the stairs, dodging past bustling staff members as she headed down the steps and into the kitchen.

John and Isaiah made space between them which she moved into, sharing a glance with Isaiah as she wondered what the meeting was all about. He shrugged, the two of them turning their attention back to the middle of the room as Tommy headed inside, shrugging off his suit jacket, a cigarette held between his teeth, as usual. "All right boys," He began, until he was interjected by a loud cough from Arabella. He glanced up at her, taking the cigarette out his mouth. "And Arabella," he added, the girl smiling in satisfaction as he continued on. "Today, this is my fucking wedding day."

"Yeah, and you said there'd be no bloody uniforms."

"Nevertheless, John, nevertheless, despite the bad blood, I'll have none of it on my carpet," Tommy said, his eyes drifting over everyone. "Now for Grace's sake, nothing will go wrong. Those bastards out there are her family. And if you fuckers do anything to embarrass her, your kin, your cousins, your horses, your fucking kids, you do anything–"

"Tom?"

"What?!"

"What about snow?" Isaiah questioned.

"Yeah, their women are sports I'll say," John cut in, earning a glare from Tommy as he moved closer towards them.

"No," Tommy stepped in front of Isaiah. "No, no, no cocaine." He pointed his finger between Isaiah and Arabella, very much two of the likeliest culprits. "No cocaine," he affirmed, moving in front of John. "No sport." He stopped in front of Finn, grabbing the youngest Shelby's face with his hands. "No fucking sucking petrol out their fucking cars." Arabella bit back a laugh as she watched Tommy chastise his younger brother, wondering what antics Finn had been up to. "And you, Charlie, stop spinning yarns about me, eh?"

"I'm just trying to sell you to them, Tom," he defended with an innocent smile.

"But the main thing is," Tommy inhaled from his cigarette, turning to address the rest of the room. "You bunch of fuckers. Despite there being provocation from the cavalry, no fighting," he snapped, moving round each person in the room. "No fighting," Arabella met his eyes as he moved past her. "No fighting. No! Fucking! Fighting!" He finally concluded, moving to retrieve his suit jacket. "Good."

The waiter heading past accidentally bumped his shoulder, earning a hard shove in response from Tommy. The man tumbled to the ground with a crush, the bottle in his hand smashing, whilst Arthur threw his cigarette on the poor guy.

Arabella shook her head at the scene as John clapped a hand on her shoulder, ushering her forwards so they could leave the kitchen.

"Arabella!" Tommy called out, stopping her in her tracks. The boys all brushed past her as she turned to face her boss. "Keep off the wine, all right? Best fucking behaviour."

Arabella nodded in understanding, saluting him as a slight smirk began to toy on her lips. "Best fucking behaviour."

A/N

Season 3 has begun, and I'm very excited to see where it starts to take Arabella and Michael!

I get my A Level results tomorrow and I am freaking the fuck out. At least Peaky is back next Sunday to make everything good in my life again.