LONDON, 1919

"SO YOU'RE MOVING FOR GOOD?"

Delilah sighed and turned to face her father, standing in the doorway. Her room was almost empty, except for her king-sized bed and her wardrobe, though it was empty from its content. The wardrobe was following her as well, but the movers didn't have enough time to load into their truck just yet. Angelo's own furniture was taking a lot of space as well, and it was hard to bring together all of their belongings.

"You're the one who told me you didn't want to be involved," she responded with a shrug. "I'm making sure you won't be."

Robert scoffed as he crossed his arms over his chest. His dark eyes were piercing through her soul as he stared at her for a long moment, observing his stubborn daughter.

"You're not moving in the Italian neighborhoods."

"So that's what it's about," Delilah snorted. "No, we're not. Is that everything, or do you want to have the complete history of the house owners for the last three generations?"

Her father sighed and stepped towards her, sitting down on her bed. Delilah sat down beside him, her hands crossed on her thighs and her feet hanging in the air. Her hair was tied in a high ponytail, the long strands falling in her upper back.

"You're just like your mammà," he said softly, his hands grabbing the mattress. "You're free, stubborn, and reckless. Just like her."

"I thought this through, papà," the redhead stated firmly, turning her head to face her father. "I know you don't believe me, but I did."

"But how can you even consider that this treaty will last? How can you put so much faith in their loyalty when they're planning on betraying their biggest associate yet?"

Delilah didn't know what to answer to this. Her only answer was that she was their only option to grow bigger. They needed her to have a free-pass right to London, and that was what she was promising them, and would eventually give them. It was the only fact that supported her beliefs in the Peaky Blinders: she was all they had to play it easy.

"Because I'm the only one who's offering them what they want," she responded, standing up from the bed and standing in front of her father. "I'm giving them the world, on a silver platter. I'm giving them the opportunity to expand safely here, and to settle their empire. They know that I'll end them if they try something because I have connections they don't have. I have what they don't, what they covet. I have the power they want to have, and I'm offering them a fair share of that power."

"You're so bold and so foolish," Robert sighed, staring at his daughter's face. "They're going to switch sides the very day you won't be enough for them, and you know it."

"We're looking in the same direction for now, and the second they'll mention a new plan, the second I'll suspect something going on behind my back, I'll end them."

The De Luca patriarch shook his head slowly as he stood up. As they could hear the movers walking up the stairs leading to the siblings' quarters, Robert engulfed his daughter in a tight embrace, kissing the top of her head lovingly. She was her mother's determination with her father's temper, a woman of power. Delilah De Luca was born to be a leader, and even he had to acknowledge this fact. He had conceived the boldest young woman of her generation. Somewhere, lost within his concern, pride was shining in his heart.

"Ti amo, mia fliglia," he whispered while stroking her hair softly. "I'm just concerned about you and your power. But one day, you'll prove me I was wrong to do so."

"I love you too."

"Eccoti qui!" Jessica exclaimed when she walked into Delilah's bedroom.

Robert broke their embrace and marched out of the room, his hand brushing against his wife's on his way out. Jessica smiled at her beloved daughter and wrapped her arms around her, kissing the redhead's forehead.

"La mia bambina," she muttered. "You grow up so fast. You don't need you mammà anymore."

"Of course I still need you!" Delilah argued as her arms tightened around her mother's middle. "I'm just making sure you'll be safe here."

"We should be protecting you, my love," Jessica said softly.

"You don't need to anymore. I'm a grown-up, I can take care of myself."

Jessica kissed Delilah's head, caressing her hair gently.

"I know you can, baby," she approved. "It's just sad to know you two won't be around for a while is all."

Delilah tightened her embrace around her mother, breathing Jessica's delicate perfume. She closed her eyes and for a second, she was a kid again. A little version of herself running into her mother's arms with her hands full of flowers, her dirty palms leaving stains on her mother's white dress.

"It makes me sad too, mammà," she murmured. "But it's the easiest way. It doesn't mean that I don't love you anymore, neither does it affect the love I have for Dad or Marylena. It's just the smartest option, and you know it."

"Della!" Angelo called from the corridor. "We've got to go, or we'll miss Madeline!"

The two women parted from their hug and kissed each other's cheeks. Delilah walked out of her room, shrugging her favorite fur coat around her shoulders. The clicking of her heels echoed through the corridor as she walked towards the staircase, her red dress tightly wrapped around her tiny body.

As soon as she reached the hall, Marylena threw herself at her sister, whining to be held in her arms. Delilah lifted the little blonde from the ground and hugged her against her chest, Marylena's chin resting on her older sister's shoulder.

"You'll visit us, right?"

"As soon as I'll be able to, but meanwhile, you will be good, alright?" Delilah demanded as she put her sister back on the ground, right in their mother's skirt. "Ti amo, piccola."

Marylena nodded and outstretched her tiny arms towards her older sister once again, but this time, it was Jessica who picked her up.

"They've got to go, darling," she cooed to her youngest child. "But they'll be back soon, okay?"

Angelo pulled on her wrist to hurry her to their awaiting car. The Bentley's engine was roaring, and a bodyguard was standing next to it, waiting for the siblings to leave London for good. They walked to the car and climbed in, waving at their family until Angelo drove around a corner and the De Luca's mansion disappeared from their view.

Delilah sighed shakily and sniffled, keeping her eyes focused on the landscape outside the window. Angelo smirked when he tickled her side, focusing on her for a second until he was forced to get back to the road.

"Are you crying?" he asked with a laugh as he turned the steering wheel to join the main road leading to Birmingham. "Oh my God, you are crying."

Delilah smacked his arm with her hand, the other one wiping the tears from her rosy cheeks. A smile blossomed on her lips through her sadness. It didn't matter what dispute they could have with each other, her family was her anchor. Everything she had done was for her family; everything she had known was because of her family. Every decision she had to make, even the hardest ones, even the most recent ones, was for her family. Their mantra, famiglia prima di tutto, was written on the right side of her heart, and nothing would ever erase it.

"Shut up and fucking drive, asshole."

Angelo laughed and sped up on the road, shouting a victory scream through the opened window.

ஜ۩۞۩ஜ 

Delilah jumped out of the car even before Angelo could cut the engine. She stretched her arms above her head and shook her sleeping legs slightly, enjoying the soft breeze on her face. The grey smoke from the factories was visible from the house, but it didn't matter. The noise coming from the workers could also be heard by the siblings, who looked at one another.

"Camden Town," Delilah said with a shrug, a chuckle escaping Angelo's closed lips.

The movers' truck parked behind their car, and as soon as they stepped out, the front door opened and Madeline stepped out, her arms wrapped around a large box. She huffed as she dropped the box on the ground not so carefully and walked towards the siblings, a welcoming smile appearing on her pink lips.

"I thought you wouldn't be on time to say goodbye," the blonde spoke with a laugh. "But you did."

"I told you we'd be there," Delilah laughed. "We didn't want to miss you."

Madeline's blonde hair was tied in a low bun against her neck, a few wild strands flying around her face like a halo. The woman truly looked like an angel, with her rosy and chubby cheeks, her thin lips parted in a friendly smile, and her light pink dress floating around her knees.

"It's the last box," Madeline then stated, pointing at the waiting box resting next to the front door. "The last one, and then I'll be done with Birmingham. For good, or so I hope."

"Mind the box!" Delilah barked when the movers started discharging their belongings. "So, Scotland it is?"

"Yep," Madeline confirmed. "My grandmother moved there a few years ago, in a cottage, somewhere in the countryside. She's the only family I have left, so I want to get closer to her. Then, maybe I'll move to Glasgow or somewhere, to open a shop. I want to move on, I have to."

"I know," Delilah softly said, squeezing the blonde's shoulder.

"Scotland is good," Angelo allowed himself to say, a kindness in his voice he rarely authorized to come out. "You'll be fine there."

Madeline nodded, glad to be supported by her closest friend and her brother. She had called her grandmother a few days ago, who had told her she was more than welcomed in her home, even though she could hear the doubt in the old lady's tone. Fleur Delacour had lived alone for a decade now, and Madeline was about to shake up her entire routine. However, the blonde held the crazy hope to make it quick until she would be able to open her clothing shop, soon enough so her grandmother wouldn't be too bothered with her.

"Oh, here," Delilah suddenly called, opening the passenger door and exiting a box from inside the Bentley. "There's the money for the house inside, plus a little something so you won't forget me over there in Scotland. Don't open it now, or I'll be emotional."

"Yeah, we wouldn't want your cold gangster image to crumble," Madeline joked, taking the box from her friend's hands. "Thank you so much, for everything. A telephone's installed now, I'll probably call you sometime if you don't mind."

Delilah couldn't help but hug Madeline, rubbing the blonde's back gently.

"Of course you can call, sweetheart," she softly whispered in the blonde's ear. "Please, do. If you ever want to come back, please do. Take care of yourself, it's what truly mattered."

Madeline smiled when they parted and she shyly waved goodbye at Angelo before she retreated to the front door, grabbing her last box and walking down the street to meet the car waiting to take her to the train station. Delilah waved at her until the blonde was nothing more than a blonde spot in the middle of the lane, and only then did she turn to her brother, a sigh passing through her lips.

"I think it's time for us to unpack, what do you think?"

"I guess so," Angelo nodded. "The last one in the house is unpacking the kitchen tools."

"It's unfair, I'm wearing heels!" Delilah screamed as she started running after her brother.

Angelo chuckled when he made it into their new home as the winner, placing his hands on his hips when Delilah walked through the entrance with a defeated face.

"Oh come on, that's not that bad. You're just slow."

"Oh shut up, stronzo!" 

It was weird to Delilah to be walking through the house Madeline had once shared with her husband. It was obvious that the house had lived before their arrival. The dark stains at some places on the walls paint were the witnesses of their afternoons full of laughter. The indentations in the kitchen cupboards were the results of passionate embraces in the morning, and the master bedroom was the indicator of their love life, with the double-bed slightly away from the wall, or the nails still sunk into the wall where pictures must have been hung. Delilah could hear their bursts of laughter as she exited her dresses and coats from the multiple boxes the movers had taken out of the truck, and she could see them running up the stairs when she was descending the staircase.

Before the moving men could leave the house, Delilah grabbed one of them by the sleeve, pulling him close enough to keep her words between the two of them.

"I'm not going to tell you how to do your job, of course, but we pay you enough to shut up, understood? You didn't make that moving, you never saw any of us. Get that?"

The man nodded, and Delilah let go of his sleeve.

"Good, very good," she said with a smile. "Thank you for your great job. Have a nice day, the lot of you."

The men retreated to their truck, and Delilah closed the front door behind them. Angelo rushed down the stairs, an excited smile covering his lips. His blue eyes were shining with happiness while his hair was falling in front of his eyes, forcing him to push it back with his hand.

"I can't believe we have our own place now, can you?" he asked. "By the way, you shouldn't bully our workers, y'know."

Delilah scoffed as she lifted the kitchen tools box from the ground and placed it on the dining table. She carefully opened the box, mindful of their fragile porcelain service, and started to open the cupboard to tidy up their dinnerware.

"I'm not bullying them," she argued. "And yeah, it's kinda weird to be left alone in a house, right? Like, we're just two now. No parents, no supervisor, it's just us."

Angelo nodded and sheepishly crossed his strong arms over his chest, a devilish grin blossoming on his lips.

"Maybe we could go out and celebrate our freedom tonight?"

The strawberry blonde snorted as she placed a few plates in a cupboard, carefully closing its door so it wouldn't collapse — just in case it could.

"We're barely settled and you're already thinking about partying, mh?" Delilah mocked with a raised eyebrow. "Let's make a deal, okay? If your room is entirely tidy up by tonight, then we'll go, but if not, then we're not going anywhere. Deal?"

"Deal," Angelo agreed as his hand tapped the wooden doorframe. "There's a letter on the fireplace, by the way. Thought you'd better make sure it doesn't belong to Madeline."

Delilah smiled and carried on with her storage, placing the cutlery in a drawer and the glasses in another cupboard. Once she was finally done with the kitchen tools, Delilah moved into the living room towards the fireplace and grabbed the envelope. She immediately noticed her name on the front of the envelope and she frowned slightly. Carefully, she ran her finger across the sticky side of the envelope to open it and she exited the letter inside of it.

Surprisingly, it wasn't a letter, but an invitation card. Delilah read the golden lines on the paper, and a smile once again appeared on her plump lips. The memory of her last encounter with the Shelbys popped in her mind, and as she followed the scriptures on the invitation card, Delilah discovered that it was in fact John Shelby's wedding she would be attending. Of course, she wouldn't miss it. She put the invitation and the envelope back on the fireplace, and suddenly, she wanted to celebrate with her brother as well, at a very specific place. 

ஜ۩۞۩ஜ 

In the evening, Delilah and Angelo were finally ready to go out and enjoy their first night of freedom. Delilah had put on an emerald slit dress that emphasized her glimmering green eyes, the long sleeves widening around her wrists. Her hair was falling in glossy curls down to her waist, and her fingers were adorned with golden rings while her crossed necklace was hanging around her neck. Lastly, her plump lips were embellished with red lipstick.

Angelo was also greatly prepared for the evening. He had chosen to put a white shirt with matching black suit pants, his hair perfectly pushed back and clearing his ocean orbs. His annular was decorated with a gold signet ring that had once belonged to their father, and his own father before him.

The De Luca siblings were simply breathtaking, as every time they were going out.

"I think maybe we're a little too much," Delilah muttered as she adjusted the slit on her right leg.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Angelo retorted as they exited the house, Delilah locking the door behind him and letting the keys fall into the pocket of her black coat. "Siamo perfetti, sorella."

Delilah snorted as she linked their arms and they began their walk to the Garrison. The redhead glanced at the sky above as they cornered Garrison Lane, a few stars shining in the firmament. A few clouds were blurring the vault of heaven. Her eyes fell on the pub when they reached it and the few blokes smoking cigarettes by the entrance.

As they made their way to the front door, a man whistled when his eyes fell on Delilah's figure, and the redhead couldn't help but roll her eyes as she stepped into the full pub. People were talking above one another, raising their glasses to make toasts about life and women, yelling when the barmen would place their orders on the counter.

Delilah grabbed Angelo's hand and made her way through the crowd to the counter, where Grace was walking back and forth to take customers' orders. The blonde barmaid noticed the redheaded beauty from the corner of her eye but decided to ignore her a little bit longer, hoping to get on her nerves. However, Delilah wasn't there to be friendly with a barmaid but to meet with her associates, who she knew would probably step in soon or already be sitting in their snug.

"What can I get you?" the blonde finally asked when she stopped in front of the redhead and her brother, glancing at the stone-cold handsome Angelo by her side.

"Two whiskeys, please," Delilah politely ordered, placing money on the counter. "Busy night, huh?"

"Yeah," Grace curtly responded, placing the glasses in front of the siblings. "I didn't expect to see you around again."

"Keep the change," Delilah said with a smile. "And yes, I'll be around more often now."

Grace struggled to hide her disappointment. Delilah felt delighted when she noticed the frustrated glow in the woman's light blue pupils, and she couldn't help but smile wider when Grace's eyes moved to the back of the pub, right where the front door had opened. Delilah didn't turn around as she clinked her glass against her brother's, swallowing the whiskey in a shot.

"Good drinker, aren't ya, Sunflower?"

Delilah turned around to meet John's blue eyes staring at her, a playful grin parting his lips where a toothpick was hanging. He was wearing a peaky hat on the top of his head, and a golden chain shone at his three-pieces suit pants.

"Well, I'm trying my best, Mr.Shelby," she responded. "I wouldn't want to steal the show, though. I heard you're quite talented in that sector, am I wrong?"

John chuckled as Grace stopped in front of him, her eyes searching for Thomas in the crowd. He must have already retreated into the snug though as she didn't notice him anywhere, and she silently prayed for the younger Shelby brother to ask her to serve them in the private room.

"A bottle of whiskey," he ordered before his eyes focused on Delilah and Angelo again. "We could make a competition if you're down to it. A good businesswoman's supposed to take fine whiskey, eh?"

"We wouldn't want to bother," Angelo immediately interjected, a smirk appearing on his lips.

"Yeah, exactly," Delilah agreed as she shrugged her shoulders.

John's mouth shifted on the right side, and his nose turned outwards slightly as he bent over towards Delilah, leaning his elbow on the counter. A bottle of Irish whiskey was placed in front of him and Grace muttered a few words before she disappeared to serve another noisy customer.

"Miss De Luca, you would never bother," he stated, his flirty side showing off again.

Delilah smiled and approached her face to his, biting on her bottom lip seductively. She loved that, the way men would cave in at the moment she would be too close, and maybe it was wrong to do so since she had no motive behind it, but it felt good to see that gleam inside their eyes, gangsters or not, almost married men or not.

"Delilah, please."

John smirked and motioned for them to follow him through the customers. People made room for them to pass through and John held the door open for her and her brother, whistling loudly to get his brothers' attention.

"Look who I've fuckin' found!"

Arthur Shelby slammed his large hand on the wooden table at the center of the room. Delilah smiled again, playing with her hands in front of her. For the first time since she visited Birmingham, Delilah felt nervous and vulnerable in that little room, surrounded by the powerful Peaky Blinders.

"Miss De Luca!" Arthur yelled. "Don't be shy, come on, take a seat."

Delilah shared a glance with her brother before she moved towards a chair in the corner of the room and placed it on the other side of the table so that she was seating in front of Arthur and beside Thomas. Angelo took the empty spot beside Arthur as John sat at the other end of the table, not too far away from Delilah.

"Delilah, please," she demanded for the second time in the evening. "Thomas."

John poured them a glass of whiskey each and slid them in their directions.

"Delilah," Thomas greeted in return, his hand easily catching his glass.

"Last time I came here, it was quite empty," she said. "It's good to see this place full of life."

Arthur snorted as John passed her a glass of whiskey, a playful smile decorating his lips. Angelo stared at his whiskey for a second before he downed it, triggering shouts coming from both Arthur and John who seemed to see his gesture as a provocation.

"Are you well settledn?" Thomas asked though he seemed quite disinterested in the matter.

"The house is pretty," Delilah answered before she closed a bit of distance between them. "The invitation card as well."

Thomas's lips twitched upwards slightly, but once again the sight was gone in the blink of an eye. Delilah sat back against the back of her chair, exiting her pack of cigarettes and some matches to light them up. She took a toxic stick out of the box and lit it up, the flame warming up her nose as she approached it closer to her lips than necessary. She took a drag and let the cigarette hang at the corner of her mouth, taking a drag every once in a while.

"So are you coming, then?"

Delilah turned her eyes towards Thomas once again, the right corner of her lips rising slightly. She picked up the cigarette from her lips, noticing the red stain of lipstick on the butt of the cancer stick, and held it in between her fingers.

"It fits my schedule, I see no reason why I wouldn't."

Thomas nodded, taking a cigarette from the redhead's box and lighting it up quickly. John slammed his glass on the table and stared at Delilah's full glass with a disapproving look.

"Now, that is disappointing," he said as he pointed his index finger at her.

Delilah laughed and placed the edge of her glass between her lips, swallowing the hard liquor in one gulp. Arthur cheered and slapped a few times on the table when Delilah placed her glass back on it, making the whiskey within the glass bottle waver.

"You see, Mr.Shelby, everything is in endurance," she stated, her fingernails tapping on the wooden table.

"No more Mr.Shelby, Sunflower," Arthur interjected while John served them another round of shots. "You know our names, use them, alright?"

Delilah nodded as Arthur clapped his hand on Angelo's shoulder. She turned to Thomas once again, her slightly blurry vision mixing his features like paint. She cleared her throat and blinked, and suddenly his face was back to normal.

"Tomorrow, we'll have to discuss business," she informed him as the boys were drinking their shots loudly. "There's a few things I need to know, and a few ones you need to know."

As her lips moved to form the words, Thomas found himself contemplating the redhead's face yet again. Her flame-like hair combined with her emerald dress made the perfect match and she knew it; her porcelain skin was almost shining under the snug lights, and her eyes were fixated on him without flinching. He noticed a little scar on her left cheekbone and found himself lingering on it for an unnecessary second. Grace Burgess was nothing but a distant memory in his brain while he watched her index finger tapping against her cigarette to let the ash fall on the crystal ashtray on the table, the golden rings adorning them catching every light particle as well as the Christian cross around her soft neck.

When he realized that Delilah had stopped talking and was now waiting for an answer, Tommy cleared his throat and straightened in his chair, leaning on the table as he stared at the blazing end of his cigarette.

"We'll discuss," Thomas agreed before he raised an eyebrow and drifted his eyes towards the redhead once again. "If you're not hungover, that is."

"Oh, so we're joking now, right?" Delilah said with a playful giggle, which sounded like a lyre in Tommy's ears. "Well, it's easy to talk when you're not even drinking yourself, isn't it?"

Delilah downed her drink and was served immediately again.

Surprisingly, the siblings found themselves enjoying their evening more than they thought they would, as well as the Shelby brothers.

As for Delilah De Luca, maybe it was the alcohol in her veins confusing her brain, or maybe it was the fact that she was, for at least one evening, free from business, but she found herself unable to tear her eyes away from the masterpiece that was Thomas Shelby's face. 

The male himself had some trouble remembering the woman behind the counter, leaning against the wall to listen to the man holding her heart in his strong hands having fun with another woman. How foolish of her to believe that his charming smiles and playful glances would stay between them when Delilah De Luca was here to compete.

Italian words: 

mammà = mommy 

papà = daddy 

Ti amo, mia fliglia = i love you, my daughter

Eccoti qui = there you are 

La mia bambina = my little girl 

Ti amo, piccola = i love you, little one 

famiglia prima di tutto = family before everything 

stronzo = you bitch 

Siamo perfetti, sorella = we are perfect, sister 

I'm telling ya right now: y'all ain't ready for Grace's and Delilah's relationship, some angst coming up soon! also, Madeline's gone for good now... or is it?