XVII. Paddies.

Two years passed and a lot of things had changed in Birmingham. Maude and Tommy had been publicly together for two years and their relationship grew stronger every day. Not only was she Tommy's most trusted employee but the only person in his family that he trusted with everything.

While his brothers were still stuck in the betting shop, Tommy moved Maude into his new Shelby Limited office building, where she had her own office. It wasn't as big as Tommy's but it was still spacious, enough to fit in a desk, bookshelf, couched with a fireplace and a liquor cabinet.

Not only did Tommy move Maude into an office of her own, but also a house that the two of them shared. They still lived on Watery Lane, only three houses from her old house, which her brothers once again shared alone.

Although Henry mostly lived alone now, as Daniel was often times at his new girlfriend's apartment. Anna had come into their lives a little over a year ago. She had been hired to take over Maude's position in the betting shop, keeping the books straight along with John's wife, Esme.

The young brunette girl was sweet and she stole Daniel's heart rather quickly. Henry and Maude liked teasing their younger brother that he'd probably marry before either of them because already he was head over heels for Anna.

Another change to their family was Ada and Freddie moving to London soon after the business with Billy Kimber was finished. That was two years ago, and now the family was holding a funeral for Freddie Thorn in the Birmingham cemetery. He had gotten extremely ill and not soon after did he pass.

Everyone was gathered around his grave, overlooking his coffin as the priest spoke, giving a prayer to Freddie's soul. Maude stood with Tommy, holding onto his arm and silently assuring him she was there with him. Despite the bad blood the two had, Maude could tell the death of his childhood friend had hit him hard.

"And give him peace. Amen." The priest finished as he closed his bible, glancing at Tommy and giving him a nod of his head, as Tommy had requested to say a few words before they would lower Freddie Thorn into the earth.

Tommy cleared his throat as he stepped forward and Maude let go of his arm. "I promised my friend Freddie Thorn that I'd say a few words over his grave if he should pass before me," Tommy spoke up, clasping his hands together as he stared down at the coffin. "I made this promise before he became me brother-in-law. When we were in France, fighting for the King."

"Amen," Arthur spoke up.

"And in the end, it wasn't war that took Freddie." Tommy continued on. "Pestilence took him." He spoke over the cries of John and Esme's baby. "But Freddie passed on his soul and his spirit to a new generation before he was cruelly taken." He said as he looked at Ada's son, the toddler unaware of his father's passing and his mother's grief.

When Tommy was done, he returned to Maude's side as she gave him a soft smile under her black veil, wrapping her arm around his as she leaned into his side. Together they watched as Freddie was lowered and the hole refilled with earth. A final goodbye was said to Freddie Thorn before everyone slowly began to part.

Maude stood with her brothers and Anna, watching as Tommy went to talk with his sister and explain how dangerous it was for her to be alone back in London with the baby since Tommy was planning to expand into the territory and most likely rile the gangs up there. Maude shoved her hands into her black coat pockets, eyebrows furrowing. "Do you think Ada will come back to Birmingham now?" She asked softly as she glanced between her brothers.

"No, she is stubborn that one." Henry insisted as he shook his head, pulling a cigarette and lighter from his pocket and lighting himself a smoke.

"I can't imagine having to raise a little one on your own," Anna said softly, wrapping her arms around herself as Daniel slung his arm around her shoulders, pulling her in close to his side.

"Ada's a strong woman," Maude replied as she glanced at Anna, slowly shaking her head. "Besides, she won't be on her own, even when she's so far." She insisted and Anna hummed in agreement as she nodded her head.

"What does Tommy say?" Daniel asked as he glanced at his sister with raised eyebrows.

"He does not either believe she will return, but still he will try and talk with her," Maude replied as she sighed heavily while looking at her brother, giving him a shrug of her shoulder. She looked back towards Tommy and Ada, seeing the dark-haired man staring directly at her as he made his way over. "Excuse me." She said to the three standing with her and walked away, meeting Tommy halfway. "Did you talk with her?" She asked as she laid a hand on his upper arm.

"Yes." He replied as he lowered his head, a sigh so heavy slipping from his lips that it told Maude that the conversation with Ada was unsuccessful. "She will stay in London." He informed Maude as he lifted his head and looked at her, a hint of frustration and annoyance in his deep blue eyes.

"With the expantion, it won't be safe for her," Maude muttered as a frown tugged and her lips and she shook her head while looking at Tommy. "Not if she's alone with a baby." She insisted.

"Well send a few men to London to watch her," Tommy assured as his hand reached out to rest against Maude's hip, giving her a soft squeeze.

Maude raised her eyebrows as she stared at Tommy, crossing her arms over her chest. "She's going to need more than that if you are planning on involving yourself in the war between the Jews and the Italians." She muttered as she gave him a knowing look.

"I'll figure something out, but for now it will be enough." He insisted as his hand slipped from his waist and his arm fell down by his sides, his eyes catching Arthur walking towards them with a deep frown and furrowed eyebrows on his face.

"Tommy, you have to come with me, now," Arthur instructed his brother as he beckoned him close with a wave of his hand before pointing a finger to the cars where Tommy and Maude's family waited with mixtures of worried and angry looks on their faces.

Tommy's eyebrows furrowed, sharing a confused look with Maude before he turned to his brother. "What happened?" He asked, knowing something was up.

Arthur inhaled sharply, taking a deep breath before he delivered the bad news to Tommy. "Someone blew up the Garrison." He informed the two and a soft gasp slipped from Maude's lips as she immediately looked over at Tommy with wide eyes.

The two followed Arthur back to the cars where the rest of the family was gathered, everyone piling into two separate cars and driving down to Garrison Lane to see their pub. The streets were crowded, everyone wanting to have a look at what happened.

Maude's heart sank and her eyes widened when the cars came to a stop in front of the pub. The building was completely torn down by the explosion, nearly unrecognisable as the place she and Tommy had gone to for a drink just mere days ago.

"Holy shit." She whispered as she stared at the pub, taking the hand Henry offered her when he opened the car door on her side, helping her down onto the ground. She walked onto the sidewalk, staring at the pub with wide eyes, her lips parted in shock.

"You two stay here," Daniel instructed his sister and girlfriend before he and Henry followed after John and Arthur to have a look around the pub and the neighboring building, while Tommy and Polly went to asses the damage upfront at the building left in shambles.

"Who do you think did this?" Anna asked, staring at the pub with furrowed eyebrows before turning to Maude as she wrapped her arms around herself.

Maude was silent for a second as her eyes drifted over what was left of the pub. She slowly shook her head before looking at Anna. "If I had to write you a list of all our enemies, Anna, I'd be writing till fucking New Year's." She grumbled with a soft sigh as her gaze turned back to the pub.

Everyone was assigned different roles in handling the situation and most were told to just continue with business as usual back at the betting shop. While both Maude and Anna returned to their work for the day, Daniel and Henry were put on duty for keeping an eye on the Garrison and helping Arthur move the stock and kept it safe from the coppers investigating the explosion.

Maude was in Tommy's office, sitting behind his desk as she did most days when he was at his other office, the new Shelby Limited office building where she had an office of her own to use when she wasn't in the betting shop. She often times still preferred to be at the shop, as she enjoyed being around all the people.

Tommy was constantly in and out of his office, dealing with the situation at the Garrison as best as he could while keeping it mostly quiet from any reporters who looked for a chance to paint the picture of gang wars in Birmingham.

When he stepped back into his office after being gone for a whole five minutes, Maude looked up at him with raised eyebrows. "Who do you think did it?" She asked as she watched him stand by his whiskey tray in the corner of the room, pouring himself a drink.

Tommy took a sip of his drink as he pulled an envelope from his coat pocket, laying it on the table in front of her. "I got this letter today, telling me to meet them at the Black Lion." He informed her as she opened the envelope, scanning the vague letter that only gave Tommy a time and place to meet, nothing else.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Maude asked as she looked up at Tommy with raised eyebrows, tossing the letter down on the table as she sat back in his chair.

"I don't know who they are, it's too dangerous to take you with me." He replied with a shake of his head as he finished his whiskey. Maude stared at him a slight scowl on her face, upset that he'd not allow her to go with him. Tommy stared back at her for a second, sighing when he realized she wouldn't let up. "You know what I said, only official business meetings." He reminded her with a firm voice.

Maude stared back at him for a second, giving in to his intense stare as she huffed. "Just be careful, please." She pleaded as she got up to her feet and approached him, resting her hands against his chest as they stood close together. "Will you take one of the boys with you?" She asked as she raised her eyebrows.

"No, it will only be me," Tommy replied with a shake of his head as his hands fell onto her waist, holding her close against his warm body.

Maude's lips parted as her eyebrows furrowed. "Tommy." She uttered softly as she stared up at him, slowly shaking her head, not in the slightest liking his plan of going alone for the meeting.

"If these bastards wanted me dead, they'd have blown the pub when I was inside." He replied with an assuring tone of voice, but his words put Maude more on edge than she already was."I won't be long." He told her, his hands moving up to cup her cheeks, and his lips softly pressing against hers. "You keep everything under control here," he instructed and she hummed with a nod of her head.

Maude was still sitting in Tommy's office, doing her work when John entered, hands shoved deep into his pants pockets. "Maude." He called out for her attention and she looked up from her work, raising her eyebrows at him. "Did he say who did it?" He asked her.

Maude stared up at him silently for a second before answering. "He's gone to the Black Lion." She informed him carefully, knowing to work carefully with John otherwise he'd explode, despite his sweet face, he had a temper to match both his brothers' tempers.

His eyebrows furrowed as he looked at her. "On his own?" He asked as a low huff slipped from his lips.

Maude quirked a knowing eyebrow at him. "Tommy does everything on his own." She reminded him as she looked back down at her work, scribbling a few things down as John watched her.

"Should I go to the Black Lion?" He asked her as he raised his eyebrows.

Maude's eyebrows furrowed as she looked back up at him again. "What?" She asked.

"Should I go there and see him?" He asked her as he pulled his hands from his pockets and approached the desk, gripping onto the back of one of the chairs.

Maude stared at him silently for a second before shaking her head. "No." She replied firmly.

John sighed, knowing when Tommy was gone she spoke for him, and that meant her word was as much law as Tommy's. Because her word was Tommy's. he sat down by the desk with a huff, "Where the fuck is Arthur?" He asked as he spread his arms out in question.

Maude sighed heavily as she refrained from rolling her eyes. "Protecting the Garrison's whisky from the police." She informed John as her lips pulled into a firm line, knowing it wasn't the best choice to send Arthur to look after the liquor, but it was Tommy's decision and she'd let him deal with the bad concecouinces.

"For fuck's sake." John scoffed as he shook his head, running a hand over his face before looking over at her. "Maude, it feels a little bit to me like things are getting out of hand." He informed her.

"So get 'em in hand." She replied as she sat back in her chair, clasping her hands together in her lap as she looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"Do you know what Ada said to me this morning?" He asked her, letting out a bitter laugh before shaking his head. "She said we all look like we work in a factory under the ground. She said we look like ghosts," he informed her as his gaze diverted down to the table.

Maude sighed as she looked at John. "She'll be back." She assured him with a nod of her head.

"When?" He asked as his gaze returned to Maude and he raised his eyebrows.

Maude bit down on her bottom lip, debating her answer before she sighed and spoke up. "When she needs us." She replied, knowing Ada had a habit of only returning to the family when she needed or wanted something. Polly had said the same many times and even Tommy had grumbled about it from time to time.

John pursed his lips as he slightly nodded his head in agreement. He was silent for a second and Maude thought it was the end of all his questions and she returned to her work, but then John huffed again. "And anyway, who the fuck would blow up our pub?" He asked as his eyebrows furrowed.

Maude sighed as she looked up from her work again, giving John a pointed look. "Six." She muttered.

John's eyebrows furrowed further as he looked confused, shaking his head at her. "Six what?" He asked.

"Six questions since you walked through the door." She informed him as she pointed towards Tommy's office door before her finger turned towards him. "Soon you're going to have to start being the man with the answers." She insisted.

"Why?" He asked as his eyebrows remained furrowed in confusion.

Another sigh slipped from Maude's lips. "Seven." She informed him and he replied with a roll of his eyes. "Because when London happens, you'll have to hold up your end or we'll find somebody else who can." She insisted and John was silent as he nodded in understanding.

He left the office and Maude had a whole twenty minutes to work uninterrupted before the office door opened again. "Have you heard from Thomas?" Polly asked as she stepped into the office, raising her eyebrows at the dark-haired girl as she closed the door behind her before making her way over to Tommy's whiskey tray.

"Not yet," Maude replied with a shake of her head, glancing between Polly and a legal document in her hand, her gaze settling on Polly after a second. "Pol, John's getting a little angst y." She informed the woman as she put the paper in her hand down and sat back in Tommy's chair.

"I'll deal with him," Polly assured as she walked over to the desk with two glasses of whiskey, handing Maude one before she sat down opposite the woman.

"Get Esme to do it," Maude suggested as she took a few sips of her whiskey before putting the glass down on the table, crossing her arms over her chest and crossing one leg over the other. "He shuts up for her." She muttered and Polly let out a scoff of amusement.

"You have to keep a Shelby man firm under your thumb, you know that dear." Polly insisted as she gave Maude a knowing smile while sipping on her whiskey.

Maude playfully raised her eyebrows as she let out a chuckle. "Well while you're at it, Arthur has the Garrison's stock within reach." She informed the older woman and Polly let out a soft groan in response. "It's all new, and Tommy won't buy more." She insisted as she sat forward, picking up the documents she was previously working on, and continued to go through them, marking everywhere she needed Tommy to sign.

"Will it matter when we have no pub?" Polly asked with a quirked eyebrow as she finished her whiskey, setting the glass down on the table with a heavy thud as a sigh slipped from her lips.

"He'll rebuild the Garrison." Maude insisted as she looked up from her documents, looking at Polly with a pleading look as the next words left her mouth. "Pol, most of those bottles are still sealed, they'll be well and ready for the reopening of the pub." She insisted as she stacked up the documents and held them together with a paperclip, getting up from her chair and walking towards another table Tommy had in his office for all important documents. "Unless Arthur isn't supervised with the stock." She said as she glanced back at Polly while setting the documents on the table.

"I'll send Henry to watch him," Polly replied as she got up onto her feet as well.

"No one has a better hold on these boys than you, Polly." Maude insisted with a playful grin, patting Polly on the shoulder as she made her way back to Tommy's desk, sitting down as Polly left the office.

An hour later, Tommy returned from his meeting, immediately going to his office to avoid all the questions he knew his family would throw his way, which would surely spiral into another argument if his aunt was present to hear what he had to say.

Maude looked up from her work when Tommy stepped into his office, immediately going for his whiskey tray. "You're back." She muttered as she looked at him, her eyebrows raising and her head tilting to the side. "Who did you meet?" She asked curiously.

"Paddies." He replied with a heavy sigh as he quickly finished one glass of whiskey before pouring himself another glass of whiskey, continuing to stand by the whiskey tray.

Maude was silent for a second as her eyebrows slowly knitted together. "What Irish business do you have, Tommy?" She asked in confusion, as Tommy told her everything that concerned his business and after the incident in the Garrison two years ago, Tommy never dealt with any Irish men again.

Tommy let out a sigh, running a hand over his face before walking over to the desk, sitting down opposite Maude. "They want me to carry out a mission for them on behalf of the crown." He muttered softly as his gaze diverted down to his whiskey.

"What mission?" Maude asked as she continued to stare at Tommy with furrowed eyebrows, folding her hands together in her lap as she sat back in the chair.

Tommy was silent for a second, nibbling on the inside of his cheek as he continued to blankly stare at his whiskey. "I need to kill a man." He revealed as his gaze flicked towards her.

Maude was taken aback, her lips parting as her eyebrows remained furrowed. Her nose wrinkled and she slowly shook her head. "Who?" She asked.

"His name is Eamonn Duggan," Tommy informed her as he sighed deeply before finishing his whiskey, setting the glass down on the table with a hard thud.

Maude was silent for a second as she processed the vague information Tommy had given her, for he also knew so little of what he was being asked to do. She sighed after a second, running a hand over her face and into her hair. "What did he do?" She asked as she raised her eyebrows at Tommy.

"They didn't say." He muttered as he shook his head, resting his hands on his thighs and lowering his head as he closed his eyes.

Maude stared at Tommy for a second before diverting her gaze to the men working on the other side of the office. She placed her fingertips over her lips as she remained silent for a long time. Tommy's gaze returned to her when the silence grew too much for him and he watched as she took in the information. While her head remained turned to the window of the office, her eyes shot towards Tommy. "And are you going to do it?" She asked softly as she quirked an eyebrow.

"The pub was only the start," Tommy muttered and Maude inhaled sharply, already knowing what his answer was going to be. "If I don't, they will cause more damage." He insisted as his gaze burned into her, not in the slightest in the mood to have her argue with him on this. "One life isn't a large price to pay." He said as he shook his head.

Maude didn't argue with Tommy on it, knowing if he didn't do what the people wanted him to do, it would most likely start a war. He was right, one life wasn't a large price to pay. Not when it could result in someone in their family being killed.

Maude returned to her own office to get her work done in peace and quiet, but not long after she arrived at her office, did Henry waltz in, heading straight for her liquor cabinet like he often did when he needed an escape from the betting shop.

Maude looked up at her brother, her eyebrows furrowing and head tilting to the side. "Why are you here and not at the warehouse with Arthur?" She asked him as she watched him pour himself a glass of rum.

"I'm not a babysitter." He muttered, shoving one hand into his pants pocket as he approached her table with his rum, sipping on it with no rush in the world while his sister glared at him.

"You're whatever Polly tells you, you are." She informed him as she set aside her paper and got onto her feet, her hands firmly placed on top of her desk. "And Polly told you, you're Arthur's babysitter." She insisted.

Henry rolled his eyes at her as he finished his rum. "Arthur is a grown man." He reminded her with a snappy voice, wanting anything except to be put on duty of trying to keep Arthur from the Garrison's stock.

"Yeah, with no control over his actions when it comes to the Garrison's stock." She snapped at her brother in frustration as her hand shot up and she pointed a firm finger at the door. "Go!" She demanded.

"For fucks sake." He groaned as he slammed his empty rum glass down and stormed out of her office, slamming the door behind him while Maude sat back down with a huff, feeling tense and stressed about the situation they now found themselves in.