THE RUIN OF A HEART
CHAPTER TWO !

"WE WILL HAVE THE wedding soon." Thomas had somewhat abrasively announced as he walked into the house's kitchen, a lit cigarette dangling from his lips. His well designed black shoes thudding with each step he took.

            Adina glanced up, a mix of curiosity and surprised plastered across her face. The cup of tea she held stopped halfway to her lips. This was the first time in over two full days that she had seen her husband-to-be. After the night of drinking in his office, the man had taken off early the next morning, before the sun had even fully risen. She'd felt like such a fool. For two days she had waited for him. Leaving her room each morning with the belief that he would be there and then retiring to her room each night with the dismay that he hadn't cared enough to return.

            She believed they had been making progress; been under the impression that the man she would soon call her husband was actually interested in building some form of a relationship with her prior to their wedding.

            So, colour her shocked when she laid eyes on the piercing blue gaze of Thomas Shelby as he strode into the kitchen, (the one place she felt comfortable visiting without overstepping whatever boundaries Thomas had no doubt set in place) and began conducting their wedding as though he was informing his men on who they were doing business with next.

Smoke from his cigarette moved through the air as he sidestepped past the cook, who glanced up at him fearfully upon his entry before releasing an internal sigh of relief when it became clear the man had been speaking to the Solomons woman. All of the kitchen's staff fled at once, leaving the two behind to discuss in private.

Thomas stared down at her, his gaze sharp. "There's a Catholic Church close by to the house. We'll have the ceremony there." He said matter of factly.

Adina's brows cinched together in amusement. She felt sort of smug. Clearly the man before her, who had an air about him; one that said he knew everything there was to know, didn't know one little detail that would successfully thrown a spanner in the works.

With a small smirk, Adina's eyes remained firmly upon the Shelby man over the pretty little tea cup. "Unless you wish to have it with me standing outside, I'd rethink that plan of yours."

Thomas's gaze hardened at her slight taunt. He gave her a look, a look that said 'tell me what you know.'

She considered withholding her information briefly, perhaps as a way of punishing the man before her for simply leaving her to her own devices for the last two days while he was off God knows where but...then she realised that while he may have been kind that night, as alcohol swarmed his system, he was a gangster. She didn't know if he was a man that simply took what he wanted without care for others or who lashed out at the slightest upset. And she certainly didn't wish to find out.

She let out a small sigh as her body suddenly tightened up at the thought of Thomas laying a hand on her. Her gaze fell to the table, something Thomas took notice of, as she divulged. "Jewish people are forbidden from stepping inside a Catholic Church, Thomas."

            An expression of contemplation painted across the Shelby man's face. He admittedly failed to take her own religious background into consideration when he had been deliberating the wedding proceedings. He had simply wished to get the whole affair over with as soon as possible and therefore had neglected to remember his wife-to-be's Jewish faith.

"We'll have it here then. We'll get a Rabbi to come and help out. Is that allowed?" Thomas ultimately decided with a defeated sigh. He stared down at the woman expectantly which resulted in him receiving an affirmative nod in return. A tight-lipped smile pulled at his lips as he took a puff from his cigarette. "That's settled then."

            Silence befell the kitchen. Adina took to taking yet another sip of her tea, though this one was considerable longer than those previous due to how odd the atmosphere had become. Thomas poured himself a cup while he wondered why on earth the woman before him frequented the kitchen so often as opposed to simply using the dining room like a normal person.

Adina kept her gaze locked upon the table before. She bravely chose to broach the subject of his absence over the last few days. "Am I allowed to ask where you've been these past few days?" Her voice was considerably softer than before.

             Thomas had the good sense to appear confused by her question. "I've been staying in the home of my new horse trainer. She's lives in Epsom so it's simply easier to stay the night than to trek back and forth." He answered her with a shrug and a broad gesture of his cigarette, the ash breaking off and falling to the table below.

            This was a lie, of course. Yes, he had been staying at May's home but his excuse of it being easier to stay than to travel back and forth was a lie. If that had been true, he wouldn't have taken up residence in the Carleton woman's bed.

            Adina nodded. She knew even the most loyal of men cheated on their wives so the idea of Thomas fucking another woman before they had even wed didn't surprise her. "Have you chosen a name yet?" She inquired curiously, deliberately moving on from the topic of her husband-to-be and another woman.

            He had briefly mentioned the horse's lack of a name that night in his office so she wondered if perhaps he had finally landed on a good enough moniker for the filly.

            "Grace's Secret." The man gruffly responded. He suddenly needed something much stronger than tea.

"That's a pretty name." It didn't take a genius to understand the way in which Thomas had changed his tone as he answered her, almost as if the name had more significance than he let on. Adina could only wonder on who Grace and what she was to him. Perhaps she was past love, perhaps someone who had an unfortunate, early end in life.

"My staff informed me that you have been spending all of your time in the backyard, that you're no longer locking yourself in your room." Thomas changed the subject with a raised brow and an exhale of smoke.

Adina went still. She hadn't realised her comings and goings had been kept track of. Suddenly she felt very aware of her surroundings, of those around her and those that meant to keep a close eye on her. Had they done it on instruction or had they simply decided to watch her?

There was no point in lying to the man. The woman had been simply interested in exploring the grounds of Arrow House and had found her time preoccupied by the backyard in particular. She shrugged. "There's a beautiful pond out there. Seemed a crime to not appreciate it."

            Suddenly a thought struck her. "Will Alfie be going?"

            Her brother had been on her mind ever since that day. Despite every part of her that yelled to continue on festering in anger over his betrayal, Adina was helpless in not missing him.

           "He is your brother, is he not?" Thomas questioned.

            The woman nodded weakly. "It's just, I haven't spoken to him since I found o—" her voice came to a sharp halt. She'd been ready to say 'since I found out I was being sold off like some brood mare' but she figured bringing it up in front of the man she'd been sold off to wouldn't fair well in her favour.

           She nervously bit at her bottom lip, her teeth gnashing and gnawing. Her eyes darted up at the Shelby man. "Since that day. I figured maybe he wouldn't want to come. Like he assumed I wouldn't want him there."

           A half smirk crept upon Thomas's lips. "Well, he's coming. Plans on walking you down the aisle himself. Made a whole bloody song and dance about it." He then reached out for his tea cup and quickly sent the remaining liquid down the back of throat. As he began to fix his tie, he looked down at his wife-to-be. "Now, I have business to attend to."

            With that, the Shelby man took his leave, allowing Adina to remain in her chair. As the staff started to shuffle back in now that Thomas had headed off, the young woman followed his lead and quickly drank the rest of her tea before rising to her feet and heading in the direction of her room.

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            THE SOFT RIPPLING OF the pond's surface, the gentle sloshing of the water as a light breeze cascaded over. The warmth from the overhead sun as it beamed down and spread over the bare flesh of her arms, neck and face. Everything of the day was perfect in creating the best atmosphere possible for the Solomons woman while she comfortably lounged next to the body of water, a worn and weathered copy of Little Women in her hands.

            Adina had been out there, basking in the sunshine since early that morning. She had found herself so entranced by the novel she had read more times than she could count, that the day had gotten away from her and before she knew it, it was midday and her cozy, little corner of escape from the shitty existence that was her life at present was being invaded upon.

          "Mrs. Shelby." Called out a voice of a woman as she approached Adina.

           Adina turned her head to glance over at the woman but quickly turned her head back as the bright light of the sun shone down in her eyes. She winced as she blinked her eyes desperately to rid them of the sting provided by the sun that had just recently wrapped her up its in warmth. "Uh, no. Not yet anyway." Adina awkwardly replied back through gritted teeth.

           As she moved to sit up straight, her book tumbling from her hands and falling shut in her lap, the woman, Mary, the housekeeper, clasped her hands together. With a clearing of the throat, Mary explained, "I've been informed by Mr. Shelby that I and all the other staff are to call you Mrs. Shelby from this moment forward."

         "Thomas is home?" Adina curiously inquired about the whereabouts about the man she was soon to marry.

           Her situation was dire, that was for sure. But at the end of the day, Adina was still a woman and Thomas was an admittedly attractive man. Though the circumstances of their union were certainly not how Adina would have hoped it would go, she would be remiss to not at least acknowledge the fortunate hand of cards life had dealt her in allowing her a husband as handsome as Thomas was.

            The brunette was not insane. She knew that hoping this wedding between herself and the Shelby man would play out similarly to one of her more scandal ridden novels, one where they forced to marry only to fall in love through the sheer power of desire, was incredibly far fetched. The likelihood was that she would forever remain solely a woman exchanged to strengthen a deal, a woman married off and made to squeeze out a child or two to give Thomas an heir to the fortune he had earned through the hardest of work. But a girl could dream.

             Mary shook her head. "Mr. Shelby is still away on business, Mrs. Shelby. He gave this information this morning before his departure." The housekeeper informed. She then gestured back towards the house with an open palm. "Lunch is prepared if you're hungry."

            "That would be amazing, thank you, Mary." Adina happily grinned as she finally rose to her feet, grabbing her book before it could slip to the grass below.

            As she began to head in Mary's direction, the woman before her suddenly spoke up again. "He also wishes for you to dine in the dining hall." Mary declared while her gaze fell to the ground, perhaps in shame or embarrassment.

            Adina stopped in place. The expression that bore into the features of Mary's face caused an incredible feeling of stupidity to rush through Adina's veins. She suddenly felt like a fool.

             Her face scrunched up. "My being in the kitchen is getting in the way, isn't it?" She earnestly asked the housekeeper. Mary kept quiet and that was all Adina needed. She immediately let out a defeated sigh. "I'm sorry, Mary. I just enjoy being in the company of others and without Thomas here, you and the rest of the staff are who I go to."

            There was a beat of silence. "I am sorry. It won't happen again."

            Mary shook her head once again. "You aren't a problem, Mrs. Shelby. Not at all. It really was Mr. Shelby's wishes."

            Adina didn't completely believe her but chose to keep that to herself. "I believe you." She fibbed with a small smile. As she and Mary began to walk side by side back to the house, she curiously asked, "So, what's for lunch?"

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jamielee's thoughts.
chapter two. not proofread.
another short chapter but I promise they'll gradually get longer. Hope you're all enjoying Adina so far. Next chapter is the wedding and adina's first official meeting of thomas's family. also I have no clue if there's a pond at arrow house but for the sake of this fic, there is. Anyway hope you enjoyed :)