Kimber

"Strong women don't have attitudes, they have standards"

Mariana's POV

I'd settled into the hotel fine, I had a few of my men come down from London and posted them outside the for security.

It was two days until I heard from Tommy saying he needed my help
I'd visited Polly yesterday and she'd filled me in that the boys now knew Ada was pregnant, the consequences not being very pretty.

I'd woken up today and got as much paperwork done as I could, calling suppliers and making sure everything was doing okay without me.

I'd gotten refreshed and changed ready to go to the Garrison when Tommy sent a peaky round to tell me I was needed in the pub later tonight.

Mariana's outfit

I walked into the pub to find it almost empty, I made my way to the private booth and let myself in, finding Tommy, John and Arthur sat drinking.

"Ah and she has arrived!" John announced, pretending to bow to me, I rolled my eyes and sat down in between him and the wall.

"Yeah, now be a good lamb and fetch me a drink" I said sweetly, he grinned at me and looked towards Tommy, pointing to the little window between the bar and the room.

"You heard the woman Tom, call your barmaid through" John said
Tommy rolled his eyes but knocked on the window regardless

"Tommy took an interest eh?" I whispered to John as he ordered me a whiskey through the window
"Yeah... Tom's taken a liking to the new barmaid, Grace" John explained to me loudly, I gave him a slight nod and smirked as Tommy turned back around.

It was about time he moved on

"So, what's going on?" I asked
John and Arthur both looked at me unknowingly, of course Tommy's told them fuck all
It was always say nothing until the last second, when we're all about to die
"We're meeting someone" Tommy stated simply

I shrugged and waited for my drink, it was obvious he was being frosty towards me and I know he wouldn't tell me anything.

There was a knock on the door to the booth and then it slowly opened to reveal Grace
She placed my whiskey down on the table and eyed me curiously
"I didn't know you were a Shelby" she commented sweetly
"I'm not" I said, picking my drink up

I thought there was something off about her, but Tommy liked her?
Surely if she was a wrong 'un Tommy would have found out already?
Maybe she was alright after all.

"Oh... it's just you said you were visiting family" she smiled at me, eyes briefly looking towards Tommy and then back to me
"No, I believe you said I was visiting family, I never corrected you" I stated, taking a swig of my drink
"I'm sorry" she said, acting partly offended, something was definitely wrong with her

She was either a posh girl working somewhere she really didn't belong, or she was an enemy
I gave her a small nod and she stepped out of the booth

"You should change Mar" John said as he placed his drink down
"And why is that?" I asked, amused by him
"Green, it's not a good colour on you" he commented, laughing at his own joke
I chuckled and waved off his antics with my hand, telling him to shut it.

I wasn't jealous. I was cautious
For Tommy as well as all of us

We all chatted for a while, Arthur and John filling me in on their lives, John had 5 kids now, they told me of their time in the war, all whilst Tommy barely spoke.

After a while, there was a flash of light by the window, temporarily blinding me
"Coppers?" John asked, grabbing his gun in his waistband
"No" Tommy said calmly, signalling for him to put his gun away.

Tommy stood up, doing his jacket up
"Lady, gentlemen, we're about to meet with Billy Kimber" he said
John's eyes widened and Arthur gripped his glass harder

I didn't know he'd meet up with him this quick, that's why he wanted me here
Billy Kimber was an egotistical stubborn prick, our few meetings together were always sexist and tense

Him wanting to have his way with the deal and get me in to bed
Me wanting my way with the deal and to slice his throat open.

Tommy cleared the pub out and soon the laughter and the sound of singing was replaced with a deafening silence, we were sat across from Billy as Harry stood by the bar and Grace was leaving

"I've never approved of women in pubs but when they look like that..." Billy commented as he watched Grace leave, he then settled his eyes on me
"Or that..." he said, looking me up and down
"Mariana Cortéz, how are you darling?" He asked, I put on the best fake smile I could

"Just fine Billy" I said short and to the point, Harry placed some drinks on the table and left to the back room
"And what exactly are you doing down here huh? Socialising with the riff raff" Billy looked the boys up and down and then back to me
"Let's just say we have common interests" I said

Before he could come back with another pathetic comment, Tommy cut him off
"You said you want men called Shelby. You've got three of them" he said, gesturing to Arthur and John.

"Right, I never heard of ya, and then I did hear of ya"  he started, I inwardly rolled my eyes at him, so fucking cocky
"Some little didicoy razor gang, I thought to myself so what?"
Fuck this was drawn out.

"But then you fucked me over. So now you have my undivided attention
By the way which one am I talking to? Who's the boss?" He asked, looking around

"Well, I'm the oldest" Arthur spoke up, sitting up in his chair
"Ha! Clearly" I clenched my jaw at his words, restraining myself from speaking, he's clearly never heard of them if he's stupid enough to wind Arthur up
"Are you laughing at my brother?" John asked annoyed

Fuck sake, why didn't Tommy tell them anything about Kimber?
He took the piss, but that was his problem, he took the piss until someone else started fucking around, then he'd get irritated.

"Right, he's the oldest, you're the thickest, you're the side piece" he said looking at me
Side piece? Arsehole

"I'm told the boss is called Tommy, and I'm guessing that's you, cause you're looking me up and down like I'm a fucking tart" I scoffed at his comment, causing him to look my way
"What?"
"Nothing" I answered, trying to hold in my laugh
"No what... come on... if summats funny I wanna know what" he asked, his face contorted into one of anger
He looked like an angry baby

"Nothing, Promise" I said, leaning back in my chair and eyeing him and his assistant up
He seemed to have let me off as his eyes moved to Tommy
Thank fuck... in all my life, Kimber was probably the most paranoid person I'd ever met.

And I wasn't exactly the most professional when need be, I've always had that problem and since the war my brain tends to go a bit loopy sometimes and I act without thinking.

It's like a blackout but the worst part of your mind has taken over, and you can't take back what you've said.

"I want to know what you want" Tommy said, taking a drag of his cigarette, leaning back and eyeing Kimber.

•

After we'd come to an agreement, Kimber left
He'd agreed to meet Tommy again at the races, told him to bring Grace along with him, he seemed to have taken a liking to her.
A liking I was relieved to hear about, I fucking hated going to the races, but I hated Kimber's advances more.

I was now on my way home, strolling down the dark streets in search of my hotel, when all of a sudden I was shoved up against the wall, I struggled to get free but two people were pinning me down, one had their hand pressing my face against the bricks.

Well this was bound to ruin my fucking makeup weren't it?

All I could hear was my cries of protest as I tried to break free
Before a man spoke up
"Well well well.. if it isn't Tommy's little whore" the voice sounded old, whoever it was was Irish
Why does everyone now think I'm Tommy's lapdog?

I had my own fucking empire but one step on Tommy's territory and I'm nothing but shit on the bottom of their shoes.

I was turned around and held against the wall
"Miss Cortéz I believe?" He asked me, he was an old gentlemen, with greying hair and a bowler hat on his head
He looked like a twat to be honest.
"What's it to you?" I asked harshly to him.

He chuckled at me and came closer
"Well it's a lot to me actually, considering me and Thomas Shelby have a deal and now he's running around with a London gangster" he said in my face
"I'm just visiting" I said casually, a fake smile on my face and a heaving chest from trying to get free.

"I hope your are Miss Cortéz, because if I find out your cavorting with the Shelbys, I'll have your fucking head... is that clear?" He smiled at me
I glared at him
"Is that clear Miss Cortéz?" He urged, adding pressure as he gripped my face
"Crystal" I seethed, spitting in his face.

He moved back and wiped his face, walking back to the car he as he pulled a handkerchief out
"Thank you for your time Miss Cortéz, it's been... beneficial to say the least" he said
As he got in the car, he looked back at me one last time

"You tell Mr Shelby, he has Campbell to thank for his whore getting hurt"
He tipped his hat to me and left, the two men that were holding me started to hit me.

I tried to fight back but by the end of it I was left lying on the street with blood streaming out of my mouth and a blackening vision.

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I know this was a bit shorter than my normal chapters but 🤷🏼‍♀️

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