It was half past eleven on a Friday evening when Thomas heard a scream from the street behind his house. On his way home from the pub, he stopped, changing direction to see what was going on.

It was a cold evening, his skin still feeling shivers even underneath a thick overcoat and three piece suit, though the fire inside of him from the whiskey he'd drank had helped warm him slightly.

Hearing not much over the sound of his own footsteps on the cobbles, Tommy narrowed his eyes as he neared where he thought the sound came from, trying to hold his breath to listen out for anything else.

Another scream came, a high-pitched, blood-curdling scream that made his eyes widen and his stomach turn.

Tommy sprinted round the corner, worried that someone was hurt, or perhaps worse.

"I said no you fuckin' bastard!"

Startled, he stopped in his tracks when his eyes fell upon the sight before him, chest rising and falling and his arms by his side, no longer reaching for the gun inside his coat.

He watched as Kaia Gold grabbed the man's arm and twisted it round his back before kicking his legs from under him and pinning him to the floor with the heel of her boot digging into his throat.

Tommy knew if she pressed hard enough, her heel would end up on the floor beneath the man's neck, covered in blood. After seeing her in The Garrison a few weeks ago, he also knew that there was a possibility she might do exactly that.

"Touch me or any one else without their consent and I'll rip your fuckin' balls off and feed them to you, you hear me?"

The man grunted beneath the force of her heel, trying to nod his head. She spat on his face, deservedly, before fixing her hair and walking in the direction of Tommy, her eyebrow raised when she noticed him stood there.

"Miss Gold, are you alright?"

She said nothing, just walked past him as if he wasn't there. She'd had enough of men trying to talk to her that evening and she certainly didn't need Tommy self-righteous Shelby to ask her if she was alright.

"Oi!" He shouted, jogging to catch up with her, leaving behind the man who was rolling around in the dirt holding his wrist.

"Fuck off."

"What would your father say if he heard you speaking to people like that, ey?"

Kaia looked up at him, still waking at a brisk speed with her arms folded at her chest, her dark hair flowing in waves behind her, catching in the wind.

"He'd probably tell me to say it again but louder because you clearly didn't hear me."

Tommy chuckled, stuffing his hands into his pockets. He hadn't ever met Aberama Gold's wife, but he knew she must've been an incredibly wilful, independent woman to have given birth to a daughter like Kaia. There was no way that her personality had come from Aberama. Bonnie's, maybe, but certainly not Kaia's.

"Where are you going?" He asked, keeping up pace alongside her.

"Why are you asking so many questions? Did you not hear me to tell you to fuck off?"

"Kaia."

She stopped as he said her name, turning to face him underneath the glow from the lamps inside windows of houses, though most people were asleep by that point.

"It's not safe, let me walk you home."

"I can walk myself home, I'm a grown woman."

"Yes," Tommy laughed, licking his lips, "I know. I just saw you nearly kill that man."

She tilted her head, a sarcastic smile on her face, "Then you know not to piss me off, Mr Shelby."

He just laughed, "That's funny."

"Don't tempt me." She said, narrowing her eyes at him before setting off walking again.

Tommy blew out his cheeks and watched her walk away. The way she walked reminded him of Polly, confident with a hint of arrogance. He still wanted to walk her home and make sure she was safe, she was still a young woman at the end of the day, but he didn't want to push her too far. Not only was he slightly worried about what she might do to him, but he also knew Aberama would force a shotgun down his throat in his sleep if his daughter came home and told him that a Shelby had pissed her off.

That wasn't something he was willing to risk, and so, he watched her disappear around the corner before heading home himself.

Once she arrived back home, Kaia kicked off her shoes at the door and hung up her coat, wrapping herself in the blanket that had been heating up all day next to the fireplace.

She'd left home at seven that morning in search of a job again, and had only just returned, still without any good news to tell her father.

"I thought you weren't coming back, where have you been?" Aberama walked into the front room and handed her a cup of tea, sitting down beside her.

"I broke a man's arm. Where's Bonnie? I need to speak to him."

Aberama let out a sigh and shook his head, laughing silently at his daughter's comment.

"He's upstairs."

Kaia walked upstairs, still cocooned in the blanket with the mug of tea in her hand. She knocked lightly on her brother's bedroom door, biting down on her lip as she waited for a response, pushing it open when she heard him call for her to come in.

She closed the door behind her and sat down on the foot of his bed, giving him the mug of tea.

"What's up?"

Kaia shifted in her seat, sniffling slightly and cradling herself in the patchwork knitted blanket, trying to swallow the lump in her throat.

"Kaia?"

Bonnie's tone was concerned. His sister rarely ever came into his room, especially not at that time of night, and not looking as solemn as she did as she sat hugging herself at the end of his bed.

He shuffled closer to her, putting an arm around her shoulder. It was only then that she began to cry, burying her face into his shoulder as she soaked through his skin with tears.

Bonnie froze for a moment, startled by what was happening all of a sudden, but soon wrapped his arms around his little sister, trying to calm her down by gently rocking her back and forth.

"Kaia, what is it? What's happened?"

She composed herself, taking a deep breath and wiping her eyes dry with the blanket.

"Nothing," she said, nodding to herself in reassurance, "I just had a moment of weakness, it's fine."

Bonnie rolled his eyes at his sister. He knew she would rather die than ever admit she needed help or comfort, but he also knew that the way she crumbled out of nowhere meant that something bad must've happened for Kaia to fall apart like that, she was the strongest person he knew, not that he ever told her.

"You can tell me, I won't tell Dad, I swear."

She looked up at him with watery eyes and a miserable frown.

"Some man tried to touch me," she whispered, "So I broke his arm and stood on his neck."

Appalled and feeling sick to his stomach at the first part of her sentence but amused at the latter half, Bonnie wasn't sure how to respond.

He had learned as his sister grew up that you had to choose your words carefully when speaking to her. She hated being undermined, despised being made to feel like she couldn't handle herself or even the suggestion that she might benefit from some help.

"Well," he sighed, "at least you didn't kill him, hard to dig graves when the grounds this cold."

Kaia laughed quietly, slowly getting her breathing back to normal and clearing her eyes and face from any tears. She didn't plan on telling anybody what had happened that evening, but for whatever reason, she just wanted a hug from her brother.

"I know you never will, but if you ever need me for anything, I'll always be there, yeah?"

Kaia smiled at her brother, nodding her head. He hugged her again before drinking half the cup of tea and giving the last of it to her.

She stood up and shuffled towards the door, still wrapped in the blanket.

"Oh and by the way," she turned and looked over her shoulder, "Tell your Peaky Blinder mates to fuck off."