Some days had passed since Elijah had left, and Florence spent those days cooped up in the house with the children, only Vinnie leaving for supplies or work. She didn't dare face Tommy, her brother had told her that Tommy had seen Elijah that night and that he had spared him. But she couldn't bring herself to face the man who her husband had effectively signed the death warrant for.

Florence felt guilty for a multitude of reasons, for returning to Birmingham in the first place, for pulling her children from the life they knew, for ruining her marriage by helping her brother heal his own wounds. Because that's what it came back to, the trust that was lost because Florence couldn't tell her husband the truth.

She had called their London home and everytime a member of staff would answer, telling her that Elijah wasn't there to come to the phone. She didn't know what to believe, whether he had told the staff to say that, or if he was just genuinely busy whenever she called.

So there she was, sitting in her front room with the children and Vinnie, trying to keep things normal for the sake of the children. Vinnie had urged her to busy herself with something as a distraction, even to take up work at the Shelby company if it would rid her mind of the burden she felt, the burden caused by being the daughter of Luca Changretta.

A knock came at the door as Florence sat in the arm chair, watching Daisy reading a book to her brother.

"I'll get it," Vinnie assured her, making his way to the front door and opening it, "Come in."

Florence looked up to see Vinnie welcoming Polly into the house, who's smile grew when she spotted the two children sitting on the carpet, "Hello, little angels, how are you?"

"Hello, Aunt Polly," Daisy jumped up from the floor, running towards the lady and giving her a quick hug which warmed Polly's heart, "I'm reading to Ollie."

"Aren't you a clever little lady?" Polly smiled at the girl, "Don't let me keep you, go on, finish the story."

Polly took a seat on the sofa adjacent to where Florence was sitting, offering her a smile of sympathy, she knew what had happened, Tommy had told her everything. She realised that she shouldn't have been so quick to judge Florence for spending so much time at Tommy's side, because if she had seen the Harrington man, she wouldn't have been so generous in letting him leave the city.

"How have you been?" Polly asked the young woman.

"As well as we can be," Florence sighed.

"What do they know?" Polly asked, gesturing to the young children.

"That their father has gone back to London to handle business," Florence replied, "That's all."

"When did you last leave the house?"

"When I returned from Harrington House with the children." Florence answered.

"Come to work with me today," Polly suggested, "It's good to keep yourself busy while all this is happening."

"It'll do you good," said Vinnie, "I'll stay with the children."

"I'm not sure," Florence exhaled, looking between Polly, Vinnie and the children.

"You're a contracted employee, Florence," Polly answered, "If anything you're giving the man a reason to come and find you to discuss how you've gone against the terms of your employment."

"Fine," Florence huffed, knowing that she'd only be next door if the children needed her, turning her attention to her brother, "Come and get me if there's any problems."

"Of course," Vinnie nodded as his sister stood up from the sofa, leaning down to kiss both her children goodbye.

Polly and Florence made their way out of the house and into the betting shop, which seemed empty. Except as they made their way inside they saw Lizzie in one of the offices.

"What are you doing here?" Polly asked the woman.

"On Mondays, I do the inventory," Lizzie answered, "Make sure nobody's dipping their hand."

"Well it's my job now," Polly approached Lizzie as Florence hung back, "I'm back, and there's going to be nobody dipping their hand with me here, not unless they want it cut off."

The door opened and closed again, the three women looked up to see Linda, Arthur's wife, walking into the room.

"It's like seeing Jesus in a brothel," Florence whispered to the two women beside her as Linda approached one of the spare desks.

"I said to Arthur, while I'm in this fucking place, I want something to keep my mind busy," Linda told the women.

"What?" Polly remarked, "You're going to take bets?"

"I've always been able to do addition and subtraction without pen and paper, but I'll need a telephone," Linda told them, "Apparently we have special clients who take bets by telephone."

"Linda?" Polly approached the woman, joined by Lizzie and Florence, "This is a betting shop."

"Look...Arthur said yes, Tommy said yes."

"But did God say yes?" Polly asked.

"Gambling is a sin, Linda." Florence added with a smile.

"It's not me that's doing the gambling," Linda was quick to answer, "I'm just taking the bets."

"This town truly is full of surprises," Florence sighed as the women dispersed to their own desks, the door opening again.

"The rule is that door should always remain locked until 9AM," Finn's voice echoed around the room as he walked through the betting shop.

"Right, boy," Polly called out, stopping Finn in his tracks, "Where are you going?"

"Well, Arthur's not coming in today, he's taking the day off," Finn replied, "So..."

"So what?"

"So, today, Tommy said that I'm in charge," Finn answered.

"Sorry, you're in charge?" Polly remarked in shock.

"Yeah, that's what he said," Finn replied.

"Alright, sweetheart," Polly removed the phone from her desk, carrying it over to Linda, "Ladies, let's give our boss a first day that he'll never forget."

Florence was quick to follow Finn into Arthur's office, she knew that the job Tommy had given her was simply a title for the sake of a title. She had only been given the job so that Daisy would have an official tie to the Shelby company. So she didn't officially have any tasks to do, so she decided that getting to know the young man who she had last seen when he was a boy was a far more valuable use of her time.

"So, what does Tommy have you do when you're not running this place?" Florence asked, sitting in the chair opposite the desk and kicking her feet up on the edge of it.

"I just do what the other boys do, keeping the streets trouble free with Isiah and the others," Finn told her, "George keeps us all in line."

"You like George?" Florence raised her eyebrows at the mention of her brother in law.

"Yeah, he's decent, and he's not like the rest of those posh rich people, feels like he's one of us," Finn told her with a smile.

"Is there a lucky girl you've got your eye on, Finn?" Florence asked, knowing that it would be the first question the rest of the women would ask when she returned to them.

"No, I don't really have time for all that," Finn answered.

"Finn, you're a teenager," Florence was quick to reply, "You should be out making mistakes, falling in love, falling out of love."

"What's it like, being in love?" Finn asked, as though Florence were an older sister, asking her the sort of questions he'd ask Ada if she weren't away for work so much.

"Well," Florence paused, "It's like being struck by lightning, because it happens when you don't expect it, and you can't control it, no matter how hard you try, and it makes you feel more alive than any drug could ever make you feel."

"Did you love Tommy?" Finn replied, having been oblivious to whatever relationship the two had when he was younger.

"Yeah," Florence nodded, feeling a pang in her heart as she remembered those days after the war, "That was my first time falling in love, and your first love consumes you, because you've got all this love and you don't know what to do with it."

"So, when that ended, it hurt?" Finn asked innocently.

"Like hell," Florence sighed, "Because at the time I thought we could be untouchable together, I was naive and assumed that a man like your brother wouldn't let me and his unborn child slip through his fingers."

"Why didn't he marry you?" Finn replied, because he believed that if he were ever in that position, he'd step up and be the father that his child would deserve.

"I asked myself that question a lot when it happened, and then when he married Grace, I asked myself the same question," Florence paused, "The truth is, your brother is fearless, his own death doesn't phase him, but the thought of losing the people he loves, that's what terrifies him more than anything."

"So that meant he couldn't marry you?" Finn frowned.

"In his head, yes," Florence sighed.

"When did you fall out of love with him?" Finn asked.

"I don't know," Florence answered truthfully, because she wasn't sure that she could pinpoint a moment, her own life just felt as though it were happening around her, it was a complete blur of complicated feelings and she didn't know what to do with them, "But what I do know is that he was my first of a lot of things, and in those days, no one made me feel safer."

"And that first time that you..." Finn gulped awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck, "Well, you know."

"We're not talking about love anymore, are we?" Florence smirked knowingly.

"Do you have to be in love with the person?" Finn asked.

"No," Florence assured him, realising that his older brothers seemed to have failed to have 'that chat' with their youngest brother, "I was, but you don't have to be."

"Do you think it's bad that I'm a virgin?" Finn asked.

"You're a what?" Linda, who just happened to be passing the office exclaimed.

"Linda, leave him be," Florence warned the woman.

"Ladies!" She heard Linda's voice echo throughout the betting shop as the blonde woman flocked to Polly and Lizzie.

"You'll be alright, Finn," Florence smiled as she left the office to join the women.

"I'm not sure this is a good idea," She heard Lizzie's voice as she joined the women.

"It's a great idea," Linda remarked.

"It's probably one of the better ideas you've had, I'll give you that," Polly sighed.

"What idea is that?" Florence asked.

"Linda wants us to find Finn a woman for the night," Lizzie replied in a hushed voice.

"I've got work to do," Florence sighed, not caring to involve herself in the conversation when she could tell that the matter was something that Finn cared about.

A couple of hours passed before Lizzie approached Florence with the approved morning accounts, "Do you fancy some fresh air?"

"Lizzie, we're in Small Heath, there's no such thing," Florence smiled.

"I'd just appreciate your company, walking this streets with you by my side, well I guess it makes me less of a target," Lizzie answered honestly, and Florence knew what she was referring to, the whole 'sacred blood' matter had been weighing on her mind, and the minds of others it seemed.

"Alright," Florence sighed as she stood up from her desk, grabbing her coat from the coat stand, "Where are we going?"

"I've got to take these to Tommy," Lizzie gestured to the folders in her hands.

"Is this a trap?" Florence sighed with a smile.

"No, but it wouldn't hurt for the pair of you to talk," Lizzie replied.

"Just so we're clear, I'm doing this for you, wouldn't do it for Mary Magdalene out there," Florence huffed as she and Lizzie made their way out of the betting shop.

"I had no doubt," Lizzie smiled as the two women made their way down Watery Lane.

"How's George been?" Florence asked, not having spoken to her brother in law since before Elijah left Small Heath.

"He gets angry when he talks about his brother," Lizzie answered honestly, "In the six years that you were in London he became closer to the Shelby boys than his own brother, I think he thinks of them as family, so what Elijah did in giving information to the mafia, he thinks of it as him betraying his own family."

"I'll talk to him soon," Florence sighed, "I can't help but blame myself."

"Why?" Lizzie frowned, "The vendetta would've happened regardless, it was Elijah's actions that allowed Luca Changretta to bring you back here, not yours, not Tommy's."

"I just struggle, looking at the children and knowing that I've put them right in the middle of all this," Florence admitted.

"I think it was inevitable," Lizzie told her, "I always knew you'd come back one day, it wasn't a case of 'if' it was a case of 'when', and those children deserve to know their roots."

"You mean Daisy deserves to know Tommy?" Florence replied as the women approached the Shelby Company Limited offices.

"Well," Lizzie sighed, knowing that her loyalty lay with George, and therefore she should be in support of Elijah too, "I think he'd try to do right by her this time, to be the father she needs him to be."

"Do you think he's changed?" Florence asked as the women entered into the foyer of the building.

"In some ways," Lizzie answered, "But in others, he's the same man you loved."

"I'm yet to determine whether that's good or bad," Florence sighed as they reached Tommy's office, spotting Tommy through the glass panels in the doors.

"Sending Finn to the shop was a mistake," Lizzie told Tommy as the two women entered the room, "They've already found out he's a virgin and they're arranging a girl for him this afternoon."

"I thought Linda was there," Tommy replied, focusing his attention on Florence as the two women sat down in the armchairs opposite his desk.

"She is, she loved the idea," Florence told him as his face resembled confusion.

"She even swears now, sounds fucking funny coming from her," Lizzie remarked as she lit herself a cigarette, "Polly says in the end we all turn into our mother."

"Well, keep an eye on her," Tommy told the women.

"The whore watching the Madonna," Lizzie sighed.

"Does Finn know what they've planned?" Tommy asked.

"No."

"Do they have someone?" He asked again.

"Yes, a girl I used to work with," Lizzie answered.

"Is she nice?" Tommy asked as he stood up.

"No, she's from Aston," Lizzie sighed, "They're paying her out of petty cash.

"Right, well, call 'em and tell them to pay extra and get someone nice," Tommy replied, turning his attention to Florence, "Come with me."

"What?" Florence frowned, "Where?"

"Somewhere I've not been in a long time," Tommy sighed.

It didn't take much persuading for Florence to join Tommy, she concluded that it would be a good opportunity to talk about everything away from the busyness of home. They ended up down by the canal, about twenty minutes from Charlie's yard, somewhere that no one would find them.

"Are we expecting somebody?" Florence asked as she sat on a haystack under one of the arches in the wall, while Tommy stood at the edge of the canal, overlooking the water, "Tommy, it's freezing out here."

"We used to come here, she'd wait for hours for me when I couldn't make it, and I'd wait for her, if her family kept her in," Tommy replied, keeping his eyes on the canal.

"Who?"

"Some girl," Tommy answered, "Some girl before France," He approached her tentatively, aware of how it might be uncomfortable to talk about the woman he loved before Florence, "I've not been back here since, but I wanted to come here with you."

He stood in front of her, looking down at her while respecting her space as she stared up at him with those same brown eyes that had gazed at him across the pub that first night in the Garrison when he returned from France.

Florence sat in silence, deciding to let the man talk, "When you told me that you were pregnant with Daisy, it was all that I wanted, after everything that I saw in France, I thought it would be my chance to have some good, but there was always a memory of the pain that ate away at the good."

"She died, the girl before France," Tommy explained, "I was never going to let that happen to you or our child, so I told you I couldn't marry you, because I have loved and lost before, and I couldn't be the reason you died too."

"Why didn't you tell me all this in the first place?" Florence sighed, reminded of the hurt she had felt when Tommy told her that he couldn't marry her.

"Because you're braver than me, and you would've convinced me that we'd be okay, and if something had happened then I would never have forgiven myself," Tommy muttered, "And then Grace died, with a bullet meant for me, which proved what I was scared of."

Tommy looked down at her again, stepping closer, so that little space separated them, "When you left that day, after your mother's funeral, I eventually made peace with the idea that I'd never see you again, but you came back, you're the only one who came back."

"Because I had to." Florence whispered.

"Everything I've done, it always leads me back to you," Tommy replied softly, letting his hand brush over her arm, his touch relighting a flame inside Florence, "There hasn't been a day since you left when I've not thought of you."

"I need to know," Florence paused as she stared up at him, "Did you love Grace? Did you love the woman who signed my mother's death warrant?"

Tommy sighed, because there wasn't necessarily a linear answer, like many aspects of his life, it was complex, complex enough that he'd avoided the subject completely.

"I suppose...I felt compelled to be the man I failed to be to you," Tommy admitted, "And that was a mistake, because no matter how hard I tried to forgive her for what she did, it was impossible for me to forgive her for what she took from you."

"So what you're telling me is that you married her for Charles' sake, not your own?" Florence tilted her head to the side as she stared up at him.

"That is the truth of it," Tommy nodded, "And perhaps they both would've been better off if I had been no more than a financial aid from the beginning."

"You can't assume that Charles would be better without you," Florence told him.

"Daisy seems just fine without me as a father," Tommy sighed.

"Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"You did what you did because you believed it was the only way to protect us," Florence reminded him, "And I'll admit, there are nights when I wonder if I should've just killed Grace myself for what she did to my mother, saved us all the grief that followed-"

"And I don't blame you for that," Tommy assured her.

"We haven't even talked about Elijah," Florence muttered, unaware of how much Tommy knew about the real reason for his absence.

"I could've killed him...your brother heard everything, he told me what Elijah did," Tommy explained, "I found him at Charlie's yard, and my hand was on the trigger behind my back, and the idea crossed my mind, but I couldn't do that, not to you, not to the children."

"So you sent him back to London?" Florence frowned, bewildered by the idea of Tommy letting a traitor walk free.

"I told him to leave the country," Tommy admitted, "I have people who could find him if you wanted me to, the choice would be yours, him or us."

"'Us' as in you and your family, or 'us' as in you, me and the children?" Florence remarked, not entirely sure what it was that she truly wanted.

"'Us' can be whatever you wish it to be," Tommy told her, "I failed to protect you once, I won't make that mistake twice."

Tommy didn't wait for Florence's words, he didn't want to give himself the chance to hesitate or change his mind as he kissed her gently. It was selfish, it was a reminder of what he had lost, she felt like home, she was home.

He let his hands cup her cold face, grazing her cheekbones with his thumbs as he kissed her breathlessly, and she let him, because he felt familiar, and she wanted to remember what it felt like to be wanted by him.

Florence pulled back in a moment of clarity, looking up at the blue eyed man, "I don't think this is right, it only complicates an already complicated situation."

"We've always been complicated people, Florence," Tommy whispered as he sat beside her, hoping that she could see the man he was trying to be.

"There are the children to think of," Florence muttered.

"The children who have everything they could want," Tommy reminded her, "Everything except stability."

"This isn't an act to protect yourself from my father, is it?" Florence asked, understandably unable to trust so easily, given the week's events, "Because as much as I don't want to lose you to this vendetta, I won't be used as a shield to protect you from him."

"It's as it always was, Florence," Tommy told her, "I want you for you, nothing else."

"But you know that I'm still married," Florence reminded him.

"Was a marriage built on a foundation of lies ever really a marriage?" Tommy mused, "Given that he knew of Daisy's identity before you were wed."

"I'm a wife until he requests a divorce," Florence reiterated her previous statement, unable to ignore the weight in her heart as she gazed at him, the weight that she had carried for six years, unable to forget the man she had loved so fearlessly.

"I would wait," Tommy told her, bearing his heart in a way that felt so unfamiliar, yet so natural when it came to her, "I'd wait a lifetime."

Could a heart like hers love a broken heart like his...again?

authors note: our complicated lovers are coming back...

let me know your thoughts on this chapter and predictions for what's to come!