The Sun Will Rise | T Shelby

three

Angelina listened to her brothers most of the time. She was a good girl, she didn't like to cause any trouble for anybody, and so usually she did as she was told.

Only one afternoon not long after her move to Birmingham, she found herself back in The Garrison pub, sat at the bar with a newspaper in her hands and an untouched glass of whiskey in front of her.

It was four PM. Angelina's brothers had gone to work and said they wouldn't be home for a couple of days. A few different men had been round to check on Angelina, just making sure she was okay. She didn't mind, she just wished her brothers would send the same man so she could learn a name.

"I thought you didn't drink?"

Angelina didn't look up from her newspaper. Instead, she turned the page.

"I don't." She said.

"Monaghan Boy," Thomas Shelby leant over her shoulder, his finger tapping the name of a racehorse in the paper, "You should have a bet."

"I don't bet, either."

Thomas laughed quietly, sitting down at the bar beside her. The barman poured him a drink, leaving the bottle on the bar before disappearing, leaving the two of them and a group of men in the corner alone in the quiet pub.

Angelina read in silence while Thomas drank. She liked to read the paper everyday to try to catch up with the news around her new home. She also hoped she'd see something about her brothers, giving her a clue what they did for work since they wouldn't tell her a thing. But as of yet, she hadn't read anything to point her in the right direction.

"You're too pretty to be sat in here, you know that?"

Angelina's head snapped up as she heard the sound of court heels on the worn wooden flooring.

"Are you saying that to all the girls now, Tommy?"

Angelina met eyes with the woman who had just entered the pub.

She was slender with pale skin and short blonde hair, an accent on her that Angelina had never heard before. She went straight behind the bar and began cleaning empty glasses.

"Grace," Thomas' face appeared to grow rosy, Angelina could sense he had perhaps said something he shouldn't have, "This is-"

"Angelina Santoro."

The woman - Grace - put down her cleaning cloth and looked at Thomas, then Angelina.

"Santoro, like Stefano and Lorenzo?"

"The very same."

She just nodded, pursing her lips and narrowing her eyes slightly, glancing in Tommy's direction again.

"I'm Grace, Tommy's fiancée."

She made sure to offer her hand to Angelina which bore a beautiful golden ring. Angelina shook her hand, a false smile on her lips.

"You should know your brothers don't drink in here. You should try the Marquis, less trouble for you."

"I didn't say they were my brothers." Angelina replied to Grace, reaching for her drink this time and taking a small sip.

"Either way," Grace said, returning to her cleaning, "You might find someone single in there to talk to, also."

"Grace." Thomas said firmly, glaring at her.

Angelina could sense some tension between Thomas and his fiancée. It had been the first piece of drama that she'd had since she moved from Italy. As much as she didn't want to get involved, she had to do something to make her new life here slightly more interesting.