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It came out, eventually, that everyone assumed Eddie and Susie were together. It happened slowly but they all got there one by one, predicated by the loaded eye contact, the wordless conversations, the ever-presence of one around the other.
“He’s hot, she’s hot… it just kind of makes sense you know?” was Jimmy’s reasoning.
“He’s less of a twat these days,” was Freddy’s contribution.
“He’s certainly never had a girl around this much before,” was Lady Sabrina’s observation.
“Susie doesn’t spend this much time with anyone,” was Jack’s addition.
But all of these realizations and offhand remarks went largely unnoticed by the main subjects, possibly because they were too wrapped up in the daily operations of the crime syndicate they were currently heading. Said crime syndicate had attracted a host of unneeded attention due to recent ‘incidents’ which included (but was not limited to) several murders and at least one high profile tax evasion arrest.
These days, the name ‘Edward Horniman’ was almost always whispered in the same breath as ‘Susie Glass”, and it naturally followed that the two would be seen as a de-facto item. They had to be doing something right together (and probably doing a whole lot of something else together, two people that attractive did not just spend all that time discussing distribution opportunities).
Still, the rumors never were never an issue.
Until they were.
Now
When Susie came to, she was immediately aware of the little slaps someone was giving her face.
“Come on now love, we don’t have all day.”
The voice was unfamiliar and rough, accompanied by some truly bad breath. She slowly became aware of her hands bound behind a chair and a throbbing headache in the back of her skull as the day came back in a fragmented blur. The gym had been closed for the day after the fight. She’d worked the day alone. The clock had told her to head home and get ready for dinner.
Last thing she remembered was walking out the side entrance and she cursed herself thoroughly for coming in without any security. Perhaps she’d gotten too dcomplacent, but most people in her line of work wouldn’t dare stepping on Glass turf, they had the good sense to fear her family name.
“Easy does it sweetheart, we need you awake for this.”
Some people really needed an education on fear.
Her voice was hoarse when she managed to use it. “I take it you’re the cunts from Leeds that wouldn’t play nice with the Duke? I hope you have a fucking good reason for this.” Christ, Eddie was going to be impossible after this. He’d warned her that they weren’t rolling over, warned her that they were stupid and and brash, warned her that they might do something when he couldn’t find a compromise.
“Plenty good sweetheart — we just needed to have a word!”
Susie fought through the sluggishness and forced herself to properly assess how much shit she was in. It had been late afternoon when she’d tried to leave and she doubted she’d been out for long, which meant there was still some time until she was expected anywhere. Bad Breath had stepped back and two goons were behind him, flanking the door. Well, three wasn’t terrible—
Something hard pressed into the back of her head. One more with a gun, then.
“Let me understand this. You needed to ‘have a word’ and you decided that this was the best way to do it?”
Bad Breath just grinned. “Well, we never got anywhere with His Grace, did we? And we thought you’d be more amenable together.”
“Oh? And why is that?”
“I think the sight of a gun to your head will soften him right up, and watching my boys rough him up will keep you from running to Daddy. And then maybe we can all have a nice, long chat about you giving up some of your market share.”
There were so many things wrong with his plan that Susie just managed to keep herself from laughing out loud. But something did jump out as especially confusing. “You seem very sure that His Grace and I will bend for each other.”
He actually looked like he pitied her. “Sweets, you two didn’t do a very good job of keeping things a secret.”
He’d lost her there. “Keeping what a secret?”
With a far too self pleased smirk, he pulled out his phone. “Your relationship, obviously.”
Three weeks ago
Eddie found his mother and sister in the nursery, the former kneeling on the ground, bouncing a stuffed bunny in front of her eleventh-month-old granddaughter, the latter dozing in a rocking chair.
“How’s Pennywise?’ he asked fondly as his niece flailed her chubby little arms trying to grab hold of the toy her grandmother was teasing her with.
“More agreeable than any of you were at her age.” His mother finally gave up the toy and stood to greet Eddie with a kiss to the cheek. “How was Leeds? Worth the trip?”
“Not particularly. Talks devolved.”
“Not going to give any more details?”
Rather than answer, Eddie knelt down to tickle his niece just under her chin, and she giggled happily. It did a lot to alleviate the irritation of the past few days, trying to negotiate with a smaller operation that was encroaching on their distribution in the North. Worst was that he’d been left to go alone, with Susie deciding last minute to stay in the city and deal with ‘something important’.
(The fact that she wouldn’t budge on details rankled him then and it had only festered. They were supposed to be past this.)
The tickling finally pushed Baby Penny to give a loud, happy shriek and Charlie startled upright in the rocking chair, blinking owlishly as she registered her daughter was fine.
“Christ, did I doze off again?”
“Welcome back to the land of the living, Chuckles.”
“Piss off Edwina.”
“Can we please watch our language in front of the baby?” their mother pleaded, but Penelope just shrieked again as Eddie bounced her rabbit in front of her.
Content to watch them, Charlie settled back in her rocking chair. “Oh God I keep forgetting — thank Susie for the gift, will you Eddie?”
Eddie paused as Penny snatched her rabbit back again and hugged it close. “Thank Susie…for the gift?”
Charlie raised an eyebrow, tilting her chin towards the very stuffie whose ear Penny was gnawing on. “Yes Edward, the baby gift? Penny loves that thing, Susie’s got good taste. I’ve been meaning to thank her for months but I keep missing her between the sleep deprivation and you hogging her.”
“I don’t hog her,” Eddie sputtered but Charlie just scoffed.
“Come off it Edwina, I think you can just tell us.”
“Tell you what?”
His mother sighed heavily behind him. “Sweetheart, you and Susan are clearly —“
Eddie stood abruptly, a hot flush making its way down the back of his neck. “Don’t finish that thought, Mother. And you’re mistaken, obviously.”
Instead of looking anywhere near abashed, his mother just shared a look with Charlie. “Well, if you’re sure…”
Eddie ground his teeth and just managed to avoid snapping. “Quite sure. And why is Susie giving you baby gifts?” he asked, rounding on his sister.
Charlie rolled her eyes. “It’s what’s done, isn’t it?”
“But she’s not — you and her aren’t even— ”
Charlie, to her credit, didn’t mock him, just gave him an almost pitying smile. “Edwina, we’re not anything. But you and her sure are.”
*****
His mother and sister had active imaginations, was what Eddie finally landed on. Too much imagination, too much time holed up decorating and redecorating the nursery, possibly some after effects of sleep deprivation. All resulting in one massive shared delusion.
He’d just about gotten himself back in check by the time he was meant to pick Susie up for another meeting. He watched her spot him outside her building and start striding purposefully closer, unflappable and unbothered as was her usual way. But once up close he saw just a hint of wariness in her eyes. He’d been quite cross with her the last time they spoke, after all.
“Alright, Captain?” She tilted her chin up, like she was ready to take his ire if it was still there.
“Good to see you Susan,” he said instead, and she smiled ever so slightly, shoulders relaxing. Eddie wondered if he should interrogate the fact that he very much liked to see her at ease around him. But he pushed the feeling aside and held open the passenger door.
“Oh, before I forget, I have a message from my sister,” he said when he climbed in behind the wheel. “She wanted to say ‘thanks for the baby gift’. Penny loves it.”
“Glad at least one of you appreciates my taste,” Susie said, self-satisfied.
Not just one of us, was Eddie’s immediate thought, but he kept it to himself and instead said what was on his mind. “You didn’t have to, you know?”
Susie rolled her eyes. “It’s what’s done, isn’t it? Besides, I spend enough time there.”
Fuck. His mother and sister were completely wrong about them, obviously. But still.
Fuck.
Now
Susie stared at the bastard’s phone which showed a picture of Eddie holding his car door for her. Which was all well and good and a sign of Lady Sabrina’s parenting more than anything, but she hadn’t expected the look on her own face. It was…relaxed. Warm. She didn’t think she did that.
Still, this wasn’t the time to dwell. “Judging by your breath, I have to assume that you probably haven’t had a woman come close enough for you to hold a door in several years, but that’s hardly indicative of anything.”
“Oh, don’t worry love, there’s more.”
One Week Ago
“Edwina?!”
Eddie nearly dropped the glass of wine he was holding and barely steeled himself before Freddy clapped him on his shoulder in enthusiastic greeting.
“Brother mine, I didn’t know you’d be here too!” Freddy motioned the bartender and got a glass of wine placed in front of him a moment later. “Since when do you care for the ballet?”
“I don’t,” Eddie said tersely, casting a glance around the lobby. Freddy was a loose cannon at the best of times, and as easy as tonight was supposed to be, he wouldn’t put it past his big brother to somehow find a way to cock this all up.
Freddy took a generous sip and considered his brother. “Tam’s thinking about starting a TikTok. All about the fancy shit she goes to, you know, let people live through her. I have to film her and do you have any idea how many angles you can possibly get of one person—”
“Freddy, not that I don’t want to learn more, but is there a point to this?”
“Christ, what’s got your knickers in a knot?”
Eddie unclenched his jaw, and drew in a deep breath. “It’s nothing to worry about Freddy.”
“Nothing to worry about?! Eddie, I’m sure I can handle whatever lurid little scheme you’re— ohhh. Hello, Susie.”
Eddie didn’t have to turn to know Susie was standing at his shoulder, he could feel the warmth of her, smell the perfume that had sunk into his car seats earlier and promised a few distracting drives for at least a few days.
“Freddy.” Susie sounded about as thrilled about this development as he was. “I didn’t know Freddy would be here. Did you know Freddy would be here?”
“I did not know Freddy would be here,” Eddie replied dryly, finally turning. It might’ve been a mistake. Her dress, though long and form fitting, exposed more of her upper body than he was used to seeing. He tried very hard not to focus on the juncture where her neck met her shoulder, where he was sure the perfume was at its strongest, where it would be very easy to bend down and press—
“I found our man,” she said lowly. “Is this going to be a problem?”
“We’re fine.” He tried to look steady enough for the both of them.
She looked like she wanted to argue the point, but a beep from her clutch distracted her and a quick glance at her phone had her furrowing her brow. “I’ll be a moment,” she threw out hurriedly before turning on her heel and moving through the crowd until it swallowed her.
Eddie watched her leave, the prickly feeling of irritation back in full force. She was still doing this, acting cagey and evasive even as she swore that it had nothing to do with their business dealings, that it was nothing he needed to bother with. The worst part was that he couldn’t even blame his rancour on suspicion that she would betray him — and he would’ve had every right to.
Instead, he was hurt. Fuck, what had Susie Glass turned him into?
“Oh, Edwina.”
Right, Freddy was still here.
He turned back to his brother, whose shit-eating grin couldn’t have been wider if he tried. “Freddy, I really have to—”
“I know, Edward.”
For a split-second Eddie wondered how Freddy had gotten tied up with the Leeds gang that was becoming a bigger thorn in their side by the hour, but Freddy quickly banished that thought.
“Granted I just thought you two were shagging all over the manor, it’s nice to see you’re going public. And the ballet, very nice. She might make a decent duchess after all.”
Nothing Freddy said immediately made sense, but the words ‘shagging’ and ‘duchess’ did manage to work their way in. “Freddy,” he managed to say through gritted teeth, “Susie and I are. Not. Together.”
Freddy sputtered a laugh. Then another one, and apparently Eddie’s murderous glare only made the situation funnier because he broke into a full cackle that was attracting stares, and if he wasn’t careful, one of those people would be whom he and Susie had come here to corner.
“Freddy, if you don’t shut the fuck up now—”
Freddy smothered his laugh, hiding his grin unsuccessfully behind his wine glass. “Touched a nerve, have I?”
“You’re an idiot. And full of shit.” Eddie knew how childish he sounded, but trust Freddy to crawl under his skin.
“Well Christ Edwina, forgive me for picking up on the obvious.”
“And what’s that? That Susie and I are—”
“Desperately in need of a good hard fuck to work through your issues and hopefully become easier to be around? Freddy cut in. “Yes, that’s very obvious.”
It was embarrassing how quickly Freddy’s words conjured up images of Susie spread out under him, making good on everything Freddy suspected, and then some. He would start with finally getting a taste of the skin at the nape of her neck, that spot that had been maddening him all night…
He forced himself back to reality. Imagine, a Duke-come-Drug-Lord, daydreaming about a girl like a teenager having a wet dream.
What had Susie Glass done to him?
He was spared Freddy’s further needling by the appearance of his sister-in-law, marching towards them like a woman on a mission. “Freddy, we need to retake the shots on the terrace, the lighting’s much better now—oh, hello Edwina. What’re you doing here?”
“He’s here with Susie Glass,” Freddy answered for him, no shame whatsoever.
“Oh. Date night?”
He was not doing this again. “Have a good night Tam, good luck with the tic-tac thing. Freddy, feel free to stay out for a while.” With that he turned on his heel and made his way through the crowd.
Fuck Freddy honestly, he just wanted to be a prat, and fuck Tam too even though he was usually ambivalent towards his sister-in-law, and fuck Susie for not trusting him—
The woman in question caught his eye, standing apart from the throng of ballet-goers in the shadows. It spoke to how much was on her mind that she only looked up when Eddie was right next her, curving his body into hers.
Did he usually stand so close? Ah well, couldn’t have a rogue ballet fan overhearing them. “Anything I should be concerned about?” he asked, nodding towards the phone in her hand.
Susie looked up at him and went to speak, only to hesitate. It was maddening to watch, but Eddie knew he couldn’t force it out of her, not here at least. Instead, he stepped back and told himself he didn’t see regret flash across her face.
“We should get going. It’s about to start and his box is upper level.” Perfunctory and all- business. How anybody saw more between them was beyond him.
“Well then, Captain. Shall we?”
He told himself that he was just looking out for the best interests of his business when he offered his arm. When she took it and he pulled her closer, he told himself it was just the gentlemanly thing to do. And when he spoke to her next (strictly to discuss the night’s strategy), and he was close enough that his breath washed over her ear and he could see her breathing hitch in response, he told himself it was all in the name of privacy.
But still. It was just business. Nothing more than that.
Now
It was fairly damning; she couldn’t deny that. There she was, dressed in a stunning Stella McCartney, and there was Eddie in a perfectly fitted tux looking like something out of a Bond movie. With her hanging off his arm and pressed close to his side while he leant down to whisper something in her ear…
Well. A person could get the wrong impression.
“Bet you both thought you were quite clever, trying to get Georgie to take over. Must’ve killed you when it went nowhere.”
“Ballet wasn’t half bad,” Susie replied. She wasn’t even lying on that count.
“You know what though? This isn’t even my favourite one.”
Bad Breath was really enjoying this. And Susie had a sinking feeling that she knew what came next.
Three Days Ago
“Oi! Posh boy!”
Eddie stilled. So close to the gym’s exit, yet so far away. He forced the grimace off his face and turned to face Jack who had hopped down from the ring and was jogging over. Well, he was already irritated with one Glass sibling, might as well cross the other one off the list.
“All good with Suze?”
Not really. Their plan at the ballet had fizzled, the gang up in Leeds was going nowhere and proving to be a real issue, and Susie was losing focus. Eddie might have snapped at her because he could tell she was distracted, and she might’ve snapped back because she was feeling defensive, and then Eddie might’ve stormed out of her office…
Well, Jack didn’t need the gory details. “It’s fine.”
He’d hoped Jack would take the short answer as a hint to back off, but the boxer just bounced on his heels as if he was still in the ring and cast a nervous glance towards the office. “C’mere,” he said quietly and led Eddie over to a corner concealed by stacked equipment.
Once satisfied they wouldn’t be overheard, he asked, “Are you going to be there this Saturday?”
“What’s on Saturday?”
“My first fight back after…well after everything.”
The news hit like a ton of bricks. Jack had worked hard to recover, from the little Susie had said, and he’d seen Jack get better by leaps and bounds each time he was here but still. To get back in the ring for an actual fight…it caused a twinge of guilt in Eddie, remembering the part he’d played. Made him even more satisfied he’d put a bullet in Henry Collins’ skull.
“I didn’t know about it,” Eddie answered after a beat, “but I’ll be there.” He probably owed him that much, after all.
Jack looked visibly relieved, “Thanks, bruv. That’s a weight off.”
“I wouldn’t have guessed you cared if I was there or not to watch you.”
“I don’t give a fuck if you’re there for me,” Jack stressed. “I wanted you there for Susie.”
Oh god. Another one.
“What do you mean ‘for Susie’?” Eddie tried very, very hard to keep his tone neutral, because he was quickly learning that outright denial only caused people to sink into this insane shared delusion more.
Jack cast another glance towards the office, and lowered his voice like he expected Susie to jump out from behind the stack of rolled up mats. “Look, she’s nervous. Like, really nervous. And Suze doesn’t ever get like this but whenever I try to talk to her about it she just tells me I’ll be fine and reminds me about the time I punched Dad in the balls.”
Eddie would have to get the full version of that story someday, but for now he focused on what Jack was getting at. “And you think…I’ll be able to help her?”
“Well…yeah. I mean Susie hasn’t said anything, she never says anything about her…’personal life’. But, like, I know.” Jack looked at him intently, like he was trying to do everything he could to get the point across without actually saying the words. “I know it’s not ‘strictly business’ anymore.”
It would have been easier to go a few rounds with Jack in the ring than have this conversation. But in between the building migraine and trying to formulate a sentence, Jack’s concern about Susie was registered.
Eddie suddenly wanted to go back into her office, sit her down and force her to share what was actually bothering her, because if this was it then he could help, he could do something, he wanted to help—
Jack must’ve interpreted Eddie’s silence as something else. “Hey, listen, I know I said you should keep it all business but Suze’s been happy and shit, so…it’s all good.”
Susie had been…happy? Eddie was suddenly very interested in the conversation, but someone from the ring called out for Jack and that broke the moment. Jack grinned and clapped Eddie on the shoulder, “See you on Saturday, Posh Boy!”
Last Night
The crowd was buzzing by the time Eddie got to the venue, already over the opening matches and eagerly awaiting the main event. Drinks flowed liberally, money exchanged hands, and at a ringside table, one woman waited alone.
“Evening, Susan”
It might’ve been the most surprised Susie Glass had ever outwardly appeared, because she stared at him for a full ten seconds before finding her voice. “Your Grace. What brings you here?”
It was petty, but she’d been so cagey these past few weeks that he found he liked having one over on her. “Jack invited me.”
She didn’t respond, but unless Eddie was very much mistaken, there was the faintest tinge of pink on her cheeks. Which, to be fair, could’ve been a trick of the strobe lights, or could mean Jack had given her a similar speech about how supportive he was of their supposed relationship.
Susie considered him carefully but Eddie simply poured himself a drink and matched her probing stare. How long they would’ve lasted was anyone’s guess, because Jack was marching out to a cheering crowd, and threw a wink to his sister before jumping into the ring.
From that moment it didn’t matter that Eddie was there because Susie kept her attention locked on the ring, cheering for her brother with full gusto the way Eddie was used to seeing her. It made him wonder if Jack had overblown the issue, and Eddie was about to end the night feeling sheepish for worrying about the force of nature that was Susie Glass.
And then Jack took a hit.
It was clean and fair; Eddie could tell and the fight didn’t miss a beat. But Susie stilled completely, rigid and taut like a coiled spring. The hand she had resting on the table curled into a fist tight enough that Eddie was sure her perfectly manicured nails had to be drawing blood.
The fight went on. Jack dodged, got a good jab in, then took another to the ribs. Susie didn’t move.
Eddie kept his focus on the fight, remembering some long-ago given advice from his father when dealing with a skittish animal.
Nice and slow, son. Never move too fast or it ’ll spook.
He gently took his hand and laid it on top of her tight fist. It tensed even more, if that was possible. But Eddie didn’t take his eyes off the ring, and in the corner of his eye, Susie didn’t either. What she did do was slowly loosen her fist until her fingers splayed out on the table, nestled under his.
It was a nice feeling, Eddie thought. It might’ve been why he didn’t overthink his next decision, and without breaking his focus on the fight, he picked up Susie’s hand and interlaced his fingers with hers.
Neither said a word, but Eddie was hyper focused on the feeling of Susie’s hand, warm and soft and perfectly fit in his, and he wondered if they were this well suited in every other way, if it was a cosmic joke from the universe that he and Susie went so well together yet they were somehow the last people to realize.
Susie tightened her hold on his hand as Jack took another blow. It remained like that as the bell rang at the end of the round, as another started, as both fighters went through the gamut. And honestly, a gun could’ve been put to his head and Eddie couldn’t have told you what was happening in that ring because his world had narrowed to the table, to the tension rolling off Susie, to her hand in his.
He squeezed, enough to reassure her, and that was what finally broke her concentration on the fight. When she turned to face him, her eyes were wide and lips parted in a way that did nothing to settle his heightened awareness of her. Then the crowd erupted around them, Jack’s arm was hoisted in the air, and only then did Susie disentangle her hand from his so that she could cheer louder than anyone in the room.
Eddie was forced out of the bubble he’d inadvertently put them in and as annoyed as he was to have Susie out of his grasp, he couldn’t fight the grin on his face at seeing Jack soak up the applause, then swing himself out of the ring and pick up his sister in a giant hug, spinning her around for good measure.
“Told ya I’d be fine!” He was pulled away by some others for celebration and Susie watched him leave, and Eddie watched Susie, the pieces of the past couple weeks falling into a puzzle that he was embarrassed it took him this long to solve.
Wordlessly, he curled his hand around the crook of her elbow and steered her away from the din, all the way out to the front of the building where cars were parked haphazardly and a few stragglers stood well apart, lighting up cigarettes in the cool night air.
Susie didn’t fight his lead and by the time they were standing in gravel and he could properly look at her, he had the full story worked out. “It was Jack’s fight, right? That’s what you’ve been so preoccupied with?”
“Well obviously,” she replied, fidgeting under his hold, which, for no good reason, he had kept up. “Look, I thought it was way too soon, but Jack insisted. And then he found out he was going up against this fighter that didn’t have much of a record in the UK, so…I got worried. I put people on him, trying to find out if he was clean or not, and I’ve been getting updates for weeks. Can you blame me?”
“No!” Eddie barked out a disbelieving laugh, and it sounded so much louder out here. “Of course I’d never blame you for this. So why the fuck wouldn’t you just tell me?!”
Susie looked abashed, which was new, for them at least. “I’m not supposed to get distracted,” she admitted finally. “Dad’s been counting on me for too long. So I didn’t want to admit that I might’ve…had a lot on my mind.”
He didn’t have a name for the feeling in his stomach, except to say that it was far more complicated than anything one would feel for someone who was supposed to be a ‘business partner’. It was a deeper fondness than what he felt for his family, more than the simple lust for a brief fling, scarier than anything he’d known the scant few times he’d been in a serious relationship.
It was new, it was terrifying, it belonged entirely to her. “You’re wrong,” he said finally.
“Oh?”
“The point of being partners is that we’re both in this. So you can be distracted. I’ve got you.”
Susie took in a sharp breath, and Eddie suddenly got the feeling that they were on the edge of something very big. “Thanks,” she said after a pregnant pause. “For…back there.” She gestured vaguely behind him in the venue direction, Eddie was momentarily distracted by her hand and wondered if he’d get the chance to hold it again.
“Dinner, tomorrow? He blurted out impulsively. “It’ll give us the chance to go over where we stand on Leeds.” He hoped to God he hadn’t put his foot in it, but Susie appeared to be mulling over the offer before she nodded slowly.
“That sounds good. I should — I should get back inside. Check on Jack.”
Eddie reluctantly let her go with a cursory nod, but before she could walk past him, she stepped closer and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. “Have a good night, Captain.” Her breath fanned over his face before she pulled away and he wondered if she’d have let him get away with asking for more, except she was striding back inside, leaving him to listen to the crunch of her heels on gravel.
He must have stood there for at least five minutes, replaying that goodbye. He didn’t know what had possessed her, only that he didn’t mind, not even a little bit. More than anything, he wished he’d pulled her back to ask what the fuck was going on in her head and if it was similar to the terrifying thing going on in his head.
Still, he thought as he found his car. There was always tomorrow.
Now
Eddie holding her hand. Her, kissing his cheek. The last few photos certainly painted a picture, but if Susie was being honest, she was having trouble finding fault in their logic. In fact, she was starting to wonder if she was in a relationship without realizing it.
“That all you’ve got?” She did her best to sound bored. “When I’ve had to blackmail someone over a sordid affair, I at least make sure to ask for a money shot.”
The fucker in front of her just shouted a laugh. “Now, now, we didn’t need to be that thorough,” he said with a leer. “We just needed to be sure that once we had you, that posh twat would come running and play nice.”
They were lazy, Susie realized. Too stupid to do the research that mattered, they’d found a bone and they were running with it. Well, better for her and her Captain, in the end.
“So what happens now? You send some uninspired ransom note? Do I have to hold up today’s paper?”
“And have his Grace round up the cavalry? No sweetheart, you’re going to get him over here. Make him think you want some alone time. And if you try to warn him off or say anything out of turn…”
The gun to the back of her head pressed in more insistently, forcing her chin into her neck. “Yeah, I get it,” she snapped. “Can we get on with this then?”
Her phone was retrieved from her desk and held in front of her face to unlock. A few moments later, the tinny ring of a dialed number played out three times before voicemail picked up the call.
“You’ve reached Edward Horniman, please leave a message at the tone.”
The asshole stared at her, nodding towards the phone. And it was half-baked at best, but Susie had a plan ready to go.
“Hey darling, change of plans. Thought we could stay in at mine tonight, maybe bring that bottle of Chianti in the cellar you were telling me about? If you could pick me up from the gym, I thought we could…finish what we started the last time? Before we were so rudely interrupted. See you soon. Love you.”
*****
By the word ‘darling’, Eddie knew something was wrong. By the part about Chianti he knew the situation was critical (there was no Chianti in the Halstead cellar which Susie knew very well.) By the time she lowered her voice suggestively and suggested they ‘finish’ what they’d been up to, he was mentally putting a team together and by the time she sweetly ended on ‘love you’, he was dialing Blanket.
It was technically possible that Susie had a current fling that the message was actually meant for, but Eddie dismissed that possibility almost immediately. For one, he doubted she knew any more dukes with wine filled cellars. And second, Susie spent too much time with him to be entertaining anyone else.
Later, he should probably work through why even the brief thought of Susie in a relationship pissed him off more than when he found out Freddie had gambled away millions of pounds.
But first, he had to unfuck whatever situation his partner was in.
*****
It took 37 minutes for Eddie to knock on her office door. Susie had watched the clock in stony, stubborn silence, even as her new friends tried to goad her into conversation.
But now her attention focused on the door, where three sharp knocks sounded. Ringleader gave her a nod, Susie hoped she hadn’t been wrong.
“Come in,” she called out.
The door swung open and there was the Duke, tall and dashing, wine bottle in hand and not even the least bit surprised to find her bound to a chair with a gun to her head.
God, she could kiss him.
The two by the door moved quickly, and one sucker punch to the gut followed by a hit to the back the head with a gun had Eddie on his knees. It was too easy, she thought, but they didn’t need to know that.
“Welcome, your Grace,” said Bad Breath jovially. “Probably not the night you were expecting, eh?”
The nonce kept talking but Susie kept her eyes on Eddie as he slid his calculating gaze over her quickly, looking for injury. She saw him take stock of the four men in the room, watched as his eyes hardened at the one out of her sight, the one holding a gun to her head.
“Alright, Susie?” he asked quietly. She nodded sharply. Why wasn’t he doing anything?
“Hey now, pay attention,” said Brad Breath, clearly put out that neither of them were paying attention to his monologue. “Else what’s the point of all this?”
“How about you get to the fucking point then?” snapped Susie, drawing his attention to her and hopefully off Eddie who had a plan because, Jesus, hadn’t she laid it on thick enough with that message?
The gun to her head lifted only to come down hard a second later and Susie gritted her teeth to keep from crying out. It would take more than that, but maybe they were all getting impatient here. When she was able to focus past Bad Breath grinning in front of her, she could see Eddie staring behind her with an expression he’d only ever worn when he was about to do something remarkably stupid in the name of someone close to him.
Honestly it was nice not to be on the receiving end of it. And she wasn’t the only one who noticed.
“There, now aren’t we getting somewhere?” The ringleader stood at Susie’s side and laid a hand on her shoulder. “What do you think, your Grace? Which of your pretty faces should me and my boys take a knife to before you both agree to keep well out of our territory? You don’t want us going past that, we can get quite creative.”
She didn’t think so, she was pretty sure that they were a one trick pony, but Eddie remained stonily silent. The leader jerked his chin and one of the goons flanking Eddie pulled a switchblade out of his pocket, flicked it open and held it parallel to Eddie’s face, just a few centimeters away from his left eye.
Susie held her breath. It wasn’t even that big, but next to Eddie’s eye she knew it could do enough damage. But he should be able to do something, he was trained, what the fuck did it even mean to be a fucking Captain in the army if he wasn’t going to fight back, and did he not actually realize that her message was a warning, and if there was even one scratch on those cheekbones when this was over she was absolutely going to take that fucking knife and carve into—
Her thought process had gone off the rails so quickly she almost missed Eddie staring at her, then flicking his eyes at the bottle of Chianti, which had fallen to the floor.
“You know what I think?” she said loudly. “I think you cunts forced us to waste some fucking good wine.”
It was comically easy, how quickly they took the bait. Susie didn’t even bother listening to some line about how posh twats kept all the good stuff for themselves, just kept focus on Eddie whose face gave nothing away and who didn’t risk moving, still aware of the knife a few centimeters from his left eye.
She wished he’d at least try to get away, but all he did was hold her gaze, and then flick his eyes between the bottle and the floor. To the side, Bad Breath was whinging about hard it was to remove corks, the guy behind her spoke up for the first time to complain about how cork particles would ruin the wine, someone else was yelling out instructions for using a switchblade as a corkscrew—
“Fuck off, I’ve got it!”
BANG
Whatever was in that bottle, it was not Chianti. Something acrid filled the room with a thick smoke, and Susie threw herself to the floor, chair and all. Eddie’s plan caused enough chaos that she managed to avoid being shot immediately, but several loud bangs meant someone definitely tried. Screams sounded, more bodies filled the room than a second ago, but before she could get her bearings in the panic, a large hand came down on her shoulder.
“Stay still.” Eddie’s voice that close to her ear did funny things to her, but none of that could be focused on. Instead she followed his directive as he went to work sawing at the zip ties around her hands and feet, leaving her free a few moments later. The smoke in the room had lessened into a thin haze, and when Eddie hauled her to her feet she saw Blanket and a couple of their guys standing over the Leeds fuckers, who looked appropriately stunned at the turn of events.
“Took long enough,” she said with a sniff, but even she couldn’t force herself to be too flippant, not when she was still feeling the adrenaline of seeing Eddie’s eye nearly get taken out. It was enormously satisfying to see that same knife in Eddie’s hand and the arsehole who’d wielded it bleeding out on the floor. Getting the blood stains out was going to be a bitch, but worth it.
Eddie for his part kept his grip on her arm and looked her over thoroughly. “You’re alright?” he asked quietly, urgently.
She looked him in the eye and nodded once. It would have to be enough for now no matter how unsatisfied he was, judging by the hard set of his mouth. Instead of focusing on said mouth, Susie turned to find Bad Breath on his knees, a steady stream of blood coming from his temple and a truly bewildered look on his face.
“Oh don’t hurt yourself trying to figure it out.” She held out a hand. Eddie put a gun in it. “But you should know.” She levelled the muzzle between his eyes. “I would never have asked for Chianti.”
She pulled the trigger.
Two Hours Later
Eddie never actually said it out loud, but he refused to let Susie go home alone. Which he was sure did nothing to alleviate the appearance of a relationship between them, but fuck it, he had excess adrenaline in his system and the sight of Susie at gunpoint burnt into his retinas, he could hardly be expected to send her home until he’d personally inspected every inch of her flat himself.
The drive home was quick and allowed him to stew more as Susie made calls, first to Jack to fill him in—
(“Tell that Posh twat of yours that if I ever find out you’re in trouble and he doesn’t call me first, I’ll beat his fucking head in!”)
—then to Bobby Glass—
(“Take the night off love, I have some calls to make.”)
—and even one to Jimmy.
(Sure thing boss, I promise to call soon as I have the shipment delivered. Yeah, and I promise not to stop for pancakes. Yeah, and I super promise I’m not high. Tell his Grace I said ‘hi’!”)
They lapsed into a companionable silence on the elevator ride. Her new place was higher up than the last, a sea of lights spread out under them that Susie admired while Eddie scanned the dark corners for any sign of threat. He appreciated that she quietly indulged him.
“Satisfied, soldier?”
“Hardly.” It came out just a little rougher than necessary, and he told himself it had everything to do with recent events and nothing to do with the way the soft lighting of her lamps hit her face.
“How about some actual wine? Seems we could both use it.”
It was embarrassing how quickly he agreed. Susie poured them both a glass of something old and expensive, a gift from him incidentally. It had been to celebrate their partnership.
“This was months ago,” he remarked, watching her over the rim of his glass.
“Thought I should save it,” she said with a shrug. “I was hoping we’d have a better occasion, but putting a bullet in those cunts seems as good a reason as any. Even if you did take your sweet time getting to the point.”
“Honestly, I was supposed to get them to go for the Chianti a lot sooner than they did. Possible I got distracted when I saw you.” Not his finest moment to be sure, and potentially a slap in the face to every officer that had trained him, but Susie had never been in such immediate danger while he had known her. Not when Nazis were shooting at them, or Scouse gangsters were settling scores, this was the farthest it had ever gotten.
He suspected a lot of his future would be spent thinking of ways to keep it from ever getting that far again.
Speaking of— “How’s your head?” He’d been slightly terrified when that gun had come down that she’d be concussed, but no symptoms thus far. He desperately wanted to check for himself, run his fingers over the certain bruise and feel for himself that she was alright. But any way he thought to ask made him sound mad.
“S’fine,” Susie mumbled, probing the spot herself. “Nothing I haven’t had before.”
“What?”
“Come on Captain, you can’t think this was the first time someone’s tried to rough me up?”
The look on his face must’ve matched his thoughts because Susie arched an eyebrow. “Relax, the Glass name does most of the heavy lifting. The smart ones in this line of work have some sense of self-preservation. But occasionally, some aren’t so smart. We take the hazards as they come.”
“I’ll kill them.” Eddie wondered at how easy those words came to him. It was laughable — hadn’t she pulled the trigger on those fuckers herself? But he meant it, to his bones. And to her credit, Susie didn’t dismiss him, just considered him carefully, the way she had last night, after the fight.
“I really thought they were going to take your eye out,” she said quietly, after a long moment. “And I’d already planned to blind them in return. Literal eye for an eye, and all that shit.”
“Well, aren’t we a pair.” He raised his glass to her; she met it with hers. The soft clink hung between them. They lapsed into another stretch of comfortable silence that Susie was the first to break.
“Well done, by the way, getting my message and all.”
Ah, Eddie was wondering when they were going to cover this. “Thought you had to be under duress. You hate Chianti.”
She couldn’t help a smile. “I had to sell it. They were quite insistent, and they had compelling evidence.”
“Oh?”
“It would appear, Captain, that you and I spend an inordinate amount of time together.”
Eddie took a long sip. The wine warmed him, but was not solely responsible for the hot flush on his skin. “Well. We are in business together.”
Susie nodded thoughtfully. “Only stands to reason that we’d be…close.”
“Naturally.”
“Naturally. But I will say,” Susie took a long sip of her wine and met his heavy gaze steadily. “Seeing all those photos at once…we’re not half-bad together, Your Grace.”
They were too far apart, why the fuck hadn’t he sat closer? He knew he was being obvious, he didn’t care, fuck business enemies and meddling siblings and the rest of the world, he recalled the feeling of her lips pressed against his jaw and made a show of reaching over to her coffee table to set down his glass, only to resettle himself as close to her as he dared.
A beat passed, then she mirrored his actions and rearranged herself so that they touched, knee to thigh to side, head turned so that she looked up at him through long eyelashes.
“It would be problematic,” she said quietly, and flicked her eyes between his and his lips. “If there were more that thought they could use us against each other.”
“Would you leave me to shift for myself?” he asked. This close and he couldn’t resist the impulse to reach behind her and gently press the spot at the back of her head where she’d been hit. It felt as well as could be so he slid his hand forward and cradled her jaw, thumb running over the apple of her cheek, flushed a pretty shade of pink that had nothing to do with the lights.
“You came for me” she said in answer to his question, and her lips twisted into a smile he could only describe as wicked. The next part of her sentence, she leant forward to whisper in his ear: “Seems only fair I come for you.”
Well. Fair was fair.
Eddie pulled back enough that could firmly, finally, kiss her and when he pulled away it was so he could ghost his lips over the sharp line of her jaw, down her neck and settle into the space where her neck met her shoulder like he’d been wanting to for fucking weeks.
It soon became a frenzy of divesting outer layers, hands reaching out for any and all exposed skin that followed, at least one glass of spilled Bordeaux and at that point Susie ordered them to her spacious bed because “I am not fucking you for the first time on my couch like we’re in school.” Eddie was only too happy to oblige, lifting her easily and groaning when her legs wrapped around his waist, the contact against his hardening cock almost too much too bear — almost. He had to kiss the smirk off Susie’s face as he laid her down but it was worth betraying his need, especially when he finally did get to see the reality of her spread out underneath him, and it put every bit of his imagination to shame.
He fell on top of her, into her and she made good on her offer. At least a few times.
Later, and too fucking early in the morning
The buzzing of his phone pulled Eddie from a very pleasant, very deep sleep. Through the haze of his own groggy thoughts, he wondered if it was worth it to answer. On one hand, he had massively illicit business dealings, an infant niece, and a brother with a drug habit. On the other hand, he still felt pleasantly worn out, the warm weight of Susie was nestled into his side, and the comfort of her several-thousand count sheets made him very reluctant to move.
But the buzzing continued and a very sharp nail dug into his ribs, so answer it was.
“What?”
“Heeey Your Lordship…is the Boss with you?”
“Jimmy, it is three in the fucking morning.”
“Yeah, but see, it’s really, really important and she made me promise to call when the delivery went through and there was traffic and she’s not picking up her phone...”
“Jimmy. Why are you calling me?”
“Well…ain’t she with you?”
He really had no reason to be surprised at this point. Instead, he just rolled over and dropped the phone on the pillow next to his. “It’s for you, darling.”
He took another jab to the ribs but Susie pushed herself to sit up and managed to get through a conversation from an almost certainly stoned Jimmy. Eddie settled back against the headboard with every intention of going back to sleep but found himself watching her instead, tracing the outline of her in the dark. He reached out to play with the ends of her tousled hair, hand moving lower until it splayed on the small of her back and he kept it there, like he was making up for the months of physical contact they denied themselves.
“…and don’t call for the next 24—” she squirmed as Eddie tickled her ribs — “48 hours unless you have a gun to your head!” Susie snapped, ending the call. Then she threw the phone through the bedroom door for good measure.
“Probably shouldn’t tempt fate,” Eddie mused as Susie dropped back into bed. “I don’t think there’s nearly enough evidence of you and Jimmy having an affair for the wine bottle trick to work twice.”
There was going to be a scar if Susie kept jabbing his side with her talon of a nail. “Do not start. Realizing I was in one relationship I was unaware of is enough, thank you.”
Eddie rolled over to face her and she looked none too happy, but the severity was undercut by her mussed hair falling in her eyes and the myriad of love bites he may or may not have trailed from the base of her neck and across her torso.
There were several gifts of silk scarves in her future, Eddie made a note to order some for express delivery. And one more thing stood out —
“48 hours?” he asked, not even trying to hide a growing smirk.
Susie rolled her eyes. “Well, the way I see it, we have catching up to do. Anywhere to be?”
Instead of an answer, he leant forward and pressed his mouth to hers for a slow, languid kiss. When he pulled back, her earlier irritation had abated, leaving her looking content and satisfied. “I don’t care if we stay here for a full fucking week.”
“You don’t think your family will wonder where you are?”
“I’ll tell them the truth.”
“How do you think they’ll take it?”
At some point, he’d fill her in that the fuckers from Leeds weren’t the only people with ideas about their relationship. But that was a daylight problem. For now he reached out an arm and drew her closer.
“You know — I don’t think they’ll be surprised.”