The Girl and The Gangster
Summary: After being turned down from every secretarial role in Birmingham, Alice becomes desperate. Unable to provide for her sick mother, herself and more importantly, her young child, she takes a chance on joining the Shelby Company ltd. But when she runs into a familiar face, her whole world comes crumbling down around her.
Chapter Eleven
They ran down the streets of Brighton, Alice clinging onto Johnny's hand as he tried to keep up with her. She was running that fast that she could feel the veil on her head slipping from the roots of her hair. They were almost at the chapel and in the distance, she could see Michael standing outside having a smoke as he spoke with a stranger on the street. Much to Johnny's delight, they walked for the last couple of feet until they were standing outside the chapel.
"Alice, this is Patrick, he's going to be a witness for us." He informed her as he waved towards the strange man.
"Nice to meet you." She nodded at Patrick and watched as he nodded back before turning to Michael with a small smile. "Is everything ready?"
"We were just waiting for you and our boy." He ruffled Johnny's hair and threw his cigarette on the ground before opening the door for them. Patrick walked in first and made his way to the pews, then Johnny ran in, pulling Alice by the arm as she fixed her veil over her face. Michael kept close to her, whispering to her before they got to the alter, "You look perfect."
She smiled over her shoulder at him, her teeth grazing her bottom lip. "So do you."
They kneeled by the alter, listening to Johnny kicking the backs of his shoes against the wooden seats as they waited for the priest to start the ceremony. As soon as he cleared his throat, Johnny stopped and sat still and watched his parents eagerly. He had dreamed of this since the moment he met his father.
"We're gathered here today to join these two souls together under the eyes of God." The old priest looked at the young couple over the rims of his thin glasses. "Do you, Michael Gray take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, in sickness and in health, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer from this day forward in the eyes of God?"
He looked at Alice from the corner of his eye and clasped his hands in front of his body. "I do."
"And do you, Alice Gray take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, in sickness and in health, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer from this day forward in the eyes of God?"
"I definitely do."
"Are there any reasons why these two shouldn't be wed, speak now or forever hold your peace?" The priest waited for a moment then motioned for them to exchange rings. "I pronounce you man and wife; you may kiss the bride."
They got onto their feet and turned towards each other, Michael removing the veil from her face and placing it on the back of her head. He took her face into his hands and gave her a long peck, grinning against her lips. After a few seconds, they felt Johnny wrap his arms around their legs and when they looked down at him, he was jumping up and down out of excitement.
"Does this mean I'm Johnny Gray now, dad?"
"If that's what you want, I'm sure your mum can make arrangements to get that changed."
"When we get back to Birmingham, I'll sort all that out. Let us sign this certificate first, okay baby?" she stroked his cheek and followed Michael's lead towards the priest. She felt happy for the first time in almost a week, but she had the feeling that it wouldn't last long. It never really did anymore.
They were on opposite ends of the bed, Johnny sprawled out in the middle, his feet digging into Alice's legs and his elbows poking Michael's back. It wasn't the most ideal way to spend their first night as a married couple, but they were happy and that's what mattered most. Neither one of them could sleep, but Alice was used to the sleepless nights by now, and when Michael rolled over and moved Johnny's arm's back by his side, Alice followed suit, looking over her husband's face in the moonlight.
"What's on your mind?" she asked quietly.
"You deserved better than that shotgun wedding. I feel like I've let you down."
"I don't need fancy flowers or an expensive dress. I don't want hundreds of people staring at us, the only two people I wanted were there."
"You mean Johnny and that fella, Patrick?" he teased.
She placed her hand over her mouth to muffle the laugh that escaped her and shook her head. "You and Johnny. We're a family and that's all I need." She reached over her son and grasped his hand.
"Fuck everyone else."
She nodded in agreement and looked away from him. "What are you going to tell Tommy when we get back tomorrow?"
"I'm going to go through him, Alice. He knew how much I loved you and he risked this," he waved towards her and Johnny, screwing his face up in anger, "for a plan. If he was in our situation, he would've run off and got married too."
"He's going to blame me, I can feel it in my bones."
"Don't worry about him, he doesn't matter." He let out a sigh and kissed the back of her hand before letting it go. "Try and get some sleep and stop worrying. I can see those creases forming in your forehead from here."
She nodded and closed her eyes, Michael was more headstrong than she was, she couldn't help but worry even after his words of encouragement. The Shelby family were tight knit and if she was the one that caused a rift between Michael and his cousins, she worried that it would be held against her later in their marriage; she didn't want that to happen, Michael was who she wanted to spend the rest of her life with, no one else would do.
The day came for Michael to confront the person he had looked up to for years; it was hard for him to believe that Tommy would hurt him like this again, he thought that spending two years in prison was enough but clearly, Tommy forgot about that mess. He stepped into the building, his hands in his pockets and greeted Arthur and the rest of the boys calmly as he stormed towards Tommy's office. He entered without knocking, catching Tommy off guard as he took a phone call. Their eyes met and Tommy could tell that whatever Michael had to say, it wasn't good. He finished his phone call and leaned back in his chair, watching in interest as Michael glowered down at him.
"Where were you and Alice?"
"Brighton."
"This time of the year? I'm sure it was cold. Take a seat."
"I don't want to take a seat, I'd rather stand."
Tommy nodded and took his glasses from his face, setting them on his desk. "Well, are you going to tell me what's wrong with you or are you going to stand and stare at me all day?"
"How fucking dare you agree to let Alice marry one of Danny's men. You know I love that girl to bits, and you use her as a pawn for this little plan you've got going on." He could feel his body start to shake and he couldn't keep it under control. It didn't help matters when Tommy stared at Michael like he was growing another head.
"So, she let the cat out of the bag then, eh?"
"Yeah, she did. She was in pieces and scared shitless."
"She should be scared; you should be scared. I'm scared." Tommy raised his voice back at his cousin as his eyes pierced into Michael's. "Alice brought a snake into our city and she should be the one to deal with the consequences. She agreed to it so get over it and move onto the next girl."
"If it was Grace that was being auctioned off, would you have taken it lying down?" Michael raised his brow and watched Tommy's expression drop completely.
"Don't bring her into this."
"But would you?" he leaned on the table and stared Tommy down. "Because I know that you wouldn't."
He noticed something glimmer on Michael's hand and looked down to see a gold wedding band on his finger. His eyes then shifted back to him and he could feel his own blood boil. "That's why you went to Brighton, you fucking married her."
Michael nodded slowly as he sucked on the back of his teeth. "Yeah, I did. She can't marry no gypsy lad if she's married to me."
Tommy got out of his chair and threw the cap off his head. His hands gripped at his hair as he paced around the room. "You've fucked us, I hope you realise that."
"You tried to fuck me. I would never have done that to you!" he said as he stepped towards Tommy.
They squared up, neither one of them willing to back down. Both had their hands balled into fists, but deep down, they didn't want to fight each other. There was still a familial bond there. Tommy straightened out his hand and placed it on Michael's shoulder, giving in, in hopes that it would make life a little bit easier. They were stronger together, regardless of how they were feeling at this moment in time.
"I shouldn't have agreed, but he had me backed into a corner." Tommy explained as he looked at his blood sincerely. "I underestimated him."
"Why didn't you tell the family about this plan? When do things ever work out for you when you do these things alone?"
"It's the Polish, Michael."
"Yeah? And what?"
Tommy smirked and shook his head, taking a step back. "If you thought Changretta was deadly, these bastards are worse. I'm trying to stay on their good side but that could change when they come to Birmingham and realise that I'm trying to keep Danny fucking Finlay in line."
"You're a smart man, Tommy. You should've realised that fighting a war on two fronts was never going to work out."
"That's why I'm trying to appease Danny until this deal is done. But now it's blown out of the water." He returned to his desk and collapsed into the chair.
"Get Danny down here. Me, you and Alice will straighten things out with him."
"He won't listen."
"We can try. Set it up, I'll drop Johnny off at my mum's and get Alice."
There were no ifs and buts, Michael walked out of the office before Tommy could talk him out of this meeting. If things didn't go well, then it would be the end of the Shelby family. The Polish would wipe them out.
All three of them sat in silence as they waited for Danny to arrive. He instructed them to meet at Alice's mother's home, which only made things harder for Alice. She sat with a cup of scalding tea in her hand, watching the window for any sign of her brother and once she saw him, she almost dropped the hot liquid over herself. "He's here." She said as she got up to answer the door, but before she even got there, he had let himself in.
"Good morning, sister." He walked into the living room and looked at Tommy first then rolled his eyes towards Michael. "What is this urgent matter you need to speak with me about?"
"I know that I agreed to your proposal of Alice marrying one of your men, but that's not going to happen."
"Why not?" he folded his arms across his chest and looked over his shoulder at his little sister. "Cold feet?"
"Alice and I are already married." Michael said, his eyes fixated on the red headed man in front of him.
"Since when?"
"Since," Danny held his hand up, stopping Michael from saying another word.
"I'm addressing my sister." He turned his body around so that he was face to face with her. "Since when, Alice?"
"Yesterday. We got married yesterday." She placed a hand on her hip and shook her head at him. "Why would you even suggest something as ridiculous as marrying one of the gypsy boys?"
Danny took the tea from her and took a sip before sitting down on Agnes' arm chair. "Two reasons. Firstly, I had to see if Tommy would do anything to keep his head above water." He looked towards him and watched Tommy lift his head. "I couldn't have you thinking that you were the boss, not when your head's resting on that chopping block."
"What's your other reason?"
He looked back at his sister with a victorious smirk. "I wanted the two of you to get married. I knew that if I suggested you marrying someone else other than your darling Michael, that you'd react like this. I also couldn't wait in case Tommy stuck a knife in my back." He sipped at the tea again before setting it on the floor. He crossed one leg over the other and looked at them each in turn as they stared at him. "I remember when you were a little girl, maybe three or four. Anything I told you to do, you did the opposite. You were always determined to defy me. I would win either way, but this outcome was what I wanted."
"Why did you want us to get married? I thought you wouldn't have wanted her anywhere near the Peaky Blinders?" Michael asked through a clenched jaw.
"Because now I'm part of the family too. We're in-laws now, Michael." Danny widened his eyes and flexed his brow muscle as he laughed. "And whether you like it or not, there's honour among gypsies, ain't there, Tommy? Once two families are bonded, we don't fight each other."
Alice looked towards Tommy as the gears turned in his head. She didn't know what he was thinking, perhaps he'd take the gun out of his pocket and shoot Danny where he sat, but that would only make things worse for himself.
"You're right, but something doesn't make sense to me." He said abruptly. "Why would you take less money than what I was offering Tweedy?"
"Because I don't care about money, it's a fool's game." Danny looked around the living room and took in a deep breath. "But I will be greedy and demand that Alice signs this house over to me, if we're going to be working together in this city, then I think I should invest in some free property. It'll give my wife and kids somewhere nice to stay when I'm back and forth from Ayr."
She knew she had somewhere to call home now that her and Michael were married, but this was her mother's home and Danny knew it. He wanted this house so that he could get under her skin, his plan was working because it struck a nerve. Alice should've shot him that day on the hill, she now regretted giving him that chance to plead his case. As they investigated each other's faces, he could see that shame in her eye. She wanted to slap him but then she looked at Michael and then Tommy, she had already stalled this deal long enough and if she did it again then there would be no going back.
"Fine, the house is yours. The furniture is yours too and if you want to keep the photos too, then take them. Have whatever you want because the moment those guns make it to Pittsburgh, I'm done with you."
"Apart from your son, I'm the only blood you've got left. I think we should spend some time together, away from this city. Bring Michael and Johnny if you want, or you can come alone. It might help you heal after Agnes' suicide. The caravans are just outside the city."
She could feel tears pool in her eyes, but Alice wasn't going to cry in front of him, it would only bring him satisfaction. Instead, she swallowed back her emotions and steadied herself. "You've got what you wanted; the house is yours. I'm done here." She walked out of the house and slammed the door behind her, leaving the men to finish striking the deal.
Alice was marching towards Polly's house to collect Johnny when she heard Michael call her name as he ran behind her. She stopped in her place and turned to face him, clutching onto her cardigan for comfort. He put his arms around her, holding her tightly as he felt her heave for a breath. She was either going to erupt into tears or explode with anger.
"Once this plan is finished, I'll put a bullet in him. I don't care about gypsy honour; I wasn't raised as a gypsy."
"No, you're not going to do that." She pulled away from him and flattened out a crease in his shirt.
"Why not? He can't get away with what he's doing to you. I'm surprised that you didn't strangle him." He kissed her on the forehead and tilted her head up.
"I wanted to; it would be a great weight lifted from my back. But, if anyone's going to shoot him, it'll be me. I should've done it that day, but I won't be naive anymore." She shook her head and folded her arms across her chest. "I've to protect our family too, I have to protect Johnny and the life we've created."
"Our life together won't be changed, no matter how hard Danny tries to mess with it."
She reached up and touched his face, the corner of her lip turning up slightly. "I'm pregnant, Michael."
He furrowed his brows and gripped her loosely by the shoulders. "What? How long have you known?"
"Four weeks, give or take. But I had to make sure I was right before I said anything, then my mother passed and there was never the right time to tell you with Danny showing up and then the wedding…" she sighed and threw her arms back down by her side. "We're having a baby."
He had so many mixed emotions; he was happy that he was going to have a chance to help raise their child after missing out on so many important years with Johnny but with this imminent threat coming, it made him feel scared. He had to focus on Alice now more than ever, he wasn't going to let her get caught in the crossfire now that he was the only one other than Tommy that knew about this plan. He pulled her into a hug and rested his head on hers, he didn't want to let her go; at least in his arms, she was safe.
A:N Let me know what you thought of Danny's plan, has he outsmarted Tommy? Now that Alice is having another baby, will grow to want Danny around, being the only sibling that she has at the moment? How do you think Michael will cope with all this news that he's had thrown at him? Thank you for supporting this story, there's still so much to come.