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 Thirteen
She had never been so happy to be back in Birmingham, mostly because she wouldn't have to sit knee to knee with Danny, listening to him ramble on about Tommy and his dastardly plans. If she had of listened to her brother, she would've heard how he used to be; cruel and uncaring, doing anything for a few shillings. The Tommy he knew was the polar opposite to the one she saw. Alice got to see the family man, the MP. Tommy would stay on her good side as long as he didn't jeopardise the life she and Michael had created.
Danny followed her out of the car, almost escorting her back to her husband and his cousin, but before she could get any closer to them, he gripped her by the wrist and swung her round until their eyes were level. Alice didn't know what to do, if she pulled her arm away then Michael would think he's threatening her and spring into action but if she kept it in his grasp, Danny would think that it was okay to treat her like his property.
"Let go of my arm, please." She said calmly, surprised that he did what she said. She clasped her hands in front of her and raised a brow. "What do you want?"
"Have you thought about bringing Johnny up to the camp?" the way Alice rolled her eyes at his request irritated him, but he couldn't show it. "Don't you want him to meet his cousins? Blood is blood."
"Johnny knows nothing about gypsies and caravans…"
"Then let him get to know it. Dad would'a wanted his grandson to see how he grew up."
"Don't," Alice warned him with a look, "Don't use dad to get me to do what you want me to do."
"For what it's worth, it's the truth and you'd like my wife. Theresa is a good woman, you'd like her."
Alice looked over her shoulder at Michael as he and Tommy had a smoke. His eyes never wavered from her as she spoke with Danny and it only added to the pressure that her brother put on her.
"If it means that we can have peace, then I don't see the harm."
Danny followed her gaze towards Michael and threw him a victorious smirk. "You can bring your lover boy with you, if he's man enough to step into my turf."
"Don't speak like that, Danny." She shook her head at him and made her way towards her husband.
"Okay, I apologise." Danny wasn't stupid, he could see that if he bad-mouthed Michael that it would push Alice even further away. "Sunday morning, it'll be easy to find." He called out as he slipped his hands under his braces, watching as Michael sniffed round her like a lap dog. He was going to drive a wedge between the couple, and he hoped that it would break them. He thought that she deserved better than a Peaky; she needed to return to her roots.
"What did he want?" Michael asked her as he placed his arm around her shoulder, his cigarette pinched between his teeth.
"We'll talk about it when we get home, okay?" she looked towards Tommy and noticed how he watched them so closely. "Have you any idea what we're going to do as a backup?"
"I'm going to have to call a family meeting, pick Pol's brain about this." He reached into his blazer pocket and held a crisp envelope in between his middle and forefinger, taunting Alice with it for a moment. "As promised, your sister's address."
She grabbed it off him and stared at the outside, fighting with herself to open it and look. She was nervous. Scared, even. What if this woman would hate her? Living in her little bubble with Michael and Johnny kept her content but now that she had this information, it would eat away at her. So, she opened it and read over the scribbled down address.
"Nora's in Essex?" Alice didn't lift her head from the page, re reading the few lines over and over until it was imprinted in her mind.
"Nora Prescott-Maxwell married rich and her husband died young. No kids or pets so she's still got plenty of money and parties as if she's still in her twenties." He informed her.
"Was she easy to find?"
"Very, apparently she's been looking for you too. Not hard enough might I add but at least there's some effort there."
Her eyes flitted from to page to Michael's face, a glimmer of hope appeared in her smile. "We've got to go, Michael."
"Do you need me for this meeting, Tom?"
"I'd prefer if you were there, yeah."
Michael looked down at his wife sympathetically, she had a fair idea what he was going to say, and he could see how disappointed she was. "He needs me here, Alice." He whispered; his arms rested on the tops of her arms. When he could see a tear form in her eye, he looked up at his cousin and threw away his cigarette. "Give us a moment, Tommy."
"Nora's been looking for me, Michael." She waited for Tommy to go inside before she said, "What happened to 'Fuck Tommy and his plans'?"
"That was when he wanted to marry you off to some gypsy lad. I want to go with you, but I can't Alice. He's family."
"I am your wife, Michael. I have done everything that Tommy has asked to make sure this plan of his works, the least he could do for me is let you come and support me as I meet the sister I didn't find out about until a little over a month ago." Alice could see that he was torn between her and the rest of his family, and she didn't know if he'd pick her.
"Alice," he sighed, throwing his hands up as he stared down at her frustrated face, "I've got to be at this meeting."
"Then Johnny and I will get the train by ourselves." She folded her coat tightly around her frame and pressed her lips together for a moment. "Enjoy your meeting."
Before he could say another word, she turned on her heel and marched towards Pol's house. He was a little surprised by her, he didn't know if it was this city, the family or the ring on her finger that toughened her up, but whatever it was, he knew that he wasn't going to get away with anything anymore.
He could barely concentrate on what Tommy was saying, his mum told him that Alice came into her house like a beaten bear and whisked Johnny away without saying a word. Michael didn't want to be here, he wanted to be on that train; but Tommy would've killed him if he didn't attend and he used to give Arthur a hard time when Linda stopped him from getting involved with the family business. He was just going to have to suck it up and prepare to make it up to Alice when she gets home.
"Now, Danny Finlay says he's had a run in with this Paul fella before and he can't be trusted. So, now that all of you are caught up, we need to plan for a betrayal." Tommy leaned against the table; his fingers pressed against the wood. "Anyone got any ideas?" his question was directed to everyone in the room, but his eyes fixated on Pol's.
"How do we know that Danny Finlay's word is legit?" she asked as she lit up a cigarette.
"Because Danny started rambling on about gypsy blood and gut feelings and although I don't trust his gut, I trust Alice's. She had the feeling that something wasn't right."
"What if the Polish were legit but Danny wasn't? Did you think of that, Tom?" Arthur asked, looking to Pol for back up. "I get that it's Alice's kin and all, but the girl held a gun to the back of his head. She doesn't trust him either."
"I got her to ride in the car with him and she assures me that he doesn't have anything planned."
"But I think we should have a back up against him too," Pol retorted, "he's harbouring a grudge against this family and he's pushed his way in using my son and my grandson for some reason."
Michael looked at his mother as something clicked in his mind. "Danny doesn't want to fuck up this deal because he's going to be getting paid too and he wants Alice to see that he's trustworthy,"
"So, what do you think he's doing? Trying to get into the family business?" Tommy asked with a raised brow.
"No, he wants to blow our family up from the inside. He forced my hand which led to us running away to get married, hoping that it would piss you off. Now, he's got Alice speaking to him again and I think he's going to try to pull us apart so that, I don't know, out of spite maybe, Alice tells him all our secrets."
"He's the type that would try and be sneaky, Tom." Arthur agreed, resting back into his chair. "If I were you, Michael, I'd keep that wife of yours keen."
"Alice ain't going to leave, she wouldn't."
"She wasn't too happy when she picked Johnny up, and you said that Danny had pulled her to the side, Tommy." Pol looked at Michael expecting him to answer her and give an explanation, but he just stared at the table; his leg shaking, and his arms folded. "Are you two having problems? Did Danny say something to Alice today?"
Michael let out an exhausted breath, but he still didn't answer any of the questions and it was starting to get on Tommy's nerves.
"Michael, are you and Alice already having troubles or what?"
"No, we're not having troubles. She's emotional because she hasn't had the chance to grieve her mother properly, she's trying to help you with this plan and Danny's stressing her out, which she doesn't need in her condition. And to top it off, she wanted me to go with her to her sister's and I couldn't because of this meeting which set her off." Michael rambled as he stared into his cousin's judgemental eyes.
"What do you mean by 'her condition'? Is Alice sick?" Pol asked, leaning over the table to grab Michael's arm.
"She's pregnant, mum. We're having another kid." When he looked at her and saw the grin that appeared, he lightened up a bit and looked to Arthur and Tommy. "So, we don't need to worry about Alice betraying our trust."
"Well, I think this calls for a celebration at the Garrison." Arthur jumped out of his seat and banged his hands off the table.
"Couldn't agree more, when Alice gets back from Essex, we will fill her in about Danny and plan for the Polish." Tommy stepped around the table, placing a firm hand on Michael's shoulder as he waited for everyone to clear out of the room. "Congratulations and look after her, enjoy these next few months because coming from experience, they go far too fast."
"I already missed out on one, I'm not missing another." He looked up at Tommy, noticing the joy and sadness in his eyes. "I need her sister's address, Tommy. I wanted to be on that train with her so badly,"
"I'll get it for you, and I'll have a drink for you at the Garrison."
By the time the train got to Essex, it was far too late for her to show up at Nora's door after all this time. They checked into a hotel room and prepared themselves for the night. As she waited for the bath water to cool down for Johnny, she sat him on the edge of the bed, tucking his hair behind his ears and tried to explain to him what was happening.
"In the morning, you and I are going to meet mummy's sister."
"I didn't know mumma had a sister."
"Neither did I until a few weeks ago."
"What's her name?"
"Her name is Nora and she lives here in Essex."
"Is she Uncle Danny's sister too?"
Alice rested her hand on his cheek and scrunched up her face as she tried her best to simplify things for him. "No, you know how Danny has a different mum from me but the same dad? Well, Nora has a different dad from me, but we had the same mum. So, Danny and Nora aren't related at all." She took her hand away from his face and pushed herself back onto her feet. "Speaking of your Uncle Danny, how would you feel about going to the caravans? You'd be able to play with the cousins you haven't met yet."
"I have cousins?" Johnny was excited about the prospect of playing with other kids.
There was a knock at the door. "From what I know, you have plenty of them." She said as she stepped towards it. When she opened the door, her face dropped slightly, and her brow raised. "Michael, what are you doing here?"
"You want me here, I wanted to be here… At least you did and I'm hoping you still do." He leaned against the door frame, glancing in at Johnny. "Hello Johnny."
"Hi dad!" he said excitedly, running towards the door.
Alice opened the door wider and let Johnny leap into his father's arms, laughing as Michael squeezed him tightly. "Of course, I want you here." She watched them for a second before checking on the bath water once more. "How'd you even find us?"
"I checked every hotel along the way." He rested his son back on his feet and pulled Alice onto hers. "Go get yourself comfortable, I'll bath Johnny and put him to bed."
Alice placed her hand over her mouth, showing her tiredness with a yawn. "I'll not say no to that, perhaps you'll feel generous enough to fill one up for me too?"
Michael took off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves, sitting by the steel bath as he waited for Johnny to get in. "I'm sure I could manage that."
Once he was dried and in bed, Johnny could barely keep his eyes open. Alice watched over him until he was asleep before closing his door over slightly and stepping back into their room. She stepped into the bath and submerged herself as much as she could in the roasting water while Michael hung his jacket and shirt up.
"How was the big family meeting?" she asked as she poured a cup of water over her hair and down her back.
"Well, we all came to agreement that we have to be careful with the Polish, but our biggest concern is Danny." He sat beside the tub; his arm rested against the rim.
"Why is he a concern? He told me that he wasn't planning anything."
"I know, but I think he's going to try and use you to ruin this family."
"I don't think so, Michael." She shook her head and stretched out her legs. "I know I told you that I didn't really want to tell anyone about this baby yet, but I told him that I was pregnant. It was the only way I could get anything out of him. So, I don't think he'll do anything to us."
Michael nodded and looked away from her. "I hope you're right and I told my family our news too."
"What? So, everyone knows now?"
"Everyone except Johnny."
"I just want him to be excited about being a big brother."
"He will be, he's a caring kid. Takes after you in that respect."
Alice reached over and took his hand; she knew everything about his childhood, and she knew that Michael wanted his son to be nothing like him. "You care too, you wouldn't have drove all this way if you didn't." When he kissed the back of her hand and flashed a tiny smile at her, she got out of the tub and wrapped a towel around her body. "How did they manage to get our news out of you? You don't usually crack so easily."
He moved from the floor to the edge of the bed, watching her as she moved around the room. "My mum and Tommy thought we were having troubles. Probably thought that you'd leave me."
She laughed and spun around, snatching another towel to dry her hair. "Did you think I was going to leave?"
"No, I'd like to think that our marriage is strong enough to handle an argument and that you'd want me to be around for this baby."
She clipped her hair up and slipped into her sleeping gown, glancing over her shoulder at her husband. "I've got you back in my life again, I'm not letting anyone get in between us anymore." She stepped over to him and placed herself on his lap, her legs wrapped around him.
"This time around, I'll be harder to get rid of." He let his fingertips fall down her back, tracing little lines and circles through the thin fabric.
"Well, we'll have our chance to see if Danny's trying to split us. I'm taking him up on his offer to go to his caravans," she placed her hand on his chest and pushed him flat onto the mattress, peering above him with a smirk, "and you're going. No ifs or buts."
A:N I know I've been updating a little slower than normally, but I hope to get the next chapter out a lot sooner. We'll finally get to meet Nora, what do you think she'll be like? How will she react to Alice, Michael and Johnny? Will Danny's plan succeed? Can he drive a wedge between the duo? Thank you so much for reading this and for all the support!