The sun was just coming up in the sky and Alfie turned his head to look at Niamh who was sleeping soundly beside him. His eyes traced the light dusting of freckles upon her nose and he reached out to brush back the strand of caramel hair that had fallen across her face. His fingers twitched as he thought back to the night before and the way her bare skin had felt beneath his hands. She was so beautiful and he was wholly undeserving of her. He knew he was, but he took everything she gave him because he was weak, and for the first time in a long time he was happy. But he didn't know if it would stay that way.
Guilt had been eating Alfie up all night as he tried to think about his meeting this morning. He didn't want to make an enemy out of Levi Janowicz but neither did he want to hurt his wife. All weekend, he had tried to keep his mind busy and tried to figure out what the hell he was going to do. But the only thing Alfie had been able to figure out over the past few days was that he was absolutely falling in love with Niamh.
It had all seemed so simple those months ago when he and Janowicz had come up with their plan. Alfie would marry Tommy Shelby's sister and find a way to get information about the family business. Then he would relay said information to Janowicz, and together the two of them would find a way to bring Thomas Shelby and his entire business to his knees. But there was one thing neither Alfie nor Janowicz had factored into their plan, and that was that the London gangster might actually develop feelings for his wife.
So it seemed that Alfie was truly stuck between a rock and a hard place. He risked angering the man who had the potential to ruin him in his rage, or he risked losing the woman he was coming to care for more and more each day. What a fucking mess to be in.
"Alf," Niamh murmured groggily, opening her eyes and reaching for him. "Why are you awake?"
"Couldn't sleep," he answered, leaning down to kiss her on the head, swallowing down feelings of guilt and trepidation. She smiled and in that moment she wiped away any of his worries and he could think about only her.
"Do you want me to make you a cup of tea?" Niamh asked.
"Nah," he shook his head. "But you can give me a kiss though."
"My breath probably stinks," Niamh grimaced, and Alfie found it adorable that she could still be so self conscious over such trivial things with him.
"So, does mine," he grinned before pressing his lips to hers anyway.
As was usual with their kisses, they soon turned into something more; their bodies joining together before they could even think about it. Alfie rolled them both over so that Niamh was on top of him and he guided her hips in a rhythm that had them both peaking far too soon. Sitting up, held her to him, clutching at her as desperately as she was him while their breathing slowly began to still.
"Niamh, you know I… I care about you a lot, don't you?" he murmured, bringing her lips to his. He was too frightened to say what he really wanted to at that moment.
"I know," she smiled against his mouth. "I feel the same way about you, Alfie."
He couldn't lose her now, he just couldn't.
Levi Janowicz looked older than his forty two years. He was a tall, slender man with greying hair and a prominent bald patch on top of his head. His face bore an expression of permanent distaste, and his eyes were shrewd. He had the look of a man who should be avoided at all costs, but of course when had Alfie ever followed his gut instinct? Especially when it came to a chance at fucking over Tommy Shelby.
"I am disappointed not to have heard from you before our meeting," Janowicz sighed, setting his hands atop of the desk. Alfie didn't know why, but something about the fact the man left the nails of his little fingers to grow longer than the rest really perturbed him. It reminded him of the old man who used to live in the tenement block he grew up in. Crazy old Petr, they called. He had long hair and long nails and never bathed. He always stunk of piss and would wander the halls spouting nonsense in a mix of Russian and English. "I trust you have some information for me? After all, Mr Solomons you have been married into the Shelby family for a number of weeks now."
"I have," Alfie nodded, his eyes narrowing as he tried to figure out the best way to go about this. He knew that his usual vernacular wouldn't affect the man before him like it did others. Perhaps with Levi Janowicz, honesty would prove to be the best policy.
"And?" the man eyed him impatiently.
"And I've actually had somewhat of a change of heart," Alfie leaned back in his chair, hoping he looked a lot calmer than he felt inside. Then again he was the master of seeming calm on the surface while his feet actually paddled like mad beneath the water, wasn't he?
"A change of heart?" Levi snarled, his eyes darkening. "Mr Solomons, I pray for your sake that you haven't decided not to follow through with our plan."
"I have actually," Alfie nodded, looking out of the office window as though something more interesting had captured his attention. "You see, I had what you might call an epiphany from God. After all, He does speak to us, don't he? Just like 'e spoke to Moses, only this time there weren't no burnin' bush or anythin' quite so interestin'. No, you see it was more of knowin'; a sense of God talkin' if you will. And well, who am I to argue with God? So you see, the Shelbys are gypsies, right? Which means they come from an oppressed people just like us."
"So?"
"So, God has decided in his wisdom –wisdom which he shared with me through prayer– is…," Alfie opened his arms wide in an animated gesture. "...That instead of bringin' down the Shelbys, we should be workin' with them. We should be embracin' them and praisin' the fact that their status uplifts not only people of their kind but also people of ours. It's a reminder to our young men that they can do and be anythin' they want. It's a reminder to the wops and the toffs and every fucker else what look down on us that just like the Israelites risin' up against the Pharoah and seekin' the Promised Land, that we too can do the same, can't we?"
"Embracing them?" Levi slammed his hand down on the table in temper. "I don't want to fucking embrace them! I want to ruin them and I want to take what's theirs."
"We," Alfie narrowed his eyes and leaned forward, his voice lowering. "It was supposed to be we what took everythin' belongin' to the Shelbys. An' your words just now lead me to believe that you were in fact plannin' on doin' me over just like you wanna do them over. Would that be correct, Mr Janowicz?"
The man's nostrils flared and for a moment, Alfie wondered if steam was going to come shooting out of those hairy ears of his.
"I will give you one final chance, Mr Solomons, to change your mind and stick to our original plan," Janowicz spat through gritted teeth, evading Alfie's comment. "And I will kindly overlook your little discretion just this once. How does that sound?"
"Shit if I'm bein' honest with ya, mate," Alfie pulled a face. "I mean, you want me to go against God don't you? And well, I'm already in his bad books, aint I? Not sure I should be pushin' my luck with him any further. Therefore, Mr Janowicz, I think it's safe to say that our little friendship is concluded, don't you?"
"You'll regret this, Solomons. You mark my words, you'll regret this."
"I don't do well with threats, Mr Janowicz," Alfie's eyes thundered dangerously. "So before you threaten somethin' that you're gonna regret, I think you should leave. Ollie, will you see Mr Janowicz out and make sure that he doesn't accidentally get knocked over by a barrel of bread or somethin', yeah? Would hate for that to happen, wouldn't we?"
Alfie kept up his calm and aloof façade until Janowicz was well and truly gone, and only then did he allow himself to fling the papers off of his desk angrily. But anger wasn't the only thing Alfie was feeling in that moment; he was filled with trepidation as well. He had a feeling that Levi Janowicz wasn't going to let him get away with this.
"Shall I send someone to watch him?" Ollie asked when he returned.
"Yeah," Alfie nodded, his hand running across his beard in contemplation. "Yeah, send a couple of the lads to Liverpool an' see if they can keep an eye on that bastard. I wanna know everythin' he's plannin'."
"Fucking hell, you fucking bastard!" Niamh hissed, as she managed to slice her finger with the knife she was using to cut bread with.
"What terrible language, Mrs Solomons. I ought to wash your bloody mouth out."
"Alfie!" Niamh spun around with a gasp. "I didn't even hear you come in."
"That's 'cause I'm stealthy like one of them Samurai warriors what they have in Japan or wherever they come from," he grinned, taking her hand to inspect her finger. He shook his head and tutted before wrapping his mouth around it and licking away the blood. "There you go, all better."
Niamh swallowed, wondering why that simple act had set the lower half of her body all a tingle but she quickly forgot all about that when smoke began creeping out of the oven. Yanking it open, she groaned at the realization that dinner was ruined.
"I really like you, yeah, but even I can't eat that and pretend it's nice," Alfie grimaced, dodging out of the way with a laugh when Niamh tried to swat him with the oven mitt. He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her against him for a kiss. "How about I take you out for dinner tonight, yeah? I know a lovely little place a few streets away and I would happily relish the opportunity to show off my beautiful wife."
"What and give up the chance to eat the amazing gourmet meal I've prepared?" she grinned playfully. "Just let me go and get changed, alright?"
"I can help you with that," Alfie's eyes lit up and he was right behind Niamh as she began to climb the stairs, his hands caressing her rear through her dress.
"Alfie, with the sort of help you're proposing, the restaurant will be closed before we can get there," Niamh batted his hands away. "And I'd be starving all night."
"Yeah, but I wouldn't be."