Tommy was in hospital for four months in total. He had asked Michael, John, Arthur and I to be at his house early the day after he was released and we were waiting anxiously in the foyer as Mary told him of our arrival. Mary came back from the garden, smiling at the four of us. "Mr Shelby has asked that you wait in the kitchen." she told us, clasping her hands together in front of her. I nodded at her before removing my coat and leading the men to the kitchen, knowing what was going to happen.
We quickly made ourselves comfy, spreading out across the room and helping ourselves to rum and tea. I sat atop the table, my heels on a chair and a glass of rum in my hand. John was sitting opposite me, on a sideboard with his feet sharing a chair with mine, a cigar in one hand and a glass of rum beside him. Michael was to the side of me, leaning back against the sinks with his hands in his pockets. Arthur was sitting at the table behind me, a teapot and mug in front of him as he leant back into a chair. Johnny Dogs had joined us, sitting on the sideboard next to the sink with his feet up. All the men had discarded their jackets.
"You've got two choices, Michael. You fuck off to America with Arthur, join the Apaches, or you marry the girl." John said and my brow furrowed. "This isn't a joke." Michael told him as I spoke up. "What girl?" I questioned, looking between them both. "That little posh thing from the wedding. Our Michaels been fucking her ever since and got her up the swanny." Arthur laughed from behind me, I fought to keep my gaze away from Michael and my face neutral.
"Arthur, are you really gonna live with the Apaches?" Johnny asked, a smirk in his voice. "Told her father yet?" Arthur asked, ignoring Johnny's question. "No." Michael replied, bluntly. "He'll fucking shoot you, man." John told him, pointing his cigar at Michael. "Are you sure the kid's yours?" Arthur questioned. "I wish I hadn't told you." Michael sighed as we avoided each others eyes and I downed my drink. "Then think of marriage as a beautiful road, flowers all the way down it." Arthur told him. I scrunched my face up in confusion as I turned to the eldest Shelby. "Are you taking the piss?" I asked, laughing slightly. "Is he joking?" Michael asked from beside me, facing John and gesturing to Arthur. "Oh, it's hard to tell these days." John replied as I turned back around to look at him.
I lifted my legs to let Michael past as he went to the bottle of rum beside me. He poured himself one before topping up my outstretched glass. "Do you, uh.. Do you love the woman?" Arthur asked and Michael stopped beside me. I looked up at John as he stayed silent. "Fucking what?" Michael asked, resting his hands on the tables and leaning in to Arthur. "Go and marry her like the rest of us." Arthur told him. "She doesn't want her family to know. She doesn't wanna have the baby." Michael replied. "I know someone that can take care of it. I know a couple, both in Birmingham or London, if she'd prefer." I told him as we made eye contact for the first time.
"Shut up, Evie." Arthur told me. "One of them is the same woman who helped you out twice." I reminded the eldest Shelby as I turned to him. "Not my women." he replied, glaring up at me. "That's why you had them fixed, Arthur." John told him. "Charlotte will want the best." Michael told us, drinking a mouthful of rum. "She is the best." John told him and I turned away from Arthur once more. "The best?" Arthur muttered. "She used to be a nurse. Twenty minutes. Done." I told Michael. "You don't have to go in or wait outside. You go to The Garrison, drink whiskey, have a laugh. Remember, John?" Arthur told him and I caught eyes with John. "Shut up, Arthur." I told him, venom in my voice.
"Then this kid walks in, no shoes on, says, 'It's done.' Second time we was in there, same kid. This time he's wearing shiny new shoes. He shouts, 'It's done, Arthur.'" Arthur said, a faraway tone in his voice. "And what?" John asked, looking behind me at his brother now. "She bought new shoes with the money I gave her. It was for a good cause." He said as Michael walked around the table. "Arthur?" Johnny asked. "If you're gonna get on like this with the Apaches, they'll fucking scalp you, boy." he finished. A bell ringing interrupted the conversation. "Tommy said when that bell rings we're to all go to the big room." Johnny told us, downing his drink and hopping off the counter. "Come on, Tommy has a plan." he added before walking out.
I downed my drink, knowing what we were going up to before taking Johns outreached hand to jump off the table. Michael and Arthur filed out first, John holding me back for a moment. "Are you alright?" he asked, looking down at me. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just Arthur being a twat." I told him with a small smile. He searched my face for a moment before pressing a kiss to my lips and winding his arm around my waist and guiding me out. This was the closest we'd been for a while and I couldn't help but think it was for Tommy's benefit. "Let's go see what Tommy wants." he told me.
Michael and Johnny walked into the room first, closely followed by me and John. John tensed beside me and I gently pressed my body into his in reassurance as Arthur walked in. "Arthur!" Alfie exclaimed, raising his hands over his head as Arthur inhaled sharply and took a few steps backwards before turning towards the door. "Arthur?" Alfie called. "Arthur, come here." Tommy called and Arthur paused in the doorway, reluctantly turning back to the room. "Shalom!" Alfie greeted as Arthur groaned, closing the door. "Arthur, shalom." Alfie greeted again. "Alfie." Arthur managed to get out through gritted teeth. "Shalom." Alfie repeated going towards Arthur.
"Come here. Come. Let's sit down. I owe you a little something, don't I? I do. Come on. Sit down. Come on, sit down here." Alfie said as he led Arthur to a sofa and sat down beside him. "Right. Listen. Arthur. I want you to know, right, that whatever happened between us back then, yeah, that was business. It was just business. Alright? And I also want you to know that I have made my apologies via my own God for abusing a very holy day to get you clinked up and battered, which I did. And now I would also like to extend my personal apologies unto you." There was a moment of silence as both Arthur and Alife looked up at Tommy. "All right?" Alfie asked. Tommy didn't respond, just looked at him.
"I hear that you have allowed Jesus to come into your life. Eh?" Alfie said turning back to Arthur. "Oh, you heard then." Arthur replied, relaxing slightly. "Yeah, that's beautiful, that's wonderful. That is lovely, isn't it? That is lovely. And I was wondering, how does that work for you on a day to day considering your line of work, mate?" Alfie continued. "Alright, Alf, why don't you leave him alone, yeah?" I interrupted, causing both Tommy and Alfie to look at me as I gave Alfie a sweet smile.
"My darlin' Evelyn. You look as radiant as always." Alfie told me, standing. "This must be the husband. Yeah, I can see the family resemblance. I haven't got a clue what she's doin' with you, mate, but that's not my business. I prefer the other one, love. Where's he gone? Where is he?" Arthur said, turning to find Michael and I could feel John's eyes on me. "Michael! Shalom! Good to see you again, mate." Alfie said, going over to Michael and shaking his hand. John was tense beside me and I knew I'd be questioned on it later. "Enjoy the party, did ya, mate? Of course you fucking did." Alfie added and both Michaels and Tommy's eyes flickered to me.
"If we're going to be doing business with this fucker, I demand to know why." Arthur ground out from the sofa. Tommy pulled his eyes from me and pushed away from his desk. "Right… While I was in the hospital, I formulated a plan and this is how it's going to work. So, the Russians cannot be trusted to pay us." Tommy began, looking around the room at each of us. John removed his arm from around me and started wandering around the room. From where I stood, I couldn't tell if his eyes were on Michael or Tommy. "We are going to take what is ours. We need to see what is in their treasury. And that's why we need Mr Solomons." he added. Johnny Dogs shot me a look.
The meeting was long and John was begrudgingly driving me back to Polly's. The drive was made in silence and it was dark by the time we pulled up to the house. "There you go." John muttered as he stopped the car. "Aren't you coming in?" I asked, my brow furrowed as I turned to him. "Nah." he told me, lighting a cigar. "The kids will want to see you." I told him, watching him. "I'll come see 'em tomorrow." he told me, avoiding my gaze. There was a long silence as I watched him.
"Why did you take Michael to see Solomons?" He asked, looking at me for the first time since we got in the car. "Because Tommy asked me to go see him. We knew you wouldn't be comfortable with me going by myself and we also knew that going with you or Arthur would start a fucking war. Michael seemed like the sensible option." I told him, telling him the same thing I had told Tommy to convince him to let Michael go. "You didn't stay at Adas. You stayed in London but not Ada's. I checked with the men stationed outside." he added. "Solomons put us up in a posh hotel in the West End. Separate rooms. You can check, there were two rooms booked under the name Ollie Aarons." I told him, not technically lying as there were two rooms booked.
There was another silence as he searched my face, looking for a hint that I was lying. "You should go in, it's late." he told me, looking away from me. "Fuck sake." I muttered, shaking my head. "Can't you at least pretend to love me?" I asked, my voice coming out quieter than I expected but I knew he heard as he turned to look at me. His brow furrowed as his hand came to my face, his thumb stroking my cheek as he looked into my eyes. "I do love you, Evelyn." he told me, sincerely. I looked up at him for a few more moments before bringing my lips to his.
There were unsure at first but the passion quickly built. I moved so I was sat straddling him, the steering wheel behind me as I ground my hips into Johns, never breaking our lips apart. His cigar was discarded and his arms went around my waist, pulling my body into his. No words were needed as I made quick work on his trousers, his hands pushing my dress up and moving my underwear to the side. Almost as soon as I released him from his boxers, he was lifting me onto him. Our lips broke apart as he entered me and I let out a quiet moan. He buried his head into my neck as I moved against him, moaning with each movement. His hands gripped my hips as he helped my movements, each of us breathing heavy. It wasn't long before I felt my orgasm building inside me and I felt the release as I spasmed around him. His hands on my hips were more forceful now as he continued the momentum, his own release in sight. It was only a few moments before he was orgasming inside me. Each of us breathing heavily as we came to a slow stop.
"I've missed you." I whispered as he brought his eyes up to mine. He nodded slightly in agreement, still not being able to speak. "I want this back, John, and that means I need those rumours about whore houses to stop." I told him, looking at him sternly. "And I need you to stop seeing whoever it is that you're seeing." he told me, his voice low. My stomach dropped as I searched his face. I tried to move but his hands on my hips were keeping me firmly in place. "Who told you that I am seeing someone?" I asked him, searching his face.
"Luckily for you, no one. I know you, Evelyn. Too well. I will know if you continue whatever it is and I will find out who he is." he spoke slowly, making sure I was listening to what he was saying. "And if you do continue it, or I do hear any rumours or a whisper of a name, I will kill him and make sure no man will ever touch you again. Are we clear?" he asked, looking at me closely. I watched him for a moment before nodding and looking away from him. "Good." he smiled, putting a finger under my chin and kissing my lips.
A/N JOHN KNOWS! It was not my plan for John to know but this just came out! Do you think he'll work out who it is? Let me know what you think :)