Thank you for sticking with the story and waiting so long in between chapters. Let me know what you think of think of this one.


Rose looked up from the letter to Tommy who was watching her closely.

"He's alive?"

Tommy nodded. "It would seem so."

Trying to gather her thoughts, she looked back at the letter. How could he still be alive? Tommy had shot him. Hadn't he? She looked back up at him.

"I thought you'd shot him."

"I did. In the face."

"So, how…?"

"It seems my aim wasn't as good as it should have been. Probably due to the fact that he'd just shot me in my arm."

Rose looked at the letter again and tried to read it. It was incomprehensible at times, long rambling streams of consciousness, but the main gist of it was Alfie wanting to know how his dog was.

"Where is he?"

"Why? Do you want to see him?"

Rose thought for a second. "I don't know. Maybe."

"He's in Margate."

Rose nodded and looked away, into the fire. She had vivid memories of Margate but hadn't thought about that time in her life for a while. She'd worked hard to forget about it when she'd lived at May's. Tommy pursed his lips. He remembered that time well also.

Rose stood up. The news was a lot and she wanted to get out on Nua to work it through.

"Thank you for telling me, Tommy. I'm going to go out riding. To think about it all."

Tommy stood up too. "I'm going to the office. I have a meeting but I'll be back later. If you want to talk."

She nodded and turned to go.

"Rose?"

She turned back and looked at him.

"Will you tell me if you go to Margate?"

"Will you stop me going if I tell you?"

He paused. Of course he wanted to, but he knew that wouldn't work anymore.

"No, but I'd like to know where you are so I don't have to worry."

She wondered if he meant it. "I'll tell you."

And watching her leave the room, Tommy also wondered if she meant it.

Later that day, whilst Rose was cantering across Tommy's land, Colonel Ben Younger was killed when his car exploded in the street outside Tommy's office. A small boy was also killed. Tommy held the child's lifeless body in his arms and felt the heat from the burning car. But more than that, he felt the anger and the pain burn inside him. This was his fault – he had wanted to do the right thing for once, but now look. Death and darkness still followed him. He was indeed cursed. Everything he touched went bad, those he loved got hurt, the innocent died. The visions of Grace calling him to be with her filled his thoughts and stayed there. Surely he needed to do as she asked.

The next morning, Rose knocked on the door of Tommy's study. Lizzie had told her about the explosion and the deaths of Ben Younger and the boy. She had shrugged when Rose asked her how Tommy was so she thought she'd find out for himself.

"Come."

Rose opened the door to find Tommy at his desk, already drinking a whiskey. She approached him.

"I heard about what happened."

He took a gulp of whiskey, then stubbed out his cigarette.

"How's Ada?"

He cleared his throat. "Angry, sad, frustrated. And any number of other emotions. You could pick up a phone and ask her yourself, you know."

Rose chose not to react. He was right, after all. She really should ring her sister.

"How are you?"

He ignored the question, as she suspected he would, and stood up to pour himself another drink.

"This wasn't your fault, you know."

He scoffed as he sat back down at his desk. Rose knew it was no use trying to get him to talk. She turned to go when Tommy spoke.

"I'm going to see Alfie tomorrow. D'you want to come?"

She turned and looked at him. "Are you going to finish the job?"

He shook his head. "No."

"Will he?"

"Maybe"

She sighed. Sometimes she felt that the men around her were no better than small boys – except their weapons were real.

"Why are you going to see him?"

He motioned for her to sit, which she did.

"I'm going to ask for his help."

"To do what?"

"To kill Mosley."

She leaned back. Of course he was. "Tell me the plan."

So, Tommy lit a cigarette and told her all about his plan to kill Mosley – Barney, the opium, Jimmy McCavern and the Billy Boys, Alfie's men. Rose listened to him without interruption and when he'd finished, she just sat and looked at him for a few seconds, processing what he'd told her. He took a drag of his cigarette as he watched her thinking about it all. He almost smiled at the serious expression on her face which he'd seen so many times before – that little line above her nose as she pulled her brows together, her eyes flickering back and forth across his face, her bottom lip jutting out ever so slightly. She had looked at him like that so often after he'd told her something which she wasn't sure whether she liked or not.

He remembered once, when she was six years old, telling her to stay out of the shop when it was open and she looked at him with the exact same expression before shaking her head.

"No, thank you, Tommy. You've got that wrong."

He'd let out a laugh at that. She'd been so bold to just assume it was a suggestion on his part. He'd soon put her straight.

Now he was telling her his plan to kill a man and he was half expecting her to give him the same answer. Instead she had a question.

"And this Barney is reliable?"

"Of course he's not. He's been in a lunatic asylum. But he's still the best sniper I've ever known and he's loyal."

"There are no end of things that could go wrong in your plan."

He nodded. "I know. But it's the best plan I can think of. Can you think of a better one?"

Rose felt that actually, given the time, she probably could. But she wanted nothing to do with it so she ignored the question.

"Once it's done, you'll take charge of the party? Then what?"

"Then I neutralise it."

"With the help of your politician friends in London. And Britain will be saved. Thanks to the great Tommy Shelby, OBE."

Tommy bristled as her sarcasm and she immediately felt bad.

"Tommy, it's a crazy and dangerous plan, but if anyone can pull it off, you can. And we'll all be the better for it. And it will be thanks to you, because I don't see anyone else standing up and doing anything about it."

He blinked at her, surprised at her encouragement. It had been good to hear and boosted his confidence a little. There were more times recently than he'd like to admit when he'd faltered in his usual surety about his decisions and actions. He stood up abruptly, not wanting to dwell on his thoughts any longer.

"We have a family meeting in an hour. I'll drive."

And with that he grabbed his cigarette case and lighter and strode out of the room, leaving Rose staring at his vacated chair. She'd seen the small faltering, that loss of control ever so slightly in her brother's face as she caught a glimpse of his insecurity and - was it fear? She sighed as she stood up and left the room also, wondering what the family meeting would entail. She had been to enough of them to know that anything could happen, but she had a particularly bad feeling about this one.

The minute Rose walked into the lounge area of The Garrison, she knew the bad feeling she'd had about this meeting was justified. The atmosphere was as thick as the cigarette smoke and there was an uneasy tension in the room. Tommy had pushed the door open hard as he strode confidently into the room and Rose had to put up her hands to keep it from hitting her in the face as she followed him in. Curly jumped up from the table he'd been sitting at and held the door open for her.

"There you are, Miss Rose."

She smiled at him. "Thank you, Curly."

She walked past the small group of men sat along the bar who weren't blood, but who were as much family as her brothers – Johnny Dogs, Jeremiah and now Aberama, Polly's soon-to-be husband. They all nodded at her as she passed them and she nodded back. It wasn't the occasion for hugs and smiles, but Arthur beamed at her as she approached the table at the front where the only free chair was to Michael's left. Arthur stood up and pulled her into a bear hug which she returned. Arthur was always delighted to see his littlest sister. He kissed her on the top of her head and pulled the chair out for her to sit on. She looked at Michael as she sat down who smiled at her. She gave him a tight smile and shifted her eyes to his wife. She was beautiful and had the biggest brown eyes Rose had ever seen. She had them fixed on Rose who stared right back, refusing to be intimidated by her. Michael leaned forward slightly.

"Rose, I don't think you've met my wife, Gina. Gina, this is my little cousin, Rose."

Gina blinked those big eyes once and smirked. "Charmed, I'm sure. Although, Michael, from what I saw at the ballet, your little cousin is quite grown up now."

Without missing a beat, Rose replied. "Oh, were you at the ballet, Gina? I'm afraid I didn't notice you."

Arthur snorted behind her to her left and Gina's stare turned to ice. Rose smiled at her brightly and turned her head to Tommy who cleared his throat, impatient to start the meeting.

He gave apologies from Lizzie and welcomed Aberama to the family. He also gave his condolences to an absent Ada on the death of Ben Younger, the father of her unborn child. There was a pause to make a toast and Rose duly raised the glass Michael had poured for her and drank to happier circumstances. As she swallowed the burning liquid, she doubted these would occur any time soon.

Tommy carried on.

"Item number two, an announcement regarding Michael…"

But before he could continue, Michael interrupted him. Rose closed her eyes briefly, bracing herself for the fireworks.

"Before you go on, Tommy, there's something I would like to say to the whole family directly regarding the finances and the future of this company."

Rose looked across the table at Finn who raised an eyebrow and sunk down into his chair a little. She looked over at Polly who was glaring daggers at Gina, clearly holding her responsible for this. Gina kept her eyes firmly on the table. Looking up at Tommy, Rose was glad he wasn't looking at her. His brow was deeply furrowed as he looked at Michael, and his expression was one of bemused irritation. Her cousin carried on regardless.

"According to your own estimations, this new venture of the delivery and shipment of opium will bring into the company around £2 million per year. Therefore, due to the amounts involved, I think this company should be restructured."

Rose drew in her breath and widened her eyes. She couldn't decide if Michael was incredibly brave or utterly stupid. Polly spoke up sharply.

"Michael, I think this can wait till outside the family meeting."

But Tommy wasn't going to put this to one side. "Restructured in what way?"

His eyes shifted to Gina as she answered him. Rose couldn't believe her audacity and curled her lip in contempt as she watched her speak.

"Because of the amounts of money involved, shipment and dispatch will become the primary source of income to the company. It's simple mathematics."

Rose wanted to punch her in the face. Michael stood up and walked behind his wife, putting his hands on her shoulders, whilst spouting forth about how he would enable an expansion of the business into America where he had "very good contacts" to whom he'd already spoken. Apparently Gina's family was very experienced in this kind of business which didn't surprise Rose at all. For all her glamourous clothes and blood red lipstick, she was a gangster like the rest of them. Rose pulled her attention to Michael who was busy telling the family that the $20 million dollar income per annum he would be able to ensure would ease their financial burdens.

Tommy had by this point run out of patience. Rose saw him lick his lips and look up at the ceiling. She was looking forward to watching him obliterate Michael and his arrogant wife. But Tommy bided his time and allowed Michael to continue. Rose shifted in her seat as Michael dug himself into an even deeper hole.

"See, I know that the scars and the wounds, they're on the inside, not on the outside."

Michael pointed a finger at his temple as Tommy now fixed him in his sights. Rose looked down at her hands, unable to watch.

"And, as a member of the new generation, I am able to take that great burden off your weary shoulders. A new decade is coming. There will be new opportunities and new territories, more money than we've ever had before. Tommy, you can still do the good work that deep down you want to do. Mum, you can get married and live in that big house. Arthur, you can be the man that Linda wants you to be."

Arthur made it clear what he thought about that and Rose watched now as Michael moved behind Finn, putting his hands on his shoulders.

"Finn. You've proved yourself. You're part of the new generation. You could come to New York with me."

Finally, his eyes shifted to Rose, who lifted her chin and glared at him. "Don't you dare", she thought. But he did dare, smiling at her as he did so.

"And Rose, my favourite cousin, you can leave all this behind. That's what you want, isn't it? I'd give you a yearly income, buy you those stables you've always wanted. You can train the best racehorses, move in the finest company, find yourself a nice young man to marry who knows nothing about your past."

Her mouth dropped open at his words. She was furious with him, but knew it wasn't the right time to speak. She clamped her mouth shut and looked away. She saw Tommy glance at her before looking back at Michael who was handing him a file. He held it out just in front of her face and she felt caught between the two of them.

"Here is my proposal. A full restructuring of the company – I will be managing director and you can be non-executive chairman, but under an assumed name to protect your reputation. I found the name of a dead man. You will be registered as Mr Jones."

As Michael continued to try and convince the family that this was the best way forward, Rose decided that he was utterly stupid. How did he think this would end? She watched him incredulously as he handed Tommy the file.

"Take a look at the future, Tommy. At least read it with an open mind."

Tommy stared at him for a few seconds before taking the file.

"It's cold in here, Michael."

He turned and threw it in the fire. Johnny Dogs laughed as Michael told Tommy that the Americans wanted to deal with him. Ignoring him, Tommy attempted to move the meeting on but Gina interrupted him firmly. Rose still wanted to punch her in the face.

"Tell him the truth. Go on. He can take it."

Michael hesitated and Rose held her breath. She felt like the whole room was doing the same thing. What was the truth? Tommy wanted to know too.

"Tell me the truth, Michael."

"The Americans don't want to deal with an old-fashioned backstreet razor gang. Those days are gone."

Looking up at Tommy, Rose could feel his anger. His expression didn't change, his hands still clasped behind his back, but she could see that he had taken as much as he could take. If there had been any redemption available to Michael, this insult had shredded the last of it.

There was a commotion outside and one of Tommy's men rushed in to say that Barney had bitten through his rope and was cornered but they needed help. Tommy yelled at them to go and get him, as every man in the room rushed outside to help.

Tommy rarely shouted and Rose knew that Michael had got to him. He turned round, pinching the bridge of his nose before stretching out his arms and leaning against the mantelpiece. Michael smiled as he saw Tommy's reaction. Rose now wanted to punch him in the face. She consoled herself with the thought that he would get his comeuppance. Tommy would not let this lie.

"I'm doing this for you, Tommy. It's time and you know it. Mum's leaving. John's dead. Arthur needs help."

Tommy shoulders tensed and Rose sensed he was about to explode. Tommy suddenly spun around, grabbed a glass of whiskey and threw it into the fire which flared up with the alcohol. Rose jumped violently and covered her face with her arms. Tommy turned back to face Michael, only to be met with a knife. Rose gasped. It was inches from her head.

"Go on, Tom. Go on, cut me. Like the good old days. Or…" He lowered the knife. "…see this for what it is. A natural succession which someday must happen."

Rose's hands clenched in her lap as she watched Tommy work at gaining control of himself.

"I gave you an opportunity, Michael. You betrayed me. Don't be here when I get back."

Michael smirked as his wife smart-mouthed Tommy who headed to the door to deal with his next problem. He called over his shoulder as his exited.

"Rose!"

Rose stood up. Gina scoffed.

"That's right. Do as you're told, little Rose."

Rose didn't give Gina the satisfaction of looking at her. Instead she moved closer to Michael and spoke quietly.

"I won't weep at your grave, Michael. I'll spit on it."

He looked at her, shocked at the harshness of her words. She kept his gaze for long enough to know that she was serious, then turned and followed Tommy out of the door.

One of Tommy's men gave Rose a lift home and, as she sat in the car and watched the city stretch out and then turn into fields and farmhouses, she thought about what Michael had said.

He'd said an awful lot which disturbed her and made her angry in equal measure but there was one thing he'd said which she couldn't come to terms with.

"And Rose, my favourite cousin, you can leave all this behind. That's what you want, isn't it? I'd give you a yearly income, buy you those stables you've always wanted. You can train the best racehorses, move in the best company, find yourself a nice young man to marry who knows nothing about your past."

She had been offended at his words, she'd felt patronised and misrepresented – as if he'd portrayed her as someone who only wanted an easy life, someone who couldn't cope with difficulty, someone who was shallow and weak, who wanted nothing to do with her family.

And yet, wasn't that what she did want? To get away from the family who caused her so much difficultly; to lead a calm life filled with the things which gave her pleasure; to deny who she really was. Wasn't that why she'd ended up with Mosley? And look how that had ended. Polly had told her to pull herself together, accept who she was and fight. Hold her head high, struggle through the bad, enjoy the good, stick with the family.

She rubbed a hand down her face as she realised something. This battle inside her would never go away. She would always be pulling away from the struggle which came with being a Shelby whilst being pulled back to the very bosom of the family which was the place she knew she truly belonged. She had been insulted at Michael's words to Tommy – his insolence and disrespect had appalled her. When it came to taking sides, there was absolutely no question that she would stand with and protect Tommy every time. No matter what her own thoughts on his decisions were, she would not allow anyone else to hurt him.

She found herself somewhat shocked at these thoughts. She had railed and rebelled against the family business so many times and had judged Tommy's choices over and over – and with good reason. But now that he and the family business were under attack by one of their own, there was absolutely no doubt where she stood.

She wasn't sure how she was going to reconcile all this but one thing she was sure of: she definitely did not want to be the person that Michael had described. She would no longer yearn for a different life, a new identity. Instead she would come to terms with being a Shelby and work out what that meant for her future in due course.

But first, there was the small matter of the assassination of a member of parliament. She must speak to Tommy about that in the morning.