Heaven On Hold | Peaky Blinders

What A Gentleman | Part 2

"Oh, yeah, I know who you are. Hmm. You are a bit of a failure, aren't you." I bit my lip and shook my head slowly. Though, the stubborn man of course couldn't see me if his eyes were closed. "You come all the way over here to this country in order to kill Tommy Shelby, but I mean...." Alfie scoffed a bit as he chuckled. "Well, he's not dead, is he? So...."

"No."

"No."

"He ain't."

~~~

"How much time have I got left, mate?" The  henchman once again looked down to read his pocket watch before answering.

"Ten seconds. Nine seconds. Eight seconds." Luca began to feel impatience and nodded very slowly. It looked wicked. "Five, four, three, two, one."

Alfie carefully opened his eyes so he could look at the two Italian men suspiciously. I somehow myself was waiting and preparing for a bomb to go off or a shooting affair, but nothing happened to my surprise so I put away the knives in my hand palms again.

"Right, hello." The gangster sighed and looked them up and down. "How can I help you?"

"I have a proposition for you." Mr. Changretta wished to begin his story, but Alfie already cut him off very quickly before he could go any further.

"Mmm.... yeah. I already know what you want."

"Yeah. I just want to hear you say it out loud. So I can check how ridiculous it is." Luca Changretta shook his head and stared down at his personal guards in disgust while I in the meantime was hesitating between two options; Reveal myself, or, stay hidden away until hell breaks loose.

"Ok, I have my own 10 seconds of patience left with this guy." Luca complained in Italian and I chuckled at his stupidness. Alfie and I could both speak and translate Italian.

"Luca. They say this is how he is. We need him." Alfie narrowed his eyes and nodded to indicate his friend was right.

Mr. Changretta then hovered over Alfie's broad frame and death seriously stared him in the eyes.

"There is gonna be a little fight, a boxing match." Luca pointed a few times at the man's chest ahead of him. "Between your boy and Tommy Shelby's boy."

"Right, Birmingham? Mmm-hmm." Alfie uncontrollably nodded to show he understood everything and was listening.

"And the whole Shelby family is gonna be there."

"Mmm-hmm." He hummed for a second time.

"And you, Mr. Solomons, you too will be there." His index finger pointed at Alfie's face this time, but Alfie himself turned his head away, stuttering a bit.

"That's it. I tell you what, right. Here is a gift. It's free." Alfie snatched two bottles of liquor off the floor and walked with his arms open their way again. "Souvenir of your visit here. Goodbye, trot on. Down there is Bonnie Street." Alfie pointed at the exit and Changretta seemed confused, pulling out the cork to smell the rum before spinning the bottle in his hands to check it out.

"You know they say you're a smart guy." Luca chuckled in a mean way. "You already know what we want before we say it. That's funny 'cause now I believe I know what you want even before you say it. Yeah."

"So, are you gonna taste it?" Alfie didn't care about what the mafia mob in front of him was talking about, he simply just wanted them to taste the liquor he had created so they would shut up for a second. Luca didn't trust it however, but either way took a sip from the rum. In the meantime I carefully watched the scene and spun one of my elegant knives between my fingers.

"I think this clown wants us to run his rum into New York."

I clenched my jaw and finally revealed myself from the shadows, positioning myself behind Alfie.

"Damn fucking straight, mate." The gangster's right arm snuck around my waist and his hand enveloped my hip to hold me close. "Otherwise, you wouldn't still be breathing my oxygen, would you? Because I have 200 barrels a month. Yeah, cleared by your people, distributed through your teams-...."

"Thing is that people want gin these days." Luca chuckled annoyingly and I licked my lips, having enough of the sick man.

"Well, Mr. Changretta, the exit is still out there. Right on Bonnie Street. Mmm?" I pointed at the entrance and Alfie turned around so he could take a seat. "And stop the chuckling, it's horribly annoying, Changretta." I smiled sarcastically.

"Oh. The lady has a mouth too." I narrowed my eyes, ready to slide the man's throat if he said anything about me again before Alfie suddenly pulled me back. "Oh, you two are fucking crazy, you know that? 200 barrels, huh?" Luca twisted and threw the bottle around in his hands, staring down at it as he turned to his friend in Italian again. "He knows who we represent?"

"And also, I want some cash. Don't worry, 'cause I've broken it down here. I've got here a list of costs pertaining to the assassination of a dear friend. All right."

Alfie pulled out a small piece of paper out of his sleeveless jacket.

"Now, your normal dispatch, well, it's £500 cost, but you're gonna have to add another 100 to that because Tommy Shelby, like me, is from an oppressed people. Then, I need you to put another ton on top of that because his brother is a fucking animal and he will come after me. Yeah. And then you'll need to put another 100 on top of that because, well, you are a fucking wop, mate. Hmm? And you. And then.... We have to deal with the ugly business of which I've been incredibly clear of, before I'll need another £500 because like I stated, Tommy Shelby is a very, very good friend of mine." Alfie sighed and handed over the paper. "Total is down there in black and white. All right? Crack on."

"It's okay." Luca waved his friend's hand away who wanted to give his boss the paper and creepily laughed at the two of us. "Mr. Solomons, Miss. Grey, I'm gonna be very fucking clear with you. I don't need you two to kill anybody. I have people that I trust, okay? So you two are gonna take my boys and you are gonna bring them to the ring as seconds."

~~~

A/N: My apologies for the not so creative and exiting Chapter....