𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙭𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙧𝙖 • 𝙟𝙤𝙝𝙣 𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙗𝙮 [complete]

••• 9 •••

I stood up and walked over, picking it up before going back to the middle of the room. Opening it, I saw it was a letter.

"It's from Danny Cruz."

As soon as the words left my mouth, Tommy grabbed the letter out of my hands, his eyes scanning over it for a few silent moments.

Neither John nor I had even realised the letter had arrived; it must have been while we were slipping in and out of sleep.

Tommy put it down on the table, his face blank.

"What does it say?" Arthur asked with a gruff voice.

"That we made a mistake in killing his son," Tommy began, sighing before continuing. "They're leaving town, but he wants us to know that they'll be back to avenge Luca, and destroy the Peaky Blinders."

♡

IT WAS an intense few days, to say the least. I distanced myself from the Shelbys, staying in my apartment alone, as I couldn't bring myself to face them. I was angry at myself for ruining the business deal, and being the reason we were all losing out on millions.

On the fourth day, Tommy called and told me that he was holding a meeting that I had to attend.

"Well, I think we can all agree that the Cruz deal has gone to shit. They can attack at any moment, which means we need to be alert at all times."

Everyone's eyes were on Tommy as he spoke. We were all on edge with the looming threat of a war against the Cruzs over our heads, a sense of dormant chaos bubbling under the surface.

"But we have a more current issue: Jared O'Neale." Tommy's words slightly confused me. "He pre-paid us with £100,000 for the delivery. Now that Danny Cruz has pulled out of business with us, we have no product to give O'Neale. I've offered him a full refund, but he's pissed off that we wasted his time."

"Is he really that much of a threat?" Gerald asked, his hat in his hands. "His brother's dead, he has about ten men behind him. Do we need to be concerned?"

"Apparently, the O'Neales have built an alliance with Seamus Murphy, who has hundreds of men and weapons at his disposal."

Murphy had also never been on the best terms with us since his father got killed in Small Heath.

Arthur sighed, his jaw clenched. "For fuck's sake. How are we gonna get O'Neale to calm down?"

Tommy shrugged, his eyes on the table. "Find another supplier. Or some other way of appeasing the Irish."

◇

JOHN HAD asked me to meet him at the docks, which I was apprehensive about but went anyway, as it must have been something important.

It was dark when I arrived, the harsh wind blowing my hair across my face. Once he came into view, I walked over to him.

"John, you're an idiot." I said, watching him as he looked over the water. "Why did you tell Tommy you killed Luca?"

He finally turned to face me, the wind calming down into a cold breeze. "I don't know what he'd do to you if he knew it was you. I'm his brother; the most he'd do is rough me up a bit."

"What, you think Tommy would kill me if he knew?" I asked. "I'd like to think I have a better relationship with him than that, after all these years."

"I had to be safe," John said, taking my hand in his. "Besides, it's over now. You don't need to be concerned with it anymore."

"It's far from over; this could turn into a war." I said, shaking my head. "I shouldn't have killed him."