Alfie Solomons x Shelby! reader
Warnings: violence, swearing, angsty, shitty ending
Request: can we get another sister! shelby x alfie where its the episode where alfie teams up with sabini and gets arthur beat up and arrested and how the reader would react
word count: 1.8k
Your heels clicked against the gravel beneath your feet - face showing nothing but sheer determination. People briskly moved out of your way, obviously not wanting to annoy an angry Shelby off more.
You were focused – fury burning behind your eyes, face set in stone ever since Tommy had informed you of the incident. The entire train ride to London had never seemed so long and bothering before – but that enthusiastic feeling was for when you were excited to see the man waiting for you in his office.
Storming into the distillery, the heads of workers lifted at the sound of the doors slamming open – in familiar Shelby fashion. Ollie's eyes caught yours, immediately bounding over to you with an eager greeting of "good afternoon Miss. Shelby."
Holding up a palm to stop him talking, you only glanced around the room; hoping to catch sight of the recognisable Jewish man.
"It won't be a good fucking afternoon in a moment, Ollie," you gritted, everyone immediately taking notice of your enraged tone. "Where the fuck is Alfred?"
Turning to face your boyfriends right hand man who was sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck, you shot him a look that had his face falling. Nobody was used to seeing this side of you; so fucking mad at Alfie – a blaze coursing through your body.
Everybody who worked for Alfie adored you, although you were a Shelby; you didn't seem like one – some people even going as far as to say that perhaps you weren't biologically part of the family due to how compassionate you are. But if they were to see you at the moment, they would see how terribly wrong they are.
Your jaw was clenched tight like Ollie had seen Tommy do a multitude of times since his boss had began working with your family and he knew you weren't fucking around.
"He's in his office Miss," he spluttered, "he wasn't expecting you back so soon."
"Yeah? Well I wouldn't be here if your boss wasn't a fucking bastard with no morals!"
Not even waiting for Ollie to lead you to Alfie's office like usual, you shoved past him – you would apologise later – and barged into the room. Your eyes immediately caught sight of Alfie hunched over a bunch of papers; glasses perched on the bridge of his nose as he read through them.
"Fuck sake Ollie, didn't your mother teach you how to knock on a fucking door?" He didn't even lift his gaze as he began berating Ollie as you stood there, arms crossed over your chest.
"Maybe it's just in my gypsy roots to not knock," you snarked, an unimpressed look on your face.
Alfie's head perked up at the sound of your voice, a smile gracing his lips as he dropped the pen in his hand and held his arms open; letting his glasses fall off his face and hang around his neck.
"Well, isn't this a fuckin' surprise, yeah it is innit – what are you doing back so soon, love?"
"Don't act fucking innocent, Alfred."
Raising his eyebrows, Alfie ran his hand down his face before playing with his beard – leaning back in his chair. "Right, well there's my full fuckin' name, means I'm in trouble, yeah, most definitely in fuckin' trouble with the missus."
"Oh, you're in so much trouble – what the fuck were you thinking?!"
"Yer' going to have to be a bit more specific, love. What'd I do?"
A gobsmacked expression replaced your frown, a audible scoff sounding from your throat. "What did you – you're fucking kidding me right? What did you fucking do? You're impossible, Alfred, absolutely in-fucking-sane!"
"Right, okay doll, why don't yer' sit down before you put a hole in my floor with all your pacing and calmly explain what I did to get yer' so worked up, yeah?" Alfie tried to bargain, causing you to roll your eyes in annoyance.
"Calmly?!" You gritted, pointing directly at him. "You want me to be calm when you made a deal with the fucking Italians and got my older brother beaten so he looked like he was stomped on by a fucking elephant and then had him arrested?! You want me to be calm!"
A look of realisation settled over Alfie's face and he let out a groan; pinching the bridge of his nose. Of course he should have known that you would find out about what he had done and of course he should have known that you wouldn't agree with him; but when he made the deal Alfie wasn't thinking about how you would reprimand him.
Alfie knew how important your family was to you; important enough to keep your relationship a secret from them. You knew each of your brothers inside out, you knew that they wouldn't ever allow you to step foot in London again if they knew that you were courting him.
But he also knew how protective of them you were, and he should have taken that into consideration before he led your older brother into an ambush – he would be lucky if you just let him off with a good ol' scolding.
"Do you know what fucking restraint it took me to not come down here the minute Tommy told me?! Do you know how much effort it's taking to not storm over to you right now and slap you?!" You condemned him. "You're lucky if aunt Pol doesn't put a fucking curse on you!"
"Right, love, listen-"
"No you listen!" You cut him off, taking purposeful strides towards him until you were standing directing in front of his desk. "You do not, and I mean, do not, harm my family Mr. Solomons!"
With a deep sigh, Alfie stood up from his seat before walking around his desk to you - reluctantly gripping your arm, Alfie used it to turn you around to face him. His face was soft as he watched the tears finally cloud up in your eyes, before he pulled you into a tight hug – your worked up anger dissolving into utter sadness.
If someone had told Alfie a couple of months ago that he would be holding you as you cried into his chest, your salty tears wetting his shirt as he whispered words of comfort into your hair – he would've told them to fuck off, that there was no way he would be caught dead in such a position.
But as he held you as close to him as humanly possible, the feeling of loathing for what he had done to Arthur Shelby embedded itself deep in his chest – the pain of hurting you, wounding him more than he thought was possible.
He knew there was no way to take back what he had done – no way to fix the bruises and cuts littering your brothers skin; all he could do was apologise and hope that you would accept his explanation. So after waiting for your sobs to settle, Alfie's arms remained wrapped around you tightly, his voice so soft that it was almost a whisper.
"Y/N, my love, I need you to listen to me, yeah," taking your face into his hands, Alfie gently brushed away the few stray tears still sliding down your cheeks. "I didn't want to hurt your brother, right. Sabini made me a deal, yeah, that fuckin' wop said that my bookies would be allowed at the Epson Races – you understand?"
"So," you sniffed, eyes squinting slightly at Alfie who looked genuinely desolated at the fact he had you crying. "You decided to have my brother beaten half to death for your business?"
Pushing yourself out of his arms, a brief look of pain flashed through Alfie's eyes at your action before his gaze hardened.
"I had to, you know how this fuckin' works yeah, yer' a fuckin' Shelby so of course you understand the importance of deals," he tried to explain, not realising that he was just digging himself a deeper hole to be buried in.
"Yeah Alfie I do, and because I'm a fucking Shelby I also know the importance of putting family first – that's what I thought I was to you Alfie. Family."
Alfie's heart broke at the crack in your voice, wanting nothing more than to go back to the day he made the deal with Sabini and tell him to fuck himself with it – but he couldn't and now he had possibly messed up the only good thing he has in his life.
"You are," he muttered, a new feeling bubbling throughout his body. Vulnerability. "Yer' the only family I got, yeah. Right, love, tell me what I can do fix this yeah, yeah just give me the word and I'll do it. I'll fix this."
Shaking your head, you began to walk back over to the door; your hand wrapping around the handle before you stopped yourself – placing your forehead on the wood.
"Y/N, wait-" you had never heard Alfie sound so dejected before. So entirely desperate. "Please don't – don't walk out that door, right, cause if you do I'm not sure yer' going to come back and I need to know yer' going to come back."
"Alf-"
You could feel him as he moved behind you, his hand reaching to cover your own that was resting on the door-handle.
"Don't leave," he whispered, pressing his face into the crook of your neck.
"Alfie please-"
"Don't leave me."
A rattled sob slipped past your lips and with the sound you were quickly pulled back into Alfie's arms – tender kisses placed to your forehead. It was a love so soft and delicate, so different from what the world would expect from a man like Alfie Solomons.
It was his apology.
Your head lifted to meet his gaze, hand pressing to his cheek as he eyes shut at the contact. Pulling his head down to rest his forehead against your own.
"It's going to take a lot to make it up to me," you whispered, Alfie nodding along to your words.
"I'll spend everyday apologising if that's what it takes, yeah. Because I fuckin' love yer' and you are my family, right, yer' my fuckin' family."
"I love you too Alf. Just don't hurt me like this ever again or I will walk through this fucking door and not come back."
Alfie let out a shaky breath that he didn't even realise he was holding, quick to place his lips onto yours. The kiss was so delicate, as if Alfie thought you were going to break – until you made the first move to deepen it, biting his lip.
With a tap to your behind as a signal for you to jump, Alfie's hands quickly gripped the back of your thighs as he moved to push your back against the door. His lips began to trail down your neck as you let your eyes shut at the blissful feeling.
"Alf, what are you doing?" You spoke breathlessly, Alfie's beard tickling your skin.
"The first step to making it up to you, yeah, my little femme fatale – sex."
It was going to take a while, but Alfie was willing to spend every day of his life making sure that you knew just how sorry he was.