Crown of a Prince (Finn Shelby)

89.

It took a little while to sort through the figures and receipts but Ailbhe was quick and before they knew it, she had worked out a better system and walked Arthur through it. He promised to do better but Ailbhe was sure she'd be there again next week doing the same thing.
 
"Alright, you ready?" He asked her, all wide eyes and full of energy as he stood up following a line of coke and getting ready for the next item on the agenda.
 
Her expression changed to one of confusion.
 
"Ready?" She asked, tilting her head.
 
She didn't have any more plans with Arthur this morning. They generally weren't paired up for jobs due to both of them having a short fuse and a lack of patience but nevertheless, he was standing there waiting for her.
 
"Meeting at nine o clock, I know but Tommy has an errand for us first. You coming?" He explained, his whole body alive with energy. Arthur clearly had already dipped into the snow this morning.
 
Sensing that there wasn't an option to say no, Ailbhe pulled on her coat and stepped out into the morning air, pulling the door shut behind her.
 
It was bright and the sun shone but it was Small Heath so it never looked overly cheerful. She fell into step beside Arthur, glad when he slowed his pace since his long legs would force her to run alongside him if he kept his normal pace.
 
"Who we meeting?" She asked, noticing they were headed towards the betting shop where presumably someone waited for them.
 
Arthur's hands swung alongside him as they walked, his shoulders jumping in a sort of agitated fashion that was his usual form.
 
"Finn's been doing business with Billy Grade, fixing the footie" Arthur explained, but of course Ailbhe already knew all of this.
 
She just stared back at him, taking no notice of the looks they got, and the way people stared and nodded good morning to them.
 
"And?" She asked, wanting Arthur to get to the point. He usually danced around the point and beat around the bush.
 
"Tommy isn't sure... wants you to meet him, wants us to have a little talk" Arthur explained, without really explaining anything.
 
In plain English, Tommy wanted Ailbhe to meet Billy Grade and decide whether or not he was useful or trustworthy, or both. To find out if Billy Grade might be the leak.
 
"Alright" She nodded, knowing a bit of information already from Finn who told her about Billy before.
 
She knew he used to be a singer and sang in the pubs Niall owned but he was also a retired football player. Now, he was a peaky blinder who helped Finn rig the football matches so that they made more money. Ailbhe had been a bit against it, preferring to fix the horse races and when she could get away with it, not fixing them at all but rather to produce horses that won and won well.
 
"How's your Billy?" She asked, looking up and seeing that they were still a few minutes away from the betting shop.
 
Arthur looked down at his shoes while he walked, his hands shoved in his pockets and despite looking tough as nails, he looked so sad that Ailbhe felt bad for asking.
 
"Couldn't tell ya, Alv. Haven't seen him in weeks" He replied, his voice gruff and rough but Ailbhe could hear the sadness.
 
Linda had taken Billy when she left and she hadn't let Arthur see him since, saying she couldn't trust him with their son. But it was bullshit, it wasn't fair for Linda to keep his son from him but Arthur didn't fight her, he never could.
 
"You have rights Arthur, you can make an agreement with Linda to have him at weekends or holidays" She told him, not sure if Arthur had been looking into it yet but he had rights too and he was his son.
 
"Deserves better, that kid..." Arthur replied, his eyes glued to the ground while they walked.
 
The words tugged at Ailbhe's heartstrings. Whatever about Arthur, he would never hurt Billy and would do everything he could to protect him. He deserved to have a dad and a dad who tried meant more than a dad who was perfect.
 
"He'd want you in his life, Arthur" She protested, not wanting to see Arthur looking so down. He was so hard on himself, always the villain in his own story.
 
"Better off without me, I'm no role model" He argued, as though he'd already given up.
 
Ailbhe grinded to a halt, making Arthur stop and turn to face her too. She really was quite stubborn, and the way she folded her arms across her chest and furrowed her brow Arthur began to understand why Finn and her rarely argued, because she was fucking hard to argue with.
 
"That's not true Arthur!" She snapped, looking at him and her impatience fading as she realised what she was saying.
 
Shrugging and almost smiling she admitted
 
"Okay, maybe it's a little true"
 
Arthur threw his hands up as if to say 'duh'.
 
But she reached out a hand and grabbed his elbow, making him look at her.
 
"Arthur, my own father wasn't much of a stand up citizen. He was in trouble most of my life, always running from the Brits, coming home and packing us all up and moving towns again and again. But he was my dad..."
 
She told him, remembering her father fondly.
 
"I don't remember him as a criminal or a bad man... I remember him as the man who used to teach me how to dance in the kitchen before putting me to bed...man who used to sing while he did his work in the stables... he was my dad"
 
She shrugged. Her father might not have been a man destined for providence, but he was their dad, their hero growing up. And she remembered him with fondness and affection despite what the papers said about him.
 
Arthur seemed to digest what she said, nodding before looking up and swallowing down what looked like a sob that might come out.
 
"Alright, come on. You know Tommy doesn't like it when we're late" He stated, straightening his coat and nodding towards the front door.
 
Holding it open for her, she stepped into the warmth first. It was relatively quiet, but she could hear noises coming from Finn's office.
 
Arthur went first, not bothering to stop and knock. Ailbhe wasn't keen on knocking either, not when it was Finn that she was coming to see but she thought she might since Finn was in a meeting.
 
"You don't knock!" She heard Finn protest, the irritation in his voice.
 
But she saw the flash of interest in his eyes when he saw her coming in the door behind Arthur. He hadn't been expecting her and as always, he was glad to see her. They were sitting at Finn's desk and yet the man dressed in a brand-new suit was the one behind the desk while Finn sat in front of him. He definitely didn't look like the Billy Grade who used to sing in pubs. No, he was a real Peaky Blinder now.
 
Arthur was already busying himself by looking around, picking up things at random and having a look whereas Ailbhe just stepped in after him, hanging up her coat on the rack by the door.
 
"No! I don't knock" Arthur replied dryly, approaching the desk and nodding at Ailbhe to come too.
 
Finn stood up, letting Arthur take his chair and letting the other chair vacant for Ailbhe.
 
"Hello Billy!" Arthur bellowed, grabbing the bottle of whiskey that had sat between them. It wasn't even ten o clock and the whiskey was out. Arthur poured himself a glass and offered one to Ailbhe but she refused. It was a little early still for her.
 
"How are you mate?" Arthur asked, pouring some for Billy too.
 
Billy's nervous disposition along with the whiskey he had already consumed added to his fidgety nature as he ran his hands through his hair and jittered in his seat. He had heard a lot about Ailbhe Kennedy, seen her around Small Heath but he had never met her. She was said to be half woman half-witch, like Polly Gray and while Billy didn't believe in such things, he didn't want to test it. She was strikingly beautiful, with long dark hair and big, intense eyes that seemed to see right through a man. She was wearing a dress that was relatively simple and yet screamed of money. Men all over Birmingham fancied her but none of them dared chance their luck. While Arthur Shelby made him nervous, Ailbhe Kennedy downright scared him.
 
"I'm good, Mr Shelby" he nodded, finding it hard not to stare at the woman opposite him. She looked at him as though she was flicking through his mind like pages in a book.
 
"That's a nice suit!" Arthur interjected, nodding at the brand-new outfit he wore. It was much better than anything he could afford as a pub singer. Money suited him, then again money suited most people. At first.
 
"Thank you, Mr Shelby" Billy laughed nervously.
 
"He earned that suit!" Finn interrupted, clapping a hand onto Arthur's shoulder "We made more on the matches than we did on the races last Saturday!"
 
It was true. Finn had showed Ailbhe the dockets himself.
 
"This here is my kid sister, Ailbhe" Arthur announced, throwing a thumb in Ailbhe's direction who smiled so innocently she looked practically angelic.
 
Billy nodded nervously, smiling in an almost frightened manner at her. But he was confused. Ailbhe Kennedy was Niall and Liam's sister, and if what he had heard about Finn was true then she was Finn's girl, not his sister.
 
"Something the matter?" Arthur asked, sensing Billy's confusion as his eyes flitted between them.
 
"Forgive me, Mr Shelby. I thought Miss Kennedy was... was Finn's..." He stopped himself, knowing he'd already said too much and put his foot in it.
 
People had lost their eyes for saying things less disrespectful before. And Billy quite liked having his eyes, he was going to miss them when Arthur Shelby took them for insinuating Ailbhe Kennedy belonged to anyone.
 
But looking between them, Finn looked like he was about to laugh. Arthur looked like a mad dog and Ailbhe just pouted her lips and her eyes went a little cool.
 
"Arthur is my brother in everything but blood, Mr Grade. I understand it sounds a little strange, but we take family very seriously around here whether its blood related or not"
 
She explained with a smile on her face, sweet as sugar cane but deadly.
 
"Speaking of family, how's the missus? The old ball and chain!" Arthur asked, standing up and going to stand beside Billy while Finn took his seat back.
 
"She moved out" Billy admitted, looking down at his hands.
 
Money wasn't suiting him that well apparently. Money was taking away the simple little life he had built for himself.
 
Finn snatched up the glass of whiskey Arthur had poured and took a sip. He clearly didn't like Arthur coming in and acting as though Finn wasn't the boss.
 
"That's a shame" Arthur sighed, not sounding like he cared in the slightest.
 
He threw himself down beside Billy, into the seat that Ailbhe usually took beside Finn's desk on the odd occasion she wasn't sitting up on the desk or on his lap. Her mind started to wander back to more exciting and distracting times in this very office but she reeled it back in.
 
"We thought we'd come join the party for a little while, didn't we Alv?" Arthur added, grabbing a glass for himself.
 
Ailbhe watched Billy, how he went awkward and quiet. He clearly preferred it when it was just him and Finn. And this was what Ailbhe had been afraid of. Finn was less frightening to him apparently, perhaps easier to fool. But Finn didn't suffer fools, he punished them.
 
"You were a good man Billy..." Arthur mused, taunting the man who sat before them "You could sing like a bird in a cage and what did we do? We opened that cage and the real man flew out!"
 
Arthur pulled out bottles of snow from his pocket, dropping them between his hands and uncorking a bottle for them. They laughed and joked as Arthur tapped out a line of snow onto the back of his hand, letting it disappear up his nose quickly. Finn lit a cigarette, his impatience starting to show with his eldest brother. He took a puff before holding it out to Ailbhe, her eyes latching on his and winking subtly at him, as if to say 'it's alright'. He nodded back subtly.
 
Arthur hopped up on the desk, sitting beside Finn and grabbing his brother by the neck laughing.
 
"Look at you, eh? Aren't you a lucky girl, Alv!" Arthur laughed, gripping onto Finn as Ailbhe just watched on. Arthur was surely at his limit for snow for the morning but she doubted he had a stop button these days.
 
Ailbhe felt a smile on her lips as she took a pull from the cigarette between her fingers.
 
"I think so, most of the time" She joked, smiling at Billy hoping to see him crack, hoping to see if he would start to get comfortable around her and drop the mask.
 
"Sitting here with your mate, Billy. Talking business, talking about our business" 

Ailbhhe started to see where Arthur was going with this.
 
"Drinking whiskey, smoking and sniffing. Playing in the snow... People can get chatty" 

She added, the smile on her lips gone and a stone-cold expression there now. There it was, the Ailbhe Kennedy who didn't suffer fools.
 
"Remember Finn, you tell him anything about our business. And it's his life you're risking" Arthur warned his brother, pointing a finger at Billy without even looking at him.
 
Billy started to get more nervous, sweat collecting on his brow and his knee bouncing under the table. He could feel himself get hotter and hotter the longer Ailbhe's cold stare was on him.
 
"We only ever talk about football and women, Mr Shelby" Billy tried to object, tried to defend himself but from what he said and the way Ailbhe's eyes narrowed at him he felt like he'd still said the wrong thing.
 
"We don't talk about all women, Miss Kennedy. I mean we never talk about you; Finn hasn't ever brought you up. I would never... I mean I wouldn't have anything to say about you, I wouldn't ever..."
 
He babbled nervously, sweat dripping down the side of his face now. If Ailbhe Kennedy thought that she had been discussed over snow and whiskey in the Shelby Company Ltd offices, she'd have him buried without his eyes. But she knew that Finn wouldn't ever discuss her. He didn't let anyone discuss her. He didn't even like it when men stared at her for too long so why on Earth would he give them intimate details of her for their own perverted minds.

He had suffered years of seeing other men leer at her, stare and imagine what it must be like to bed her. But they could imagine all they liked because they would never know what she was really like. They would never hear about the noises she made or the things she liked doing or having done to her. Finn wouldn't give them even more material to think about when they were alone with their fists and their minds wandered to her painted lips and how she licked them after sipping her whiskey or how her small hands would look wrapped around them. She was all his and he wouldn't share. 
 
Arthur leaned back across the table, glasses and papers falling to the ground, but nobody moved to pick them up.
 
"Just working girls... Football and working girls that I hire, not Finn I mean not Mr Shelby" Billy promised, his eyes flitting between Arthur and Ailbhe who looked as frightening as each other.
 
Ailbhe took another pull from the cigarette, passing it back into Finn's fingers. She stood up, pushing her hair over her shoulder and smiling as though she had enjoyed their little meeting. She had certainly learnt a lot.

The scent of her perfume invaded their senses again as she moved past them and Finn had to shift in his seat when she brushed past him, her fingers trailing across his back. 
 
"Because, Billy boy, if anyone discussed family business or discussed my sister like that. Things could get quite messy"
 
Arthur explained so easily as if Billy should understand it quickly. He did by the looks of things, nodding.
 
"And you've got a lovely new suit on, I'd hate to ruin it!" Arthur threatened, shrugging slightly.
 
"Lovely to meet you, Mr Grade" Ailbhe smiled, putting back on her coat as Arthur stood too, clapping Finn on the back and reminding him about the family meeting they had to attend.
 
Arthur and Ailbhe stepped out first, leaving Finn to wrap up his meeting.
 
"Whatcha think?" Arthur asked, pulling his cap on.
 
Ailbhe hugged her coat around her, looking across at Arthur and shaking her head slightly.
 
"I don't think so Arthur... I don't trust him but I don't think he's got the guts to cross us Arthur..."
 
She admitted, not having seen anything trustworthy in Billy and yet not seeing a motive for him to betray them. Billy seemed to like having money, having power. Betraying the Peaky Blinders would take that away.
 
She sighed, knowing that Tommy's other idea, the other suggestion of where the leak came from was probably getting ready for a day of working for the Peaky Blinders.
 
They left Billy Grade in Finn's office, still sweating profusely and struggling to draw a breath. He now fully understood why people said 'Don't fuck with the Peaky Blinders'.