𝐂𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 ᵖᵉᵃᵏʸ ᵇˡⁱⁿᵈᵉʳˢ

58

"Talk to me about Colonel Ben Younger" Ada said as Tommy walked into his office. He hung his jacket up. "What about him?"

"He has just made me a proposition" she looked up. "You're in my chair" Tommy said.

"He said you knew about it" she told him. "And remember i know when you are lying"

"Ben Younger was an officer in the Warwickshire Yeomanry in Flanders" he lit a cigarette. "The only cavalryman who could ride a fucking horse."

"I was strip searched" Ada said with a shaky voice. Tommy looked up. "Two soldiers watched."

"I'm sorry, Ada. That..the arrest was so the neighbours would see and word would go around. Younger is all right. He came to me for help" he said, sitting opposite her.

"He has been given Birmingham"

"Given Birmingham, by who?" she asked.

"By Churchill, by the fucking king, people who want to stop a revolution"

She scoffed.

"No one is laughing anymore, Ada. The home office is making provisions. This is part of those provisions."

"And how is Tommy Shelby, OBE, going to stop a revolution?"

"Jessie Eden has accepted my invitation to dinner" he shrugged. Ada laughed. "Of course, i'm sorry, Tommy Shelby is gonna stop the revolution with his cock"

"It's not her the military are interested in, Ada. It's the people around her. The people like you used to be, like Freddie used to be. People who want an armed revolution"

She shook her head.

"If i get Jessie Eden's trust, she gives me the names of the instigators. I give them up to the crown forces"

"Tommy, tommy, sweethearts. Why would a man whose medals rust at the bottom of the Saltley Canal want to help the British Military?"

"Because i have been offered three five year contracts to supply the military vehicles to the British forces in India, Ceylon, Singapore and Burma for a toltsl value of £2 million."

"Wouldn't be no strikes in your factory cause Jessie Eden would be in your bed. Tommy this can only happen if you're still alive"

"Planning on staying alive"

-

Lilah couldn't stop thinking about what Reggie had told her when he'd visited her. He said something was going to happen. It panicked her slightly.

She shook the thought from her head and sprayed perfume on her neck.

"Who do you think will win?" she asked Ada. "I think Bonnie, i've seen him fight," she continued.

Ada hummed. "I'm not sure. I think it's fixed anyway"

-

Lilah sat beside Lizzie, clapping as Bonnie walked out, men surrounding him. People cheered as he entered the ring.

Tommy soon walked out, joining them as the fight started.