Calloway // Michael Gray x Reader - Peaky Blinders Fanfic

Chapter 50

Calloway

I stare at Mosley. At Michael. Unable to fathom the words I've just heard. Unable to piece them together.

The room's captured in silence. I wait for Michael to pull his pistol free and shoot Mosley. I wait for him to do something, anything, other than stand there and glare at us like he's feeling defensive.

No. I know Michael has ambition, I know he's often resented Tommy, resented the family... but he wouldn't do this. He wouldn't betray his cousins.

Then why isn't he doing anything?

Polly is seemingly the only one of us with any sense. She pulls her pistol free and aims it at Mosley.

His lips thin in anger, and he raises a finger. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. I have guards all across the grounds. You'll rot in a prison and then you'll be hanged, and my men will see too it your neck remains unbroken so you choke to death slowly."

Polly's eyes narrow. Her gun does not waver. But then she addresses Michael, her voice sharp and cold.

"Is it true, Michael? You work for Mosley now?"

Michael's jaw clenches. "He made me an offer."

"And it is in respect of this offer," Mosley says, "that I will cease fire with your little rag-tag gang. Consider yourselves lucky. Be thankful." He raises his eyebrows at me. "Now, do me the courtesy of handing those documents over, and I'll let you leave. Alive."

"Why do you want Michael?" Polly asks.

Mosley smiles. "Information, of course. Now he's told me all about your business dealings, and I can rest at night. The same way, once we got a cat in the house, all the mice seemed to vanish. Saved me a lot of annoyance. Though it seems it doesn't work on birds," he mutters, glaring as it continues to fly in and out of the room.

"You're letting us go?" I ask suspiciously. "Alive?"

His eyes flash. "If you'll hand me the folder and act sensibly from this moment forward, yes."

I turn my glare to Michael. "And are you coming with us?"

"I need to make sure they get back to Birmingham safely, Mr Mosley," Michael mutters.

"Yes," he replies coldly, voice dripping with sarcasm, eyes raking over our cat burglar attire, the gun in Polly's hand. "They look in need of protection."

"Tommy will want this put in writing," Polly says.

Acting on a quick instinct, I choose this moment to turn, gather the folder in my hands.

"He'll want more out of this agreement."

Mosley laughs in faux happiness. "Have Mr Shelby meet me for lunch. I'll be more than happy to discuss a great deal with him."

He holds his hand out and I place the folder there. His eyes flash once more.

"Now get out of my house. The guards know not to shoot." He claps a hand on Michael's back. "Cannot have my new leader of the charge injured on the job, can I?"

I shift backwards and begin to leave the room. Michael falls into step beside me.

"Mum," he calls urgently.

Polly doesn't move. Like she's still considering shooting Mosley. But then she glances up at the bird, and her face softens.

She joins us. We leave the room.

My heart hammers. I'm expecting a bullet to hit me at any moment. I'm so numb from the terror, I wonder if I'd even feel it.

But we're still alive, still intact, as we head down the staircase, where light now spills from the main entrance hall. Out the front doors. Past the guards. Into the night.