VICES AND VIRTUES | Thomas Shelby

THIRTY NINE

author's note: read 39 first!

It was unusual just how easy it was for a person to pack their entire life away into a suitcase, well it was easy in practical terms, but not in the emotional sense. Florence trusted Tommy and whatever he had planned, but she knew in her gut that there was a chance the plan might fail, she wasn't in the business of optimism anymore.

As she stood beside Tommy, Finn and Polly in the gin distillery, her mind remained plagued with images of the night before, of how George had killed his own brother in cold blood. She was unnerved by the man he had become, not because she feared that he may harm her, she knew he wouldn't, but because George's gentle temperament was now hidden under a thick layer of stone, much like a Shelby's heart.

"It'll be over soon," Tommy assured her as he stood before her, "We'll be okay."

Heavy footsteps caught Florence's attention as she turned her attention from Tommy to the open doorway, met with the sight of Luca Changretta and his remaining men. She stood beside Tommy, Finn on her left, standing firm as a member of the Shelby family.

"Look, all that's left of the Peaky fucking Blinders," Luca smirked as he stood opposite the four of them, taking slow steps towards Tommy with a smirk lingering on his face as he clicked at one of his associates who placed his case on the table, "I've had my lawyer draw up these papers, they cover every enterprise in your possession, bars, restaurants, warehouses...every fucking thing that you've taken all these years to gather together, there's even a clause especially for my darling Florence."

Florence couldn't bear to look at him, she felt safest as long as she remained under Tommy's gaze.

"You will sign everything over to my family or you're going to die, right here," Luca warned Tommy, just inches separating them, "I would've buried you all, but my mother, she knows you, she said it will be worse for you if I let you live and take everything that you have," He glanced at Florence, "The woman that you love...Where are my grandchildren?"

"With their uncle, saying their goodbyes," Florence told him, remembering everything she had told Vinnie that morning.

Luca glanced at his men and then back at Florence and the Shelbys, "Search 'em," He pulled Tommy's gun from its holster, handing it to one of his men before he stood opposite Polly, "Especially don't trust this bitch."

He pulled at the buttons on her shirt, noting no sign of a weapon as his men patted down each of them and Florence, one by one.

"So..." Luca held up his pen, "Sign, every fucking one of them," He huffed as Tommy stared at him blankly, "You can sign them on your knees, on the floor," Luca brushed the documents onto the floor.

As Tommy continued to remain stoic, Luca hauled the table over on its side, storming towards Tommy with anger in his eyes, "Get on your fucking knees and sign."

Tommy nodded, kneeling on the floor as he looked up at Luca, "A friend of mine once said...big fucks small, so I had to find someone bigger than you, now you may know there are two families in Brooklyn who want to take over your monopoly on the import of liquor into New York."

"But if they move against you in New York they'll start a war between the families," Polly told him with the slightest smirk.

"But if you were to die in a vendetta with some fucking bookmaker in Birmingham, they could take over your business without a war," Tommy added.

"We also contacted a businessman in Chicago, he's also interested in moving into the liquor business in New York," Polly remarked as though she were reciting poetry.

"His name is Alphonse Capone."

"You been talking to that fat fuck?" Luca scoffed.

"See, all the blood relatives you brought with you from New York, they're all dead, Mr Changretta, and these men here, they work for money, for the highest bidder," Tommy told him, "They now have new orders."