Burned

17

          Alfie took pride in the fact he was trying to control his temper. He wasn't very successful but at least he tried. When it came to punishments, he did everything to keep it out of sight of Louise. She would witness the occasional backhand or cane whack to the knees but that was it. Her dealings in the bakery were purely administrative. The shadiness and the blood never involved her.

Unfortunately, things were coming to a boiling point. The Italians were suspicious of Tommy's relationship with the Russians as well as the Peaky Blinder's feud with the Changrettas. So, Sabini reached out to Alfie, attempting to bury the hatchet yet again and hopefully gain the alliance back in case the Shelbys made a move.

Alfie wasn't in the mood, but he decided it could be helpful to at least hear Darby out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"One last thing, Tommy called about something. He says it's urgent. I guess he wants to meet as soon as you can." Louise kept in stride with Alfie, her arm linked with his. "I said maybe you could meet with him tomorrow morning." She handed him the note for a reminder.

"Right," Alfie tucked the slip of paper away in his pocket. "I'll call him back later tonight." He stopped mid-way down the cellar hall and turned to face her. "You're the fucking best, d'you know that" His eyes wrinkled with a smile, adoration in his gaze.

"For answering the telephone?" Louise teased with a coy smile. She stepped closer to him, smoothing down his loose white shirt.

"Nah, just for everything." He murmured and kissed her forehead. "Love having you 'round." His thumb grazed down her cheek. The brief tender touch sent chills down Louise's spine.

"Alfie." Ollie's voice came from down the hall. A group of men was following behind him.

Louise had never met Darby Sabini simply because Alfie kept her away from any meetings with him. Yet, he had no power over what happened next.

"Alfie," A mustached man greeted as they approached. "So glad you agreed to sit down with me. I've missed you, old friend."

Louise could feel Alfie tense up beside her. "Lou, go upstairs." He muttered to her.

She opened her mouth to speak but the Italian men were blocking the only exit to the stairs. So she had no choice but to stay near him.

"And this must be the secretary you've kept hidden from me. I've heard the word about how protective he is of you." Sabini tipped his hat to her. "It's a pleasure to finally meet."

Louise tried to ignore Alfie's clear displeasure. Instead, to keep the peace, she smiled politely. "Louise Barnes, it's nice to meet you as well.

"Alfie, how could you keep such a beauty locked up in a place like this?" The Italian tutted. The two men at his flanks sported faint smirks. One was eyeing Louise too much for Alfie's liking.

His upper lip twitched and he waited a beat so he didn't explode. "You want to fucking talk business? Or are you wasting me time?" No matter what he did, the anger continued to grow the longer they stood there. The more time they spent with Louise the more uneasy he got. Tension was thick in the air and he knew something was up.

"I should be off anyway." Louise tucked the diary under her arm. She touched his shoulder to offer some sort of comfort and courage to keep his cool. "I'll just be upstairs."

"No, no." Sabini waved a dismissive hand. "You can stay."

The man to his left smirked. "Yeah, we want to look at her during the meeting instead of Solomon's fucked up face." He spoke to his partner in Italian. He didn't bother to speak quietly because he wasn't aware of Louise's grasp on the romance languages.