Summary: Tommy Shelby and Alfie Solomons come in contact with a gangster in Manchester that is turning up all their business endeavours. The man behind this business is not who they expected it to be. Word count: 2,927 Pairing: Alfie Solomons x OC x Tommy Shelby (not a typical love triangle, I promise. and a lot of broken hearts) Warning: violence, murder, criminal activity, alcohol consumption, drug use, sexual scenes, curse words, period typical sexism, period typical racism AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14281704/chapters/32943615
xxx
There were no telegrams from Liverpool. No news about the safe voyage of Tommy Shelby’s investment that was planned to cross the Atlantic ocean tomorrow. There were no telegrams telling him what had happened, or if his investment had even boarded a ship to America. Tommy sat at his desk in the Shelby Company Limited building, he bit down on his teeth tightly. He had stopped the rest of the shipments by the canal, he was not about to lose a great deal of money and it wasn’t Tommy Shelby’s style to make bad judgements on his business ventures. He was truly baffled.
The next morning Tommy drove to Small Heath to the betting shop for his regular visits. When he approached the long street of Watery Lane, a mountain of broken crates were visible in front of the main door to the shop. Tommy’s stomach sunk, he knew exactly what it was. He parked the motor car and walked angrily toward the crates that were slowly accumulating a crowd. He was right. They were his crates, packaged with bottles of his own concoction of gin. Most of the bottles were broken. Tommy clenched his fists before he stuck his hand in a crate that held a folded piece of notepaper.
‘Try Harder’ was written in wide curly cursive. Tommy began to shout for someone to clean up the mess before he went inside to flip over a table. The crates outside could have easily made him £10,000. He was fuming. It didn’t take him long to send someone to Liverpool to see who was running the ports. He had connections in Liverpool, but now Tommy was assuming that he may have been sold out. He would have to wait a day to see who he had made an enemy of.
xxx
Alfie Solomons had his head in his hands as his eyes scanned the documents on his desk. He had run through some complications. The port he had been using to export his rum had been taken over by parliament and the British Crown. Alfie’s associate in Bristol had handed over the port's earnings and had gone straight, already headed for America before Alfie could cut him a smile for walking out on their business relationship. There was no port near London that could ship his illegal alcohol under the radar. A headache this problem had induced lasted too long for Alfie’s comfort. There was no chance he would ask Sabini to use the port to the South, he had been double-crossed far too many times. His only hope right now was to figure out if Tommy had taken hold of Liverpool, and if Tommy would be willing to let Alfie weasel himself in to continue forging his empire of illegal liquor.
The telegram was short. All Alfie needed was an audience. “I’ll be in Birmingham in three days, to pay an old mate a visit.” Vague with a dash of intimidation was Alfie’s style.
xxx
Alfie was quick to show his dissatisfaction with Small Heath upon his arrival. Every time he was there he never failed to comment on the smell, mostly smoke, gas, and often times piss as well. He was at the Shelby Company Limited offices. It was an upgrade from the betting shops Alfie had once visited, and a far cry more prestigious then his own hidden distillery disguised as a bakery.
Alfie strode into the building his chin high, his slight limp making him look even more intimidating than necessary. The woman at the desk dared not to look at him as he walked by, making his way to Thomas’ office.
As Alfie opened the door, he called out to Tommy who was sat behind his desk scanning documents like Alfie had been days prior, a similar look on his face.
“Tommy!” Alfie got his attention, his arms outstretched. This eccentricity always seemed so odd to Tommy.
“Good to see you Alfie” Tommy had always been good at looking bored. “Why have you come?” He never usually got to the point so quickly though.
“I had an associate, ya, he sold out to the crown, the fucking pollack. So, I’ve lost my port.”
“You’ve come to see if I can help you in Liverpool then?” Tommy lit a cigarette and motioned to Alfie if he wanted one too. He declined with a wave of his hand, cigars were more of Alfie’s thing. Alfie waited for a response to Tommy’s own question not planning on repeating the question again. “I have a problem me’self. Last week, all my booze, meant for America, was destroyed in Liverpool and sent back to me with this note.” Tommy pulled the note out from a drawer in his desk and handed it to Alfie.
Alfie read the curly letters, try harder, letting out a laugh. “It’s funny, innit?” Tommy wasn’t amused by Alfie’s chuckle.
“I had one of my men sent out to Liverpool. He came back yesterday with important information. I’m headed to Manchester next week.”
“What’s in Manchester?” Alfie asked, as he placed the note on Tommy’s desk and began to rub the sides of his beard with his right hand.
“The docks in Liverpool are run by a gangster named Rhys Holloway. He has a truce with all the shipping companies and ports in Liverpool, has half of Wales under his control and also has a few docks in Bristol—” Tommy eyed Alfie, as Alfie gave him a dissatisfied frown. “Holloway has also done business in Newcastle, but has no leaning there.”
“Well, he gets ‘round don’t he?” Alfie answered blankly, he was obviously quite impressed with the Holloway fellow but annoyed that he hadn’t known what was going on up north, while he was preoccupied in the south.
“I’ve made an appointment with Holloway for next week,” Tommy started.
“Right then. I’ll be sending one myself. Keep in touch,” Alfie got up from his chair abruptly. He had received all the information he needed. Tommy had no sway in Liverpool, the person he needed to contact was Rhys Holloway.
xxx
Alfie was able to make contact with Rhys Holloway’s secretary and had a meeting scheduled for the following week. He had prepared properly. He had found out that Holloway was a cutthroat with a strange nickname that didn’t match the persona Alfie had created in his head. In Manchester, the public called Holloway ‘Silver Spoon’. Holloway was in the same business as Alfie transporting, Absinthe and Rum. Rhys Holloway went under the radar through a dealership of fabrics and textiles. Mainly importing silk, velvet, satin, and chiffon, from France and exporting it to America and developing his own work in between. Alfie had to commend Holloway, Alfie assumed that it was much easier to move alcohol through fabrics and textiles.
Alfie was travelling to Manchester, he had a band of five men to back him up if things went wrong. But if something truly went wrong, five men wouldn’t be enough. It ended up being more of a formality than anything else. Holloway & Sons Company Limited was located on the edge of the city centre in a long four-story building. It looked far more liable then Shelby Company Limited, and far more liable then Alfie’s bakery, it was still underground after all.
Alfie walked to the main doors, looking down at his pocket watch to check the time. As he entered the double doors, he found Tommy and a group of Blinders around him in a waiting room. Alfie raised an eyebrow, as Tommy watched him walk to the main desk. A woman with blonde short hair checked Alfie in to speak to Rhys Holloway. Alfie made his way to the waiting area and sat down. Tommy stood tall in front of him.
“What’s your time?” Tommy asked, with no greeting. He was asking about when Alfie would be in for a meeting. Alfie hadn’t expected to be at the Holloway Company on the same day as Tommy, but here they were and sitting in the waiting room at the same time. Alfie clenched his jaw before he answered Tom.
“Half past two,” he said nonchalantly. Tommy rubbed his face with his hand, the distress was evident.
“This has to be a trap, Tom.” It was John that spoke up behind Tommy.
“We’re in at half past two,” Tommy added, looking straight at Alfie. Alfie stood up from the chair and leaned closer to him to whisper.
“Are ya armed?”
“Not all of us, too many coppers in Manchester,” there was an uneasy silence between them as they both tried to figure out the odds of them surviving the meeting they were about to enter into, with not enough weapons, and possibly outnumbered.
A woman in a deep red dress strode out of a hallway to their right, she looked far more glamorous than the walls of the building, she seemed out of place, a little too ethereal for the mahogany walls and glass windows looking into different rooms. Her hair was a long, dark chestnut brown and styled elegantly behind her. As she approached the group she asked for Thomas Shelby and Alfred Solomons to follow her, and just the pair of them. Both Tommy and Alfie were alert, at any corner and at any open door an assailant could be ready to throttle them. But they arrived at a dimly lit office, so far unscathed. The woman moved so gracefully as they stepped into the office, Alfie and Tommy couldn’t help but watch her backside as she moved. She walked to the end of the room and sat down at the desk, where a golden plaque that read ‘CEO Rhys Holloway’ signalled to them that they had arrived at the correct location. Alfie gave Tommy a look before he sat down on one of the chairs in front of the desk, Tommy took the chair next to him.
“When will we be expecting Mr. Holloway?” Tommy asked the woman in front of them. She was arranging papers on the desk and then looked up to answer him.
“Oh, sweetheart,” she pouted at Tommy, but it seemed more like she was mocking him. She stood up and moved to the corner of the room, where there was a liquor table with several bottles, some only half full on top of it. “Do either of you have a taste for absinthe?” she looked back at them a playful smile on her lips. “It’s an acquired taste, I must say.” She poured two glasses of the soft green substance and handed it to Tommy and Alfie. As they drank, they both understood how it did take an acquired taste. The liquid burned the walls of their throats far more than any kind of rum or whisky ever had.
“Right,” Alfie had grown impatient with the silence that followed. “Are we expecting Holloway today or not? I have other things to do.” The expression on his face showed that he meant business now, and as beautiful as the woman was he couldn’t sit there just staring at her.
“You’re talking to ‘er,” she stated, looking unamused for once as she stared Alfie down. Her hands clasped together on top of the desk.
“What?” Tommy said, disliking her vagueness.
“I’m disappointed in you two, truly.” She leaned back in her chair as she took a swig of her absinthe. “When you send someone down to check on who is running the North and Wales, send someone competent, it’ll help with first impressions and not making yourselves look like proper fools. I’m Rhys Holloway, and I’m not too happy to be making your acquaintances right now.” She turned her head away from them, showing her sudden disinterest.
“Well, I can’t say I like surprises, but I’m amused.” Alfie started cracking a smile, he couldn’t believe what he was hearing, and he was slightly turned on by her insults towards them.
“You’re Rhys Holloway?” Tommy asked, he was great at keeping a neutral face, Rhys envied his ability.
“The one and only, now what do you want?” she answered. Her mood had changed drastically but Alfie was still entertained by the situation. Rhys Holloway was not a man, but a woman, and an exceptionally beautiful one at that.
“You owe me compensation for destroyed and missing merchandise, but that’s not the only reason I’m here.”
“Well,” Alfie cut Tommy off, as usual. “I’m not here for that. We have no problems, no bad blood and I’m looking for a port to use, and you have seniority in the West.” Alfie tipped his head at Rhys for her acknowledgement as Tommy looked at him rather annoyed.
“I’m not looking for any alliances, and I’m not looking to pay compensation to anyone at the moment, so the door is right behind you both, you are free to leave.” She had extended her hand toward the door behind them, an insincere smile graced her face as she went back to her paperwork. The previous attraction Alfie had felt for Rhys took a place in the back-burner as he looked at her unimpressed.
“I’m not leaving empty handed, sweetheart” Tommy spoke nonchalantly. Alfie scoffed at him, it may have been the wrong time to speak to Rhys that way. But she had called Tommy a sweetheart when they had walked in.
“Sweetheart?” Rhys cracked a smile, neither Tommy or Alfie could figure out the meaning behind it. “Oh you,” She started, her voice like a cat’s purr. She got up from her chair slowly and as unthreatening as possible. She stepped around her desk, her fingers gliding on the smooth wood of her desk, both Alfie and Tommy swallowed down hard as they watched her demeanour change again to something more seductive then they were prepared for. “You should really be careful with what you call me, you might make a wife out of me.” Alfie watched uncomfortably as Rhys’ hand reached Tommy’s chest, and glided up his freshly pressed suit up onto his shoulder. She stood behind him and bent down to whisper in his ear, but Alfie had been far too distracted to notice that as she moved to pull a blade out from under the slit of her dress. It was tightly pressed against Tommy’s neck now, there was no chance for him to move.
“Call me sweetheart again.” She had said it softly against Tommy’s ear. Tommy couldn’t deny that he was aroused by her, but he didn’t answer her. If he spoke it would be enough to leave a graze on his neck. Rhys placed a soft kiss on his cheek, Tommy couldn’t understand her, she was so strange. Alfie was left to sit there quite jealous of the events unfolding, he was debating if he wanted to cause a scene as well, just to get a piece of her.
As Rhys moved away to stand by the window that looked out into the city, Alfie stood from his chair to address her.
“Alright, Rhys, Darling, I’ve travelled far to see ya, right, and I thought I was going to meet someone else, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want an alliance of some sort, alright? I’m very open to negotiations. You want something I have, go ahead and take it, right.” Alfie was mostly talking about his cock, but his informal deal went both ways. Rhys looked away from the window to look Alfie up and down. It was obvious to Tommy that she was playing games now, she was trying to fool them, she wasn’t normally like this. It was a persona, an alter ego. Tommy watched the scene unfold from his chair, as he pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and held it in between his teeth so he could pull out a lighter.
Rhys smiled at him sweetly, almost innocently as she finished inspecting Alfie’s frame, his cane in one hand, the other in his pocket. Rhys moved quite slowly this time, as she pulled a gun from underneath her dress. She had done it purposely. She pointed the gun at Alfie this time. Her hand at the ready to pull the trigger.
“Show me your hands,” she said softly, she didn’t even seem alarmed. She was clearly playing games, avoiding the purpose both Alfie and Tommy had gone to Manchester for. Alfie held both hands in front of him showing no weapons in his hands. Rhys turned away, boredom in her face as if she were hoping for him to show off some kind of weapon in his hands. All the while Alfie was still excited by her, he was a complete and honest masochist, Tommy was too he just didn’t want to admit to it.
“Alright boys, that’s enough for today, I’m tired.” She sounded bored again, as she moved toward her desk to pick up her glass still half full of absinthe. She downed the rest of the drink before she spoke again. “We’ll be seeing each other again I assume,” she looked at Tommy first, and then at Alfie by the window. This time she wasn’t joking around they could tell by how bored she appeared, she was done playing her game. Tommy left the room quietly, first, but Alfie stayed for a minute or so just to look at her as she looked over documents at her desk. He left without a sound truly hoping he would be seeing her again, not just because he was attracted to her, but because he really needed her help.
