Times up

"Only the dead have seen the end of the war"
                                                                - Plato

Mariana's POV

We needed to be smarter now
Quicker
With Luca coming after us and being so forward about it, we had to watch ourselves at every turn
Me, Tommy and Arthur were the main targets, so I knew my life has a little more time to hang onto.

But Alfie? Carter? Polly and Ada... Finn and Nala? I had to protect them. At any cost.
I wasn't going to let Luca take me family away from me.
Not for his father'a death.

His father paid a price for Angel's actions. For Grace's death and hurting our own. He paid and now Luca was on a fruitless vendetta for nothing. Nothing but grief and revenge.

And on top of everything I now had Tommy in my ear bitching about his workers walking out of the factory
It's not my fault he can't handle Jessie Eden. I'm sure he's already planning a way to win the argument with her anyway, and I'm sure he'll find a way to include fucking her as a necessity.

"I'll be back at the end of the day" Alfie said
"Please just be careful" I begged
"Dove, I can handle a dumb fucker like Luca Changretta, I've handled wannabe cunts like him for years" he said
"I know, but so had John. And look where he ended up" I said sadly.

"I know, I'll be back safe though alright, and Carter will be fine here with Finn" he said
I nodded
Yeah. I could trust Finn and Isaiah to watch over him.

Alfie had business to attend to at the bakery and I had a meeting with the Shelby's over Polly's return to the company
As a shareholder I had to bare witness apparently
Personally I don't think she should be returning yet.

She still hasn't recovered from prison
And with Michael still in the hospital she was even more testing lately.
I bid Alfie a farewell and made my way to the meeting. Only to be greeted with Tommy, Lizzie and Michael.

Mariana's Outfit

Lizzie looked... less than pleased to be there, she just sat... gazing at Tommy as he lit a cigarette
And Michael... Michael looked like death warmed up.

"Mar" he greeted with a raspy voice, sat tucked up in a wheelchair at the table
"Michael" I greeted, pulling my gloves off, before removing my hat and coat and sitting down.

"Lizzie" I smiled
She tore her eyes away from Tommy, and offered me a small smile
Before the doors swung open again
And in walked Ada and Pol

"Mariana" Polly said, void of any emotion. She seemed... hardened these past few days, less of the loopy ramblings and more... cold hearted Polly Gray we were all used to
But I could see the warmth in her eyes
The silent affection.

"Polly" I smiled slightly, watching her as she sat beside me
"Hey Mar" Ada smiled
"How hard was it getting her here?" I asked with a smirk, nodding to Pol to my side.

Ada chuckled
"I'd find it easier chasing rabbits" she commented
I smiled, but I didn't miss the tense look Michael and Polly shared.

"Before we start his extraordinary general meeting... of the board of the Shelby company limited, I'd like to note the absence of the deputy Vice President who has not yet arrived. We will continue without his presence" Tommy spoke up, handing out papers.

"Where is he?" I asked
"If I knew that Mariana... he would be here by now" Tommy said back
"You always know" I mumbled
He looked at me, but chose to say nothing.

•

After seeing Polly back into the company... with much difficult tension, we were left in silence.
"Right, now we can talk about real business. But for that we need Arthur, where the fuck is Arthur?" He asked.

I sighed. I didn't have time for all this. Driving all the way here just to formally swear Polly back into a role we all knew she was taking back.

•

"An informant told us that 6 year ago, Luca Changretta came from New York to Birmingham to be best man at his cousins wedding" Tommy informed
"They used Reid and Dunn on broad gate for the photographs" Polly said, handing out the wedding photos.

How... sweet
A bunch of thugs in a wedding photograph
"I've seen his face so I can pick him out. As can Mar. Half the men are Changrettas, meaning chances are they are the men who will come to kill us" Tommy explained. Yeah, no shit.

I recognised some of them. Men who used to run round the estate with Luca and his brother back in the day.

"We also propose that we give a copy of this photograph... to Aberama Gold" Polly said, zoning me back into the conversation
"What?" I asked
"We need to forget the idea that it has to be Arthur that pulls the trigger" Tommy said.

"So that's why he isn't here" I said
"Tradition will just fuck us up" Tommy replied
"It was 'tradition' that fucked us in the first place Tommy. It was the eye for an eye bullshit that made you sign Vincente's death. It was 'tradition' that made me and Arthur kill a man for you! For your wife!" I said accusingly.

Arthur was a loose cannon. But this whole situation... John's death. It affected him to the core
He needed this. He needed to be the one pulling the trigger.

"And where's it got us Tommy? With John no where to be seen and half a dozen Italians after us? After our families! Our kids!" I asked bitterly
"We should wait for him" Ada said calmly, making me sit back down.

I'm glad someone else saw sense
"Arthur's not here" Polly said, and it surprised me. That she was with Tommy in this
"We need him dead. That's it" Tommy chimes in, making me scoff, shaking my head at him
"Dropping the law of the bullet is part of the process of modernisation that I was working in before I... before I was executed" Polly explained.

"You weren't executed Pol" Michael commented
"What did you call me?" She asked back
"We were all executed Michael. Just because you shit yourself and we all accepted it doesn't make you special. Doesn't make you any different" I said simply.

"Right. Let's take a vote, I'll deal with Arthur" Tommy said, tearing my eyes away from the glare I was receiving off Michael.

"All those in favour of diving the photograph to Mr Gold, raise your hand" he said
I didn't care who pulled the trigger
Not in the grand scheme of things
I wanted him dead too. Simple
But not letting Arthur have a say? That's what didn't sit right with me. So I kept my hand down.

As everyone else raised them.
Tommy looked at me. And just... stared
But I didn't care. I wasn't going to break
Not from any of their eyes on me.

"Right. 5 to 1. It will be done" he said simply
I stood up, putting my coat back on
"Mum"
"Oh, mum now is it?... I smelled perfume when I came in here" Polly said

"Yeah it was the flowers" Tommy said
"Who came in here Michael?" She asked
I groaned, placing my hat back on neatly
"It's obvious Pol, everyone knows who came in here. Address it or drop it" I said, walking towards the doors
"And who's fucked you?" Pol asked.

"The blissful hierarchy of a Shelby family" I said simply, walking out.

•

The place looked... dull
No colour, no flare. Nothing that screamed socialism and gender equality for the work place
But I don't know what I should have expected from a building run by Jessie Eden.

I strolled through the doors, and the smell of ink and perfume smacked me in the face
"Can I help you?" A cheery woman asked from behind the desk
"Probably not. No" I said, strolling ahead, hands in my pockets as I wondered up the stairs.

"Miss, you can't go up there I'm afra...."
Her voice was drowned out as the second floor of busy woman and phones ringing greeted me
I sighed, walking up to a desk, and standing on top of it
Everyone looked at me. Phones ringing throughout the curious silence they threw my way.

"Jessie Eden? Where is she?" I asked
No one spoke
"Eden!" I shouted, if there was no other way of finding her... then I'll shout all I need to
The sounds of heels hit the concrete above me, Eden appearing at the balcony near the offices at the top of the metal stairs.

"And what brings Mariana Cortéz into my office?" She asked
I climbed down, heading towards the stairs.

•

The air was thick in silence as she poured tea by the table.
No desk, her office was more like an apartment as I sat here, waiting for... tea.

"I don't appreciate being bombarded" she said, placing the cup down in front of me, before taking her seat
"May I remind you, you didn't exactly phone ahead when you stormed my office Miss Eden" I said.

"Notice gets you nowhere. An abrupt conversation sorts things a lot quicker" she said
"Quite" I smiled
"Hence why I'm here" I said, glancing at the abandoned teacup in front of me.

"Right" she said, waiting for me to go on
"I appreciate your cause. Your goal and the need to... make a statement" I said
"But?" She said
"But, a strike on Tommy's factories, mean bad business for me too" I said.

"Ah, so you're here to plead Tommy's case" she said
"Oh no dear, I don't plead, and nor does Tommy, I'm simply warning you of the consequences of getting involved with him" I said
"And why would that be?" She asked.

"Because getting involved with Thomas Shelby is a one way ticket into his bed and his bad books" I said

"And before you make a comment about the nature of my relationship with him I will remind you that you are an advocate of woman's rights and equality so I wouldn't appreciate any comments about how I bow down to his will. Because I assure you Miss Eden that is not the case" I said, swiftly shutting her mouth before she spoke again.

"With little compromise or no agreement, Thomas Shelby will bring your entire cause crashing down. He will break you. And I do not wish to see that happen" I said.

"I assure you Miss Cortéz, that I am perfectly capable of handling a man like Tommy, there are skeletons even you most likely aren't aware of" she said.
I smiled
"I know all his skeletons, it's really not hard to, if you look close enough and read through all the talk, it's quite easy to see the real Tommy. I think it's a fair assumption to say you know nothing" I explained to her.

"So you know Greta Jurossi?" She asked
I cocked my head to the side
"I think the real question is, do you know Greta Jurossi?" I asked back
"I'm quite friendly with her sister... Kitty" she said.

I scoffed
"Kitty always was a gob shite" I commented
"Kitty says that Greta Jurossi is the only woman Thomas ever truly loved" she said
I stood up
"Then it's official. You truly do know nothing" I said.

"Because he loved you?" She asked, unmoving, her eyes following my movements
"Because Tommy loves anyone who's damaged enough" I said calmly
"And looking at you, I'd say you got a pretty good chance of experiencing it" I said. Before I left.

He was too caught up in all the Changretta business, that I know Eden was a distraction for him. A small problem he could focus on on the side whilst bedding her.
Poor woman.

•

When Alfie finally got home I was relieved. After the day we'd both had it was nice to get into bed and just... be.
Carter was fast asleep and Alfie was rambling about how shit his day was. And how useless Ollie was.

"Mm" I hummed, laying my head on his arm and moving into his hold
He stopped talking, and looked down at me
"What's the matter Dove?" He asked
"Nothing, just tired love" I said simply.

He laid down properly beside me, brushing the hair from my face with his ring covered knuckles.
"I missed you today" he said quietly
"I missed you too" I sighed, cuddling into him.

"You look shattered" he commented
"Oh... thanks" I chuckled
"Oh shut it, I just mean you're overworking yourself" he said honestly
"Says you" I smiled softly.
"Mm, says me" he said with finality, planting a kiss on my forehead.

I grasped his face in my hands, planting a kiss on his lips, pulling him into me to deepen it, I missed the intimacy between us
I missed being together and not fighting all the time.

"We'll make it through this right?" I asked
"Course we will" he mumbled sleepily, pulling me closer.

"I'll be fucked if you're ever hurt on my watch dove" he grumbled into my hair.

"Mm, I love you" I said
"I love you too" he said.

•

It was halfway into the early morning when I woke up. It was still dark outside, but the unmistakable sounds of doors opening shocked me awake.
"Alfie" I whispered, shaking him slightly
He grumbled in his sleep and turned over.

I sighed, grabbing the gun from the bedside drawer and getting out of bed
I waited behind the doorframe, peeking out into the small landing
The whole street was swarming with Peakys

Who the fuck was in the house? And how did they get in?
I watched the dark figure move up the stairs, before they moved towards Carter's room.

I moved out from the darkness and put my gun to their head
They stopped. For a brief second, before quickly turning around, my gun going off and into the wall, as they grabbed my head and tried to pin me to the wall.

Carter's crying rang throughout the house, the shot and the fighting waking him up.

I cried out, fighting back before they were ripped away from me
And I watched as a knife tore through their neck.
Blood gargling through their throat was the only conceivable sound... before they slumped to the floor, and Alfie was in clear view of me, holding a bloody knife.

"Who is that?" He asked
"I don't know do I!" I whispered shouting, going into Carter's room
He was my priority. Always. The dead man can wait.

•

I didn't expect my Thursday morning to start like this, rocking Carter in my arms as we sat in the living room. With a dead guy on the table.
"Alfie" I heard Tommy greet as Alfie opened the door
I also caught the look Alfie threw me as he came back in, he really did not like being around Tommy.

"Who's that?" He asked
"If I knew that Tommy, we wouldn't have asked you round would we? He's not Italian. So it's unlikely he's Changretta's" I said, Alfie's hand resting on my shoulder in a comforting manner.

"Right" he said, moving towards the body, checking in his pockets
"Oh for go-"
"Ah" he said, holding up a note
"Anyone after you Mar?" He asked, but it was obvious someone was.

Because the note said 'Times up Sunflower'

Fuck.

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