The Gypsy Beauty

Billy Kimber.

Tommys POV

Me, John, Letty and Arthur sit inside our private room in the Garrison, playing cards with Scudboat and Lovelock. The door opens revealing Grace, the noise of men singing in the bar coming through. "Did you want whiskey as well?" She asks me, picking up glasses to fill with beer. "No, just beer." I mutter, stubbing out my cigarette.

"No whiskey? Are you expecting trouble?" Arthur asks. Before I can answer, John cuts me off. "Jesus Christ Tom, why would you let them sing? They sound like strangled cats." He complains as I let out a dry chuckle and Letty smirks as she looks through the betting shop books. "And what made you change your mind though, Tommy?" Arthur teases, a knowing grin on his face as he looks at John and I grin slightly. "It's about time, Tommy." John teases, catching me in the act. "Time for what?" Grace asks, turning to walk out. "Just play the bloody hands." I tell them.

"You stay the way you are Tommy. Remember what dad used to say." Arthur starts. "Fast woman and slow horses..." he begins. "Will ruin your life." John finishes for him making Letty scoff. "Charming as fucking ever, you Shelby men." She says sarcastically as Arthur and John grin at her.

Arthur goes to say something when a large light shines through the window making all of us stiffen. "Coppers?" John asks me. "No." Me and Letty both say in unison. The music suddenly stops and muffled shouting is heard from outside our private room. After a few moments, a gunshot echoes through the pub and Letty sighs. "We can't have one day to ourselves." She says in annoyance.

"Harry, get these men a drink. Everyone else go home." I say as I stand in the doorway and walk out into the pub. Letty walks out and rolls her eyes when she sees Billy Kimber standing there, walking over to the table. John and Arthur following behind her as I get two extra chairs. Arthur takes a seat in the middle as I sit on his right, at the end, and Letty and John sit on his left. Scudboat and Lovelock stand behind us, glaring down at Kimber.

Billy and one of his men sit across from us as Billy's eyes start to wonder Letty's frame and she glares at him. Grace carries over a tray with a bottle of whiskey and glasses and I point towards her. "Go home." I tell her but she shakes her head, placing the tray down onto the table. "But Mr Fenton said-" she starts.

"He said go home." Letty tells her as Grace tries her hardest not to cower under Letty's stare, her green eyes blazing. Billy sniggers at this. "I never approved of woman in bars." He booms as his eyes slowly glance towards Letty and he smiles coyly. "But when they look like that..." he trails of as my jaw clenches, biting my tongue as I lean back and my eyes stay targeted on the man in front of me. "So which one of you does she belong to then? Is that mouth good for anything better than talking?" He asks as Letty clenches her fists. I know she don't like Grace but she hates men like Billy Kimber.

I shake my head, my respect for Billy Kimber is lacking and his snarky comments only motivated my plans to ruin his empire, even more if possible. I glared over the table and then speak up, waving my arm slightly. "You said you wanted a man called Shelby, you got three of them." I say.

"I've never heard of ya, then I hear of ya. Some little diddicoy razor gang. I thought to myself, so what? But then you fuck me over. So now you have my undivided attention. Especially you girl." He points at Letty. "By the way, which one of you am I talking to? Who's the boss?" Billy roars, his voice loud and obnoxious, echoing around the bar.

"Well I'm the oldest." Arthur announces as Letty picks up her whiskey glass and chugs it back as John puts his hand on the inside of her thigh, trailing her dress up a bit. Billy let's out a small snigger at Arthur. "Clearly." He says sarcastically as Johns hand tightens on Letty's thigh, his eyes darkening as he stares at Billy. "Are you laughing at my brother?" He asks as Billy looks around, taken aback by the question before he points at Arthur. "Right. You're the oldest."

His finger moves to John. "You're the thickest." He insults before he moves to me. "I'm told the boss is called Tommy and I'm guessing that's you because you're looking me up and down like I'm a fucking tart!" He growls. "I want to know what you want." I say calmly. "There was a suspicious betting pattern at Kempton Park. A horse called Monaghan Boy. He won by a length twice and then finished last, with 3,000 pounds bet on him." The man beside Billy speaks up.

"Which one are we talking to?" Letty speaks up making Arthur, John, Scudboat and Lovelock smirk. Kimber glares as he leans over the table but Letty isn't intimated in the slightest. "You must be Tommy's girl. Pretty one at that. Can tell by the way he looks at you, like a kid in the candy shop. You know you can do much better than him? A lot better than hanging around with a razor gang. Bet you'd look lovely with my dick inside you." He says, smiling smugly to himself as he leans back in his chair.

Johns and Arthur's glare deepens at him as Letty laughs. "You're funny. But see, I would never let a typical wannabe gangster who thinks he's gods gift to women, when he's not, put their hands on me. I prefer real gangsters, real men." She says firmly as Billy's smile drops at her words.

The room falls into raging silence as Letty and Billy stare each other down, Letty barely blinking. John and Arthur long forget about the deal and John stands up and Arthur cracks his knuckles, an inhuman growl leaving his lips. "Easy, my boys. He's nothing I can't handle." Letty tells them as she grabs Johns hand, pulling him back down and placing his hand back on her thigh which he squeezes again.

My cold demeanour covers the rage I feel inside as I continue to speak calmly, dragging on my cigarette. "Which one's the boss?" I ask and the man with glasses cringes as he speaks up. "I am Mr Kimber's adviser and accountant." He says as Billy jumps up from his seat, his eyes glaring down at me.

"And I'm the fucking boss. Okay, right, end of parley. You fixed a race without my permission. You fucking gypsy scum. What, live off the war pensions, or these poor Garrison Lane widows! That's you level. I am Billy Kimber, I run the races! You fixed one of them so I'm going to have you and your little brunette bitch shot against a post!" He finishes shouting, turning round to strut out of the room.

"Kimber." Letty calls as she throws him a carved bullet I handed to her. "Look at it." I tell him, standing up. "That's my name on it. It's from the Lee family. You're also at war with the Lee's, Mr Kimber. Am I right?" I question. "The Lee's are attacking your bookies and taking your money. Your men can't control them, you need help." I continue as his advisor keeps his eyes on us.

"Perhaps we should listen to what Mr Shelby has to say. Before we make our decisions." He says. "Right, the Lees are doing a lot of taking at the fairs. They're doing a lot of kin. They're saying the race tracks are easy meat, because the police are busy with strikes. Now, we have connections. We know how they operate. You have muscle." I say before I pause.

"Together, we can stop them. Divided, maybe not." I finish. "Mr Kimber, perhaps we should take some time for reflection. Possibly make arrangements for another meeting." His advisor mutters. My eyes never leaves Billy Kimber's. "I admire you, Mr Kimber. You started with nothing and you built a legitimate business. It would be an honour to work with you, Mr Kimber." I finish, refraining from winking at Letty who watches me.

"Nobody works with me. People work for me." Billy corrects. "Explains why you don't have a lot of men then." Letty says sarcastically as John and Arthur smirk at her. Kimber glances at her before he looks back at me. He takes a coin from his pocket and throws it on the floor. "Pick it up, pikey." He says as the room falls silent. A few seconds past when John shoots up from his seat, and Letty gets up, whispering something in his ear as I hold my hand out. I reach down and pick up the coin. "It's for your ceiling." Kimber grumbles before walking out of the pub.

His advisor stands up, walking around the table to stand in front of me. "We will be in Cheltenham." He informs. "As will I." I grin, puffing out smoke. The man simply nods and walks out to the pub followed by their two security.

"So you picked a fight with the Lees on purpose. Tommy, we can't mess with Billy fucking Kimber." Arthur rambles. "Don't tell me you're scared of him Arthur." Letty says as Arthur looks at her. "You know who he is, Scar." He says. "Yeah, a nobody. Anybody can bring him down a peg or two." Letty says smirking.

"Get yourself a decent haircut men, we're going to the races." I declare, chugging a glass a whiskey back. "You know, sometimes I could strangle you three." Letty says looking between us as we all smirk at her. "I hope you mean that in a good way, Scar." Arthur teases. "Wouldn't you like to know, Art." She says back, making us chuckle.