When The Boys Are Away

Part 8

Minutes later, she was strolling into the dark stables with Arthur and Jay on her left side and Tommy and John on her right. Much to her protests, they wouldn't allow her to leave the pub without them, declaring that they'd heard how dangerous a man Alfie Solomons could be. She had no other choice but to take them with her, deeply hoping that her business partner wouldn't see it as a threat.

Uncle Charlie had a blank look on his face when he met them in the empty courtyard, not giving anything away to the five walking towards him. "He's in the arena, only wants to talk to Harlow though." The boys glared at him as he put his arms up in defence, knowing that they weren't going to listen to the instructions.

"Thank you Charlie." She nodded, fixing a confident look onto her face which she wore to every meeting she went to. Everybody noticed her change in stature; her shoulders went back, chin up and she took longer strides which presented a more authoritative persona.

"Do you have a meeting?" Arthur asked to which she responded blankly, "No."

As she reached the door, Tommy grabbed her arm, "Do you know what he wants?"

"No." She muttered, before pulling the two doors open powerfully with a smirk on her face. Alfie turned leisurely as she stuttered into the arena, trying to forget all about the blood smeared on her face. The arena was large, but only two lights in the centre were on, illuminating only part of the structure.

"Miss Winters. It's lovely to see you again." He called out, his voice bouncing off the surrounding metal as he eyed the men behind her, "I wasn't aware that I asked you to bring guests." His tone was light-hearted, but she knew the message behind it was serious.

Without missing a beat, she responded harshly, "Well, I wasn't aware that you were going to show up in my stables tonight, but here we are." She stared around, holding out her hand for him to shake as he nodded at the true comment. Harlow wasn't at all surprised when she saw silhouettes of three men in the shadows, clearly here for protection purposes on behalf of Alfie. He wasn't stupid, he wouldn't dream of heading out of London unprotected.

"Right, let me guess..." Solomons muttered, pointing his stick at the Jay behind her who held a stern expression on his face, "Brother." He moved to Arthur, "Definitely a Shelby," and then John who tilted his head in anticipation, "Could be a Shelby." And finally Tommy, "I reckon this one is the infamous Thomas Shelby. Boyfriend?"

Alfie's face held a questionable look as Harlow laughed lightly, "They're quite the predictions Mr Solomons. I won't insult your intelligence, I'll let you work it out yourself."

The silence was highlighted for a few moments whilst the bearded man took in the four new faces before he settled on Tommy, who was stood almost in line with Harlow. He'd left her to deal with a dangerous man once today, he couldn't leave her again.

"Thomas Shelby. I only know of you because every time I want to fucking buy anything outside of London, your name seems to already be on the lease. I must say, she must have had some confidence in you, since you were at war and that."

Harlow's line of sight didn't waver as the conversation turned away from her slightly, focussing half on Mr Solomons and partly on the men lurking in the shadows. "I didn't need confidence; this is his company. I was running it on behalf of Thomas Shelby so his name will be on the contracts." Harlow announced coldly, not wanting to drop her defence and let any emotions show. Her and Tommy's relationship had to be purely business related, nothing more, nothing less.

Alfie stroked his beard softly, sliding his feet to face her, "Right, you say that. I'm hearing you say it." He expanded, trying to get his point across. "But here you are, Miss Winters, still speaking like you fucking own the place, when in reality, you should be at least third in line." Once again, he used his black stick to point at the Shelby brothers and Harlow struggled not to roll her eyes.