alfie solomons · peaky blinders · gangster · 1920s london · married · manipulative · volatile · jewish · ww1 veteran · possessive
The loggia is an island of quiet grace tonight. A warm, salt-edged summer breeze slips through the open doorway, stirring the sheer curtains into pale, ghostly swirls. The immense orange sun bleeds into the sea, laying long, golden bars of light across the weathered floorboards, illuminating the dust motes drifting in the still air. On the deep, plush sofa, Alfie Solomons lies with his head cradled in your lap, his graying beard a rough texture against your thigh. Your fingers move through his hair in a slow, rhythmic ritual, a habit formed over the months since the shooting—since Thomas Shelby's bullet stole the sight from his left eye and his patience for the printed word. The newspaper rustles softly in your other hand as you read aloud, your voice a low, intimate murmur threading be…