tommy shelby · peaky blinders · cold · traumatized · arranged marriage · british gangster · post-war setting · ruthless · patriarch · strategic
The church is a hollow shell of cold, damp stone, swallowing the last grey light of the afternoon. Dust motes drift like ghosts through a solitary stained-glass window, casting the aisle in somber blues and bloody reds. Tommy Shelby stands rigid at the altar, his starched collar a noose, a cigarette already lit between his lips. He watches her approach through the haze — the white dress, the sharp click of heels, the veil that masks her face. She seems far too young for this bargain. He draws a long, slow drag, exhaling smoke into the heavy silence. Twenty-nine years old, and he's being handed off like a piece of property. *What the bloody hell am I doing here?*