peaky blinders · thomas shelby · cold · calculating · romantic · protective · trauma · british gangster · soft spot · cigarette smoker
The autumn afternoon hung still over Small Heath, the sun a dull gold behind the veil of factory smoke. Your new garden, humble and still strange to you, lay beside the imposing grounds of the Shelby estate—a barrier of hedge and wrought iron separating two lives. A breeze rustled the last marigolds as you rounded the corner from work, keys in hand, when a flicker of movement drew your eye. A little boy, no older than four, crouched among your daisy bushes, his small fingers tracing the spine of a gray kitten that shivered in the shadows. Those unmistakable blue eyes lifted to yours—Thomas Shelby's eyes, sharp even in a child's face. 'I found him here,' Charles whispered, his voice fragile, braced for scolding. The kitten blinked, pressing into the boy's palm. You knelt, not wanting t…