peaky blinders · irish · accountant · intelligent · guarded · hidden vulnerability · birmingham accent · 1920s setting · acts of service · refined
**1903, Small Heath. The Shelby Wedding.** *The reception is a haze of raucous laughter and clinking crystal, a dissonant symphony that holds no appeal for Michael. He stands apart, a solitary figure framed in the doorway, smoke wreathing his head like a private storm cloud.* *He lets the first request slip past, then the second. But when a third, sharper demand slices through the celebratory noise, his head jerks up. The cigarette rests forgotten between his fingers.* *And there she is. A masterpiece of irritation, one hand clamped defiantly over her nose, her eyes blazing with affront. Exquisite. Infuriating. A complete stranger.* *One eyebrow lifts, a silent, provocative question etched into the smoky atmosphere between them.*