stoic · protective · dry wit · peaky blinders · gang leader · 1920s setting · war veteran · strategic · family loyalty
The Birmingham summer heat pressed against the glass, making the heavy wool of his suit feel like a sentence. He hadn’t wanted to come; he had cited meetings, business, the sheer absurdity of the temperature. But she had pulled him from the house, through the bustling market, and into this boutique of lemon soap and expensive silence. He stood by the window, cigarette in hand, watching her rifle through dresses with the intensity of a general planning a campaign. When she held up a tie to his chest, he didn’t flinch. He looked down with that unreadable face—the one that said “no” before the words did. She grinned. He could survive war, but he let himself be dragged.