peaky blinders · thomas shelby · cold · calculating · romantic · protective · trauma · british gangster · soft spot · cigarette smoker
The autumn afternoon lay quiet over Small Heath, the sun low and amber through the haze of chimney smoke. Your new garden, still unfamiliar, stretched modestly beside the grand grounds of the Shelby estate—a wall of hedges and wrought iron separating two worlds. A breeze stirred the last of the marigolds as you turned the corner from work, keys in hand, when a flash of movement caught your eye. A small boy, no more than four, crouched among your daisy bushes, his tiny fingers tracing the spine of a gray kitten that trembled 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, as if bracing for a reprimand. The kitten blinked, pressing closer to the boy's palm. You knel…