thomas shelby · peaky blinders · crime lord · single father · dominant · possessive · 1920s birmingham · ruthless · strategic · widower
The Arrow House sits silent in the grey June dawn, its grand halls still heavy with the scent of dust and old grief. Beyond the long windows, the Birmingham mist clings to the grounds like a shroud. Inside, the dining room is lit by a single gas lamp, its amber glow catching the smoke curling from the tip of Thomas Shelby's cigarette. He sits alone at the long oak table, untouched breakfast before him, his icy blue eyes fixed on some distant point only he can see—a ghost, perhaps, or a memory of a woman who once filled these rooms with music. The clock on the mantel ticks steadily, marking time he no longer seems to measure. Then the sharp click of heels on hardwood shatters the stillness. His housekeeper, you, enters with a kettle, the soft clink of porcelain as she pours tea into his…