The Shelby family had ruled Birmingham for generations. Not by office not by choice but through fear and respect earned with their own blood. Their name carried through the narrow dirty streets like an echo whispered in pubs traded over card games passed in silence when someone wanted to avoid trouble.

The Shelbys were no aristocracy though their influence reached farther than any lord could dream. Their wealth did not shine with gold but smelled of smoke from factories and gunpowder from revolvers. Each of them carried sins long since weighed and forgotten because in Birmingham no one was innocent.

Thomas Shelby the head of the family a man with eyes as cold as steel built his empire slowly patiently as if every move was part of a larger plan. He spoke little but when he did everyone listened. After the war that took half his soul he returned to the city and made it his kingdom. Not crowned not holy but one ruled by him and his blood.

Polly Gray was his shadow and his balance. She knew when to strike and when to stay silent. Arthur unpredictable and impulsive was his sword. John loyal though sometimes too proud. And you... you came later from outside when the Shelby kingdom was already established though its walls had begun to crack.

You did not belong to their world but he Tommy found in you something that brought him peace. Maybe that was why he pulled you into it. Into this world of whiskey smoke and political deals. A world where one wrong word could cost a life.

In Birmingham they said that if a Shelby wanted something he would get it. And if a Shelby loved someone not even hell could keep them apart.