Chapter One

The morning sky was blanketed in the usual grey smog that covered Birmingham as women and men bustled around starting their day. Clutching her coat closer to her body, Maddie weaved through the muddied streets heading home after a long shift. Her bed was calling out to her after the long night she had endured, maybe a bath too to fight off the biting chill of the dreary english weather.

An impressive figure cut through the street, one that couldn't be ignored. A stunning black horse with a man upon his back clopped down the street at a leisurely pace, it didn't escape Maddie's notice that the rider obviously wanted people to notice him. That meant it could only be one man. Redirecting her journey home, Maddie strode straight up to the black horse with a smirk on her red lips and once she had reached him, fell into an easy stride at it's side. "Thomas Shelby, what are you up to?"

Without turning his head, Tommy glanced down at the dark haired woman walking beside him. It has been so long since they had even had a civil conversation that he didn't even know how to answer her question, so instead he fell into their comfortable default. "Long night spent horizontally?"

"I don't need your approval Tommy, nor did I ask for it." Maddie shot back indignantly. "And last time I checked it never stopped you from jumping into my bed, or Lizzie's for that matter. So I have to wonder where this spitefulness stems from?" Her dark eyes challenged Tommy to answer truthfully but he remained in a cold silence. It was an unspoken rule between the two that they didn't mention the past, didn't mention anything that happened before Tommy went off to the war. "Go rule your kingdom Tommy, mere peasants like me shouldn't be taking up your time."

Making a swift U-turn, Maddie returned to her orginal journey home to the warm welcome of her bed. It had been a busy night, more so than usual, and her whole body ached and longed for sleep. If her Father could see her now he'd be turning in his grave, her career choice would have turned him an angry shade of red, but he wasn't around any more and in hard times hard choices had to be made.

After a few hours sleep Maddie took a quick bath and re-dressed to run some errands. It never stopped. Even with the men back from the war, a woman's work was never over and the information that she had aquired couldn't wait till the following day. Tying her long hair into an unruly braid thrown over her shoulder, Maddie quickly threw on her coat and stepped back into the crisp Birmingham air. Somethings never changed and the unrelelnting chill and smog was one of them. When she had first arrived in Birmingham with her parents years before Maddie couldn't understand why her Father wanted to leave London for the dingy streets of Birmingham, but after settling and making better friends than she'd ever had before Maddie soon forgot all about her life in London.

The short walk to the Shelby house was one she had taken many times, she didn't even need to think about it as she walked past the houses that lined Watery Lane. When Maddie had been younger the Shelby house had been like her second home, but since the war she avoided staying too long wanting to avoid Tommy as much as she could. It didn't end well when they were around each other too long, tempers would flare and arguments would break out always ending with the same result.

"Pol!" Maddie called out as she pushed the front door open, not botherng to knock.

"In here."

Following Polly's voice, Maddie stepped into the cramped kitchen where she found the older woman smoking at the table while reading a newspaper. "I got some information you need to hear."

Polly folded the paper up neatly and held out a cigarette for Maddie to take. "If this is about Tommy and the fucking chinese I already know, been the talk of the town all day."

Maddie shook her head. "This is much bigger than Tommy's dabbling in Chinese magic." Inhaling deeply on her cigarette, Maddie did a quick sweep of the room with her dark eyes to make sure little ears weren't listening in. "Theres a new copper, sent by Churchill if his bragging is to be believed. Irish and one of the girls said a proper piece of work."

Polly's face hardened as she digested Maddie's words. It was no conincident that a new copper had turned up, no this was all part of a bigger picture and she was certain Tommy was in the middle of it all. "Fucking hell Maddie-" The front door banging open interupted anything else Polly was going to say, and seconds later Arthur and John entered the kitchen. "What happened?"

Arthur dropped down into one of the chairs, his face covered in blood and angry looking cuts and bruises. This was Maddie's queue to leave, if there was trouble Tommy would return home and the last thing any of the Shelby's needed was the pair of them having another screaming match. "I'll meet with you later Pol, if I hear anything else I'll let you know."

"Hear what?" Arthur asked, grasping hold of Maddie's wrist before she could leave the bustling kitchen. "Someone giving you trouble? You know me an' John will sort 'em for you, just tell us the name."

Maddie smiled down warmly at the eldest Shelby, Arthur had always had a soft spot for her and he was the only one who stood up to Tommy when he went off at her. "No one's giving me any trouble Arthur. Just women's business." Kissing him quickly on the top of the head, Maddie managed to twist her wrist free of his hold before he could question her further. Some things were best kept between just the women.

"Mad, say you'll go for drinks with me tonight!" Ada shouted, halting Maddie just before the front door. "The Garrison, ten o'clock."

"I'll be there." Stepping out onto the street, Maddie bumped straight into the hard chest of the person she had desperately been trying to avoid. Piercing blue eyes stared coldly down at her, pinning her to the spot in a trance like state. "Arthur's banged up, there seems to be trouble in the Kingdom Thomas." She said strongly once her brain had fully re-engaged. "Being King must be tiring."

"As must being a whore." Tommy deadpanned.

Clenching her jaw tightly, Maddie fought to hold her tongue but this only served to earn her a challenging raised eyebrow. The one thing that Maddie prided herself on, despite her unorthodox career choice, was that she never backed down to Tommy. To her he would always just be Tommy Shelby who had taken her under his wing when she had first been brought to the Shelby house by Ada, enough people blew smoke up his arse without her joining in with them. Maddie saw her self as the constant that kept Tommy firmly grounded in reality, grounded to the fact that he was in fact just a man.

"Just means I'm good at my job Thomas." Shoving Tommy aside, Maddie moved around him not wanting to indulge him further with their little spat. He continually baited her, practically begging for a reaction but she'd be damned if she'd gave him one this time. The cycle needed to be broken and more importantly she needed to win.

"I've seen the way Arthur looks at you Madeline," Tommy called out to her retreating back, using her full name to highlight the contemp he had for the brunette. "I'm sure he's a regular, we all know how Arthur loves a cheaply priced whore."

Before Maddie could send a cutting remark Tommy's way, he had disappeared behind the Shelby house frontdoor and left her angry and humiliated alone in the street. How had she ever loved him? He was nothing short of cruel and she had agreed to marry him one time, maybe she got a lucky escape? Who wanted to be a gangsters wife anyway?