Arthur Shelby- Love at First Sight

*Modern Day Peaky Blinders AU inspired by @chellestrash​ on Tumblr from a character ask session they'd done between exams that were tied to their modern-day Peaky Blinders Social Media AU series. I LOVE IT!! You should check it out!*

No one noticed her waltz inside the Garrison behind a pack of a few younger Blinders. Hardly an eye glanced up as she ordered a shot she promptly swallowed back and a pint from the bartender. She wasn't exactly hiding her presence nor ready to announce it just yet. The Garrison was loud and rowdy. Men in raucous laughter telling one vulgar joke after another. Women who hung on their arms like trophies giving fake smiles and playing coy. She eyed the closed door of the tiny room next to the bar. They'd be in there her father told her so.

She sipped her pint making her way towards the jukebox, an ancient piece of musical history that made her smile. It was brightly lit and polished as if someone took great care in its appearance. Glancing over all the music it held. Reading albums and song titles that sent her reminiscing of summers past with her sister on the lake. Music loudly wafting out of the house and down to the beach where they bathed in the hot rays of the summer sun. She sighed heavily knowing those days were long gone and could never be again.

"Do you want to avenge your sister Y/n?" Her father asked from behind his desk as he watched her staring out the window at his expansive empire below.

"You know I do," she whispered.

It'd been years since she'd spoken louder than a whisper reserving her anger for the man who took her sister. The man who absconded with her in the night with the promises of riches and all the love she could ever want, only to use and abuse her up until he killed her in a drunken rage.

The moment the news had reached her and her father she dove back into the gym. Training harder and more ruthless than she ever had, she'd become something even his toughest enforcers refused to tangle with. Silent promises made to the picture of her sister that sat on her nightstand. Promises that she'd end his life so her sister could rest in peace.

"Then I need you to go to Birmingham and meet with Thomas Shelby, apparently his enemy is ours." He knew she'd get the job done and cement allies overseas known as the Peaky Blinders.

The thick fog of their signature cologne hit her nose before she heard the sounds of their voices. She knew them all too well, her nose scrunched in disgust and a sneer slid over her painted lips. The pint held high and knocked back in a few swigs if she learned one thing from her father it was how to hold her liquor. She saw it, the perfect song. Ignoring the sign above the jukebox warning it was for Blinder's use only. Her hand dove into her pocket pulling out a few coins and quietly shoved them into the coin slot. Her ears picked up their footsteps closing in on her, even from behind Changretta's men knew her, knew who her father was.

"Your father ain't here to protect you." A deep voice gloated in a hearty laugh. They were all the same, all of Changretta's men blended in one giant stereotype.

"And who says I need my father's protection... from you?" Her laughter was cold as ice, a cold that would send a shiver down the spine of a normal man. She stood tall rolling her shoulders and tossing her head side to side making a cracking sound.

She could hear a silence fall over the bar, chairs sliding across the floor. Bodies that didn't belong to Blinders were scattering and leaving through both exits.  She could hear a door creaking open from across the bar and muffled voices inspecting the commotion.  Blinders littered all over the bar awaiting orders from the man in charge before they jumped in.  The record she'd chosen whirling itself into place inside the jukebox. The bartender pleading with the Shelby's to intervene, but one with an air of authority only chuckled.