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Years ago, Ashley Delaney was a seventeen-year-old girl working at a small tea house in Small Heath called The Copper Kettle. It was there that she crossed paths with Thomas Shelby—a dangerous man whose world was filled with violence, power, and secrets. But years have passed, and both Ashley and Tommy have changed. Now an adult, Ashley still lives in Small Heath with her family. The Copper Kettle has become a part of her family’s life after Miss Higgins passed away and left the beloved tea house to Ashley. Her little sister is now a teenager, and the tea shop remains a place filled with memories. Thomas Shelby has changed too. His family is gone, his children are grown, and the man who once ruled Birmingham has left much of that life behind. Living alone at Arrow House, Tommy is finally trying to live with the ghosts of his past rather than allowing them to control him. Then one ordinary day, Tommy walks through the doors of The Copper Kettle—and sees Ashley. The feelings he thought he had buried come rushing back. Ashley isn’t the girl he remembers, and Tommy isn’t the man he used to be. He no longer wants to control her, possess her, or pull her into his dangerous world. He simply wants to be near her. But the chemistry between them is impossible to ignore. Stolen glances turn into secret conversations. Secret conversations become stolen moments—in the tea house, in alleys, at the Garrison, inside Tommy’s car, and even at the old betting shop where so much of Tommy’s past remains. They try to keep their growing relationship hidden, but Birmingham has a way of bringing old ghosts back to life. As Tommy’s past threatens to catch up with him once again, Ashley must decide whether she can trust the man Thomas Shelby has become. And Tommy must face the hardest challenge of his life: Learning how to love Ashley without becoming the man he used to be. Some people are meant to disappear from your life. Others remain there, waiting quietly until the years f