If it wasn't for her piercing blue eyes and prominent cheekbones, Niamh would have wondered far more often whether she was actually a Shelby or not. Three years younger than Ada and eight years older than Finn, she had always been somewhat shielded from the illegal side of the family business and even shielded from many of the struggles her elder siblings had suffered. She was by no means spoiled but she was… different somehow. While she had a temper to rival that of Polly's when she was pushed too far, the truth was that she tended to favour the placid nature of her mother to the angry one of her father.

Being closer to age in Ada, and being the only two sisters, they were naturally very close although their personalities couldn't have been any more different. Chalk and cheese is how Polly referred to them. Ada was wilful and disobedient while Niamh did whatever was expected of her simply to save any argument from happening; Ada far preferred to make her opinions heard whereas Niamh's preference was to sit and listen to everything around her and take it all in. She wasn't a push over though, merely just someone who sought to keep the peace unless it was absolutely necessary to destroy it.

Niamh was known in the family affectionately as the 'secret keeper' because no matter what was confided in her, it never left her lips; something that both served to Tommy's benefit much of the time when he would talk to her about his plans but proved to be a hindrance when she refused to divulge things about her brothers and sister to him. Little did the family know that the only creatures who ever got to hear the Shelby family's deepest darkest secrets were the four legged equines whose company she favoured above all else.

Running a hand down the coal coloured mane of the horse she was brushing, Niamh smiled to herself. There was a chill in the air and she could hear Uncle Charlie berating Curly for putting a can of petrol too close to the fire, and Curly murmuring a bumbling apology. This, right here, was her happy place. Here she could enjoy the stability of her home and her family while somehow still feeling that she was able to embrace her traveller roots with the animals she had been riding since before she could even walk. Like the rest of her family, Niamh enjoyed being on the open road but she enjoyed her simple life in Watery Lane even more. There was just something she loved about knowing that her home was constant brought her a calmness amongst the chaos that being a Shelby could sometimes bring; even if she was the Shelby who bore the least of said chaos.

"You're going to be late for the family meeting," Charlie's voice murmured quietly from the doorway and Niamh turned to smile at him warmly.

"Tommy can wait a while, it won't hurt him."

"Might hurt his ego though," Charlie smirked. "Thinks he's important enough now to command respect from even us as though we're his little soldiers who stand to attention upon his orders."

"You might be one of his soldiers, Uncle Charlie," Niamh grinned impishly, revealing a dimple on the right side of her cheek just beside her mouth. "But I'm his sister first and his soldier never. He knows I'll be at the meeting when I'm good and ready and that'll just have to be acceptable enough for him."

"Well how about to spare the rest of us having to deal with his irritation, you come with me now?"

"Polly can handle Tommy," Niamh smirked. "You tell Tommy I'll be there when I'm done with the horses, and if he can't wait then that's his own problem."

Charlie nodded, a smile gracing his face as he stubbed his cigarette to the ground beneath his feet.

They both knew that Niamh would be at the meeting on time.

"No way. It's not happening. Over my dead body. This time you've really gone too far, Thomas Shelby."

The den was fraught with tension as the Shelby family attempted to take in what they had been told; or rather what had been asked of one of them. Polly was the first to answer; her face pinched with venom and her eyes as cold as ice.

Glancing around the room, Niamh wondered how she hadn't guessed that something big was coming because for weeks she had been dreaming about her teeth falling out. A common enough dream that most people didn't realise signified an upcoming major life change, but Niamh– just like the rest of her family– always took note of her dreams. She had supposed though, naively, that the change would have been to do with the family business or perhaps moving to a newer, bigger home like Tommy had been promising for years (not that she wanted or cared for a bigger home. Watery Lane suited her just fine and she had no desire to reside as the lady of some big manor house), but she had somehow misinterpreted just how significant this change would be for her personally.

Tommy smoked his cigarette languidly, his stoic face as unreadable as ever. He had known they would react like this, he had prepared himself for it in fact. However, he didn't care what they had to say; what protestations and angry slurs they would throw his way. The only person he cared about was the one sitting silently opposite him with an equally unreadable expression upon her face. That was one thing he hadn't expected from his sister. Usually her every thought passed across her eyes before she could even think to stop it, so the blank canvas before him was perhaps more irritating to him than unnerving.

"So what do you think, Niamh?" Tommy pulled a cigarette from a small metal box and lit it, his gaze never leaving hers.

"Does it matter?"

Tommy smirked. She knew him too well, that little sister of his, and she knew that when his mind was made up there was little to no point in fighting him on it. Tommy had expected that she would react like this for he knew her as well as she knew him. He had known she would be calm and collected while the rest of the family exploded into expressions and exclamations of disbelief and disgust. The only time his little Niamh ever argued with him was when it was an argument she knew she could win and usually one that she was fighting on behalf of someone else. He had lost count of the times she had defended Arthur when he was going through one of his episodes of melancholia, or when she had convinced him that if Ada and Freddie were in love then he had better just learn to accept it or risk losing his sister. But when it came to something of her own, she rarely stood her ground which was why she had been the perfect person for this job. It didn't matter that technically she was the only one. No, all that mattered to Tommy was that he could use her good nature to do what he needed, and whether it may seem selfish or twisted, he loved his family more than anything and everything he did, he did for them. And if sacrificing Niamh for the cause helped his family then so be it.

"No it doesn't matter, because it's not fucking happening," Polly growled. "I can't believe you'd even suggest such a thing."

"That's not up to you, Pol," Tommy regarded his aunt coolly. "It's up to Niamh and no one else."

"You're an absolute pig," Polly spat distastefully. "You know she won't say no to you because she never does. "

Polly hated the way he always did this to his youngest sibling. Even when they were children he had done it; asked her to do something that all of the others would have said no to but that she would do willingly because she could never bear to let him down. Niamh's problem was, and always had been, that she was a people pleaser and she would always do whatever the rest of the family asked of her if it made them happy. And usually her siblings were good enough not to abuse her good heart, but Tommy had gone and broken that trust now.

"On the contrary," Tommy narrowed his eyes. "I won't force her to do anything she doesn't want to do. At the end of the day, Alfie Solomons and myself have come to an arrangement that is beneficial to us all."

"What you mean is that you hope to keep him on your side by marrying him off to Niamh?! Have you forgotten that this is the same man who had Arthur fucking arrested and had Billy Kitchen shot?"

"I'm well aware of who he is, Polly," Tommy cleared his throat and stubbed his half finished cigarette out in the ashtray in front of him. "And like I say this has nothing to do with you."

"Like hell it hasn't! Last I checked, I'm part of this fucking family just like the rest of you. Arthur, you can't seriously tell me you're going to stand there and say nothing? She's your little sister too."

Arthur shrugged, pulling at the collar of his shirt uncomfortably. Tommy had discussed the idea of marrying Niamh to Alfie Solomons with him at length a couple days before, and while the thought of his beautiful baby sister being married to that fucking animal ate him up inside, he knew this was a good move for them. Tommy was certain this would be a sure fire way to stop Alfie from double crossing them in the future, and the benefits had ended up outweighing the cons until even Arthur couldn't argue the point any longer. And argue the point he had. Of course he had. After all, he had no desire to call that bastard his brother in law, but as usual, Tommy's plan made sense and if Niamh was willing to sacrifice herself for the family then so be it. But as Polly stared him down and as he glanced at Niamh, Arthur's stance began to waver slightly. They should never have asked her. Niamh would say yes. Arthur knew it; Tommy knew it; they all knew it. Ada, John and Finn's guilty faces said as much. On the other side of the table, Charlie sat smoking his cigarette and watching the situation unfold from beneath his flat cap. He may have looked impassive to a stranger but Arthur had known the man his entire life and knew his anger was lurking just below the surface.

"Of course you're not," Polly scoffed angrily, her eyes darkening further with anger and Arthur couldn't look at her anymore lest she see his own guilt there. "Because you never think for yourself. You do everything Tommy fucking tells you and it's-"

"-That's enough!" Niamh stood up and silenced Polly with her outburst. "I can't stand to listen to this any longer. Aunt Pol, I appreciate you fighting my corner, I really do, but this is my decision."

But even as the words left Niamh's mouth, she knew that was a lie. There were only two options available to her; do as Tommy asked and help her family or say no to his request and risk the people she loved the most in all of the world. Looking into Tommy's eyes, she knew now that her emotions were showing and that he would be able to read her train of thoughts as though he was inside her mind and she wanted to wipe away the self-satisfied smirk playing at the corners of his mouth. She wanted to jump across the table and smack him across the face for forcing her hand in this way and then she wanted to run as far away as possible. But in the end, she did as she always had done; conceded to the inevitable for the greater good of everyone.

"If this is really what you think is best for the family then I'll do it," she swallowed.

"You what?" Polly scoffed in disgust.

"You heard me," Niamh answered, sounding a lot braver than she felt. "I said that I'd do it. Now let that be the end of it."

"Niamh, sweetheart, I know you tend to go along with whatever hare brained schemes your brother cooks up but this is different," Polly sighed, taking Niamh's face in her hands gently. "This is marriage, and marriage to Alfie bloody Solomons no less. This is being bound to a man you don't know for the rest of your life in the hopes that it will keep him loyal to Tommy. Once you do this, there's no going back. There's no marrying anyone else and having the happy family you've always wanted. I'm not sure you're entirely sure what you're letting yourself in for, love. You're thinking with your heart, which is a good heart, but you need to think with your head and think about your future."

"I know, Pol," Niamh nodded, placing her hand over her aunt's. "But I also know that when it comes to this family, you've all had to make sacrifices over the years. You've done your best to keep me out of the darker side of the family business because I've wanted no part of it, but it's about time that I proved to you all that I care about this family just as much as the rest of you. After all, I reap the rewards of the family dealings along with the rest of you, don't I?"

"You don't have to prove anything," Polly smiled sadly. "We know how much you care about us, you daft girl."

"But if she wants to then let her," Tommy couldn't hold back his pleased smirk.

"Oh look at you, you smug fucking bastard," Polly whirled to face him and growled, her hatred for Tommy burning even brighter. That fucking bastard knew what he was doing and he didn't look the least bit ashamed. "I hope you're fucking happy with yourself now. And you," she pointed at Arthur angrily. "No wonder you're not fit to call yourself the head of this family when you're happy to sell your little sister to that despicable man all because Tommy says so. And as for the rest of you; all stood there with nothing to say, you should be ashamed of yourselves."

"Tommy's right," John shrugged, unable to look Polly in the eye. "If Niamh wants to do it then we should let her."

"I disagree," Ada spoke up. "I think we should put it to a family vote."

"And what's the point of that, Ada, when it'll be you and I against these selfish idiots?" Polly muttered, narrowing her eyes at Tommy once more. "You always did know how to get your own way, Thomas."

Polly stormed out of the den and slammed the door shut behind her, making the room practically shake. Arthur let out a sigh and looked to Niamh, who watched the door as though she was waiting to step out of it and into a future that didn't involve marrying a man she didn't even know.

"When is it?" she turned to look at Tommy suddenly.

"What?" he smirked..

"The wedding," she sighed. "You knew I wouldn't say no, so I'm certain you and Solomons have already sorted out the finer details. So when is it?"

"Friday."

Niamh laughed coldly to herself and shook her head. Three days. In three days, she would marry a man who had double crossed her family at every given opportunity. In three days, she would marry a man she had never even seen before. In three days she would put aside her own hopes and dreams for those of her family, and she didn't know how to feel about it.

"It will be a small affair with just the family at a stately home belonging to a mutual acquaintance of ours," Tommy spoke quietly, his ice blue eyes boring into his sister's as he tried to ascertain the thoughts no doubt running through her head. "And after the wedding, you'll return to Camden as Mrs Alfie Solomons and that's it."

"And that's it," she murmured. He made it sound so simple, just like he did everything.

But Niamh had a feeling this entire thing was going to be anything but simple.