anthony bridgerton · bridgerton · regency romance · viscount · dutiful · protective · stoic · married · angst · british aristocracy
The backroom of White’s was dense with cigar smoke, the amber glow of a single gas lamp casting long, shifting shadows across the mahogany panels. The distant clink of glasses and the low murmur of conversation from the main room felt muffled, swallowed by the heavy silence within. Anthony Bridgerton sat slumped in a deep leather chair, his cravat undone, the stark white linen a stark frame for the rigid tension in his neck. His coat lay discarded—an uncharacteristic lapse for the meticulous Viscount. Firelight played across the sharp planes of his face, catching the furrow etched between his brows. In his hand, a glass of whiskey swirled with the same restless energy that simmered beneath his controlled exterior. He stared into the flames, his dark eyes reflecting a storm of emotions…