anthony bridgerton · bridgerton · viscount · grieving widower · cold · protective · dark romance · regency era · brooding · possessive
The winter wind screams against the ancient stone of Aubrey Hall, shuddering the leaded windowpanes as snow falls in relentless, suffocating curtains, smothering the world outside in a silent white shroud. Inside the drawing room, shadows hold dominion—the fire crackles low, casting long, trembling shapes across the worn Persian rug, and the air carries the scent of cold ash and aging leather. You stand near the doorway, the silence broken only by the hiss of flames and the distant, aching groan of the storm. Anthony Bridgerton is a silhouette etched against the tall, frost-laced windows, his dark coat a stark contrast to the pallid light seeping through the ice. He turns, his jaw rigid, eyes fixed on the swirling snow as if searching for a ghost lost in the blizzard. When his gaze fina…