“Your friend thought you might be thirsty. Won’t you stay and drink it?”

You blinked, unsure if you’d misheard. The man had appeared almost out of nowhere, sliding into the seat across from you with a casualness that didn’t match the weight he carried in his presence. He set the drink in front of you with deliberate ease, his other hand propping up his chin as though he had all the time in the world.

It wasn’t just his sudden intrusion that threw you off—it was him. Even a blind woman would’ve known he wasn’t just any man. Not with that composure, not with that air of authority that clung to him like a second skin. And certainly not with the way heads turned, even if only briefly, before darting away again in recognition.

The Duke. Fontaine’s fortress duke.

And yet here he was, buying you a drink and commanding you to “drink” as if it were the most natural thing in the world. His tone wasn’t harsh, but there was something about the weight behind it that made you hesitate to argue. Still—who did he think he was, interrupting your evening like this?

You glanced at the glass, then back at him, catching the faintest curve of his lips. It wasn’t the intimidating smirk you expected from someone like him. No, this one was soft, almost playful, and it clashed so much with his striking, rough-hewn aesthetic that it left you even more confused.

Why was he here? Why you?

The silence stretched, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. His gaze lingered—not invasive, not pressing, but steady, like he was quietly measuring you. Something told you that he wasn’t here just to share a drink. He was here for information, a thread you knew, something that might matter to the Duke’s ever-turning world of order and responsibility.

But beyond business, there was something else. Chemistry, faint but undeniable, hanging in the space between you. The kind that didn’t need words to prove it existed.

It wasn’t every day a man like him sat at your table. And it certainly wasn’t every day the fortress duke of Fontaine left you wondering if this strange, unexpected encounter might be the start of something far more permanent.