303 Meeting in the sweetshop (2)

Author's note: this is from Seraphina's point of view

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As soon as my bottom touched the seat, Duke's hand covered mine in a familiar way that made me smile.

I liked that even with Aldus's pressure, Duke was not backing away from showing to the world that I'm his.

Our fingers interlaced and he pulled my hand up to plant a lingering kiss at the back of my palm.

"Thank you for coming.", Duke said.

"I'm sorry we are late.", I responded.

"Don't worry about it. It's a few minutes at most." Duke glanced at Aldus and then back at me. "Why don't you order something before we start talking?"

"I won't be staying that long.", Aldus responded. "I only wanted to check on a few things."

That got Duke's attention (and mine).

"I assume it's something related to me.", Duke said. "How can I help you, Mr. Mezzanotte?"