Page 11 of Temptation and Tyranny

“Yeah, sorry. I’m just...processing.”

“I bet. How do you feel about all this?”

I took a deep breath, trying to sort through my jumbled emotions. “Relieved, I guess? But also confused. It doesn’t make sense. Tomas never gave any indication that he was into drugs…and I was sure he was untouchable because of his connections…”

“Maybe an even bigger fish decided to intervene,” Joanna suggested, her tone playful. “Someone tall, handsome, with killer arms...”

I rolled my eyes, even though she couldn’t see me. “Come on, Jo. Cooper’s just a businessman. He couldn’t possibly have that kind of influence.”

But even as I said it, I wasn’t so sure. There was so much I didn’t know about Cooper Moreau. The way he’dhandled Tomas last night, the mysterious phone calls I’d seen him make from his car…the curt answer he’d given me about his occupation.

“If you say so,” Joanna mused. “But you have to admit, it’s quite a coincidence.”

“Yeah,” I murmured, glancing again at the spot where Cooper’s car had been. “Quite a coincidence.”

After hanging up with Joanna, I laid in bed a while, staring at the TV without really seeing it. Relief washed over me in waves—Tomas was no longer a threat. But with that relief came a growing curiosity about Cooper Moreau.

Who was he, really? And what was he capable of? Did I get rid of Tomas, only to have an even bigger top dog associated with me?

Chapter Three

Cooper

I sat in my office at the warehouse, putting together a few stacks of invoices for Colton to go through and either process or forge, depending on exactly what the shipment was. Even though he had been reluctant, I was glad he’d agreed to help me out with the paperwork. Now that I’d taken over for Steele, I didn’t have the time to doctor invoices and inventory records. I was too busy meeting with customers and clients, schmoozing and networking. That was usually Steele’s department, especially since the dick was titled and could manage an invitation to practically any event in Europe, but I was slowly connecting to the right people. But even though I was coming into my own, I still missed Steele.

My phone rang, and I answered it. It was Mario, letting me know that everything had been carried out and that Tomas McCroy was behind bars. I should have felt some amount of guilt, tracking him down and beating the shit of out of him while Mario held him, but I didn’t. That’s just who I was.

I disconnected the call, staring at the filing cabinet next to my desk. I wasn’t sure why I’d gone out of my way to take care of my physical therapist’s crazy ex, but something in me made me want to…protect her. It was a strange emotion, but I told myself it was just because she was going to help me ride my bike again. I needed her alive. That was all.

As I turned my attention back to my papers, my phone buzzed again. A text from an unknown number. My stomach twisted as I read the message:

Shipment received. Absolutely not acceptable. We need to talk.

I swore under my breath. This had to be about the weapons shipment to Sudan. I’d known it was a risk, but the money had been too good to pass up. Now it seemed like that decision might be coming back to bite me in the ass.

I glanced at the clock. It was nearly midnight, but sleep wasn’t an option now. I needed to get ahead of this situation before it spiraled out of control. But before I responded, I had to know exactly what went wrong and how to fix it.

And there was one man who oversaw the shipment with me.

“Cooper?” Colton’s voice was groggy with sleep. “What’s wrong?”

“I need you to come to the warehouse. Now.”

There was a pause on the other end of the line. I could practically hear Colton fumbling for his glasses. “Is this about the Sudan shipment?”

“Just get here,” I said, then hung up.

While I waited for Colton, I pulled up the shipping manifest for the Sudan order. Everything looked correct, but clearly, something had gone wrong. Had we been duped by our suppliers? Or was this an attempt at extortion from the buyers? The numbers before me swirled, and I reached back into my jacket pocket to pull out a flask. I tried not to drink when I was at the warehouse, but I needed to calm my pulse and mywandering mind.

The sound of the warehouse door opening jolted me from my thoughts. Colton appeared, looking disheveled but alert. Instead of wearing his contacts, like usual, he had on his glasses.

“What’s going on?” he asked, closing the door behind him.

I handed him my phone with the text message. Reading it, the color drained from his face.

“Shit,” he muttered. “What are we going to do?”

I leaned back in my chair, trying to remain calm even though my heart was pounding. “First, we need to figure out what went wrong. Check the inventory records against what we actually shipped. I want to know if this is our fuck-up or if we’re being played.”

---