Page 59 of Temptation and Tyranny

I hugged him carefully, mindful of his frailty. “I will,” I whispered, though I wasn’t sure if he’d remember this conversation in an hour.

The drive back to the city was quiet, both of us lost in our own thoughts. Finally, I reached over and took Cooper’s hand. “Thank you for bringing me today.”

He glanced at me, and for the first time since I’d known him, I saw true vulnerability in his expression, saw the real Cooper completely unbared. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” I squeezed his hand. “Your father is amazing. I can see where you get your strength from.”

Cooper was quiet for a long moment. “He told you, didn’t he? About how it all started?”

“He did,” I admitted. “Cooper, why didn’t you tell me yourself?”

He shrugged, but I could see the weight hecarried on his broad shoulders. “It doesn’t change anything. The choices I made, the things I’ve done...”

“It changes everything,” I interrupted. “You were just a kid, trying to save your only remaining parent.”

Cooper pulled the car over suddenly, putting it in park before turning to face me. “Allegra, I—” His voice broke, and I could see the emotion he was fighting to control.

I reached out, touching his face gently. The gesture felt more intimate than any of our previous interactions. “You are a good man, Cooper Moreau. What you’ve done for your father, the way you’ve taken care of him all these years...it’s incredible.”

He leaned into my touch, his eyes closing briefly. When he opened them, the vulnerability there took my breath away. “I don’t deserve you,” he whispered.

The words hung between us, heavy with meaning. My heart pounded as I realized how close we were, how easy it was to close the distance between us. I leaned in and kissed him gently, showing him how I felt about the man he truly was.

“You deserve more than you know, Cooper.”

As we drove back into the city, I found myself stealing glances at him, seeing him in a completely new light. Cooper Moreau might have started his criminal career out of desperation to save his father, but he was so much more than his past. And I was beginning to realize just how deep my feelings for him really went.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Cooper

I stood in Steele’s study, eyeing the selection of tuxedos laid out before me with barely concealed disdain. Trust Steele to go overboard with this wedding stuff. The room, usually a testament to masculine elegance with its dark wood and leather furnishings, had been transformed into what looked like a high-end men’s boutique. The morning light flitted through the open windows. Gone were the dark window dressings. It was clear Ashlynn had redecorated.

“Stop scowling,” Steele said, adjusting his bow tie in the floor-length mirror. “It’s my wedding. You can suffer through a fitting.”

“I have a perfectly good tuxedo at home,” I grumbled, but picked up one of the garment bags anyway. The price tag made me raise an eyebrow—not because I couldn’t afford it, but because it seemed ridiculous even by my standards.

“Which doesn’t match what I’m wearing,” Steele pointed out. “And you know Ashlynn has a vision for this wedding. It might be small, but let her control what she wants. Please. With her being pregnant, she’s had to make some…concessions.”

I couldn’t help but smirk. The great Steele,brought to heel by a woman. Though watching him with Ashlynn, seeing how happy he was...sometimes I wondered if he hadn’t made the smarter choice after all.

“You’re distracted today,” Steele observed, his keen eyes studying me in the mirror. “More than usual. Something happen?”

I shrugged out of my jacket, buying time before answering. “Took Allegra to meet my father yesterday.”

Steele turned, surprise evident on his face. “That’s...significant.”

“Is it?” I focused on unbuttoning my shirt, avoiding his gaze. “Seemed easier than making excuses about where I go on Saturday mornings.”

“Right,” Steele drawled. “Nothing to do with wanting her to understand you better. You’ve never taken anyone to meet your father before. Not even when that Russian oligarch’s daughter was throwing herself at you.”

“That was different,” I muttered, pulling on the crisp white shirt that went with the first tuxedo. “Allegra’s...she’s not like that.”

“No,” Steele agreed quietly. “She’s not. That’s what scares you, isn’t it?”

I fumbled with a button, cursing under my breath. “I’m not scared.”

“Please,” Steele scoffed. “I know you, Cooper. Better than anyone. You’re terrified because Allegra makes you feel something real. Something you can’t control.”

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