Page 69 of Temptation and Tyranny

Allegra looked up at me, her expression softening. “What?”

“Promise me you’ll be careful. That you’ll listen to me when it comes to security measures, even if they seem excessive. I couldn’t bear it if something happened to you.”

She nodded, snuggling closer. “I promise. As long as you promise not to push me away. No more hot and cold. Not after…I’ve given my heart to you.”

I hesitated for a moment, thinking of all the dark corners of my life I’d need to protect her from. But looking into Allegra’s eyes, seeing the trust and affection there, I knew I couldn’t keep her in the dark any longer.

“Together. We’re in this together,” I agreed, sealing the promise with a kiss.

As we settled back into bed, Allegra’s warm body pressed against mine, I felt a mix of emotions swirling inside me. Fear for her safety, determination to protect her at all costs, and underneath it all, a warmth I was starting to recognize as love.

Allegra Prescott had become the most important thing in my life. And I would do whatever it took to keep her safe, to keep her by my side.

As sleep began to claim me, Allegra’s steady breathing a comforting rhythm against my chest, I made a silent vow. I would find a way to balance my dangerous world with the beautiful, brilliant woman in my arms. Because a life without Allegra...that wasn’t a life I was willing to contemplate.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Allegra

The workday had gotten away from me, and before I knew it, it was almost seven o’clock. Everyone else in the clinic had left, leaving me alone with the distant sound of traffic and my own thoughts. I got up from my desk chair, arching my back against the stiffness that came from sitting too long. I’d spent hours after my last patient preparing for the upcoming medical conference, losing myself in research papers and presentation outlines until the world outside my office had faded away.

As I gathered my things, my fingers unconsciously went to my neck, touching the ruby pendant hidden beneath my blouse. Cooper had given it to me a few weeks ago, and despite its extravagance—or perhaps because of it—I kept it concealed under my clothes, like so much of our relationship.

Dr. Lefèvre’s stern warning from earlier in the week still echoed in my mind, so I did the only thing I could think of—I hid our relationship. I loved my job, but I couldn’t give up Cooper. He’d become as essential to me as breathing, his presence in my life both thrilling and terrifying. The way he looked at me, like I was something precious to be protected...it was so differentfrom any other relationship I’d known.

Last night, lying in his arms, he’d whispered “I love you” against my skin, and the words had settled into my bones like they belonged there. Like they’d been waiting to be spoken all along. I’d said it back without hesitation, knowing it was true even as I recognized the complications it would bring.

Sighing, I locked the clinic door behind me, the familiar action grounding me in reality. The evening was unexpectedly cold, prompting me to pull my sweater tighter around my body. The streetlights cast long shadows across the sidewalk, creating an atmosphere that matched my rampant thoughts.

My shoulder bag hit my hip as I walked, each step accompanied by snippets of memory: Cooper’s intense gaze across the treatment table, his gentle touch as he had tended to my wounds, the danger that seemed to cling to him like a second skin. I’d been naïve to think I could keep my professional and personal lives separate, but what choice did I have? Walking away from Cooper wasn’t an option—not anymore. I hadn’t even told him about the conference yet—if truth be told, I wanted him to go with me…although I wasn’t sure if it was worth the risk to my career.

The smart thing would have been to maintain professional distance from the start. To see him as just another patient, albeit an unusually attractive one with mysterious injuries and a tendency to dodge questions about how he got them. But there had been something in his expression, a mixture of pain and loneliness that called to something deep inside me. By the time I realized I was falling for him, it was already too late.

Now I was in deep—deeper than I’d ever meantto go. Yet somehow, I felt safer with him than I ever had before. The irony wasn’t lost on me.

As I rounded a corner ontoRue Saint-Antoine, a quieter street lined with vintage lamp posts and bare-branched trees, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. That familiar feeling of being watched crept over me, a sensation I’d grown accustomed to since entering Cooper’s orbit. I glanced over my shoulder, my heart rate quickening. The street behind me was empty, save for a black SUV parked a few yards back.

Don’t be paranoid, Allegra, I chided myself. Cooper’s security detail was just keeping an eye on me. I must have reached the boundaries where they were allowed to follow me.

But something felt off. The SUV was too conspicuous, too ominous in the gathering darkness. Cooper’s men were usually more discreet, blending into the background like shadows. This felt...different. Wrong.

I picked up my pace, my hand diving into my purse to grab my phone. Cooper’s number was on speed dial—one push and he’d answer, I knew he would. He always answered my calls, no matter what he was doing. Just as my fingers closed around the phone, I heard the screech of tires against wet pavement.

The black SUV pulled up beside me, and before I could react, the door flew open with a menacing whoosh. “Hey! What are you—” My cry was cut short as strong hands grabbed me, pulling me off the sidewalk and into the vehicle. The smell of expensive leather interior mixed with something chemical and sweet, making me feel nauseated.

I thrashed and kicked, my knowledge of humananatomy giving me some advantage as I aimed for vulnerable points, but my attacker was too strong, too practiced. A cloth was pressed over my mouth and nose, the frightening scent of chloroform filling my lungs. The world began to spin, colors blurring together like wet paint drying on a canvas.

As darkness crept in at the edges of my vision, I caught a glimpse of one of my attacker’s faces in the rearview mirror. My blood ran cold as recognition hit me. Those eyes, that stern set of the jaw—I knew them all too well. Features I’d spent years trying to forget, that haunted my nightmares even now.

“Father?” I managed to gasp before the world went black, my last thought a desperate prayer that Cooper would find me. That he would understand this wasn’t just another kidnapping, but something far more personal.

When I came to, the first thing I noticed was the throbbing in my head. I blinked, trying to focus, but the room around me was dim and unfamiliar. I was seated in a chair, my hands bound behind my back with what felt like zip ties, the plastic cutting into my wrists. Panic rose in my throat as the memories came flooding back—the black SUV appearing out of nowhere as I left the clinic, the sweet-chemical smell of chloroform, and worst of all, my father’s face swimming in my vision as consciousness slipped away.

The air was cold and damp, carrying the musty scent of an abandoned industrial space. My physical therapist’s mind automatically cataloged my condition: mild dehydration, potential concussion from roughhandling, shoulders aching from the position of my arms. I forced myself to take slow, steady breaths, fighting back the wave of nausea that threatened to overwhelm me.

“She’s awake,” a gruff voice said from somewhere behind me. The sound echoed slightly—a warehouse then, probably one of the many abandoned ones along the Seine.

The room slowly came into focus as I adjusted to the dim light filtering through high, dirty windows. My father stepped into view, impeccable as always in his charcoal Brioni suit. The sight of him made my stomach turn. He looked like he always did—the same silver-streaked dark hair, the same cold eyes that could shift from warmth to cruelty in an instant.

---