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 different from 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 na?ve 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 meant to 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 onto Rue 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 human anatomy 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 rough handling, 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.
“Hello, Allegra,” he said, his voice carrying that familiar mix of authority and condescension that made me feel like I was six years old again. “It’s nice to see you again, and so soon.”
“What do you want?” I spat, pulling against my restraints. The zip ties bit deeper into my wrists, but I welcomed the pain. It helped me focus, helped keep the old fears at bay. I wasn’t that scared little girl anymore.
He moved closer, his expensive cologne filling my nostrils—the same scent that had haunted my nightmares for years. Every time I caught a whiff of it on a passing stranger, I’d have to fight the urge to run.
“Is that any way to greet your father?” He clicked his tongue disapprovingly, just as he used to do when I failed to meet his exacting standards at dinner parties. “Your mother would be so disappointed in your manners.”
The mention of my mother sparked something fierce inside me. “You lost the right to speak of mother years ago.”
His hand shot out, gripping my chin painfully, fingers pressing into the soft spots beneath my jaw. “Mind your tone, Allegra. You’re not in a position to be defiant.” His thumb brushed my cheek in a parody of affection. “You always were too much like her. Too stubborn for your own good.”
I jerked away from his touch, my skin crawling. “Why now? After all these years, why come after me now? Why not let me continue to live in peace, away from you?” But even as I asked, I knew.
Cooper. It all came back to Cooper.
“Because you’ve gotten yourself involved with a very dangerous man.” His voice softened, taking on that paternalistic tone I remembered from childhood—the one that always preceded something terrible. The voice he’d used to explain why my mother wasn’t coming home, why everything he did was for my own good. “Cooper Moreau is not who you think he is.”
A bitter laugh escaped me. “And you are? The caring father, looking out for his daughter’s welfare?” I met his gaze steadily. “I know exactly who Cooper is. Just as I know exactly who you are.”
“You know nothing,” he snapped, a flash of genuine anger breaking through his controlled mannerisms. Then, composing himself with visible effort, he straightened his tie—a nervous tell I remembered from childhood. “But that’s beside the point. You’re going to help me, Allegra. Whether you want to or not.”
“I won’t help you hurt Cooper.” The words came out stronger than I felt, fueled by the memory of Cooper’s gentle hands, his quiet strength, the way he looked at me like I was something precious rather than something to be controlled.
My father’s smile turned cold, reminding me of a documentary I’d once seen about sharks. “Oh, but you will. You see, Mr. Moreau has become a thorn in my side. He’s ambitious, I’ll give him that. But he’s overreaching, stepping into territories that don’t belong to him. He needs to be...reined in.”
“And you’re using me as bait,” I said, the realization hitting me like a punch to the gut. The nausea returned, stronger now. How many times had I fought with Cooper about being too protective, and insisted he moved his security away from the clinic? My stubborn independence had given my father the opening he needed.
“Bait is such an ugly word,” my father replied, waving a hand dismissively. The light caught his signet ring—the one he’d used to leave marks on his victims—his own personal calling card. “Let’s call it...leverage. And you’re not the only leverage I have. How is his father doing these days? The one in that expensive care facility?”
Ice flooded my veins. “You wouldn’t...”
“Wouldn’t I?” His grip returned to my chin, forcing me to look at him. The fake warmth was gone now, replaced by the cold calculation I remembered from my childhood. “You know what I’m capable of, Allegra. Don’t test me. Your mother tested me, and well...” He let the sentence hang, a reminder of wounds that had never really healed.
Tears sprung from my eyes, a mixture of fear and rage. For myself, for Cooper, for his father, for my mother—for everyone my father had ever used as pawns in his games of power. “What do you want me to do?”
My father released me, straightening his suit jacket as if nothing had happened. As if he hadn’t just threatened to kill an innocent old man. As if he hadn’t destroyed every scrap of love I’d ever felt for him years ago. “For now, just sit tight. Your part will come soon enough.” He nodded to someone behind me. “Make my daughter comfortable. We’re expecting company.”
I felt a sharp prick in my arm, and warmth began spreading through my veins. As my vision started to blur, I thought of Cooper. I had to warn him somehow, had to let him know this was a trap. But even as I fought against the drugs pulling me under, I knew it was useless. My father never left anything to chance.
The last thing I saw before darkness claimed me was his face, watching me with that same detached interest he’d shown when I was a child, crying from a punishment he claimed was for my own good. Some things never changed.
But I had changed. And if my father thought I was still that scared little girl who would bend to his will, he was in for a surprise. If I could just hold on long enough...
The thought fractured as consciousness slipped away, leaving only darkness and the lingering scent of that damned cologne.