Page 150 of Beau and the Beast

Wolfram watched him bent over the same page for an hour with a red pen, striking words and writing new ones, then striking the new ones and writing even more in the margin. He’d seen Beau scribble away at notes before and heard him tap through passages on the typewriter with astonishing speed—so he’d never considered the fact that in the end, Beau would find himself slaving over individual word choices.

* * *

“Violet, can I borrow you?”

Geoffrey looked upset when he intercepted her in the kitchen, but he was clearly trying to keep his cool—and his voice down.

“Sure,” she said casually, following calmly behind him even as her heart rate spiked. It was never good when Geoffrey was panicked about something.

He led her to his office, closing the door behind them and then turning his computer monitor to face her where she’d taken a seat across the desk.

“We’ve got a problem.”

On the screen, there was a young man—maybe a little older than Beau. He was dressed nicely in a button-down shirt. The picture looked like it had been captured by a security camera, and when Violet looked closer at the backdrop, she recognized it as the penthouse lobby.

“Who’s this?”

“Beau’s ex-boyfriend,” Geoffrey said, massaging the back of his neck.

“Christ. What’s he doing in our building?”

“Looking for Beau.”

“Shit. Fuck, Geoff.”

“Yeah. Fuck is right,” he said. He grabbed the mouse and clicked through a few additional scenes. “Just… watch.”

As he clicked through the footage, the screen showed the ex entering the building, throwing glances over his shoulder. He looked nervous as all hell as he entered the condo building and crossed toward the elevators. Next, the screen tabbed over to a shot from inside the elevator, the man hitting the penthouse button and then checking his phone.

The next screen showed him in the corridor outside of the penthouse. He looked less nervous as he got off the elevator and approached the door. He rang the bell and waited.

“So, when he rang I got the call like normal. Didn’t recognize him so—anyway, just listen to the call,” Geoffrey said, cueing up a sound file.

“Yes?” The first voice in the file was Geoffrey’s.

“Hi, I’m here to see Beau Blake.” The second voice was obviously the ex. His voice was young and deep.

There was a long pause as Geoffrey must have been deciding what to do.

“I’m sorry, there’s no one at this residence by that name.”

“I know for a fact that thereisand—“

“I think I know who’s in my residence and who’s not,” Geoffrey shot back. “Is there anything else I can help you with?”

“I know Beau’s working for you. I talked to his brother and—“

“I’m really very sorry,” Geoff said in a tone that indicated he was anythingbut. “You must have gotten my address mixed up with someone else’s. This isn’t a place of business.”

“Listen, I don’t know what you sick fucks are doing to him in there—“

“There’s no need for this, sir—“

“But I’m going to find out, and I’m going to—“

“I’m calling security. I’m very sorry you’re upset but there’s nothing I can do—“

“You’re going to pay for this shit. You can’t just kidnap someone and think that nobody is going to—“

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