Page 170 of Beau and the Beast

Violet was surprisedat how dismayed she was when Wolfram told her that he was sending Beau away.

They’d gotten their manuscript and Beau deserved to go home with his bounty.

And Wolfram had even assured her that Beau would be back the next day.

But try as she might, she couldn’t bring herself to feel happy for Beau over the fact that he was about to be reunited with his brother. All she could think about was the way that the penthouse was going to feel after he was gone—how empty and strange it would be to return to ordering takeout for dinner. Would Wolfram still join them and eat with them if Beau wasn’t there? Would the penthouse go back to feeling like a tomb without him?

Even though Wolfram trusted that Beau was going to return the next day, he called on Violet, asking her to meet with the two of them before Beau left for the evening. Violet had spent the two days since Beau finished his manuscript preparing the book to go to print.

There was the matter of getting a cover design completed for it as well as the necessity to actually type it onto a computer from Beau’s hard copy. Then there was the problem of getting it formatted in a useful way. Violet had managed to find a publisher who was willing to print and distribute the book as a vanity project for the right price, but negotiating that had taken time too.

When, she wondered, would Beau’s hard work break the curse?

How much longer would they have to wait?

When she came to Wolfram’s study at the time he’d dictated, Beau was slumped at the middle table, ignoring a cup of tea. Wolfram directed her to sit. He was in unusually high spirits—though she realized it was probably just a show to try and keep Beau afloat. Once he was gone, Wolfram would probably prove dour company.

“What’s the status on getting everything to the press?” Wolfram asked, stirring his own cup of tea eagerly while his tail thumped against the floor.

“They have someone typesetting it now. We should have a virtual proof coming back tomorrow morning—or, if you’d prefer, we can rush the delivery of a physical proof.”

Wolfram waved his hand. “It doesn’t matter. Virtual is fine. Whatever gets it done fastest.”

“Is that alright with you, Beau?” she asked, hoping to find some way to get him engaged in the conversation. He looked exactly as sad as shefelt. She wasn’t used to seeing him being unhappy and it tugged at her in an odd way.

“It doesn’t matter. Faster is better, like Wolf said.”

The door behind them slammed open with a sound like a gunshot. All three of them gathered at the table jumped, and Violet turned to see Geoffrey, breathing hard like he’d run all the way there.

“Geoff, what’s—“

“It’s Beau’s brother,” he said. “He tripped the fucking security packet.”

Geoffrey explained quickly to Wolfram and Beau about the trap he’d set up and what would happen now that it had been sprung.

Beau turned to look at Wolfram. “I have to go get him.”

Wolfram nodded. He was already getting to his feet.

“Violet, get whatever cash he’s going to need to bail out his brother,” Wolfram instructed.

“On it,” she said, standing up.

“I’ll call you a car, Beau,” Wolfram said. “And Geoffrey, do whatever you can to get in touch with the police station before they pick him up. Maybe we can avoid all this ugliness.”

* * *

“It’s down,” Noah said into his phone. He stared at the computer screen. He’d been successful. Every security measure in the penthouse had been crippled—right down to unlocking the front fucking door.

“How much time do I have?” Lincoln asked. Noah could hear through the cell that he was walking fast. He swapped the view on his monitor to the exterior security cameras at 330 West and watched Lincoln cut a path across the street toward the building.

“Fourteen minutes and thirty-three seconds. Don’t waste time.”

“Roger that.”

“I’m going to watch you for as long as I can through their cameras,” Noah said, “but there’s going to be nothing I can do to help if something happens.”

“I know. I’m not going to need your help.”

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