Beauty's Cursed Beast Read online

  It wasn’t the opulence that put Adam off – he himself had plenty of baubles in the safe upstairs – it was the bawdy impracticality, and the obvious display of wealth that didn’t seem befitting with the “servant” aspect of “public servant.”

  “Do you have the suspect inside?” Gabe adjusted his gold name badge and flashed a perfectly white-toothed grin at Adam. His uniform shirt was two sizes too small, which allowed him to show off his musculature with the simplest flex.

  “Depends. I do a lot of entertaining. You’ll have to be more specific. Who are you looking for, and what’s he being charged with?”

  Gabe’s smile fell. “You were the one who called in the tip. Surely Fabrice is here. His old beater is still in your driveway.” He jerked his thumb in the direction of the car.

  Adam grimaced at the hideous vehicle, and silently marveled that it had made it all the way to his home from the West Village. “What’s he being charged with?”

  The squat, portly cop standing on the stoop behind him shoved his hands in his pockets as he spoke up. “Public disturbance.” The deputy had part of his shirt untucked, his pants were too big for his shorter frame, and he had a clubbed foot.

  Adam glowered at the two. “Well, as you can see, he’s not in public, and he’s only disturbing me. I’ll not press charges for that. Show me the warrant, and then tell me why you posted an eviction notice on his property. I’m the mortgage holder. You can’t carry through that process unless I initiate it, and I haven’t.”

  The deputy shifted nervously, and scratched a spot on the back of his head. His brown hair was messy, and didn’t look like it had been trimmed in months. “You saw that, did you?” the deputy mumbled.

  Gabe didn’t waver, but Adam could see the lie blooming in his haughty eyes as it curled his upper lip. “Must’ve been a paperwork mix-up, then. I’ll remove the notice. I know he’s late on his payments, though.”

  “And how would you know that?” Adam folded his arms across his broad chest, not holding back his stature that towered a couple inches over the strapping Gabe.

  Gabe shrank marginally. “Word around town spreads.”

  Adam’s puffy upper lip coiled in a sneer. “You posted an eviction notice on hearsay?”

  Gabe backpedaled. “I was over their house. I’m dating Fabrice’s daughter, you know.” He adjusted his belt, as if to brag to Adam about the prize he’d nabbed. “Anyway, I saw the late notice in the mail on the table. Thought I’d do you a favor.”

  Adam scoffed, understanding enough of the story to realize Fabrice had been telling him the truth. “How about this: if Prince Henry looks into your dealings with Fabrice and his daughter and finds anything shady, I’ll have you thrown in your own jail. How does that sound?” He snarled as he clenched the doorknob. “I don’t need a crooked cop doing me any favors, and I certainly don’t need him breaking the law and blaming it on my company.”

  Gabe’s jaw twitched as he took a step back, bumping into his partner, who fell backwards off the cracked concrete dais. “I can have the charges dropped, if that’s what you need.”

  “I need you to do your job. If you’re not capable of doing that, Prince Henry will replace you.”

  Gabe raised his hands, his sneer juxtaposing with his humble words. “Consider the charges dropped. And I’ll remove the eviction notice first thing.”

  Adam was about to slam the door in his face, but the cough of an old red sedan caught his attention as it pulled into his driveway and parked. He frowned, wishing the outside world would just leave him alone, but paused his impending tirade when the squeaky car door opened, and its owner stepped out.

  Adam hadn’t seen any woman aside from Rory in so very long. She had long legs, which she put to use stomping toward Gabe with a steadiness that belied the tremble in her slender fingers. With a look of brazen determination on her heart-shaped features, she beelined for the porch with an angry story on her face. “Gabe, how could you? Where is he?”

  Gabe hopped down the steps and offered her a cocky smile he produced out of nowhere. It had a sideways tilt, and his voice carried a note of bravado that Adam found off-putting. “Here I am, tasty cakes.”

  Adam’s face soured at the term of endearment. He didn’t need to know the woman to understand that the nickname didn’t suit her – or anyone, for that matter.

  A ripple of disgust marred her beauty. “Where is my father?”

  Her hair was the color of pure maple syrup. Despite the bun it had been fashioned into, several bits had fallen out, and blew back with the bite of the wind. The snow was deep enough that her jeans were wet at the ankles, which for some reason bothered Adam. Her gloves were just as tattered as her father’s, but the holes in her winterwear made him irate instead of indifferent, as he had been with Fabrice.

  “Belle, calm down. You’re always so tense. Let me drive you home. Your face is positively red with the cold.” Gabe leaned toward her with a smarmy grin that made Adam recoil. “Or perhaps that’s a little blush I see.”

  Adam felt as if it could be seen from space how much she loathed the man who was clearly making a pass at her – and badly, at that.

  Belle didn’t address Gabe, but made her way past him up the porch. When she took in Adam standing in the doorway, her big brown eyes grew impossibly wider. She seemed to forget her mission at the sight of his beastly features, but finally her shrunken voice found the words. “Sorry to bother you, sir. Have you seen a man around here who answers to Fabrice?”

  Adam hadn’t been addressed by a beautiful woman in ages. Sure, the kingdom was enamored of Rory’s delicate features, but he’d known her since they were children, and didn’t appreciate her beauty the way the public did. He straightened his posture and wished he’d changed into proper clothes that morning. Or showered. “You’re welcome to come in and wait for him here.”

  Gabe spoke for her the moment she opened her mouth to respond. “I’m sure she would rather wait in my squad car. Come on, Belle. We’ll make Rufus ride in back.” He let out a haughty laugh that Rufus joined along with halfheartedly.

  Adam held open the door for her and jerked his head to indicate the choice was hers.

  Despite her obvious reluctance to be near the deformed man in pajamas whom everyone knew was a gruff shut-in with mental health issues, Belle braved the unknown rather than stay another second in Gabe’s presence. Apparently, she would take a chance on the monster who used to be a man, rather than stand another second next to the man who was truly a monster. “Thank you, sir.”

  The moment she stepped inside, Gabe moved to follow her. Adam stood in the doorway, his barreled chest blocking the path and proving to the arrogant sheriff that he would not be intimidated. While Gabe was powerful in his village, Adam had deep pockets and even deeper connections. “You don’t step inside without a warrant, Officer. You can call to confirm that the eviction notice has been removed, and then I never want to hear from you again.” He slammed the door and locked it, wondering how his day had gone so very off the rails.

  4

  Striking a Deal

  When Adam turned to face Belle, it was with an odd lump of anxiety in his throat. She was shivering, and her jeans were wet up to her calves. But despite the cold, she looked most worried about his presence. There was a hesitance in her eyes that he’d seen around town the few times he’d been out and about. He’d shut himself away from such stares, but hers had wandered into his home without warning. She seemed at a loss for words, so the two just stared at each other for a few beats, taking in the anomaly that was a woman standing in the long-forgotten castle.

  Adam cleared his throat before he finally spoke to her. “I’m Adam,” he offered, but his voice was so froggy that he wondered if she understood him at all. Then it dawned on him that of course she knew who he was. Everyone knew of him, but few actually knew him.

  The woman’s chin remained level with the ground, no signs of cowering in Adam’s presence. “I’m Belle. It’s nice to meet
you, though I wish it wasn’t like this. I’m sorry about all that. It’s not your problem, and we brought it literally to your doorstep.”

  “Yes, well,” Adam didn’t argue, which made the awkwardness compound until the few feet between them felt like an ocean of difference. “Your father is downstairs.”

  Light flooded Belle’s eyes, highlighting emotion Adam hadn’t permitted himself to indulge in for so very long. She had such an expressive face, which made her a captivating woman to watch. “Oh, thank you! He’s been through so much. He always forgets to take his meds, and this morning was just…” She held up her hands. “Not your problem.” She cast around for the stairs, but the house was so massive, she knew she’d be lost if she wandered off in search of the stairwell.

  “The poor darling’s freezing. Be a gentleman, Adam! Offer to take her coat for her.” Audra had moved from the office upstairs to the top of the steps, and looked down on him with disapproval.

  Adam shot the nosey teapot a glower that told his mother figure to back off.

  Belle glanced around in confusion. “Oh, I’m alright. You don’t need to go to any trouble.”

  Adam quirked an eyebrow at Belle, wondering if she often spoke out of nowhere. It was only he who could hear the objects in his home speak. “I won’t. Your father’s just that way.”

  Audra huffed with indignation. “Oh, you are insufferable. Would it kill you to pretend like you were raised with manners? You can expect your tea to be lukewarm if you don’t at least offer her something warm to drink. Poor thing’s frozen through!”

  Adam ignored Audra, but Belle craned her neck up the steps in confusion, calling up in the direction of the voice. “You really don’t have to worry about me. I’ll just be collecting my father, and I’ll be out of your hair.”

  “Who are you talking to?” Adam inquired, glancing up the steps in Audra’s direction. Sure, it was odd to have a teapot perched at the top of the stairs, but it was his home, and he wouldn’t be judged for his eccentricities.

  “I’m not sure. Whoever’s upstairs.”

  Adam frowned. “There’s no one up there.”

  Belle opened her mouth to argue, but shut it when a shiver rolled through her from the lingering cold. “Can you show me where my papa is, please? This place is enormous.”

  “This way.” Adam led the path to the dungeon. With every step, he began to regret throwing the old man down in the dank, unlit space. He’d been called a monster many times before, but when the candelabra clutched in his fist revealed Fabrice huddled in the corner rubbing his hands together, he truly felt like one.

  Belle gasped and pushed past Adam, crying out in horror when she saw the state of her father. “No! Did you shut him in here? My father is not a criminal!” She rattled the bars with a passion she expected could open the irons, but the cell remained firmly locked.

  “You might need these. Here.” Adam jangled the keys. He couldn’t venture a look at her disapproval, but he refused to shrink under her outrage.

  “You imprisoned my father in a dungeon?” she seethed. “Get him out now!”

  Fabrice moved like an old robot toward his daughter, his limbs stiff from old age, coupled with the cold. “It’s okay, Belle. He was just following orders. Sheriff Aston put out a warrant for my arrest.”

  Belle closed her eyes, steadying herself from coming undone right then and there. “I can’t stand this anymore! First the eviction notice, and now he’s trying to get you locked up?”

  Fabrice was shaken, but his kindly demeanor was never compromised. After Adam shoved the key in the lock, Belle flung herself into her father’s arms, though he looked to Adam more like he could be her grandfather. “There, there. It’s alright, Belle. See? Nothing’s wrong at all. We can’t let things like this bog us down.”

  “Things like you being thrown in a dungeon? Things like losing our home for no reason?”

  Adam watched the two embrace with fascination. He couldn’t recall the last hug his father had given him, or his mother, for that matter. While they had been kind enough, they had never been all that openly affectionate.

  When footsteps echoed down the stairwell, Adam rolled his eyes. “I should’ve known you couldn’t leave.”

  Prince Henry’s indignant expression matched his tone. “You should know I know you well enough not to let you unleash your temper on an old man. On my drive back to the freeway, I saw cop cars coming to your place, so I turned around. What’s going on?”

  Adam pulled Henry aside and explained everything as best he could, so as not to intrude on the father-daughter moment.

  Henry’s face went stony. “I’ll look into the Sheriff’s books first thing. All because he wants to get with this one?” He motioned to Belle, who was still holding onto her father.

  “I guess so.” After spending barely five minutes with Belle, Adam could see clearly the madness that would lead a man to risk his career for this woman. It was more than her captivating eyes that could drive a man to bend the law to be near her. Belle had a firmness to her soft demeanor that intrigued him. Most people were one or the other – strong or soft – but she seemed to have a handle on both aspects. His eyes kept finding their way back to her, studying her expressions carefully while she talked with her father and warmed his fingers. There was a strangeness to the stirring in him that made his eyebrows knit together in consternation.

  Belle turned to Adam, her slender nose scrunched with temper. “How could you put my papa in a dungeon? I didn’t even know these existed anymore!”

  Adam stiffened, drawing up his posture so as to make good use of all six-and-a-half feet nature had blessed him with. “I can do what I like with suspected criminals in my own home. I let him go once I figured everything out. You’re welcome.”

  Belle drew in a long drag of annoyance. “If I thought the police force had an ounce of integrity to it, I’d tell them to lock you up!”

  Henry’s eyes widened when he saw Adam’s hands raise in surrender. Usually Adam loved a good fight. It didn’t matter if he was right or wrong. When anyone else lost their temper with him, it was usually his green light to unleash all of his acerbic wrath. “You’re right; I shouldn’t have taken him down here. It was a misunderstanding, Fabrice.”

  Henry’s jaw dropped at the sudden stroke of humility exhibited by his oldest friend.

  Fabrice waved off the apology. “How could you have known? You were only doing as the law ordered. Though, the next time the sheriff wants to lock me up, I wouldn’t say no to a nightlight and a pillow.”

  Adam’s mouth tightened, but he didn’t bite back. “Let me get your coat,” he said before he left the three.

  Henry saw how carefully Adam watched Belle, and the unprecedented respect he doled out for her father. “Take your time, Adam.” Henry put his hand on the old man’s elbow to steady him as they walked slowly down the stone corridor toward the steps. “Tell me about yourselves. You live in the West Village. You make music boxes.” Then he turned his attention to Belle. “How about you?”

  “He’s an inventor, too,” Belle chimed in. “He’s a genius.”

  Henry inclined his head to Belle. “I was actually asking about you. I already had a pleasant chat with your father earlier.”

  Belle brushed the cobwebs off her father’s back. “Oh. I’m a caretaker. I do in-home nursing.”

  Fabrice coughed three raspy times before puffing his chest out with pride. “My Belle is the best nurse in all the villages in all of Avondale, even though she’s vastly underpaid. She treats sick folk with no health insurance on the weekends, but she’s too modest to tell you that.”

  Belle rolled her eyes with a small smile. “Oh, Dad.”

  Henry’s gaze was thoughtful. “I’m sorry to hear you’ve fallen on tough times.”

  Belle held tight to her father’s hand. “They wouldn’t be so tough if the sheriff didn’t tax us to pieces. People can’t afford in-home care as much, so my hours aren’t enough to get us through anymore.”


  A smile danced in Henry’s blue eyes, as it always did when he was scheming up mischief for the greater good. “Are you available to take on a new patient?”

  Belle paused, her chestnut eyebrow arching. “I am. What do you need?”

  “It’s not me. It’s your father’s prison warden.” Henry glanced up the stone steps to make sure he wasn’t overheard. “Adam is my oldest friend, but he’s got some quirks.”

  Belle narrowed her eyes at Henry. “That’s a nice way to put it. In the village, we call it being an entitled jackass.”

  Henry snorted, taking in her sass with a measured dose of humor. “Yes, well, it’s a bit more complicated than that. You know of his curse?”

  “Sure. Everyone knows what Malaura did to him.”

  “Adam’s isolated himself here. Won’t let anyone in to clean. And he hears voices. Thinks his household staff were changed into teapots and coatracks and such.”

  Belle’s eyebrows rose. “And were they?”

  Henry blinked at her, his arms folded over his chest. “No, miss. Of course not. Adam is unwell. He needs someone to take care of him. He has medication he refuses to take. He has only me in his life now, and my patience isn’t what it used to be, nor is my available time enough to look after him as he needs.”

  “You want me to work for Adam?”

  “Actually, I beg of you to work for Adam, and I’ll pay you a ridiculous sum of money to put up with him.” He motioned around the castle. “This place is unsanitary, so it wouldn’t be just for nursing, but for housekeeping duties, as well. I know that isn’t in your normal job description, but he won’t let a cleaning service in the front door. Believe me, I’ve tried.”

  “Well, I used to clean houses when I was working my way through school.” Belle dropped her father’s hand, a lump forming in her throat. “How much money?”