Beast (Happily-Ever-After: The Illegitimates Book 1)

by Trisha Grace

  Beast

  Happily-Ever-After Series: The Illegitimates Book 1

  Trisha Grace

  To Jesus, for loving me with all my flaws and all.

  To my husband, I love you.

  There’s no one else I’d rather be cooped up with in these crazy times.

  Contents

  Beast

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Home To You

  Home To You

  Connect with Trisha

  More Books by Trisha Grace

  Beast

  Happily-Ever-After Series: The Illegitimates Book 1

  Happily-ever-afters are only for fairy tales, right?

  Helena Shaw hasn’t heard from her brother in days. Last she heard from him, he was going to the house of the beast—the cast-off of the Eolenfeld family. A family so rich that the next five generations probably won’t have to work a day in their lives.

  She goes there to find him—and comes face to face with the beast.

  Liam Black was banished to the rundown mansion when he was seven. He doesn’t care that the mansion is a crumbling mess. He doesn’t care that no one—not even his mother—can stand to look at his beastly face. A monster like him belongs in the dark, and he is perfectly fine with it.

  Until Helena comes marching into his life.

  Getting into the rundown mansion of the beast is easy. Whether Helena will be able to get out is a whole other matter.

  Real life is nothing like a fairy tale. A true-love kiss won’t magically solve anything … or will it?

  Chapter 1

  Here stands the house of the beast.

  The beast—the cast off of the Eolenfeld family. A family so rich that the next five generations probably wouldn’t have to work a day in their lives.

  And Helena Shaw was here to confront him.

  Helena Shaw pulled her brown hair back in a ponytail and marched up the wet stone steps of the rundown mansion.

  Four large Roman columns stretched high above her. The large mansion, with its long windows and Roman-style architecture, must have been a beauty when it was first built.

  Now, the white paint had turned dull and gray. Patches of black grime or mold and even hints of algae coated the exterior walls and the front porch.

  It seemed no one had stepped onto this porch for a while.

  You’ll look for me if I get eaten by the beast, right? her brother, Nigel, had joked before leaving her apartment three nights ago.

  That was the last she heard from him.

  It wasn’t unusual for Nigel to disappear for days, but he’d always drop her a text from time to time. Even when he was on a drugs and alcohol binge.

  Nigel would never go radio silence on her. They were, after all, all each other had left in the world.

  The police didn’t believe her, though. Once the officer she’d spoken to found out that Nigel was a drug addict, he kept telling her that Nigel would show up in a couple of days.

  Which was why she’d come here. If the beast—whoever he was—knew of or had something to do with Nigel’s disappearance, she was going to find out.

  Helen searched for a doorbell.

  There wasn’t one.

  Drawing a deep breath through her nose, she raised her hand. She grabbed the tarnished, ornate door knocker and knocked three times.

  Then she waited.

  Nothing.

  Helena knocked again. She pursed her lips as seconds passed.

  Still, no one came to the door.

  This time, Helena curled her hand into a fist and pounded directly on the door. Her efforts were muted by the thick wooden door. “Open the door!”

  The only thing her action did was get her sky-blue button-down shirt snagged on the splintered wood of the door.

  Helena dropped her hand and took a step back to stare at the windows. The curtains of all nine windows were drawn, so she couldn’t see inside.

  Someone was in the house, though. She was sure of it.

  Nigel had mentioned that the beast never left the place. It’s too hideous to be seen. It knows that.

  She had rolled her eyes at Nigel’s rude remarks, assuming he was simply repeating something Bobby said.

  Bobby Eolenfeld—he was the root cause of this.

  Nigel had only come to the mansion because of Bobby. Why? She didn’t know. She hated getting involved with Bobby and Nigel’s shenanigans.

  Unless she had no choice—like right now.

  Nigel was in trouble. She just knew it.

  She glanced up at the sky, clear now after the storm. Nigel didn’t do well when it rained. She would have come earlier, but she hadn’t been able to contact Bobby to get the address. She had been desperate enough to go to the Eolenfeld mansion. It was sheer luck that she bumped into someone there who was willing to help her.

  Helena raised the heavy door knocker and slammed it back against the wooden door. “Nigel! Are you in there? Open the door!”

  The heavy wooden door opened a crack just as Helena was about to lift the knocker again.

  A petite old woman in a white polo T-shirt and moss-green Capri pants appeared in the narrow opening. “Stop yelling,” she whispered and tucked her gray hair behind her ears. “You should leave before—”

  “Is Nigel Shaw here?”

  The old woman peered over her shoulder. “Leave.”

  “He is, isn’t he? Nigel told me he was coming here, and I haven’t heard from him since.”

  “Look.” The old woman sighed. “You don’t want to get involved with whatever is going on. Master Black isn’t in the best of moods.”

  “I don’t care what mood Master Black’s in.” Helena licked her lips. Before she could change her mind, she pushed the door further open.

  Then she barreled into the house, causing the old woman to stagger back.

  “Miss, you can’t come in. You’re on—”

  “What’s going on?” A deep, disgruntled voice echoed down the stairs.

  Helena glanced up. Only then did she realize how dark the whole place was. She’d been so focused on getting through the front door she hadn’t noticed anything else.

  All the curtains in the house appeared to be drawn. Not a single light was on. All she could see of the man on the second floor was a dark silhouette.

  “Nothing.” The old woman wrapped her bony fingers around Helena’s arm. “This young lady lost her way.” She gave her arm a jerk, but Helena shrugged it off.

  “Is Nigel Shaw here?” she asked the person she assumed was the in-a-foul-mood Master Black.

  “You’re making a terrible mistake,” the old woman whispered.

  Helena didn’t care if she was. She didn’t have any other choice. “What have you done with him?”

  “Who are you to him?”

  She marched to the stairs and stopped at the bottom. “I’m his sister.”

  “So?”

  She frowned. “What do you mean? I’m his sister. I haven�
��t heard from him in three whole days. The last I heard, he was coming here.”

  “And did he tell you what ‘here’ was?”

  “Does it matter?”

  “Did he?”

  “Yes.”

  “And where is this?”

  She drew an impatient breath through her nose. “House of the beast—the cast-off of the Eolenfeld.”

  “So curiosity got the better of you?”

  Helena wanted to roll her eyes. If only Master Black knew how far that was from the truth. She’d never been a curious person. She preferred to stay on the safe side of the road, preferred to remain tucked in bed with a good book.

  Nigel got into enough trouble for the both of them anyway.

  “I’m here to find my brother.” Helena crossed her arms. “If he isn’t here, tell me so and I’ll leave right away.”

  Several moments of heavy silence passed before the dark shadow turned and looked down at her.

  Whoever the man was, he was tall; his broad shoulders were evident. From her lower vantage point, he appeared like a foreboding giant.

  His unwavering gaze that she couldn’t see but felt strongly, made Helena uncomfortable. She was tempted to squirm, and the prolonged silence wasn’t helping.

  “Have you seen him?” she asked, breaking the silence.

  “Get lost. You’re on private property.” He turned away, clearly dismissing her.

  Helena clenched her fists. “No.” She ran up the stairs.

  Her one word reply had stopped the mysterious man, and he spun around to face her.

  She didn’t stop when she got to the top of the stairs. Instead, she continued forward until she was toe to toe with the man, which wasn’t the best idea since she only came up to his chest.

  She’d come too far to back out now, though. Squaring her shoulders, she glared up at him. “What did you do with my brother?”

  “I shot him.”

  Her eyes widened, and she fought the urge to swallow past her suddenly dry throat.

  “He was trespassing. I shot him and threw his body out to the dogs.”

  Helena’s fitness tracker vibrated lightly against her wrist. She didn’t have to look to know the watch was alerting her to a spike in her heart rate.

  “Now you’re trespassing too.” The man bent forward, leaning close to her face. “Should I do the same to you?”

  Helena’s eyes hadn’t adjusted to the darkness, so she still couldn’t make out the mysterious man’s features. She could, however, hear the arrogance in his voice and was certain he was smirking at her.

  “Liar,” she spat and drew in a deep breath, taking in the scent of mint.

  “Why do you think Kelly can’t wait for you to leave?”

  It wasn’t from his breath. It was just coming from him. His clothes? His shampoo? Helena drew in another breath of the crisp scent, which was especially refreshing amid the heavy air around them.

  “She isn’t interested in cleaning up more blood.”

  Helena closed her eyes. What was wrong with her? This man was talking about having killed her brother and she was distracted by how he smelled. “Liar,” she said again and put her hand behind her back to hide her buzzing watch. She had no proof he was lying, but something in her gut told her so. “If that were the case, then I’d already be dead.”

  This time Helena noticed a corner of his lips hooking back.

  “I can rectify that now.”

  Helena sighed. She was well acquainted with the games Eolenfelds played in order to manipulate people. She had grown up with Bobby Eolenfeld after all.

  She wasn’t sure what Master Black was trying to achieve, but she wasn’t interested in participating in such games. She just wanted to find her brother and go home. “Please, Master Black.” She reached out and rested her hand on his arm. “Nigel has a … condition.”

  The mystery man’s muscles under her hand flexed with rigid tension.

  Helena removed her hand immediately. “Please, I’m serious. He has a condition. He’ll need help.”

  “A condition?” Master Black laughed once without humor. “What would that be? Stupidity?” He straightened at the sound of a click, probably made by the snapping of his fingers. “Or is it being beholden to the likes of Bobby Eolenfeld.”

  “Nigel went through a terrible trauma when he was young.” She looked over at the sliver of light where two curtains didn’t quite meet. “Rain triggers his anxiety attacks.”

  If Nigel wasn’t actually here and he found out that Helena had revealed his secret to a stranger, he would kill her.

  Only three people knew of his condition. One—their grandmother—had passed away. So that left Bobby and herself.

  “A little anxiety won’t kill anyone.” The man took a step back, and Helena clutched at his arm again.

  As before, she felt his muscles tense. But she wasn’t letting go this time.

  She had a distinct feeling that if she did, she would be dismissed and get thrown out. “It isn’t just a little anxiety.” She moved forward a step. “It’s crippling anxiety. Unless he was high or drunk, which I doubt you’d encourage in a trespasser.”

  “And you encourage it?”

  “Of course not.” She sighed softly. “But there’s nothing I can do.” She’d tried everything she could think of. She’d even locked her brother up once, but that had only made things worse. “It’s his life, his choice.” She licked her lips and looked up at him. “Please just take me to him.”

  They remained where they were for a moment, neither moving.

  “Please,” Helena pleaded. She sensed him turning his head.

  In the darkness, it took her a moment to figure out he was staring at her hand on his arm.

  Helena uncurled her fingers and dropped her hand.

  Without another word, Master Black strode down the hall.

  She closed her eyes and thanked God as she trailed him.

  Every step they took echoed in the dark mansion around her. They turned left and headed down an unlit hallway.

  With each step, Helena wondered if the decision to barge in here on her own was a wise one. Perhaps she should have brought a friend with her.

  But it was too late to worry about that.

  She pushed those thoughts from her mind and hurried to keep up with the mysterious stranger ahead of her.

  As she stared at his broad frame, she wondered if he was blind.

  But surely the employees couldn’t all be blind. How did they move around in the dark?

  And the air.

  Helena forced herself to count to four as she drew a deep breath through her nose. It wasn’t easy. The air was warm, thick, and heavy.

  When was the last time someone opened the windows in this place? She wrinkled her nose and bumped right into Master Black when he suddenly stopped. “Sorry.”

  She took a step back.

  At the end of the hallway was a window. The light leaking into the house through the outer edges of the curtains was bright enough for her to see the shape of a door.

  “Thank you,” she said to her guide and knocked on the door. “Nigel? It’s me, Helena. Are you in there?” She tried the doorknob, but it was locked.

  “Nigel?” She knocked harder. “Nigel!” Chewing on her lower lip, she looked over at the man watching her. “Are you sure he’s in there?”

  “This was where George dumped him.”

  Though the darkness would probably hide her reaction, Helena resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “Do you have the key?”

  “I don’t.”

  She closed her eyes and suppressed a sigh. “Nigel!” She pressed her elbow against the wooden door and used it as a pivot to slam her fist down.

  But her fist never made contact with the door.

  Master Black’s warm hand was firm around her wrist, but the grip wasn’t rough. He didn’t say a word, and it didn’t seem he was going to release her hand either.

  “If he’s in there,” she said, “we need to o
pen the door.”

  “If he won’t or can’t open the door, nothing will change no matter how hard you pound on it.”

  “But—”

  He cut between her and the door, then took a step back.

  Helena scrambled back to get out of his way.

  He leaned back, and a loud thump followed that made her slap her hand over her mouth.

  “I don’t—”

  The door swung open at his kick while hurried footsteps hobbled toward them.

  Helena hadn’t thought he would be able to kick down the door, but she was wrong. She rushed into the dark room, ignoring the approaching footsteps.

  “Nigel?” She gasped when she was jerked back by her shirt.

  “Bed.”

  She blinked, but her eyes weren’t adjusting to the darkness fast enough. She wanted to smack herself when she finally remembered she had her phone with her.

  She pulled it out of her back pocket and turned on the flashlight. A quick sweep to one side and she found her brother.

  His knees were pulled up to his chest, his head buried between them. His arms were wrapped around his legs as he rocked himself back and forth, chanting, “Please stop. Please stop.”

  Nothing was going right today.

  Liam Black had just gotten off a call with one of his business partners—and half-brothers. The multi-billion-dollar contract that was set to be signed today had been delayed.

  The government wanted additional clauses. Big Brother suddenly decided that one of their people had to be in on the project.