His Beautiful Beast by Amber Kell
Blurb:
Sammy Dunn had always dreamed of being a
musician. When his mother's employer offers to pay for his music school in
exchange for Sammy to return he agrees.
Jonah Croft had longed for someone like his
boyfriend Sammy his entire life. When Sammy disappears Jonah refuses to let his
vanishing go unremarked but what he discovers when he finds him changes his
entire world view.
Will love prevail or will evil tear the
lovers apart?
Excerpt:
Jonah Croft paced his office. He didn’t pay
any attention to the panoramic water view out his window or the beauty of the
crisp fall day. It might as well have been pouring outside for all he cared.
His love had abandoned him. Two weeks had gone by, and still no contact. His
calls were ignored, and Sammy still hadn’t returned to his apartment. Jonah had
checked, he’d had others check, hell he’d even hired a useless detective who
hadn’t been able to track Sammy down.
Fourteen days, ten hours and—Jonah checked
his Rolex—fifteen minutes had passed since their argument, and Sammy still
hadn’t returned. He knew Sammy had been irritated over Jonah’s insistence they
move in together, but was it Jonah’s fault Sammy had a rod up his ass about being
self-sufficient? It wasn’t like Jonah didn’t have enough money to support
twenty musicians if he wanted. Why did Sammy care so much about being
independent? Independence sucked if it kept Sammy out of Jonah’s bed.
A knock on his office door interrupted his
furious marching back and forth. “Come in.”
He raised his eyebrows at the excited
expression on his secretary’s face. “There’s a Mr. Allen to see you.”
Jonah’s heart skipped a beat. “Send him
in.” Maybe the detective had discovered Sammy’s location. He shoved away the
inner voice whispering that he’d moved from concerned boyfriend and into
stalker territory.
The detective shuffled into the room.
Everything about the man had the air of something faded, as if his best days
had passed him by more than a few years ago. Even his face fell into a
bulldog’s wrinkled folds.
“Did you find him?” He didn’t bother with
pleasantries; he needed results.
Allen nodded, briefly distracting Jonah
with his wobbling chin. “We found the house you told us about. It’s an estate
in the Olympics. Under the name Vinzeno Strassford.”
“Yes, Strassford is the name he gave me.”
Jonah clutched at the slender strands of hope with greedy fingers.
Allen pulled a notebook out of his pocket.
“Mr. Strassford appears to still live there, but it’s not in the best shape.
Your boyfriend’s rental car was found on the side of the road not far from
Strassford’s estate. That and the name connection make me think I found the
right place.”
Jonah frowned. Had Sammy run into a
problem? Had something happened to him? “Was the car damaged? Did he have an
accident?”
“No, it looked like some kind of mechanical
failure.”
“Did you see him at the Strassford estate?”
“No, I can’t get close enough.” The
detective went back to his notes. “The mansion sits pretty far from the road,
and no one ever goes in or out of the gates—they’re padlocked. I checked around
and no one has seen Strassford for years.”
“Then how do you know Strassford’s still
there?”
“According to the local grocery, he has an
order delivered twice a month and they have instructions to leave it by the
gate.”
Jonah resisted the urge to snatch Allen’s
notebook out of his hand and search it for further clues. “Thank you for the
information. I’ll take it from here.”
The detective nodded. “I’ll write up a
formal report. I thought you’d want to know what I found out as soon as
possible.”
“Yes, thank you.” Jonah ran his index
finger along the edge of his desk. Sammy tended to be an enthusiastic person
who threw himself into everything without thinking about future consequences.
Lost in his thoughts, he barely acknowledged the detective leaving.
What have you gotten yourself into, Sammy?
About the Author:
Amber Kell is a dreamer who has been writing stories in her head for as long as she could remember.
Amber Kell is a dreamer who has been writing stories in her head for as long as she could remember.
She lives in Seattle with her husband, two
sons, three cats and one very stupid dog. To learn more about her current books
or works in progress, check out her blog at http://amberkell.wordpress.com.
Her fans can also reach her at amberkellwrites@gmail.com.
Website: http://www.amberkellbooks.com/
Blog: https://amberkell.wordpress.com/
Fan Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/AmbersAwesomeFans/
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