Beautiful Beast (Enchanted Fairytales) Read Online Free

really beginning to dislike this man. A sick feeling of resignation flowed down her spine. What choice did she have?
    “Define friend,” she finally said.
    “You’ll live at my house for six months. In that time you’ll befriend Alexander, spend time with him.”
    “What about school?”
    “You’ll be tutored alongside him.”
    “But what about my friends?” She was upset at the thought of not seeing them daily at school.
    “They have each other. I’m sure they can live without you.”
    She slapped her hands on the desk. “That’s not what I mean and you know it.”
    He grimaced. “Fine. You can have Saturday’s off, alright? On that day you can do anything you wish.”
    Calli shook her head. “But my dad . . . he won’t do well without me. He needs me.”
    “He’s an adult. He’ll survive.”
    Calli glared at his callous words. “You don’t understand. It’s only the two of us. I take care of the house, pay the bills, wash his clothes, cook his food.”
    “You do all of that?” He was incredulous. “I’ll hire a maid for him. She can do all of that.”
    “Pay his bills?” Calli asked skeptically.
    He rubbed one cheek, contemplating. Then he glanced at her. “I’ll assign one of the interns to him. They can take care of his bookkeeping.”
    Calli shook her head. “You’re asking me to leave him for six months. That’s too long.”
    “He can come see you whenever he wants. And you can see him on your day off.”
    “I’ll stay for three months, you’ll drop the charges and pay the bill, and pay me as if it’s a job.”
    His brows lifted at her audacity. “Do you understand the value of what I am already offering? Aside from that,” he flipped his hand toward the bill she held, “the cost of a maid and an intern to take care of your father. And you also wish compensation?”
    Calli knew she treaded dangerous ground, but she lifted her chin, giving one sharp nod.
    “Six months, the bill paid, the maid and bookkeeper, weekends off, and a weekly wage of a thousand dollars,” he said.
    Calli’s head spun at the amount. A thousand bucks a week ? Her father barely made that in a month. She quickly did the math and realized the money would not only get them out of their desperate straits, but would also provide her a nice college fund. And maybe a new pair of jeans. She swallowed, not wanting to appear desperate.
    “All of that and I also get Wednesday nights off.”
    “You really want to risk all I’m offering for another 4 hours a week?” He laughed humorlessly. “Keep in mind, Ms. Clayson, I know your financial situation as well as you do.”
    “Okay, fine,” she conceded. “Just one more thing.”
    “I can hardly wait to hear this,” he said lightly.
    Her eyes dropped to the desktop. “Do you think, maybe, you could arrange for rehab? For my dad, I mean. Some kind of outpatient thing, so he won’t lose his job.”
    He was silent for so long she finally lifted her eyes to his. She couldn’t read his expression. He stood, extending his right hand to her. “Deal,” he said.
    She also stood, placing her hand in his, giving it a firm shake. “Deal,” she repeated.
    As she left the bank to be driven home by the dour Martha, at Mr. Stratford’s unshakeable insistence, she couldn’t help but wonder if she’d just made a deal with the Devil.
     
    * * * * *
     
    Calli stood looking out her bedroom window. The wooden back fence was only about fifteen feet from her window across a mostly dead stretch on lawn. The fence itself was peeling and falling apart in places, even sagging near one of the corners.
    She sighed and dropped the corner of the sheet that served as a drape. A glance at her watch told her she only had a few minutes. She walked over to her bed and picked up her small bag. She didn’t have much to take with her. A hand written card on a piece of paper fluttered to her floor. She picked it up.
    Jennae, Brittany, Brandon, and Eli had thrown her an impromptu party