The Bachelor Bargain (Secrets, Scandals, and Spies)

by Michaels, Maddison

  “He will never see another dawn, Lady Calder. I promise you that,” Seb pledged. “Not another damn dawn.”

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  They’d been walking in the dark woods for what seemed like half an hour, with only the moon’s light to guide them. Livie had stumbled many times, but thankfully Clint had let her keep her cane, at least for now, while they walked, which had helped prevent too many falls.

  He’d kept his pistol trained on her, walking a few meters behind her the whole way, patient as she navigated the uneven terrain with her bad leg.

  “You know Sebastian will kill you for betraying him and taking me. There’s still time to just leave me and flee the country.”

  “Do you think I care about death?” the young man scoffed. “Vengeance has been feeding me since I was a boy, and vengeance I will have, for God is on my side.”

  His tone had turned venomous, and there was pure hatred in his voice, which took Livie by surprise.

  “I didn’t take you for a religious fanatic,” Livie said, taking a moment to navigate across a fallen branch as they kept trudging forward presumably to the hunting lodge.

  “You don’t know me well enough to know what I am or am not.”

  “No, I don’t suppose I do.” Livie paused for a second. “Doesn’t God preach forgiveness, though?”

  Clint scoffed. “What about an eye for an eye?”

  “Isn’t that what Sebastian was doing in response to the crimes your father committed upon his mother?”

  “Don’t justify his actions!” Clint screamed, waving his gun wildly at her. “His mother was a whore. She deserved what she got. And so will you, now that you’ve become Sebastian’s whore.” His gaze ran up and down the length of her body. “I could tell when I arrived you’d given yourself to him. Tell me, what does it feel like to be the Bastard of Baker Street’s harlot?”

  He walked up to her and with his free hand pushed back some of her stray hair that was dangling against her face, his cold and surprisingly strong fingers brushing against her skin. Livie jerked her head away from him, at which he laughed.

  “You are spirited, I’ll grant you that. Perhaps that’s why he had to have you. He does so enjoy a challenge, which I know well enough, having worked with him for the past year, observing him and analyzing his every move.” He turned her around and pushed her slightly forward. “I must say I’m greatly anticipating taking over his empire.”

  “Even if you were to kill Sebastian, Lance and Rowan will never let you get away with it.” The thought of Sebastian dead was gut-wrenching, and even just voicing it made her flinch in pain.

  “I know that,” he assured her. “I plan to get rid of them, too. But I need to get rid of Colver first before I turn my sights to the lesser fish in the pool.” He pulled out his pocket watch and glanced at the dial. “What do you think of my plan? Brilliant, is it not?”

  Livie was silent for a moment. She’d never felt such loathing toward another person. “A master stroke of lunacy, rather than brilliance, I would think.” Livie knew she might be pushing him in saying such a thing, but she needed to do something to try to rattle him. Him calm and composed she instinctively knew would be worse than him upset and making mistakes.

  For a moment, Clint stood there staring at her, his jaw clenching tightly. “Well, it is disappointing you think that. I had hoped you were more of a visionary than you obviously are. That you could understand my need for revenge after the atrocities he committed upon my father, to then take over the empire he’s built when you, too, are seeking revenge for your friend’s death.”

  “I am seeking justice, not revenge. Your father raped and killed Sebastian’s mother,” Livie replied. “As far as I’m concerned, Sebastian did all women a favor when he ensured that vile excuse for a man couldn’t touch another woman ever again.”

  In a blink, the young man leaned forward and slapped her hard across the face. “You bitch!” he screamed. “You fucking whore! You will pay for your blind devotion to that bastard!”

  “What do you think Sebastian will do to you when he arrives?” Livie proudly lifted her chin. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of showing him how terrified she truly was. “He’s stronger than you. He’s smarter than you. And he has more experience than you.” Perhaps if she could scare him with what he was going to be facing, she just might be able to ram some common sense into the man’s head or scare him senseless with the thought of facing the Bastard of Baker Street. “You won’t stand a chance against him. He is going to rip you to shreds for your treachery.”

  “Do you really think I’m alone out here? Three of my men are lying in wait around the lodge. When he enters the lodge, my men will kill his men who will be sneaking around the back, trying to surprise me. But do not fret, I’ve told them not to kill him. He must be alive to see the things I plan to do to you.”

  Reluctantly, Livie resumed walking down the overgrown trail. “Is revenge so important to you that you would spend nearly every day working for your mortal enemy when you despise him so?”

  “Despise him?” Clint started to laugh. “I don’t just despise him. No, no, no. That’s far too bland a word to describe what I feel for the man. I loathe him. I completely and utterly detest him. I put up with being in such close proximity to him for the last year only because how else can one properly observe one’s enemy, apart from being as close to them as possible? It’s the only way, unfortunately.”

  Up ahead, a few hundred meters away, a light glowed from a window of what appeared to be a hunting lodge.

  “Ah good, we’re nearly there,” he said from behind her. “And it looks like a mutual friend of ours has arrived as I asked them to.”

  Livie stopped, and Clint nearly ran into her. “What mutual friend?” She was beginning to think it might be preferable to take her chances out here with him, instead of inside a confined space, especially if another person was inside.

  “You shall see once we get inside,” Clint confirmed, pressing the pistol firmly into her back. “Now move. I don’t want to have to shoot you prematurely.”

  For a moment, Livie contemplated using her cane as a weapon, just as Kat had taught her to, not the blade part of it, but the shaft itself, to disarm Clint. But with the uneven ground and her leg paining her from the long walk, she was already at a distinct disadvantage.

  But she knew she needed to do something as each footstep she took brought her closer to the hunting lodge ahead, with him following right behind. Livie got the sense that her time was desperately running out.

  She had to do something, she just had no idea what. “If you think I’m going to make raping me easy for you, I assure you I will not.” That had to be what he had in mind. Otherwise, why take her, instead of simply killing her? “I will fight you to the end.”

  “I hope you do,” Clint answered as they got to the door of the lodge and he leaned in from behind her and pushed the door open, the barrel of his pistol pressing against her waist as he did so, his breath hot on her neck. “I like it when my ladies fight me.”

  A shudder of repulsion ran through her at how close he was. But then he snatched her cane from her and pushed her over the threshold. She stumbled inside the room and away from him.

  There was a lantern sitting on a table in the middle of the small space, burning brightly and casting light and shadows everywhere. Dust covers were spread over what little furniture was scattered about the room, with a layer of dust at least an inch thick across the tops of them.

  But then her eyes fell upon one of the seats at the table. A seat that was filled by none other than Lady Chilton.

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  “I thought she was already meant to be dead.” Lady Chilton exclaimed, looking past Livie to Clint, a finger pointed at the man. “You have failed to fulfill your promise.”

  “Lady Chilton? What are you doing here…” Liv
ie stumbled to the chair that Clint was pushing her toward as slowly she processed what she was seeing. “You’re the one trying to have me killed? But I don’t understand…”

  “I wouldn’t expect you to.” Lady Chilton looked down her nose at Livie. “I did warn you to stop looking into Alice’s death, but you kept persisting, stupid girl that you are. Things did not have to end this way.”

  “This night shall prove great fun, I do believe.” Clint chuckled as he took a seat beside Livie, his gun pointed at her side. “Did you bring the money?”

  “Yes, I’ve brought the thousand pounds you requested.” Lady Chilton turned her attention to Clint, motioning with her head to a carpetbag by the door. “But why is she not dead yet? I shall not pay you until she is.”

  “She will die tonight,” Clint assured her with a smile. “But I have great plans for her first, after Colver arrives.”

  “How could you betray your sister like this?” Livie spat out the words to Lady Chilton, her initial shock giving way to anger. “You would rather prevent a scandal than see justice served on your sister’s murderer?”

  “Oh, you silly, foolish girl,” Lady Chilton chided, swinging her head back to stare at Livie. “Lord Daverell might have been the unscrupulous bastard to seduce and get Alice with child and then abandon her, but he certainly didn’t kill her.”

  Livie shook her head vehemently and stood, banging her fists against the table. “No. I will not believe she took her life. Alice would not do such a thing!”

  “Are you not going to rein her in?” Lady Chilton directed the question to Clinton.

  He shrugged. “No. I’m more than happy to sit back and enjoy the show.”

  “Answer me!” Livie yelled to Lady Chilton, banging her fists on the table again as the woman gasped and swiveled her gaze back to Livie. “I know Alice would never have taken her life, and especially not that of her unborn child. So tell me what happened to her.”

  “You are correct, she didn’t take her life,” Lady Chilton bit out. “Though I did do a very good job convincing the authorities she did.”

  “Oh God…” And suddenly the truth of the situation dawned on Livie. “You killed her, didn’t you?” Her heart felt broken for her dear friend. “You pushed her from the roof?”

  “Not quite.” Lady Chilton pursed her lips. “The truth is, we argued, because my damn foolish sister kept insisting she was going to keep the babe and travel to America to start a new life. Can you believe she would think to do such a thing? Especially when she knew perfectly well that my husband is looking for a position in the prime minister’s cabinet! Could you imagine the scandal if it ever became known she had not only had a child out of wedlock, but she had kept the darn thing and was raising a bastard? I couldn’t allow that to happen. My husband’s ambitions would have been over even before they’d begun.”

  “What did you do to Alice?” Livie slowly ground out, her hands fisting together on the table as she stood glaring at the lady.

  “I did what I had to, to stop her. To save my family from suffering further scandal, greater than what Alice had already subjected us to!” Lady Chilton straightened her shoulders. “We were arguing and, as usual, she was failing to see reason. When she turned away from me, I grabbed the ash shovel from the fireplace and struck her on the back of her head with it. She fell to the ground, but she wasn’t dead, the wretch. No. I had to strike her head a further three times until she was still. Lord Chilton helped me by taking her body up to the roof in the dead of night and throwing it from the railing.”

  “Throwing it? That was your sister, you heartless monster.” Tears burned down Livie’s face and an overwhelming rage filled her. “You murdered your own pregnant sister all because of some potential future scandal? You’re a horrendous excuse for a human!”

  “How dare you judge me! You’re a meddlesome cripple who should never have stuck her nose into Alice’s death. If you had left well enough alone, my husband wouldn’t have had to approach several cutthroats about getting rid of you. And if Alice had listened to reason, she would not be dead,” Lady Chilton yelled, spittle flying from her mouth. “But she was the fool who listened to a scoundrel’s promise of love, when all he actually wanted was a tumble between the sheets. She brought this upon herself. Her death was her fault and it was deserved.”

  “You bitch!” Livie roared, lunging across the small table and grabbing Lady Chilton by the collar. “How dare you blame her.”

  Lady Chilton screamed. “Do something!” The woman turned to Clint, her eyes wild with fear.

  Livie swung her fist back, and in a frenzy of rage and despair she launched it straight into Lady Chilton’s face, punching her first in the nose, then the cheek, and then the mouth.

  Taking in a shuddering breath, Livie let go of the woman’s blue jacket and watched as she fell back into the chair, out cold. A strange sense of satisfaction filled her upon seeing the blood oozing from the woman’s nose and lips.

  “Bravo, Lady Olivia.” Clint applauded from where he was still seated, having made no move to interfere, but still holding his pistol. “I knew you were a firecracker, but I didn’t think you had it in you to punch another woman. I’m very impressed. And you’ve knocked her out, too. Wonderful, just wonderful.”

  Livie barely heard him. Instead, she glanced down at her bloodied knuckles. She’d never punched someone before. Slowly she unclenched her fist, wincing at the pain.

  “She was a disturbed lady,” Clint tittered, as he stood and wandered over to the woman who still hadn’t moved, but for her chest taking in breaths. “Killing her own sister and unborn niece or nephew. Tsk. Tsk. A damnable sin, to be sure. The world will be glad to be rid of such a woman.”

  And before Livie knew what he was about, he raised his pistol to Lady Chilton’s forehead and pulled the trigger.

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  As soon as Seb saw the glimmer of light shining from the hunting lodge in the distance up ahead, he knew Livie was inside. He also knew it was a trap.

  Halting in his tracks, he turned to his two men traveling alongside him. “Looks like they’re in there.”

  “How many do you reckon there are?” Curtis asked, peering toward the building.

  “I don’t know.” Seb shook his head. “If it were me, I’d be choosing quality men over quantity, and I’d have some hidden in the forest, close to the lodge, ready to ambush whoever arrived.”

  “Sounds likely,” Crandell whispered.

  “I want the two of you to circle wide around the side and try to catch them by surprise at the rear of the lodge,” Seb directed. “Crandell, you go to the right and Curtis, you go to the left. Be careful, though, they know we’re coming. If you find anyone, try to sneak up on them and incapacitate them as silently as you can. The only thing we have going is the element of surprise, and even that we don’t really have, as he’s certain to be expecting us.”

  The two men nodded and pulled out their pistols.

  “And what are you going to do, boss?” Crandell asked.

  “I’m going to walk straight up to the front door. I imagine Clint will want to keep me alive for a bit to lord his betrayal over me. While he does that, I’ll keep him talking so you can both try to sneak in and position yourselves to help. It’ll also give the others a chance to get here. And if either of you see an opportunity to get Lady Olivia out of there, you take it, no matter what, even if that means leaving me behind. You get her out of there and to safety.”

  “But boss, we can’t leave you.” Crandell looked stricken at the thought.

  “You can, and you will, if it means saving Lady Olivia.” Seb pulled out his pistol and checked the chamber. Five bullets were happily nestled inside. “I can take care of myself. She’s the priority.”

  “Understood, boss.” Curtis was the one to reply, before Seb gave them a quick nod and indicted they go. The two men incli
ned their heads and went in opposite directions as Seb had instructed.

  Tucking his spare pistol into the waistband at the back of his trousers, Seb recommenced walking straight to the lodge. An anxiousness over Livie’s well-being made his every footstep feel unbearably heavy as he trudged forward through the forest.

  It felt uncannily like the time he’d discovered his mother had been taken and he was on his way to save her. He’d been too late, of course, and with a heavy heart he prayed that if there was a God, he wouldn’t be so cruel as to take away another woman Sebastian loved.

  For as much as he’d tried to deny it, as much as he’d fought against it, he loved Olivia.

  Hell, he’d started falling in love with her after he’d read her very first letter demanding an audience. After all, what lady would dare demand anything from the notorious Bastard of Baker Street?

  Only a woman stupid or extremely courageous in her convictions would do so. A part of him had known then and there that she was different from any other lady he’d met before, and he’d been completely intrigued.

  Then when he’d met her in person he’d been captivated, as much as he’d initially tried to distance himself from the feelings she stirred inside him. He had no bloody idea how they could even make any sort of relationship work between them. He was a bastard and she was a duke’s daughter. There was no escaping those two facts. Facts that meant any sort of relationship between them was all but impossible.

  But Seb always liked to challenge what everyone thought was possible and what wasn’t. He’d made a fortune from betting on the impossible. But everything was dependent on whether Livie still wanted him. He’d spent the last few days making a blunder of his emotions and doing all he could to push her away.

  If she wanted him, then they’d figure out a way to make it work. And perhaps, just maybe, the impossible could happen and a bastard from the streets of the Rookeries could marry a lady from Mayfair. A big if.