The Bachelor Bargain (Secrets, Scandals, and Spies)

by Michaels, Maddison

  Once Livie was on the chair, with one side of her body leaning against Charlotte’s for balance, she got to work on trying the pins in the lock. After several minutes with little luck, she heard the distinct click of the tumblers falling into place.

  “Well, I’ll be…” she muttered, turning the pins a fraction more and adding some torque to the bottom one. Then the sound of the unlocking mechanism clicking into place was like magic to her ears. With a shove, she pushed the window open and a breeze flew in from the outside laneway.

  Relief filled her with the thought that they just might get out of this mess in one piece.

  “I knew it would work,” Charlotte whispered, with such enthusiasm it made Livie smile.

  “I shall have to pay more attention to the actions of the heroines in my novels,” Livie remarked.

  It took them a moment to switch places and for Charlotte to climb up through the now open window, headfirst. When the girl’s legs finally wiggled through the space, Livie let out the breath she’d been holding. Thank goodness. At least Charlotte now had a chance.

  The girl’s gray eyes replaced her feet as she peered back into the room and stretched her arms down toward Livie. “Your turn now.”

  Livie shook her head. “I won’t be able to stand on the chair myself, and you don’t have the strength to pull me through. You must leave me here and get help. And do so quickly, before any of his men see you.”

  “I cannot do that!”

  “You have to,” Livie implored her. “If I am to have any chance, you must find your brother and tell him what’s happened. If anyone can rescue me, it’s Sebastian. Now go, before you’re discovered!”

  Livie could see the girl wrestling with the idea of leaving Livie, but the logic of their predicament had her nodding. “I’ll be back as soon as I can with Seb and his men.”

  “I know you will.” Livie motioned her hand in a shooing motion. “Hurry and be safe!”

  Charlotte nodded, and then she was gone.

  Livie bit her bottom lip and turned around to face the now empty cell.

  She knew she’d done the right thing sending Charlotte for help. It had been the only logical and practical thing to do, and even if Livie couldn’t save herself, she had hopefully saved Charlotte. Suddenly, though, the situation rammed home, and she realized just how alone and vulnerable she was.

  If only they’d left her cane with her. But they hadn’t, and she’d probably never see the thing again. The thought brought with it a sharp pang of grief. As much as she’d resented having to depend on it over the years, it had also in a way become her lifeline. Her way of getting about and feeling safe in the world. She realized then, just how attached to the thing she’d become, and without it she felt helpless and isolated in this barren cell. A chill ran through her.

  But then a slow burning heat started to curl up from her belly, simmering through her chest, chasing away the fear. How dare they treat her like this and try to scare her? How dare they take her cane from her! Well, she wouldn’t have a bar of it. She eyed the chair, and biting through the pain, she picked it up and swung it with all her might against the wall; her rage, her terror, her frustration, all honed into that one strike. With an almighty crack, the chair broke into several pieces.

  They’d left her a weapon after all.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Seb and his men were slowly positioning themselves among the shadows of the crates and pallets lining the docks along the warehouse, when a lone figure darted out from behind the building, running headfirst toward them, long brown hair streaming out behind her.

  Pivoting to the side, Seb’s hand darted out, catching the girl around the waist and swinging her off her feet. His other hand slammed down onto her mouth, muffling the shriek she’d been about to release.

  He spun her into the shadows and placed her onto her feet. “Charlotte?”

  “Seb? Oh my goodness, Seb, thank God!” Her voice was but a whisper as she launched herself into his arms and hugged him tightly.

  “What happened? Where is Livie?” He couldn’t see her well in the dark but caught a glimpse of the tears streaming down her face. “Is Livie all right?”

  Quickly, Charlotte told him what had happened, and how Livie was still in the warehouse after picking the lock to the window and insisting Charlotte flee to get help. “I didn’t want to leave her there. Not with him. Seb, that man is insane. I don’t know what he’ll do to punish Livie when he discovers I am gone.”

  “You did the right thing,” Seb reassured her in hushed tones, brushing away her tears with his thumb. He swung his gaze around to his right, where Rowan was standing at the ready. “Take her back to my residence and guard her with your life. Do you understand me? With your life.”

  “Aye.” Rowan inclined his head in acknowledgment. “I promise.”

  “I’m not leaving,” Charlotte insisted. “Not until I know Livie is safe.”

  “There’s no time to argue.” His eyes bored into her own. “I need you to be safe so I can focus on saving Livie.”

  She bobbed her head. “I understand.”

  He gently grabbed her shoulders, placed a quick kiss on her forehead, and then spun her around into Rowan’s waiting hands. “Take her, now.”

  Rowan inclined his head, and then swiftly led her away, being sure to keep them both hidden among the shadows.

  “She came from around the back of the warehouse,” Lance said in muted tones, as he came up beside Seb. “Do you want me to do a scout?”

  “Charlotte said they were held in a cell at the back of the warehouse and she got out through a small window. Try to find the window and get Livie out while we storm the other entrances.”

  “Consider it done.”

  And then Seb gave the men the signal, a short sharp whistle. Hell was about to be unleashed. And if any of them had hurt so much as a goddamn hair on Olivia’s head, they were going to experience what those fires of Hell felt like in person.

  …

  A shrill scream echoed through the night air, and it was coming from outside.

  Livie felt her heart drop. Charlotte!

  Oh no, what had she done? But then there was more yelling and the sounds of both breaking glass and thumping, as heavy footsteps stomped and ran on the floorboards above, causing dust to rain down upon her.

  Holding the wooden stake out in front of her, which she’d eventually been able to split off from the now-broken chair after several swings of it against the brick wall, she waited.

  It sounded like a war was going on above. But that couldn’t be right. Charlotte had escaped barely five minutes ago. She wouldn’t have had enough time to find Seb yet.

  Eventually, it began to get eerily silent above, and then she heard some shouting and swearing, though she couldn’t make out the words. But whoever it was sounded enraged.

  A moment later, loud footsteps from what seemed like a large group of men started banging above.

  She started coughing as more dust flew down into her eyes and she had to bury her face in the crook of her arm.

  “Lady Olivia? Are you all right?”

  The voice came out of nowhere and Livie spun around to the window, stifling a scream. “Mr. Trantor? Is that you?”

  The man had his head poking through the side of the window, his gaze quickly scanning the room. “It is, indeed. We’ve come to rescue you.”

  “We?” So it was Seb and his men. Her trepidation turned to relief.

  “Yes, we.” Seb’s deep voice rumbled from the cell’s entrance.

  Her head twisted around, and she glanced over her shoulder. Her whole body sagged in relief and an almost overwhelming urge to cry came over her. She really was safe now. Her eyes desperately latched onto Seb’s face, which shone into view, the lamps lining the walls on the outside of her cell throwing his features into sharp relief. />
  “You came for me.” He’d placed himself in danger to rescue her. A jumble of gratitude, ardor, and fear for what could have happened to him, nearly overcame her.

  “Of course I did.” He strode up to the cell door, his shirt soaked in blood.

  “You’re bleeding!” She gasped, rushing toward where he was standing near the gate as quickly as her extremely sore leg would allow. Not that she could do anything, trapped as she was in the cell, at least until they retrieved the key.

  “It’s not my blood.” Seb shrugged, his eyes never leaving her own as she made her way over to him, but then he glanced down at her limp. “You’re hurt.” Suddenly, his expression darkened, and he appeared coldly furious.

  “It’s just some cramping from having my weight on it. It won’t slow us down. At least not much.”

  “I’m going to enjoy tearing that man limb from bloody limb.” He looked over to where Lance was still poking his head through the open window. “Round the men up. I want this man called Orestes found.”

  Lance yelled a muffled, “On it,” before, presumably, disappearing from sight.

  Although Livie couldn’t be entirely certain of that, because Sebastian had just returned his gaze to hers, and she was powerless to look anywhere else, as he was staring at her with such intensity that Livie thought she just might combust.

  “I’m relieved it’s not your blood.” She didn’t know why she suddenly felt awkward, but she did. But then her brows drew together. “The man got away?”

  Seb nodded. “Someone must have warned him we were coming. Did you recognize him?”

  “No, he kept most of his face hidden in the shadows. But I thought I recognized his voice, though I couldn’t place it.”

  “He might be someone you know, then, if he went to efforts to stay hidden from you,” Seb replied. “Now, move aside, I want you out of there.”

  After she’d gotten clear of the door, Seb pulled out a revolver from the waistband of his trousers and placed its muzzle directly on the lock of the gate.

  “Cover your ears.”

  Livie did as instructed, while Seb pressed the trigger. The sound of the pistol firing was deafening, but effective, as the bullet smashed into the lock, obliterating the mechanism in an instant, allowing the door to swing open.

  Freedom! Thank goodness. Livie felt her leg start to give out from under her.

  Seb must have seen her struggling, because he strode into the cell and scooped her up into his arms. Normally, Livie would take exception to being treated like a weakling, but the truth of it was, she was weak at the moment. Not only was her leg practically giving out from under her, but her composure was on the verge of coming apart at the seams with the realization of the true danger she’d been in.

  But Seb’s strong arms held her against his chest, cradling her in his embrace as if she weighed nothing more than a feather. He walked with her up the stairs and away from the basement, and she’d never felt so safe or protected in her life than right at that moment. After everything she’d just been through, those feelings were exactly what she needed—desperately. In fact, she’d never been more pleased to see anyone then she was to see Sebastian.

  As they came up to the ground floor of the warehouse, Livie saw several men on the floor covered in blood and for all intents looking as if they were dead. She couldn’t help but flinch at the confronting sight.

  “Don’t look at them,” Seb said, his voice a comforting whisper in her ear.

  She nodded into his shoulder. A part of her felt sorry for them, and another part, the more uncharitable part of her, hoped they were receiving a reckoning about now, the likes of which they’d never imagined. “Is it uncharitable to say I hope they are being punished in the afterlife?”

  “I think it’s rather tame of you actually,” Seb murmured, his footsteps echoing on the wooden floor. “I imagine there’s a special place in Hell awaiting them.”

  Livie had to agree, certain that that was exactly the place the men were headed. “Did you kill them?”

  “Some,” he told her truthfully. “But certainly not all of them. Does that frighten you?”

  He was being truthful with her, and he deserved the truth in return. “A little.” Men in her world didn’t kill others. They never had a need to.

  “It should. I’m not a good man, Olivia. I’ve done things that others would never have even had to contemplate.” She felt him shrug. “Some I regret, but most I would happily do again. Best you know and understand that with absolute certainty before we continue anything further between us.”

  That he’d obviously given thought to the idea of something continuing between them filled her with nervous anticipation. Not that the something could be anything other than a brief, illicit liaison, of course; they were worlds apart in their social standing, meaning it could never be anything more. For to be with him openly would mean giving up her family, her friends, and the world she knew. It would mean complete ruin and scandal for her entire family, and as annoying as her older brothers and father were at times, the last thing she would ever do was intentionally hurt them. However, if she was discreet with Sebastian, none would be the wiser and her family’s reputation would be safe.

  But she had to know something first. “Do you enjoy killing?”

  He let out a long sigh. “Not at all. You see, every death, it stays with you, it does. Or at least part of it. So, no, there’s nothing I enjoy about ever taking a life. But sometimes it is necessary. Especially to save the innocent from monsters.”

  The fact was comforting. And though she’d never imagined Seb would enjoy such a thing, some did, and she could never start anything with someone who did.

  “But I will tell you this.” He paused in the middle of the abandoned warehouse to look down at her. “I will enjoy killing the man who orchestrated your kidnapping. That I can promise you.”

  “Why would you enjoy killing him?”

  “Because he dared to take you. He dared to scare you. He dared to try to kill you. That sort of man is not fit to exist in Society. His death will not trouble me in the slightest.”

  “I don’t think it will trouble me, either.” As much as she felt guilty saying so, Seb was right—such a man was dangerous to exist in Society, and she would lose no sleep over his death. Though the thought of Seb getting his hands dirty dealing with such a grub was troubling. “But murder is a sin, Seb. I would hate for you to be damned, especially not over someone of that man’s ilk.”

  Seb smiled and recommenced carrying her through the warehouse. “I was damned from the moment of conception, Livie. Another body to add to the list is not going to make a difference. I’ve already earned my place in damnation.”

  The thought was depressing, but redemption was always possible, and like Charlotte said, he helped many without any accolades for doing so. Her heart suddenly sank. Oh no. Charlotte!

  “Oh my goodness, Seb, I helped Charlotte escape and she was going to find you…” she said in some panic as her fear for the girl swamped her.

  “She’s fine,” Seb said, weaving around some of the men’s bodies scattered over the warehouse floor. “She bumped into us on her dash from the docks and is under lock and key at my residence with Rowan.”

  “Thank goodness.” Livie was never one to cry, either, much like her aunt, but without warning, tears began to glisten in her eyes. She swiped away at them roughly. “I didn’t want to send her out into the night, all alone and to face certain danger. But I knew she’d be in even more peril if she stayed in the cell with me. I hope I didn’t put her in any danger, though. I was trying only to protect her.”

  Seb’s hands tightened slightly around her as he stalked through the ground floor of the warehouse to the front entrance doors. “You saved her. You put her life before your own. For that, I will forever be in your debt.”

  “I did only what anyone else
would do in the circumstances.”

  “No. You didn’t. You put someone else’s life ahead of your own. You put my sister’s life, the one person who is the only true family I have left, ahead of your own. Those are the actions of someone with courage and honor. Someone I am happy to have as a partner in any business endeavor going forward.”

  His words filled her with pride and absolute delight. She doubted many could say that the Bastard of Baker Street was in their debt. Not that she wanted him to be. It was more so that she could see the benefit to her and the gazette in having him so. Because now at least he’d be more inclined to listen to her and invest further in the project. She had grand plans for the venture, after all.

  “It is an action I’ll never be able to fully repay,” Seb continued, carrying her out the door and into the street, passing several men milling about, some nursing bruises, others covered in blood.

  He must have seen the look of confusion on her face as she watched the men walking around. “They’re my men. The Lads gang is no more.”

  Relief filled her instantly, but then she frowned. “But you still have to find their leader.”

  “Yes,” Seb replied, striding farther down the street before turning a corner to where a horse and carriage were waiting. “He had enough time to escape with a few of his most loyal men just before we arrived.”

  “He’s a dangerous man, Seb.” She tried to impress upon him the truth of her observations. “And I don’t know why, but he hates you with a vengeance. Such a vengeance that goes well beyond normal turf wars and power struggles. It’s personal for him. And he’s out to get you.”

  “I know.” Seb placed her onto her feet beside his carriage but had the sense to leave his hands on her waist to keep her upright. His fingers were so warm and strong that for a moment Livie nearly forgot her train of thought. He dipped his head down to hers and murmured softly with a brush of his lips against her ear. “In you go.”