The Bachelor Bargain (Secrets, Scandals, and Spies) by Michaels, Maddison (short books to read TXT) 📕

her palms had gotten clammy. A part of her suddenly, almost desperately, wanted to say yes, but she couldn’t. “I cannot dance with you, Sebastian. Even if you could physically support me, it would create a scandal. You know that.”

“Do you really care what Society thinks?” He raised a brow. “Surely one dance won’t be so scandalous?”

“Considering neither of us has ever danced at a ball before? Yes, it would most certainly invite scandal,” she declared, feeling like shaking him and knocking some sense into his head. “Not to mention, my brothers would be incensed and probably try to kill you. So no thank you, I shall pass on your invitation to dance.”

He stood silently assessing her for a minute. “I will get you to dance with me, one of these days. That, I promise you.”

“Now it is you who is being an optimist, Sebastian Colver.” Livie whirled around and marched to the doors, her cane clipping next to her.

“I always keep my word, Livie.”

She paused at the threshold and looked back over her shoulder at him. He was staring at her with an impenetrable expression. “It will be a cold day in Hell before I ever agree to dance at a ball. If you do wish to dance, then I suggest you ask my godmother, for you will have far better luck with her than me.”

“I thought Lady Calder has a rule against dancing at balls.” His mouth twitched slightly up at the corners, suggesting he was enjoying her ire.

“She certainly does,” Livie pertly replied. “Which should illustrate to you how serious I am about never dancing. Now, good evening.” She nodded to him before she turned and strode back into the ballroom, trying not to think of how it would have felt to have Sebastian’s arms around her in a dance, and failing miserably.

It would have been glorious, regardless of the scandal. But she would have made a fool of herself, her leg would have ensured that. And not for the first time, and most certainly not for the last time, did she curse her limp.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

“Did you have any luck following McGinchy?” Sebastian asked Rowan as he entered the manager’s office at Club Tartus on Monday morning. He shrugged off his jacket and threw it onto the settee before settling himself in the chair behind the office desk. It was one of the many work spaces he frequented, and aside from his main office on Baker Street, this one was his most favorite.

He had a lot of good memories about opening this club, and every time he was in the office, it really brought home all he’d achieved and all that he’d made of himself.

But he had other, more pressing, matters to think of at the moment. The Lads of Leybrook Lane being the main one. Particularly if they had anything to do with shooting at Livie in Bethnal Green Cemetery last week.

“Aye. After we released him this morning, he tried to cover his tracks, weaving and ducking down streets and alleys, but I had no trouble staying hidden as I followed him to a warehouse down by the docks.”

Seb expected nothing less. Rowan had grown up in the streets of the Rookeries, too, and even with his gangly six-foot-two frame, no one was better at sneaking around without being discovered than Rowan. The lad was almost like a ghost when he wanted to be. “I knew I could count on you. Is this warehouse their hideout?”

The word on the street was that the gang had gone into hiding when it became common knowledge that Sebastian was seeking retribution against them. But everyone knew you couldn’t stay hidden from the Bastard of Baker Street for long. The Lads were fools to think that a warehouse by the docks would be able to hide them from him.

Rowan nodded. “It appears so. I recognized the snake tattoo on several of the men coming and going from the place. And I’ve heard the leader calls himself Orestes and has a purple snake tattooed on his neck.”

“Orestes?” Seb leaned back in his chair, his mind quickly calculating possibilities. “Interesting. In Greek mythology, Orestes’s main purpose was to avenge the death of his father. In any event, have some of our men watch the place. I want to know who comes and goes, but if anyone catches sight of this Orestes, I want to know immediately.”

“Consider it done.” Rowan bobbed his head and turned on his heel but stopped at the doorway as Lance came barreling into the room.

“Good, you’re both here,” Lance said by way of greeting. “It’ll save me having to tell it twice.”

“Tell what twice?” Seb asked, noting the concern on his friend’s face.

“I’ve confirmed that it is Lady Olivia who is being targeted.” Lance pushed Rowan back into the room and kicked the door shut behind him. “Someone wants to get rid of both her and a maid by the name of Mary and is willing to pay handsomely to have it done and done quickly.”

“But what about Seb?” Rowan asked. “He was targeted as well.”

“I don’t think the Lads of Leybrook Lane need any payment to try to get rid of Seb,” Lance replied. “The leader of that gang seems to hate him with a vengeance.”

“He can join the queue,” Seb replied drolly.

“He’s different, Seb,” Lance said. “I think he has a real vendetta to destroy you. And he’s now getting the funds to help in his endeavor by essentially running a group of thugs for hire, and we still don’t know his identity. He means trouble, he does. Mark my words.”

“He doesn’t worry me.”

“Perhaps he should.” Lance’s eyes were devoid of any humor, and Seb knew his friend was truly worried for him.

“He’s not the first to try to unseat me, and he won’t be the last.” The man didn’t bother Seb, for he’d dealt with men like him many times before in his lifetime, men trying to claw power through any