The Bachelor Bargain (Secrets, Scandals, and Spies)

an intensity that burned all the way through Livie, sending a wicked wantonness to her very core. The man was dangerously compelling, so much so, that she nearly forgot her train of thought.
She blinked and looked away, using the respite to remind herself of what they’d been speaking of. “Well, it may not entirely prevent it, but exposing those who are swine hiding behind tailored suits and the title of gentlemen, will make others think twice about ruining a lady with the gazette up and running.” She returned her gaze back to his and had to rein in the thought of how undeniably attractive the man was. “Investing in the publication is an endeavor that will save women’s reputations and potentially their lives.”
“And destroy gentlemen in the process. I like it.” Sebastian shrugged. “But it is an endeavor I’m still not convinced you have the resources to truly make effective. After all, what you’ve uncovered about me wouldn’t have been too difficult to discover or guess, especially with so many dark rumors about myself floating around. Doesn’t really inspire confidence that your informants can dig up a person’s skeletons, so to speak.”
She was going to have to roll out the big guns after all.
Livie took in a deep breath and pulled back her shoulders, knowing he wasn’t going to appreciate the well-buried secret of his she’d eventually been able to uncover. “I know about Charlotte.”
Silence greeted her pronouncement.
The room felt as if it had dropped ten degrees, but there was fire in Sebastian’s eyes as he pinned her with his glare.
“And just what is it you think you know?” His voice was smooth and as cold as steel, all amusement having fled.
Livie swallowed, refusing to be cowered, even though she knew she was on extremely shaky ground at the moment. “I know she is your younger half sister, a fact you’ve taken great pains to hide from the world in order to protect her. You’ve obviously been successful in doing so, because it was only after I collated a great deal of information from multiple sources that I could piece the puzzle together. You can rest assured not one of my informants knows the full truth of the matter.”
“Quite the detective, aren’t you?” Sebastian’s eyes continued staring her down while his jaw clenched. “Is that why you’re here? To use the information about Charlotte to extort funds from me to start your gazette?”
Livie gasped. “Of course not! I’d never use such information against anyone. I am no blackmailer. You have my word on that.”
“I don’t trust anyone’s word,” Seb growled.
In a fluid movement he stood and strode over to her, his long legs covering the distance in seconds, before he stopped a mere foot from her.
She couldn’t help but gulp, coming into such close proximity to him. It was highly disconcerting, yet unusually thrilling. But she couldn’t let such a feeling distract her from her purpose. “Then I feel sorry for you. A life without trusting others is no real life at all. Surely you trust your men?”
She craned her neck to look up to his face. This close, his scar was even more wicked-looking, and for a moment she was sad for the boy he’d been, clearly having gone through hell to survive. For a mad minute, Livie had to resist the foreign impulse to run a finger soothingly over the line across his face. Why she felt the sudden need to comfort a man such as Sebastian Colver was perplexing. If there ever was a man who didn’t need comforting, it was he.
“I don’t trust anyone fully,” Sebastian replied. “To trust your life in someone else’s hands is foolish, my lady. Inevitably, everyone will either disappoint or betray you.” She could see the conviction in his words and knew he’d obviously experienced that for himself.
“I choose to believe better about people,” Livie countered. And she did. She knew she could trust Kat, Etta, and her family, maddening though they were, with her life.
“You’re a naive fool then,” he scoffed.
“Perhaps,” she admitted. “But I am not naive about how successful the gazette will be once you agree to invest in it.”
“I have no need of any further investments. I have enough money as it is.” His deep voice was smooth but devoid of any emotion. “What I do have a need of, though, is female company. Perhaps you could assist me with that endeavor instead? You’d find I am a very generous patron.”

Chapter Four
Shock rippled through her with the man’s bold pronouncement. Shock and breathless anticipation. “Did you really just dare to proposition me?”
His lips stretched into a thin smile, and his scar twisted dangerously. “I dare almost anything, my lady. Don’t you know that from your research?”
She did know it, and while a part of her was alarmed, another part of her was equally thrilled with the notion. Aware of him as a man, as she hadn’t been of another in a long time. “I am not some doxy, and you very well know it!” Livie took several deliberate steps back, her cane at the ready in case her instincts about the man were wrong. “You are purposefully trying to intimidate and shock me, and such tactics, I can assure you, are failing to impress me.”
“I didn’t realize I was trying to impress you.” The man had the audacity to wink at her. “Forgive me, if I’d known that, I would have at least offered you a drink. Dear me, but where are my manners today?”
“Manners, Mr. Colver? Do you even know what manners are?” Livie narrowed her eyes at the man. He was having fun at her expense. “I highly doubt it. Perhaps I should offer to teach you etiquette lessons instead, as you sorely need them.”
Instantly, his posture changed as he snapped to attention, his eyes bright with interest. “Etiquette lessons, you say?”
“I was not serious,” Livie spluttered. “Even if you would obviously benefit from such teachings.”
There was silence for a moment