To Deceive A Duke

Chapter 51

"What?" Clarissa whispers, unable to stop the fear creeping into her voice. 

"It's not a hard question," Baines tuts, looking around the room, "Who would you save? Your loving husband...or your right-hand man?" 

Her hands begin to tremble at her sides, a cold chill running down her spine. She is certain that they do not know her true relation to Peter, which is putting her at a disadvantage in this current predicament as they are expecting her to pick a servant over Daniel, rather than her godfather. 

"Why are you doing this?" George gasps, struggling to break free, but Lestrade deals a harsh blow to his head and he falls silent, groaning. 

Clarissa looks from Daniel, blood trickling out of the gash in his stomach, to Peter, slowly turning blue as his windpipe is crushed. Her heart is pounding in her chest and her knees feel weak. She racks her brains, searching for an idea, a plan, anything to help her. Her gaze falls on the pistol and the man holding it, his hungry and manic eyes fixed on the duke, raving over every inch of him, drinking in his pain. Her heart sinks as a single thought pops into her mind. She knows what she could do, but she doesn't know whether she has the strength to see it through. 

"So who will it be?" Baines taunts, snapping her attention back to him, his finger hovering around the around trigger as he points it at Daniel, "Him? Or him?" He swings in Peter's direction. 

"Cut the shit," She says harshly, taking a threatening step forward. The room falls deathly still as everyone turns to look at her with expressions of alarm and shock. She takes another step towards Baines, her hands held up to signal her surrender, "What is your endgame?" 

"What?" Baines frowns, his aim faltering as he watches her out of the corner of his eye, the pistol still trained on Daniel. 

"You have done all of this to hurt him," Clarissa says, glancing at her husband, "You killed Grace, you killed Jack, you have us in your grasp, so what is our ending going to be? Are you going to kill him? Are you going to kill me!? How does this end?" 

Baines snarls as she draws level with him, "It doesn't matter how it ends, you've lost!" 

She nods, "I know that, but perhaps I can make a bargain for a fate that could be much worse," 

His eyebrows draw together in disbelief, "You'd bargain for yourself?" 

"As you said, it's never been about me..." She murmers, turning her back on Daniel, "But what if I could help you hurt him for the rest of his life?" 

"What?" Baines sneers, "What are you talking about?" 

"You've done so much to hurt him, why not make the pain last a lifetime?" Clarissa says softly as she steps in front of the pistol, "Don't you want to make it burn forever?" 

"No Clary!" George screams but Lestrade elbows him in the stomach and covers his mouth. 

Peter and Daniel both start shouting but Baines's focus is completely fixed on her, his gun now pointing directly at her forehead. He bares his teeth, his hand beginning to shake as Clarissa stand quite still, holding her breath and hoping that his curiosity will get the better of him. 

"How?" He croaks, peering over her shoulder to glare at Daniel. 

She swallows thickly, managing to keep her voice calm and level, "If you let all three of them live, then you can have me, and you can use me to hurt him for the rest of his life." Her emotional words are completely captivating as she keeps the spotlight on herself. 

She clenches her first to control her shuddering breathing, "You don't need to play this game, because if you take me then you have won forever. As you said, he loves me, and what greater pain is there than having the one you love taken from you and stretching it across a lifetime?"