Posted Oct 4, 2009

Despite its location, the office was as opulently furnished as anything you might find in a manor house. Ivy walked in as primly as if entering one of the endless series society functions her parents had always coaxed her out to, and waited for the man behind the desk to acknowledge her. Whatever their respective statuses might be in polite society, here, he was decidedly her superior, and it was essential to acknowledge that. Finally he looked up.

“Ah, Miss Cheltenham-Leclair,” he said, grinning widely, though the smile never quite reached his eyes. “Or is it – my mistake, Lady Ivy. Please, do sit down. It isn't often I have the opportunity to meet with young ladies here. Especially… unescorted.”

“How do you do, Mr. Malavitoso?” she replied as she sat down, carefully smoothing her skirts around her. She chose to ignore the slight, though she knew it had been intentional. He was perfectly aware of her family's standing - or potential lack thereof, should things not go well. “It's a pleasure to meet with such an… esteemed business acquaintance of my late father. I do thank you for your concern for my reputation, but I assure you my secretary travelled with me, and is waiting out in your reception area. I thought, however, that irregular as it might seem, this meeting might best be conducted in private.”

His eyebrows rose slightly at that, and there was just the faintest hint of a genuine smile. Clearly, he thought he knew where this might be leading. “I see. Well, I always do my best to accommodate the… unique needs of my guests. And of course, there are many business dealings that require a certain degree of discretion. But where are my manners? Please accept my deepest sympathies for your father's passing. A great loss to the world, I am sure.” Particularly to that part of it to which he owed money, Ivy mentally translated. “And may I offer you some refreshment? Some gin, perhaps?”

Ivy's eyes narrowed at that - gin was a whore's drink. Not that she hadn't known what he would likely assume she was leading up to, but even so she barely managed to suppress a flush of embarrassment, and her hands clenched on the fabric of her skirt, but she forced her voice to remain calm. “Oh, thank you, but I never touch strong drink. Some tea would be lovely, though, if it isn't too much trouble.”

He seemed mildly disappointed that she hadn't risen to the bait by either accepting the offer or taking offence, but signalled one of his men to fetch the tea. Ivy hid her amusement - it probably wasn't a beverage they had much call for at his usual business meetings. “Thank you, Mr. Malavitoso. Now, perhaps we could discuss the matter of my father's debt…”

“Ah, yes,” he leaned forward, steepling his hands on the desk, a predatory gleam in his eye belying the look of sympathy he affected. “Of course, it pains me to have to trouble a recently bereaved young lady with such matters, but the debt is a considerable one, and your late father, may God rest his soul, had fallen somewhat behind in his payments even before his unfortunate demise. Now of course, I appreciate the fact that you're new to dealing with his finances, so I wouldn't dream of imposing any of the… penalties that can sometimes accrue when payment to my organization is slow in coming. I'm sure we can negotiate a bit of a grace period, in consideration of your situation. But some kind of arrangements are going to have to be made…” His look of anticipation suggested the ball was now in her court.

“Well, my secretary has been instructed to transfer you a certain amount as a partial payment,” Ivy said. She named the figure - a considerable sum, but only a fraction of what her father owed. “Ironically, it was the insurance payment I received following the recent break-in at our estate that made it possible - a silver lining to every dark cloud, I suppose. Now, for the remainder, I was hoping we might be able to arrange for at least part of it to be repaid in… services rendered, rather than funds.”

His smile would not have looked out of place on a shark. “Well, I think we might be able to work something/ out… You're a very attractive young lady.”

Artfully, Ivy feigned a look of momentary incomprehension, followed by bemused surprise. “Oh dear, I'm afraid we seem to have misunderstood each other. The services I was thinking of were actually of a rather different kind than it seems you understood - I do apologize if I was in any way unclear! I just thought that a gentleman of your… particular sort of business interests might be more appreciative of some of my… less commonplace skills.”

He hesitated, seemingly unsure of what she might be implying, and she took advantage of the pause to remove a small box from her purse and slide it across the desk. He opened it to reveal a pair of gold cufflinks set with rather impressively large diamonds. He raised an eyebrow in amusement, and replied “My dear, it's going to take more than a bit of your father's finery to pay a debt of this magni–” He broke off in mid-sentence as he spotted the monogram on them.

For the first time, Ivy allowed herself a genuine smile, that had just as much of the predator in it as his had a moment earlier. “They're not my father's.”

This is it… He's either going to have me killed, or, if I'm very lucky and have played this right, he may consider me too useful to dispose of, and I'll have a valuable new patron. I hope he decides soon which it will be, though… I do so hate waiting.

His eyes flicked from her to the cufflinks, to the armed men standing by the door with their carefully neutral expressions, and back to Ivy, looking her over as if he were weighing the pros and cons of a potential investment. Finally he leaned back in his chair, pocketing the box.

“Well, Lady Ivy, you are full of surprises, aren't you? As it happens, my organization does from time to time have need of the sort of talents you seem to have. And someone whose position allows her access to places most people with those particular talents couldn't get into by any means other than breaking and entering might be especially useful. Though I must say… I think I'm going to have to have a little talk with some of my household security staff.”

Ivy released a breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding, and winced inwardly - she really hadn't wanted to get anyone killed if she could help it. “Well, I certainly won't say it wasn't challenging to acquire them - a considerable measure more difficult than breaking into my own estate after having a state-of-the-art security system installed!”

“You broke into your own house?” For the moment, he seemed thoroughly distracted from the prospect of punishing his staff. “Isn't that a bit… redundant?”

“Not at all! I thought it would be good practice, and besides, given that, with the right resources, investigators might be able to discover my family's financial difficulties, it seemed especially important to make it look convincing. I couldn't afford any suspicion that it might be an inside job.” She paused as one of Malavitoso's underlings served the tea. “Really, robbing oneself is remarkably profitable. You get to fence the goods, and collect the insurance money!”

Malavitoso laughed. Sipping her tea, Ivy smiled “Now, perhaps we can discuss terms?”