Possession Ch. 02

The night sky was dark. A thick cover of clouds obscured the stars and the moon had turned its back on the world. Beth was thankful. Her curtains were thin and any sort of light would have stung her eyes. She had a headache and lay still in her narrow single bed. Her temples throbbed every time she moved.

She had taken her time in returning home, wandering through central London for almost an hour. She had brushed the lives of thousands of people - lawyers, tapping out emails on their mobile devices; tourists, armed with their cameras; would-be artists, scratching some sort of a living by working in bars and restaurants but always hoping for their big break.

But eventually she had to return and she made her way to the bus stop. When she finally found it, she still hesitated, watching four different buses pass by until she eventually boarded one.

As a result, it was almost dusk when she finally faced the inevitable confrontation with her stepfather.

Kevin had not been happy to find out that Beth's plea had been rejected. She told him as much as she dared about her conversation with Dmitri Voronov, leaving out the particulars of his indecent proposition. Knowing him, he would have only been more furious if he found out she had turned him down.

Not that his fury had been blunted by what she had withheld. His anger had been on the verge of out of control, driven by his panic. But at least he had not beaten her black and blue.

Instead he had delivered only a single blow. Nevertheless, it had been forceful enough to knock her off her feet. When she had fallen, she had banged her head against a wall.

Beth had been on the receiving end of enough head injuries that she was fairly sure she didn't have concussion. The pain had since faded but it had yet to disappear entirely. She could not even shift around to get comfortable on her old lumpy mattress. Wriggling was more than enough to set the world tilting and turning around her.

Hopefully after a couple of painkillers and a good night's rest, the only lasting effect would be a slight bump and another bruise to add to her growing collection. If only that ringing would stop so that she could fall asleep.

"Ringing?" Beth frowned, murmuring to herself.

She hadn't imagined the sound. The doorbell was ringing. Slowly and carefully she sat up, wincing at the new wave of pain. Tilting the clock by her bedside so that she could read the display, she was even more confused. It was almost three in the morning.

"Who the bloody hell would that be?" she asked out loud.

Suddenly her blood chilled. She forgot her headache as it was replaced by a pang of fear. Would Dmitri send his men so soon?

"Beth!" Kevin roared from the other room. "Go and tell whoever that is to fuck off! They have already woken up your mother."

She had run out of both energy and courage. Without protest, she hauled herself out of bed. It was cold - heating was another luxury unless there was a genuine risk of hypothermia - so she pulled on a pair of slippers in the shape of lions and a threadbare dressing gown.

Uncertain as to what she might find at the front door, she scanned her room for some sort of weapon. Her old school hockey stick was propped against the wall in the corner. Picking it up, she grasped it tightly in both hands before making her way downstairs.

Whoever was outside was persistent. They were alternating between ringing the doorbell and knocking. By the time Beth reached the door, the noise was constant, which did little to help her headache.

Turning the door handle, she stood back from the gust of chilled night air, still holding the hockey stick. On the doorstep stood a man who reminded her far too much of a certain Russian. He was also impeccably dressed, his shirt collar and tie peeking out from above the buttons of his fine woollen overcoat and a wide-brimmed hat on his head. with the same cold, unrelenting features and imposing build. There was no doubt about it - he had to be associated with Mr Voronov.

"Dobryy vecher, Miss Noble," he inclined his head.

Beth blinked. "Pardon?"

"In my homeland, that is how we say good evening."

"Oh. That's... interesting," Beth said, more than a little taken aback.

She hadn't known what to expect when she opened the door. It could have been a bunch of thugs. Or it could have just been a local drunk, lost on his way back from the pub.

She certainly hadn't thought she'd come face to face with someone who appeared to be a complete gentlemen. Even if he was in some way connected with a less-than savoury character.

"My name is Ivan," again he inclined his head. "I apologise for disturbing you at such a late hour but Mr Voronov asked me to visit you on a matter of great urgency. He did not tell me you would be playing games."

At Beth's confusion, he glanced pointedly at her makeshift weapon, raising both of his hands in the air and stepping back. Taking the hint that he meant her no harm, with some hesitation, she put down the stick.

"In Victorian times, I have read, young women would greet strangers with a poker."

"I don't have a poker," Beth retorted sharply to hide her embarrassment at having been caught out.

"And for that, I am grateful"

His polite demeanour unsettled Beth. The way he was making polite conversation made her uncomfortable.

"Why did Mr Voronov send you?" she refused to be sidetracked from the fact a stranger had paid her a visit in the early hours of the night.

"He wanted to give you ample warning."

"Warning? It was cold but the temperature around Beth suddenly felt as if it had dropped even further.

"Da. Warning."

"Warning about what?"

"When I have left, some of his acquaintances will be paying you a visit."

"You mean he sent you to warn me that he will be sending more people?"

"Correct."

Beth frowned. If violence was about to ensue, then why would Mr Voronov want to warn her in advance?

"But why?" she vocalised what she had been thinking.

Ivan shrugged. "That is not my business. I work for Mr Voronov. I do not question him."

"And how does he know that I won't just call the police?"

"He doesn't. but he does know that you are not a stupid woman."

"I'm flattered," Beth muttered.

"And only a stupid woman would call the police when Mr Voronov is involved," Ivan continued as if he had not heard her.

Beth lifted her chin and squared her shoulders. "Maybe I am a stupid person. Maybe Mr Voronov does not really understand me. Does he even know that I never finished school?"

"Da. He researched you well. He also knows that after you dropped out of school, you continued to study and until recently were one of the most frequent visitors to the local library," he recited, as if he were reading from a file. Which he probably had done, before he had memorised it. "Your favourite books are by Evelyn Waugh and Iris Murdoch," he added.

Beth visibly recoiled. Her skin crawled. She had seen the file of information that Mr Voronov had collected. Nevertheless, thought of him knowing what she liked to read was even more indecent than the way he had examined her in his office. She had never felt quite so exposed. If he knew that sort of details about her, goodness know what else he had found out.

"How does he know all of this?" was all she could ask, even though there were hundreds of questions racing through her head.

"Again, that is not my business."

Beth's palm tingled. She wanted to reach for her hockey stick.

"Well, whatever your business is, you've warned me now," Beth said defensively, standing in the doorway to bar his entry. "So unless you want something else, go away so I can call the police."

"My business here was not to warn you." Ivan paused deliberately for emphasis, his tone infuriatingly calm, like a patient teacher explaining something to a wayward pupil. "Mr Voronov sent me with a message," he announced.

Beth eyed him with mistrust. "A message?"

As far as she knew, people usually preferred to deliver their own messages - unless they weren't the sort of messages that their recipients wanted to hear.

"Da. Mr Voronov would like you to know that his previous offer still stands."

"His offer? I thought I made it clear to him that I wasn't interested/"

"He said that you might be convinced otherwise. He also asked me to remind you that, as he is in a generous mood, the offer stands under the same conditions as before."

"Meaning what, exactly?"

"If you were to accept, he would feel no need to intrude any further upon the lives of your family."

Beth's head already hurt but now her stomach twisted and tied itself into a knot. It wasn't a comfortable sensation.

"You mean if I say 'yes', nothing will happen to my family?"

"That is one way to see your situation, correct."

"But that is blackmail!" She exclaimed.

"Again, a matter of perspective. You may call it blackmail. My boss sees it as an opportunity to ensure your family's safety."

"Didn't he tell you that I have already said no?"

"Yes, but my boss thinks you do not truly understand your options. Either you take up his offer, or you will continue to have visitors until he is satisfied that his debt is collected."

"Can't you tell him that I just want to be left alone?" Her voice wavered as she spoke.

Ivan's mouth quirked wryly. "Miss Noble, I am not the boss. He is."

Beth swallowed. Never before had she faced such a dilemma. She could put aside her pride, demean herself, and all of her problems would be sorted. It would be so easy. But she had never been a fan of taking the easy route.

"I cannot accept," she said, shaking her head.

"In that case, I wish you good night," Ivan performed his half-bow once again. "I cannot say that I am surprised, Miss Noble. Merely disappointed. You seem like a nice person. It is unfortunate indeed that I will not be your last visitor tonight. I sincerely apologise for waking you."

With that, he turned away from her.

Beth closed the door. Her head still pounded and she leaned her forehead against the hard surface, which was soothingly cool against her skin.

"Who was that, little Beth?"

Unwanted as always, her stepfather appeared when he was not wanted or needed, despite being noticeably absent just moments before.

"Nobody important," she lied. Perhaps when Dmitri's men arrived, if they found her stepfather, they would leave her and her mother alone.

"Nobody important? Whoever bangs on my door in the middle of the night is bloody important to me, thank you very much!" Keven spluttered as he put on an impressive impression of righteous outrage.

"Well they've gone now."

"They better have. Or I will be teaching them a lesson."

Beth wanted to laugh at the image that conjured in her head. She couldn't help it. the thought of Kevin trying to teach anyone a lesson was hilarious. Sure, he bullied her and her mother, and he was quite capable of hitting a woman. But Ivan had as much muscle as both of the Noble women put together - at least!

"Is Mum all right?" she checked, changing the subject before a stray chuckle escaped

"Apart from worrying so much she can't sleep, you mean? Of course she's not all right. She's upstairs in bed, too scared to come down and fretting away that there were some burglars or we might be murdered in our beds! And you, young lady," Kevin rounded on Beth. "You didn't help things by spending half the night gossiping on the doorstep!"

"I wasn't gossiping," she protested. "I came down to see who it was - like you told me to!"

"And that took half an hour, did it?"

"I wanted to find out what he wanted."

"Your poor Mum upstairs was frantic! She thought you might have been kidnapped right under our noses. Do you think she really needed that stress, in her condition?"

"I could hardly leave a stranger standing out here, could I?"

"Well you should have told him to go away and come back at a decent hour. Do I have to tell you again how important it is to stop thinking of only yourself and start thinking of your family for a change?"

Suddenly Beth felt weary. She was tired and the fatigue had gone straight to her bones. She wasn't good at making decisions when she was tired.

At least, that was what she would tell herself later, several hours after she had wriggle out of her stepfather's grip, walked out of the house and slammed the door in his astounded face.

***

Ivan was sitting in a sleek black car, the shiny machine standing out like a sore thumb in the run-down neighbourhood. His driver had yet to put the key in the ignition - Ivan had wanted to call Mr Voronov and preferred not to talk on the move.

It was a carefully engineered situation. Dmitri wouldn't dare to send in his thugs whilst Ivan was still on the scene - such a connection could easily incriminate both of them and Dmitri was too careful to let his hands get dirty.

"Get out of there and make the call," Dmitri had said when Ivan told him Beth had said 'no'.

"I do not think that is a good idea."

"Did you not give her my ultimatum?"

"Yes."

"And she turned me down?" asked the voice in Ivan's ear.

"She didn't take up your offer, no."

"And you expect me to let that insult slide?"

Ivan rolled his eyes. They had been having the same conversation for the past ten minutes and still Dmitri could not accept the fact he had been rejected. He had taken it as a personal slight.

"No, but I could hardly abduct her."

"You could have at least tried to persuade her!"

"My friend, short of dragging her family from their beds and holding a gun to their heads, nothing would have convinced her to come with me. That girl is as fierce as a tigress and as stubborn as your mother." Silence followed. Ivan could hear Dmitri's consideration. "And no, I will not do that," he added firmly.

"You might not, but there are others who will."

"And if you go down that path, then she will never stop hating you."

"It does not matter if she hates me," Dmitri said flippantly. "All that matters is she does not refuse me."

"Did you not tell me that 'Iskru tushi do pozhara, bedu otvodi do udara'?"

"Prevention may be better than cure, Ivan, but her hating me is not a problem I care to cure."

"Fine, ignore the proverbs then - at the end of the day, if you fall asleep next to her, wouldn't you rather know you're not going to wake up with a pencil in your jugular?"

"Who said we would be doing any sleeping?"

"Dmtri, do you honestly think she is going to willingly spread her legs for you if you coerce her into your bed? If all you wanted was a woman to fuck, why are you going through all of this trouble?"

"Perhaps I should send her flowers then, some nice jewellery?"

"I do not think she is the sort of girl who will be wooed by roses and diamonds. Particularly not after you have already threatened her family."

"So I should just give up?"

Ivan was about to tell his friend and employer that there was no point in continuing to pursue the Noble girl, even though that meant crushing his pride and ego, when the unexpected happened. Beth rapped three times on the car window.

"Perhaps hope is not entirely lost, my friend. Let me call you back."

Before Dmitri could quiz him, Ivan had hung up. He pushed a button to wind down the glass window.

"Miss Noble, how might I be of assistance?"

"The offer..." she began haltingly. "Is it still on the table?"

Ivan knew Dmitri would have wanted to toy with her, to make her beg. But one look at her expression and he knew he didn't have the heart. Her face was covered in a strange mix of confusion, determination and desperation.

"Yes," he replied.

"Then I accept. But I have one condition."

"Go on."

"This arrangement that Mr Voronov proposes - it begins tonight."

Ivan raised an eyebrow. "Why are you accepting?"

"I changed my mind."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

Something inside Ivan wanted to warn her, to tell her it was unlikely Mr Voronov would send round his men that night and that she would be better off just going to bed. But he knew that even if Dmitri didn't send in his men that night, even if he were able to talk his friend into leaving Beth alone, it would only be so long before the money meant more to Dmitri than the brown-eyed beauty. And if she continued to reject him, his bitterness would only make him want to seek revenge.

"Get in the car."

He slid across the backseat to make room for her and she did as he had told her. The leather upholstery felt like butter, it was so smooth and soft. She could not help running her fingertips over it. The interior of the car smelled like polish, as if it had recently been cleaned. It had clearly been looked after.

"Do you not need your belongings?" Ivan asked, motioning at her empty hands.

"I'll collect them another time."

"You don't want to fetch your toiletries? Your make-up? Some clothes?"

Beth shook her head. Ivan did not miss her fearful glance towards the house. Yet she could not bear to admit the truth out loud. She had no desire to go back inside and face her father again.

Ivan didn't press her. If she said she did not need them, then she could do without. Although he was not used to girls who travelled light, forget ones who travelled with nothing at all! He gave her a few moments to decide she did want to get her things, but when it was clear she had absolutely no intention of doing so, he signalled to the driver and they moved off.

The girl had curled up into a ball, making herself as small as possible, practically sitting on her slippered feet. Her arms were crossed and she stared out of the window. She didn't give much away.

"Are you cold?"

"Pardon?" she clearly hadn't expected him to try and make conversation as they travelled.

"Are you cold?" he repeated. "Should I ask the driver to turn on the heating?"

"I'm fine," Beth said. "Thank you."

"It is a long journey back into the city. You should rest. I will wake you when we arrive."

"I don't need to sleep."

That was clearly a lie. The poor girl looked exhausted. "But it is the middle of the night."

"I have a slight headache. I won't be able to sleep well here."

Ivan checked underneath the car seat and retrieved a first aid kit and a bottle of water. He rummaged around until he found a strip of tablets before handing them to Beth.

"Take two of these," he instructed.

"What are they?"

"Mild painkillers. You can buy them without a prescription."

Slowly she reached out a hand and took them, inspecting the packet suspiciously.

"Thanks," she said, after she had washed the pills down with a long drink of water.

"You are welcome. Now you will be able to sleep."

"No, I don't need to."

She didn't trust him, Ivan thought to himself. Even though she clearly was in desperate need for rest, she would not let her guard down in his presence. And why would she? All she knew about him was who he worked for. And Dmitri had not done much to recommend himself to her.

"Mr... Ivan..." she addressed him without turning to him.

"Just Ivan, please."

"Ivan," she echoed. "I don't know Mr Voronov very well... I don't really know him at all. I only met him today, you see."

"Yes, he told me," Ivan said.

"Well," she paused for a moment, trying to work out what she wanted to ask. "What sort of a man is he?"

"You may perhaps not believe me, Miss Noble, but Mr Voronov is a good man."

She snorted in disdain

"I said you would not believe me," Ivan shrugged.

"Well he hasn't exactly given me the impression of being a 'good man' as you put it."

"No. But as you said, you do not know him well."

"Well enough to know he has no morals whatsoever."

"Miss Noble, Dmitri is a good friend of mine. His father grew up with my father. I have known him for longer than I can remember."

Beth started. She didn't think that Mr Voronov was capable of making friends, let alone keeping them.