A/N Welcome back to the third and final installment of my crime week submission for Klaroline AU Season 2021! Thank you to everyone who has followed, commented and left kudos. It means the world to me to hear people like my work. Please take a moment to leave me a review if you like how I wrap it all up! (No concrit please!) And again, thank you to Erica for helping me along the way. You're an excellent partner in crime. Enjoy!
Chapter Three – Till Death Do Us Part
If Stefan wasn't already a dead man walking, Caroline would have killed him. She was frantically pacing the penthouse suite of the Mikaelson's finest hotel in her nude strapless wedding dress with a plunging silk charmeuse bustier and half-tumbled tulle skirt, but even Vera Wang wasn't enough to comfort her. Given that it was her second wedding – and she'd murdered her first husband – they'd decided against a traditional white gown. "Where the fuck is he?" the bride growled as she tugged restlessly at her elongated black chiffon tie accents, Jimmy Choo lace and leather court heels wearing a hole in the carpet.
Given that his bride looked like an absolute goddess, Klaus cared very little where Stefan was. Still, he hated seeing Caroline upset. "Sweetheart, I'm sure he'll show up. Freya has her contacts at the FBI tracing his cell phone as we speak. He's probably just-"
"Running lines is what he's probably doing." She groaned, stomping her foot on the ground in frustration. "I knew I should have brought him with me."
The criminal king snorted, rolling his eyes. "Yes, I'm sure he'd have been quite content to join you and my sisters for hair and makeup."
"You could have babysat him yourself, you know!" she scolded him, wagging a freshly manicured nail at him. "He could have gone with you, Elijah and Kol for massages!"
Klaus shot her a pitying look. "The last time he and Kol were in the same room, we ended up engaged."
"Well, that worked out, didn't it?!"
Klaus smiled at that. He was marrying Caroline Forbes. It was arguably the happiest day in his thirty-one years. It was hard to be upset about anything when his future wife stood before him dressed like a royal princess. His topaz eyes softened as they followed her around the luxurious penthouse. Considering how many murders they'd each committed to get here – and the one they planned to commit still – getting married in a church seemed a bit hypocritical. They were to be wed in the grand ballroom in less than an hour with half of Philadelphia's finest in attendance. One missing cokehead wasn't going to ruin the day he'd been dreaming of for years.
The criminal king really didn't understand why she was so concerned with maintaining the Salvatore empire as it stood. Yes, she had a decent distribution ring and the loyalty of several families, but none of them were up to his standards. Left up to him, he'd exterminate everyone Giuseppe had ever done business with and start fresh. Beyond her lack of quality minions, it bothered him how much she craved the loyalty of those who would turn on her without Stefan giving the approval that she was worthy. He knew it was an attitude that dated back to the days of Prohibition and the birth of organized crime, but a hundred years had past. It would take time, but eventually, he would show her all that the world had to offer.
Caroline was born to be a queen; she just didn't know that yet.
"He'll be dead in three days time," Klaus countered reasonably as he lazed against a chaise lounge, sipping a glass of Cristal. "What does it matter if he misses the ceremony?"
Caroline stopped dead in her tracks, glaring at him with her hands on her hips, layers of tulle bunched beneath her nails. "He has to walk me down the aisle to solidify our alliance. You know how this shit goes. He has to 'give me away' like I'm some kind of prized fucking poodle." Crossing her arms over her chest, she huffed. "That asshole can't die soon enough. Where the fuck is he?!"
"Sweetheart," Klaus began, getting to his feet and pouring her a drink, "you need to relax."
"Get away from me with the liquids!" the bride squealed, swatting at the offered champagne flute. She gestured at her gown. "Spill anything on the Vera Wang and the only one dying here will be you." He barked out a laugh at her vitriol; he loved how feisty she could be.
"Neither of us is dying, love," he said calmly, setting down the drink and taking her hand, squeezing it gently. "The wedding will proceed with or without Stefan, as will the alliance between the Mikaelsons and the Salvatores." He offered her his best dimples as he rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. "And if anyone objects, I'll just kill them."
Caroline relaxed a little at that, peering up at him from beneath long lashes. "You'd do that for me?"
"I would kill anyone for you," he promised, brushing his lips against the back of her hand. Their eyes met and for a moment, he considered just tearing her dress to shreds right then and there. Fortunately, his animalistic instincts were interrupted by a knock at the door.
Ripping her hand away, the blonde ran for the entrance, expecting to see Freya with news of Stefan's location. Her face fell when she saw it was her least favorite Mikaelson. "Elijah," she greeted coolly, disappointment clear in her tone. "I was hoping for your sister."
Elijah smiled tightly as he nodded at her politely. "I was hoping to have a word with my brother." He looked passed the bride to the other man in a tux. They were both wearing Armani; he'd insisted on dressing Klaus himself. "It's a business matter."
"Can't it wait?" the criminal king huffed, eyes darting to his nervous wreck of a bride.
"I'm afraid not." Their eyes met and something unspoken passed between them. They'd spent so much time together over the years that they could reach each other's cues. Whatever Elijah had to say, it wasn't good. Turning back to Caroline, he smiled formally. "I'll keep him only a moment."
Klaus pecked her on the cheek. "I'll be right back. Do try and relax."
"Do try and find my idiot," she countered sarcastically, speaking to both of them. Crossing her arms over her chest, she resumed her pacing. She walked over to the dining table and picked up her phone to try calling him again. Like the previous fifty times she'd called, the line went straight to voicemail. "Steffie, baby, where are you?" she asked in her best big-sister voice. "I'm worried about you. You're supposed to be here to walk me down the aisle. You know how much it means to me to have you here on my big day. I love you. Call me back."
Closing the door as he walked back in, Klaus chuckled at the disgusted face she was making as she set down the phone. "You do know how to play the role." He smiled fondly at her, eyes shining with approval as he placed his hands on her waist. "I will personally breathe a sigh of relief when you never have to speak that particular lie again."
"You and me both," she agreed with a grimace. He pulled her to his chest and kissed the top of her artfully styled hair, baby's breath woven in around a white gold and diamond tiara decorating her golden curls. "I just don't know why he does these things to me."
"Because he's incompetent and more valuable to us six-feet under than walking you down the aisle," Klaus replied coolly, stroking the bare skin of her upper back and neck with the tips of his fingers. He leaned down to whisper, breath hot against her ear, "You need to relax."
When she felt his lips on her neck, gruff stubble tickling her skin, she whined halfheartedly, "Klaus, if we lay down, the dress will get all wrinkled…"
"Best stay standing then," he growled against her throat, hands wandering over her bustier.
Caroline knew she should object, that she should be trying to find Stefan, but his body felt way too good pressed against her, and he was way too sexy in his tuxedo with his dirty blond curls tousled just right. "Okay, but don't touch my makeup," was all she could manage, skin already starting to warm as he caressed her breasts through the fabric. She wound her arms around the back of his neck to grant him better access and couldn't even find it in her to complain when he pulled down her bustier just enough to free her breasts. His hands were hot against her skin as he rolled and pinched her nipples between his fingers, his teeth nibbling the side of her neck. She tilted her head to the side as his lips moved up and down, his erection pressing into her from behind as his palms grazed her lower breasts.
The bride was just about to say fuck the wrinkles when Klaus dropped to his knees. He carefully lifted layer after layer of tulle until he was settled between her thighs, airy fabric floating all around him as he was completely hidden from her view. Caroline couldn't see her fiance burrowed beneath her skirt, but she could feel his lips scraping up her calf. He nipped and licked his way upward, skipping over her traditional silk garter. Her hands clenched around air when he pressed a kiss directly over her clit atop the thin scrap of lace masquerading as panties. Looking around for something to grab hold of, she leaned forward and dragged over a nearby table chair, nails digging into the upholstery.
"Klaus," she whined when he kept taunting her with kisses to the lace guarding her core, "it's not nice to tease your wife on her wedding day." He chuckled against her inner thigh, breathing in deeply to inhale the spicy scent of her arousal. Pushing aside the fabric, he delivered a long, flat lick between her velvet folds. She shivered at the light contact, pushing down with her hips to gain more friction. He parts her lips with two fingers, making her gasp when he plunged his sharp tongue in her dripping center. He lapped at her inner walls as he darted in and out of her in a steady rhythm, artfully building her up the way he'd learned she liked best. For all her protestations, Caroline liked being teased.
Klaus swirled his tongue around inside her, brushing his thumb over her clit. Holding the chair tightly with one hand, she used the other to tug and twist her nipples while he was buried beneath her skirt. Throwing her head back, she moaned when he replaced his tongue with first one finger and then another. "Klaus…" The sound of his name falling off his bride's lips spurred him on. He quickened his pace, wrapping one arm around her leg to keep her steady when her knees began to shake. She felt a coil forming in her lower belly as she rocked against his face, his gruff stubble creating a delicious friction against her smooth lips. Nails digging into the chair, she began to pant his name in a steady chant, desperate for release. Latching his lips around her clit, he flicked his tongue over and over her tight bundle of nerves. As soon as he hooked his fingers to hit just the right spot in her inner walls, she was gone. The blonde screamed out in pleasure as a powerful orgasm washed over her, her fiance's tongue swirling around and around to help prolong her high.
Pressing one last kiss to her twitching clit, Klaus crawled out from beneath the layers of tulle with an arrogant smirk plastered beneath his gruff stubble, lips glossy with her arousal. He leaned in to kiss her but even as she panted and held the chair for support, she dodged him. "Makeup," she reminded him, chest heaving.
Chuckling, he moved behind her and took her back in his arms, mouth easily finding a sensitive spot on her collarbone. "Bet I can make you forget the makeup," he growled sinfully, capturing one nipple between two fingers and tugging hard enough to make her gasp.
"Probably," she conceded in a breathy whisper as he molded and shaped her breasts in his hands, lips working on her throat as he ground his erection into her from behind. "But please don't."
"As you wish." He pressed another kiss to her throat before moving her over to the floor to ceiling window overlooking downtown Philadelphia. Pressing her up against the glass, he whispered in her ear, "Open your eyes." She gasped at the expansive view, more cars than she could count flooding the entrance to the hotel. "Look at all of them them." All the people looked like ants in formal wear as he lifted the layers of her skirt from behind, a tell-tale clink of metal on metal telling her he'd unbuckled his belt. "They're here to see you marry me." Stroking himself up and down a few times, he teased the back of her folds with his dripping head. "No one will care who walks you down the aisle." Her objection died on her lips as he suddenly thrust into her, chasing away all thoughts of Stefan Salvatore as he stretched her tight hole with his thick shaft.
As Klaus pumped in and out of her wet heat, Caroline couldn't take her eyes off the tiny people down below. Knowing any of them could look up and potentially see her bare breasts pressed to the glass added to the eroticism of being fucked from behind in her wedding dress. Setting a steady rhythm, he moved his hands up to caress the underside of her breasts, twisting and turning her nipples between his fingers. He pressed a long string of kisses up her throat, his beard tickling her sensitized flesh. Nibbling on her ear lobe, he pulled out and suddenly slammed back in hard enough to make her jump and bang her palm against the window in ecstasy.
Caroline rocked her hips back to meet him thrust for thrust as their bodies rutted together, each chasing their own release. "Oh, fuck the makeup," she decided, winding her fingers in his curls to bring his mouth down to hers.
Klaus grabbed her roughly by the ends of her artfully styled golden locks and shook his head, nipping hard on her neck. "No, you wanted to save the lipstick," he teased, enjoying her little huff of annoyance even as he was inside of her. His cock moved in and out of her wet pussy, the sound of skin on skin muffled by the layers of her skirt. She pressed her forehead against the glass, a forearm just above her head to help maintain her balance as her fiance thrust into her from behind. Closing her eyes, she gave herself over to the intense sensations washing over her. A coil of energy began to buzz in her lower belly and all rational thought faded into the background as she enjoyed what her fiance was doing to her. Somehow, he managed to burrow his hand beneath the layers of tulle and found her clit. Her breathing hitched as he rubbed two fingers up and town in time with his strokes as he effortlessly moved in and out of her.
"Klaus… harder…." she panted, chest heaving as her legs began to shake. Happy to oblige, he picked up a punishing rhythm, slamming in and out of her as he swirled his fingers around her tight bundle of nerves. She bucked her hips back to meet him as their bodies passionately moved together, grunts and groans filling the air of the penthouse. A few more strokes and she came undone, crying out his name as her fleshy walls convulsed around his thick cock. He pumped in and out of her to prolong her high before spilling his seed deep inside her pulsing channel. Chest heaving, she slumped against the glass, careful not to let the window smear her makeup. She was only vaguely aware of it when his penis slipped out of her. He tucked it back into his pants before he smoothed down the layers of her skirt. Pulling her close, he pressed one last kiss to her neck before closing his own eyes to bask in the afterglow.
Long moments past in silence as he held her in his arms before all her anxieties came rush back to the forefront of her consciousness. Tucking her breasts back into her bustier, Caroline sighed as she pulled away from her fiance and resumed her pacing. Frowning, Klaus watched her as he straightened his bowtie and cummerbund. "Not feeling any better?" he asked as his eyes followed her around the room. "I'd have thought you'd be more relaxed."
The bride rolled her eyes and looked over at him with a groan. "Look, Klaus, I'm willing to admit you can make my eyes roll back in my head." He smirked at that. "But your dick can't just magically make Stefan appear. Can you call your sister again?"
Klaus' brow furrowed together as he looked down at his watch. "I'm afraid there isn't time for that, love. We need to go."
Caroline's sapphire eyes widened in panic as she frantically wrung her hands together. "No! No, we need more time!" They both looked to the door when a soft knock echoed throughout the penthouse suite.
"That'll be my siblings." He held his hand out to his bride. Reluctantly, she took it and followed him to the door. He turned to her before he opened it and tilted her chin up to face him. "I realize you're unhappy about this, but I promise you, it is not the end of the world if Stefan doesn't show."
The bride's shoulders slumped as she frowned in resignation. "I know," she replied with a sigh, shaking her head. "Honestly, it's not even a surprise. He's such an ass. It's just – this is the last thing I need from him, you know? He always finds a way to ruin everything."
Lips pressed together in a thin line, Klaus shook his head almost sadly. "You're getting married to someone who wants to be married to you. Surely that must count for something."
The bride looked up and the vulnerability in her groom's eyes removed her anger and replaced it with guilt. This was his day, too. Exhaling through her nose, she leaned up to kiss him lightly, a small smile playing about her lips as she added a bullet point to the 'Good Reasons to Marry Klaus' list. "It counts for a lot." Squeezing his hand, she nodded her head and squared her shoulders. "Come on. Let's go do this."
"Aren't you forgetting something?" he asked with an arched brow, tilting his head at a mannequin with a long, flowing veil sitting on the table beside the door.
Smiling genuinely as she picked it up, she held it out to him. "Put it on me?" Spinning around, she felt the smile on his lips as he pressed them to her neck before securing the veil in place atop her artfully styled golden curls with a few bobby pins.
"You may want to have Rebekah look at this," Klaus suggested with a grimace. "I don't think I missed my calling as a hair stylist."
Caroline checked the mirror and resisted the urge to burst into laughter at the lopsided layer of tulle shrouding her face. She took the pins out and straightened them a bit, biting the inside of her cheek. Turning back to him, she took his hands and peered up at him from behind the veil. "It's perfect. Let's go get married."
Klaus' dimples etched into his cheeks and she was certain it was the happiest she'd ever seen him. "The next time I see your face, it'll be at the altar." He held out his elbow to escort her and she took it gladly. "Shall we?"
"Let's," she replied with a grin matching his.
Elijah, Kol and Rebekah were waiting on the other side of the door to walk with them downstairs to the grand ballroom. The youngest Mikaelson scoffed and rolled her eyes, fussing over the fluffy layers of Caroline's skirt. "You just had to have sex in the dress, didn't you, Nik?" she grumbled, shooting her brother a withering glance.
Rocking back on his heels, his grin was Cheshire as he replied unapologetically, "Look at her. Can you blame me?"
"Not a bit," Kol interjected, earning him a slap upside from the head from the groom. Batting Klaus away, he laughed, "It's a compliment! Your bride is lovely."
"Yes, Kol, my bride," Klaus growled possessively.
"She may be your bride, but the dress is Vera Wang," Rebekah snapped, finally satisfied as she stepped back to admire her handiwork. "Be glad you didn't get any stains on it or I'd kill you before you made it to the altar." Elijah cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable with the conversation. One hand on her hip, she flicked her gaze up and down his Armani tuxedo pityingly. "Spare us the sanctimony, 'Lijah. You and that assassin haven't left this hotel in three days."
"Is that where he's been?" Kol asked his sister with a dropped jaw and a mischievous twinkle in his chocolate eyes, voice resembling a gossiping schoolgirl more than that of a world class gun runner.
"It's why he missed my bachelor party," Klaus interjected with a smirk.
"Bloody hell!" Kol exclaimed, his laughter echoing off the halls. "I just thought he didn't want to get booty dust from the strippers on his suit."
"I don't think he's been wearing one," Rebekah teased playfully.
"You never know," Kol laughed. "Could be they were doing a boss/employee role play."
"You do look like you belong in a board room, brother," Klaus added, trading amused glances with his bride. "I told you I wasn't going to take that bet."
"Are we betting on Elijah's sex life, now?" Kol asked excitedly, eyes shooting between the bride and groom.
"I lost when it turned out he had one," Rebekah tossed in mischievously.
"Children, please," Elijah scolded, compulsively straightening his cufflinks. They all smirked at the bright red flush creeping up their brother's neck as the elevator carried them downstairs.
Caroline looked at the four siblings and felt a smile curve her glossy lips. She'd never had a family of her own… but she was about to.
Freya was waiting outside the ballroom with a worried expression marring her elegant features. "Any sign of him?" the bride asked anxiously, already knowing the answer.
The eldest Mikaelson shook her head. "My contacts at the FBI are sure his phone is off. They can't trace his GPS. I'm so sorry, but we'll have to proceed without him." Sighing dejectedly, Caroline nodded her head as the wedding procession began to play. They had more than a thousand guests waiting to watch her walk down the aisle. She would just have to do it alone.
Elijah cleared his throat, stepping forward and holding out his arm. "As the Best Man, it seems fitting I should take his place."
Caroline resisted the urge to scoff at the stiff way he was holding himself, clearly only offering out of the warped sense of duty he had to live by to convince himself he wasn't as big a monster as the rest of them. "The last thing I need is another man," she replied, taking her massive bouquet of red roses from Freya and holding her head up high. "I'll walk myself."
Rebekah pushed her brother out of the way, tossing her long, straight blond locks over her shoulder and taking her place beside her future sister-in-law. "Nonsense, darling. You're far too beautiful and that gown far too expensive to go it alone. As your Maid of Honor, the pleasure is all mine." Caroline's eyes widened in shock beneath her vein at the genuine smile on Rebekah's lips, as though she really did see it as an honor to welcome her into the family. For the first time that day, she felt a sting behind her sapphire eyes and all she could do was nod. Rebekah wrapped her arm around Caroline's elbow as they began to walk, leaning in to whisper conspiratorially in her ear, "And besides, us girls have to stick together."
Everything about Caroline's second wedding felt different than the first. The biggest difference was the boyish grin on Klaus' face when she met him at the altar. Reason Number One: He wants to be married to me. It was well known to the mafia families that their marriage had been arranged, but their legitimate business associates and the socialites of Philadelphia had no idea. To the outside world, they had to play the role of a couple in love. But as they recited their vows – the one where she had to obey specifically excluded – it didn't feel like either of them were acting. When the minister told him he could kiss the bride, there was nothing staged about it.
Klaus picked up his new wife and spun her around, lips pressed to hers in front of a thousand people who all cheered as their kiss lasted just a little too long to be considered decent. As they walked back down the aisle hand in hand, she was almost able to forget that it had been Rebekah to walk her up in the first place. Almost. She remembered several times during the hour they received their guests when she caught sight of clenched teeth and tightened jaws on the faces of the Salvatore associates, their narrowed eyes heavy with disapproval.
Stefan's absence had not gone unnoticed.
By the time they were done posing for the many photographers in attendance and their own, there was still no sign of the lost Salvatore. "He's really not coming," Caroline sighed as she gathered beside her new family outside the grand dining hall.
"It's alright, sweetheart," Klaus replied reassuringly, squeezing her hand on his forearm as he traded a dark glance with his older brother. "He'll be dealt with soon enough." The bride simply nodded as the doors opened.
The siblings entered first as each were announced one by one. A smile spread across his face as they were introduced over the loudspeaker as Mr. and Mrs. Niklaus Mikaelson for the first time, the room bursting with applause. With a spring in his step, he happily led her to the raised table at the end of the hall and pulled out her chair before sitting beside her for an elaborate five-course dinner. A few hundred of their guests had taken their leave, but the room was still packed and buzzing with chatter for the happy couple.
As Caroline looked around at her new in-laws bickering among themselves and occasionally swatting at each other, it was hard to remember this had all been a business arrangement. Maybe Klaus was right and they would have a happy marriage. His family had been more welcoming than she'd expected, with the obvious exception of Elijah. She made a mental note that if she ever saw Katherine again, she'd ask if the assassin had been able to remove the stick from his ass. As she looked over and saw his grim expression as he checked his phone for the tenth time in an hour, she decided probably not.
The Mikaelsons were a tight-knit little clan. Klaus was the middle child but the clear leader, his mind as sharp as his temper was vicious. Rebekah once said he could talk his way out of hell over drinks as they discussed his latest plans to wreak havoc while simultaneously keeping his hands clean and his dimples charming. Freya was the eldest and most composed and loquacious of the bunch. She and Elijah fit in well with Philadelphia's high society, often the only siblings in attendance at charity galas and political fundraisers. Senator Richard Fell, seated beside one of Rebekah's high-end escorts as his ex-wife glared hatefully at him from across the hall, was rumored to be running for president in 2024. His election would be very good for business since he'd been in Freya's pocket for years.
Rebekah was a chameleon and could fit in anywhere. She could spend a day at the country club and the same night fill a new dance club with the hottest girls in town while sipping champagne in the VIP room in between shots with the leaders of local street gangs. Kol was the family troublemaker and lived for making mischief when he was home. His illicit activities tested the bounds of Freya's powers of manipulation with local law enforcement officials. Fortunately, he spent a lot of time partying hard in South America in between weapons deals. How he wasn't locked up in a Brazilian prison was a mystery to the newest member of the Mikaelson family. Despite his penchant for getting into trouble, Caroline thought she might like him best.
She changed her mind when he got up to give a toast.
Klaus had warned his little brother over and over not to make a spectacle of himself at the wedding. Kol, of course, refused to listen. Caroline groaned when he began by calling her husband 'Pinky Sunshine Glitterpuss' as he recounted a particularly embarrassing incident from their childhood by way of questioning her sanity for marrying his brother when he clearly preferred polo ponies to people. Her eyes widened in horror when he brought out a posterboard to serve as a visual aid. Upon seeing the My Little Pony logo, she moved to take the mic, but as soon as she shifted in her seat, the bottom of his coat caught on fire, presumably from one of the long tapered candles in crystal holders decorating the table. As he dropped it in order to douse the flames with a glass of merlot, Rebekah tucked a lighter back in her purse and gave her a wink as the crowd awkwardly applauded his speech.
Elijah and Freya both gave lovely toasts welcoming her to the family, although the former stumbled a bit over his words when he mentioned the Salvatores, reminding Caroline that Stefan still hadn't shown. She mouthed, "Anything?" to her eldest in-law and received only a grim head shake in return. Forcing a beauty queen smile, she politely clapped as Elijah sat back down, relieved that that portion of the evening was over. She'd written a speech for Stefan and while it was true she was planning to have him murdered, it bothered her just a little bit that no one was there to speak for her.
She hoped her father would have been proud.
Before Caroline could think too hard on what Bill would have said about her choices, it was time for the first dance. With a soft smile, Klaus held out his hand to his new wife to lead her to the center of the room. As he swept her up in his arms, she couldn't help but return it with a gentle smile of her own. All eyes were on them as their wedding singer sang Ed Sheeran's Tenerife Sea. Klaus had been the one to suggest it and she'd agreed because she found the lyrics amusing. "We are surrounded by all of these lies and people that talk too much. You got that kind of look in your eyes, as if no one knows anything but us." A mischievous smile played about her lips as she remembered their first evening together and how they'd bonded over plotting a murder. That was just them.
Leaning forward, she closed the space between them and pressed her lips to his, kissing her husband in the middle of the dance floor surrounded by five hundred people, all eyes on them. Pulling back, his dimples were etched into his cheeks and he couldn't take his eyes off her. When the song ended, she wasn't ready to sit back down just yet, so she suggested they stay and he happily obliged. Other couples joined them as their bodies moved together seamlessly. Finally starting to relax after a few songs, she rested her head against his shoulder as he held her close, swaying them back and forth in time with the music. The gentle smile Caroline had been wearing as her husband swirled her around in his arms faded when she saw her brother-in-law approaching.
Elijah's expression was grave as he reached the dancing couple, his tone solemn. "You need to come with me."
Klaus simply nodded, pulling away from his bride and taking her hand, but she balked. "What is it?" she snapped, clearly unwilling to just put her faith in Elijah and leave her own wedding. She'd been having fun.
The two brother's eyes met and Klaus gave a small nod. "There's been an incident." She looked between the two and felt a sense of foreboding race down her spine. Her grip on her husband's hand tightened as she followed the older brother out of the hotel. They went out through a side door that opened up to the parking lot and were met with a crowd of people. Her sense of dread only grew as they slowly walked through them, red, blue and white lights flashing in the distance as the police established a perimeter, yellow crime scene tape winding from lamppost to lamppost in the fading light.
This kind of police presence could mean only that someone was dead. Based on Elijah's calm demeanor, she knew it wasn't one of the Mikaelsons, and she didn't have any family to worry about. A pit lodged in her gut as she thought on the one person it could possibly be that would require her personal attention in the middle of her wedding. But it was too soon for him. Caroline's hand flew to her mouth when she caught sight of what was in the center of the crowd: it was Stefan's Jaguar surrounded by officers. Her skin started to crawl as she let go of her husband's hand and waded her way briskly through the crowd, roughly shoving people aside.
"Ma'am, you have to stay back," a uniformed officer tried to tell her when she reached the car, but she wasn't about to listen.
"That's my brother-in-law's car!" she shouted hysterically, fighting hard against two sets of strong arms holding her back. When her eyes landed on the body in the front seat, the world stopped. She'd found Stefan at last. The buzz of the crowd faded into the background as her eyes roved over what was left of him. There was so much blood. A gun she recognized as his was in his hand on his lap, brain matter spewed all over the inside of the driver's side window. A solid third of his skull had been blown away, the remnants of an unseeing eye dangling uselessly from its socket. A scream came from somewhere and looking back, she would realize it had been her own.
It wasn't that Caroline cried for Stefan; she was crying for herself.
All her carefully laid plans came crashing down around her. Stefan couldn't be dead. It wasn't time. He hadn't walked her down the aisle. She inhaled a deep breath as she tried to still her racing thoughts. Her eyes landed on a bloody mirror on the passenger's seat, a small white baggie and razor blade on top of it beside a rolled up hundred dollar bill. A glass bottle of vodka lay empty on the floor. Everything about it looked like a suicide, complete with a note. A plainclothes detective was examining the bloody piece of paper in an evidence bag. As soon as she saw it, the bride knew she had to read it. It started with her name. "Give me that!" she spat at the detective, reaching for it.
"Ma'am, this is evidence in an ongoing investigation-" he began, but she cut him off.
"It's addressed to me!" she snarled angrily, tearing it away from his grasp.
"Who are you?" the detective demanded, trying to grab it back, but she'd spun around and held it beyond his reach. He grabbed her arm, but she did her best to push him away.
"I'm Caroline!" The anguish in her tone was enough to halt the detective. Nodding, he released her elbow and allowed her to read it, watching her warily. She looked it over and recognized Stefan's poor grammar and sloppy penmanship immediately. Or what was made to look like his handwriting. Her heart began to race as she absorbed the words on the page.
Dear Caroline
I cant do it. I cant watch you marry him. This is all my fault. Dad told me and Damon we always had to take care of you because you are the daughter of Bill Forbes his best friend. Im leaving everything to you. Take it and sell it but dont marry Klaus. I know I shouldnt leave you like this but I didnt see any other way. I love you.
Im sorry.
Stefan
Caroline felt invisible walls closing in around her. The daughter of Bill Forbes. Suddenly, her dress felt too tight and the air in her lungs too hard to breathe. She began to hyperventilate as tears streamed down her face, leaving black streaks of mascara in their wake. Her skin was on fire as blood pulsed behind her temple, blurring her vision. Fury consumed her, a wild beast ready to claw its way to the surface. Her hand closed around the evidence bag as her fists shook with rage threatening to blind her. Her eyes went to the body and all she wanted to do was get to Stefan. She wanted to tear apart what was left of him. She lunged passed the detective and banged on the window, note clenched in her tiny fist as she tried with everything she had to break the glass. Two officers and the detective tried to pull her away but it wasn't until she felt her husband's arms wrap around her waist that her legs gave out and she fell to the ground sobbing.
Klaus pried the note from her hand and read it over, his face darkening. There would be no alliance between the Mikaelson and Salvatore empires now. This meant war. He pulled Caroline's tear-streaked face to his chest as he handed the evidence bag to the detective. "She's distraught," he explained apologetically. "They were very close."
The detective nodded his head sympathetically as Caroline wailed into her new husband's tuxedo. He was a tall, lanky man with light brown hair and kind eyes that knew too much of the world and its sorrows. When he spoke, his tone was gentle and soft. "It looks like a straightforward suicide, but we'll need to ask her a few questions."
Klaus nodded, knowing it had to be done. "Let me take her home for now. I'll bring her to the station tomorrow."
The other man frowned, shaking his head. "We should really do this-"
"Will!" Freya's voice interjected as she waved to him from a few bodies away, pushing her way forward.
"Miss Mikaelson," the detective, Will, greeted, shaking her hand when she reached them. Klaus breathed a sigh of relief when he realized they were already acquainted; he doubted it was a coincidence. Will looked between the two women as understanding dawned. "I'm sorry for your sister-in-law's loss."
"Thank you," Freya replied, a sympathetic expression on her face as she stood tall beside her brother and his not-so-grieving bride. "We need to get her home, but you have my number. Call me to set something up?"
Will flicked his gaze between the three Mikaelsons, debating it for a long moment before nodding in acquiescence. "Don't leave town. I'll be in touch."
Klaus hid his smirk at his sister's ability to bend every law enforcement official in the city to her will in his bride's hair as he scooped her up. She buried her face in his neck as she sobbed for her lost empire. The crowd parted for them as he carried her to his Porsche, the perfect picture of a grieving woman and her loving husband. Based on the number of camera flashes in the distance, he was sure they'd make the morning paper. With a sigh, he secured a seatbelt across his wife's chest. This was not how he wanted their wedding to go. But, what was done was done and he'd married the woman of his dreams. In his world, the end justified the means.
Word would spread quickly about Stefan's final wish that she not go through with the wedding. Damage control would have to be done, but it could wait. He just wanted to get her home and away from all the prying eyes. He knew that look of fury behind her eyes, had seen it in his own enough times to know that the last thing she needed was to be around people right now. It was a good thing the last Salvatore was already dead because Klaus would have torn him to pieces limb by limb for breaking his wife's heart like this. It tore at his chest as she ripped at her dress, cursing furiously about all the people she would have to kill before they could come for the Salvatore fortune to which she was the sole heir. He held his hand on her thigh and listened as she ranted until he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. The number was listed as unknown, but he had no doubt who sent it.
So much for my pool party. Give your brother my regards.
One Week Later
"The incompetence in this town is astounding," Caroline grumbled as she set down her phone, flopping back on her new bed beside her husband. It was early evening and they'd spent the afternoon testing the bounds of their mattress and headboard. Neither had bothered getting dressed, although Klaus was working on his computer. "The coroner just confirmed that Stefan's death was a suicide. He's attributing it to drug-induced psychosis based on the high levels of blow and zannies in his tox screen. Fucking bullshit."
"And the police?" Klaus asked, already knowing the answer as he typed out an email.
The newlywed scoffed. "The idiot detective running the equivocal death investigation agrees with his assessment and determined the note was authentic. They're closing the case and releasing the body to the funeral home this afternoon. It's over. Fucking unbelievable."
Klaus closed his laptop and set it on the nightstand to give his wife his full attention, eyes roving hungrily over her bare skin, eyes lingering on the remnants of a handprint on her ass from when he'd slapped her while taking her from behind. "I take it you still think Katherine was behind it?"
Caroline rolled over onto her naked belly and stared at him like he was the muddy brown in a box of sunshine yellow crayons. "Well, of course she was! Stefan would never have fucked me like that."
The older man frowned, debating the merits of arguing with her. He'd seen plenty of staged deaths – had been responsible for most of them – but in this case, he honestly had his doubts. "Just to play the devil's advocate," he began tentatively, "Stefan was against the marriage, love, and he was very vocal about it. You weren't even surprised when he didn't show up to walk you down the aisle."
"Yeah," she scoffed, rolling her eyes, "but only because I thought he was off running lines somewhere and lost track of time. I mean, that was kind of his M.O."
"As was losing emotional control after a bender," he pointed out. "You said yourself that by the third day, he could barely string a coherent thought together."
"Why are you defending her?" Caroline spat, vitriol dripping off her tongue.
"I'm not." He shook his head and held up his palms in a gesture of surrender. "I'm merely suggesting that there is a possibility the police and coroner's findings were correct, love."
"Were they correct when Giuseppe had his car accident?" she demanded pointedly, raising a knowing brow at him. She scoffed when he said nothing. "Exactly." She rolled back over onto her back and groaned, wiping her hands down her face. He smiled at the sight of several bite marks still present on her bare breasts. "That's why she did it, you know."
"You think she cared about Giuseppe?" Klaus asked, confusion evident in his tone. "Why would she?"
"Not that." Caroline rolled her eyes, again looking at her new husband like he was very stupid. "She must have figured out that old oaf had nothing to do with her getting stuck with John and Isobel. She was getting back at me for what my dad did. I'm telling you – this was not a suicide."
"You seem awfully certain."
"Why aren't you?" she asked angrily, sitting up and tucking her legs beneath her so she could glare at him properly. "That man's world revolved around me. I made sure of it."
"Which is exactly why I think you should consider the alternative," Klaus countered. "He had the emotional control of a trained sea otter. His father died, followed shortly by his brother, and then he was faced with losing you, too. He may have just snapped."
"The only one snapping here is you." She pointed an accusatory finger at him, but he could see the doubt behind her eyes. "This has Katherine written all over it. I'll find a way to prove it if it's the last thing I do."
It was Klaus' turn to roll his eyes. "To what end?" he asked, shaking his head. "What are you going to do, go to the police and say the woman with whom you plotted his murder altered the method?"
Caroline opened her mouth to argue but closed it again, pressing her lips tightly together. She inhaled several deep breaths to steady herself, never one to lose control. She'd lost control at the wedding and if it hadn't worked out so well in the press, she'd have hated herself for it. "The end I want is hers. If I find out she did this – no, when I find out – I'll kill her."
"Why wait?" he asked bluntly. "Put a hit out on her and be done with it."
The blonde sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose; she could feel a headache coming on. "But if she didn't do it-"
"What does it matter?" he asked coolly, no trace of emotion in his voice as he discussed yet another murder as easily as the weather. "She's a loose end. Her sole purpose was to exterminate the Salvatore line. Whether she was responsible for the final death or not, her usefulness has run out. And if she has a vendetta, all the more reason to move forward. Eliminating a potential threat is just good business. Make the call."
Caroline huffed and crossed her arms over her bare chest. For several minutes, she didn't say anything, the tension between them thick. Klaus watched her warily, wondering if his ruthless pragmatism had upset her. He reached over and set his palm on her knee. "Sweetheart, if you feel some kind of kinship with this girl-"
"No, it's not that," she said quietly, looking down at her hands fiddling in her lap. She sighed, refusing to look up at him. "I don't have anyone to call. All my connections were tied to the Salvatores and those ties were severed with that fucking note. I have no one."
Klaus scooted over in the king-sized bed and wrapped one arm around her shoulders, tilting her chin up to face him with his other hand. He waited until she reluctantly met his eyes, a forlorn expression on her face that he never wanted to see again. "You have me." She tried to force a smile, but her eyes were sad and she just looked lost. "You are a Mikaelson, Caroline. All my family's connections are now at your disposal. I can make the call on your behalf or I can make some introductions and you can chose whom to hire yourself."
She thought about it for a moment, her eyes shrewd as she considered his offer. "You'd do that for me? Just introduce me to your people, no questions asked?"
"The only question that matters was answered when you said 'I do,'" he replied easily, tucking a stray tendril from her messy bun behind her ear. "What's mine is yours. You'll be meeting a lot of people in the coming weeks. As you get to know everyone, you can choose who you want to do business with. You'll never have nothing."
Caroline smiled at that. It was one of the rare genuine smiles that made his chest warm as he caught a glimpse of the woman behind the facade. He pulled her closer and she curled up against him, knees pulled up to her chest as she snuggled against his side. "It'll have to wait until I plan the funeral. Now that the body is being released, I can start making plans."
"Why do you have to do it? Who cares?"
He couldn't see it, but she rolled her eyes. "I'm his sole heir. He left a couple of the legitimate businesses to the guys running them in his will and made some charitable donations Lily would have wanted, but he left the rest to me. It'll look bad if I don't at least make sure he ends up in the right plot." She looked up at him with her best grieving widow eyes, faux righteousness coloring her tone. "He was my beloved husband's baby brother. It's the right thing to do."
Klaus burst into laughter at that. "My wife, the actress," he chuckled, shaking his head in amusement. She laughed along with him, the tension between them gone. Unable to resist, he leaned down and kissed her. She returned it, winding her arms around his neck. He rolled her on her back, hand snaking up her chest to tweak her bare nipple. Before he could reach between them to find her clit, they were interrupted by his notification tone. Groaning, he reached behind him and looked at the name on the incoming text. Sitting up, he started tapping out a reply and sighed. "I have to deal with this," he said apologetically.
Caroline sat up, too. "It's cool. I have a funeral to plan." Grabbing her own laptop from her nightstand, she sighed and started making a mental list of people to call. Before she started typing, she turned her head to the side and told her husband firmly, "But once all this bullshit is over, I want that honeymoon." She had not been happy to cancel their trip to Europe, but it would have been tacky to go in the wake of horrible tragedy. Her eyes had rolled the entire time she was on the phone with the travel agent as he repeatedly offered his condolences.
Klaus leaned over and kissed her cheek, squeezing her thigh affectionately. "I'll take you anywhere you want to go." She looked over at his genuine smile and believed him. Without even trying, she'd wrapped the criminal king of Philadelphia around her little finger.
Their marriage wasn't so bad.
Three Days Later
"This fucking sucks." True to her word, Caroline planned an elaborate funeral for her possibly murdered brother-in-law. "Half of the people I invited didn't show and the ones who did won't talk to me," she told her husband grumpily as they followed the procession to the grave site where Stefan would be laid to rest between his definitely murdered brother and father.
"It doesn't matter," Klaus replied, taking her hand. "They mean nothing. Consider yourself lucky you don't have to deal with them."
The blonde sighed, supposing he was right. They walked the rest of the way in silence. She played the grieving sister-in-law perfectly, wiping her eyes at strategic moments as the priest read the 23rd Psalm. She was only half listening, thoughts ruminating the longer they stood there listening. She knew her husband was as cutthroat as she was; something felt off about the whole thing. She thought back on her wedding and how her groom had behaved before and since. She'd been shocked when police swarmed the parking lot outside the hotel, but he hadn't blinked. She hadn't suspected anything in the beginning, but as the days went on, her gut told her that she was right.
As Caroline watched Stefan's coffin be lowered into his grave, she shook her head. "You knew." Klaus kept his face impassive; it was all the proof she needed. "When Elijah came and pulled you into the hall before the ceremony, he told you about the body. You knew."
The mafia king kept his face forward but his eyes darted to his new wife, silently assessing her. "I did."
The married blonde widow turned her head to face him, crossing her arms defensively over her chest. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"You'd have called off the wedding," he replied with a shrug, as though it was obvious. "And it would have been a mistake."
"If it was, it was mine to make!" she growled, keeping her voice down even as her fists clenched in anger. "Now everything I've ever worked for is gone. Look at them! Even Markos won't even look at me and that loser gypsy's been trying to bang me for years."
Klaus' jaw tightened as he looked at the other man hatefully, silently debating how to kill him as painfully as possible and still get away with it. "Perhaps it is you who should be looking." He turned to her, his face stone and tone that of a callous criminal. "In a few years time, they'll all be dead." Caroline's arms dropped her to her side as her eyes briefly revealed her shock at his candor. "I told you when I proposed that I planned to take over Stefan's business. I said nothing about keeping his current employees. The moment they turned their backs on you, they became collateral damage – something I anticipated would happen eventually. Some will make grabs for power, but they will fail. It'll take some time, but in the end, the business will be yours."
She scoffed. "You make it sound so simple. My name is mud. Our supply came from Palm Beach. I can't even get a call back from people I've known since childhood, people my father did business with. There's nothing left."
"How fortunate that Kol splits his time between here and Miami." He smirked before tilting his head to the side and flicking his gaze up and down her body, never able to keeps his eyes off her for long. "As you know, he handles distribution of certain military-grade products in South America. He met up with a guerrilla resistance group a few years back and was able to significantly fortify our profits. It wasn't hard for him to call in a few favors and make some new friends from Bogota."
Caroline's sapphire eyes widened, a spark of excitement alight inside her. "Bogota? You found someone from fucking Colombia?!"
Klaus reached down and took her hand in his, giving it a gentle squeeze. "I told you to get used to having more." She was speechless and just squeezed his hand back in utter incredulity. "The first rule of taking over any industry is to provide consumers with a superior product at a lower cost. The Salvatores were nothing more than glorified distributors peddling a watered-down version of what we can get before it's cut ten times over. You'll be dealing directly with the manufacturers."
"Me?" She blinked a few times, shaking her head to make sure she'd heard him correctly.
The mafia king nodded. "You. I told you I wanted you by my side and I meant it. I'll continue my businesses as I have been and this will be yours."
Caroline shook her head as she processed his words with disbelief. "Seriously? You're just giving it to me?"
Klaus flashed her a small smile with just a hint of his dimples. "Call it a wedding present."
Biting her lip to keep from releasing a hysterical laugh, she morphed it into a barely audible chuckle. "Some women get diamonds. I get control of all the blow in Philadelphia."
"Not just Philadelphia," he corrected her casually. "I've been making connections across the entire state. Pittsburgh will likely conform before this city is completely rid of these rodents, and Harrisburg after that." He looked around at the walking dead with disdain. "I vetted them all quite thoroughly. There's not a valuable asset among them." He let go of her hand to wrap his arm around her lower back and squeezed her hip affectionately. "We'll find you far more competent minions. You'll see."
Caroline looked around at the men she'd known for years and realized he was right. She could find flaws with all of them. She felt a weight lift off her shoulders as her mind started formulating plans on how to go about dismantling everything she'd ever known to build something better. Something she could call her own. There was only one thing that still didn't make sense. When she looked up at him, he could see her confusion and frowned. "Why would you do this for me?" she asked quietly.
Klaus leaned down and pressed a kiss to her temple. "Because you're my wife and I love you. Perhaps one day, you'll feel the same."
A small smile graced her lips as she rested her head against his shoulder. "Perhaps."
It wasn't much, but that single word filled his chest with hope. Together, they watched as the grave diggers covered Stefan's coffin with dirt, his associates slowly leaving one by one until they were left alone. She didn't know why she felt the need to stay until the end since appearances obviously no longer mattered. It felt like the end of an era. She wasn't just burying her former brother-in-law; she was burying a world that had cast her aside before she was even born. It made her think of the man who raised her.
Had she made her father proud?
Caroline knew Bill wouldn't approve of her methods, but she could feel it in her bones that he'd be pleased with the outcome. He'd raised her to work with what she had but always told her their family was meant to be so much more… someday. Her sole regret was that he died before her time had come. Plenty of work lay ahead, but he'd left her with the skills she needed to get the job done. Her husband was right: she was meant to be a queen. She let her body relax against his as they stood in the cemetery until they were left alone. He never said a word as he let her get lost in thoughts of the life they would build together, content to just stand at her side. The sun was starting to go down before she finally broke the silence.
"Do you mind if we make a pit stop before we go?" she asked quietly, pulling away and taking his hand. "There's someone I need to see."
Klaus nodded his head, uncertain where she wanted to go but sure he would follow her anywhere. "Of course, love. Whatever you need." She gave him a small smile as she led him passed the freshly dug grave to a small mausoleum. He squeezed her hand as he saw the name FORBES embossed on the stone above the entrance. He followed her inside the dimly lit concrete structure and both of their eyes fell on the bright red petals of a dozen roses resting on the ground below Bill's name. "Someone's been here," he said warily, reaching for his gun tucked in the holster at his side beneath his suit jacket.
"I don't know who," she replied, frowning. "I don't have any living relatives. The only one who ever comes here is me."
The crime lord nodded his head at the flowers, eyes sweeping around to check for any hidden threats. "There's a card attached."
Their eyes met and the weight of knowledge settled heavily on their shoulders. There was only one person who would have taken the time to come here. She knew before she even picked it up that whatever was written wasn't for the deceased; it was for her. A sense of foreboding filled her as she slowly walked the few feet over to her father's final resting place. Caroline picked up the card and felt a chill go down her spine at the familiar sight of Stefan's forged handwriting. With four words, all her suspicions were confirmed.
Like father, like daughter
With a dry laugh, she handed the card over to Klaus. When he looked up, he expected to be met with judgment about having been so wrong. Instead, her lips were curved up in a dangerous smile, a vengeful sparkle in her eye. "About those connections…"
Klaus smirked as he tucked the note in his back pocket and took her hand. Their eyes met and she saw the now familiar manic gleam in his topaz eyes she'd come to associate with bloodshed, excitement thrumming through their veins. "What's mine is yours, sweetheart." They walked out hand-in-hand, happily discussing the specifics of their next plan all the way to her BMW.
Murder was just their thing.
A/N Thank you for reading and please let me know what you think!