Author's note: I received lots of requests to write a sequel to Chapter 124: All Bets are Off-Putting, found in my Klaroline series, A Beautiful Symmetry. Instead of just a sequel, my muse decided to turn this into a new multi-chap. (I hope that's ok. :) Also, special thanks to storm-pirate who inspired me to get moving on this one — all thanks to our back-and-forth messages around what an amusing little shit Kol is. Thank you for all the support (and sorry this took so long for my muse to get her sht together!)
The new content begins in Chapter 3. Happy reading!
Just stop caring. Caroline gripped the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white. She knew she should be more freaked out by what she was about to do, but coming off of a 12-hour hospital shift had left her with aching feet and zero fucks. She should be on her way home to a hot bubble bath and the rest of that Italian cream cake she'd been daydreaming about since lunch. Instead, she was driving to the local underground casino to settle her mother's gambling debts with the Mikaelsons. She was so filing this away for when it was time to pick out her mother's retirement home.
Liz Forbes hadn't always been like this. As town sheriff, she was a respected community leader whose formidable reputation made her excellent at her job — and a pretty useless mother. Rattlesnakes had more nurturing instincts. And then she took up slot machines as a hobby. Once while still in med school, Caroline made the mistake of going to the casino with her, and the rows of glassy-eyed zombies mindlessly hitting a button trying to chase instant gratification was enough to sour her on the entire experience.
Mother and daughter were barely flickering shadows within each other's lives, and while Caroline nursed a small, dark worry that her mother might be in trouble with the mob, she did her best to ignore it. And it had served her well all these years — until an hour ago in the hospital parking lot.
Liz had been as still as a statue as she sat in her sheriff's SUV, parked in the space next to Caroline's. Heart sinking, Caroline knocked on the driver's side window, the blank expression on her mother's face immensely troubling.
"I'm in trouble."
Caroline registered the undercurrent of fear in her mother's voice and that's when she started to worry.
Because Liz Forbes was never afraid.
"How much," she asked with a sigh, rubbing her forehead tiredly.
Suddenly defensive, Liz retorted, "$50,000. But I had a system and was up, but then it hit wrong and I couldn't walk away until I fixed it. Damn machine."
Caroline shrieked in disbelief, "$50,000?! You owe Kol Mikaelson $50,000! Have you lost your goddamn mind?!"
"I was ahead, damn it, but then I had a few bad runs, and the Mikaelsons know I'm good for it. I don't know why they're up my ass about it now," her mother muttered petulantly.
Unbelievable. "Because it's not a legit operation! The Mikaelsons can call in debts whenever they damn well please," she told her, shaking her head angrily. When her mother returned to staring blankly ahead, she lost her patience and snapped, "Well, what's your plan?"
How was it possible that decades later, her mother still could level her with a glare that left her feeling like she missed curfew and her keys were getting taken away? "I just need a little loan to get Kol off my back."
Everyone knew Kol ran his underground business fast and loose and as long as you paid up, you got to keep your kneecaps. But no way would a 'little loan' make him forget about a $50,000 debt. "You seriously think I'm going to give YOU money? Ignoring the fact that this is the first time in all these years you've bothered to visit me at work, do you honestly believe I'd trust you not to gamble away whatever I give you?"
"I didn't come here for a lecture. I came here for help," Liz replied, a hysterical edge to her voice as she added, "If the council finds out about this, I'll lose my job!"
Fuck. "Fine. I'll pay off your debt — directly to Kol." When Liz opened her mouth to protest, Caroline help up a hand to silence her. "This is a one-time thing. Don't come around again if you're just looking for an ATM. I'm your daughter — act like it."
Which is how Caroline now found herself standing at the side door to a seemingly closed car dealership. The beefy security guard eyed her up and down (a bit longer than necessary to determine her threat level — seriously, her wrinkled scrubs didn't look remotely attractive). Finally, he let her pass, and her senses immediately were accosted by obnoxious neon lights, bells and whirring noises from the machines, and thick clouds of smoke. She wrinkled her nose in distaste as she felt a headache coming on from the constant jangling and clanking — how could her mother waste hours here?
It wasn't difficult to find the back room where the high rollers lurked. More intimidating security guards stood in front of the massive double doors decorated with gaudy gold leaf. Clearly, Kol Mikaleson took his decorating cues from Scarface. Kol was the most visible of the powerful Mikaelsons crime family, a flashy playboy whose violent displays were spoken of only in hushed whispers in the darkest corners of the town. The other Mikaelsons preferred to pull the strings from behind the scenes, emerging sporadically to deliver bloody vengeance whenever an enemy foolishly tried to usurp their power.
Klaus. Caroline shivered as her memory conjured the image of dirty blonde curls and a devilish smirk. He happened to be in the ER waiting room where she'd been delivering bad news to a hysterical woman and her teenage son. She should've been focused on her patient's distraught family, but her gaze kept getting drawn to the man casually lounging on the sofa along the back wall, seemingly unconcerned by the speckles of blood that dotted his white henley. She'd only known who he was because she'd overheard the nurses gossiping at their station. They said he's the worst of them all. Dangerous. Dangerously sexy.
Shaking her head in irritation at getting distracted by a man she'd never even spoken to, she boldly stepped in front of the guards. "I have business with Kol."
The men exchanged a look, one of them subjecting her to another casual eye fuck that made her snap, "Not that kind of business, dumbass. I'm here to settle a debt."
Before they could respond, an amused voice drawled from behind her, "She seems rather insistent. Best not keep the lady waiting, lads."
Heart pounding, she glanced around, refusing to be charmed by his boyish good looks. Kol was a killer. From a family of killers. She wordlessly followed him as he led her beyond the doors, his ridiculously shiny suit nearly blinding her as it caught the pulsing lights. With wiggling eyebrows, he gestured toward a gleaming leather daybed at one end of an enormous office. She snorted and replied, "No thanks. I won't be staying long — I'm here to pay off Liz Forbes' debt."
With an amused grin, he plopped down on the bed, his tone teasing as he observed, "You don't look like someone who can afford a $50,000 debt."
"And you look like a televangelist," she snarled, temporarily forgetting she was talking to a man who was rumored to have asked the famous baseball player, Enzo St. John, to autograph a bat, and then used it to smash in his face and kneecaps over an outstanding debt. "Your business is if someone can pay — not how they get the money."
"My, my, aren't you quite the little firebrand? Perhaps we can come to an equitable arrangement without resorting to sordid coin."
Suddenly, another door opened, and Caroline's eyes widened as Klaus walked in, leaning against the glass and steel desk across the room. "That's enough, Kol," he told his brother sharply.
She struggled to keep her face impassive. Kol may frighten her, but Klaus unsettled her. This was the seat of true power, fit snugly in a deliciously toned body whose henley hugged just so. She clenched her jaw, ignoring the wildly inappropriate urge to nibble along the edge of the black tattoo she saw trailing up his collarbone. Stop it. Sexy criminals were criminals.
"We'd be delighted to settle your mother's accounts, love."
Relieved but wary, she gave him a brief smile, not bothering to spare Kol a second glance as she crossed the room toward Klaus. Fuck — were those dimples? His gaze was flirtatious to the point of making her blush, and she cursed her selfish mother for bringing this madness into her life. Nope, that's not what was happening. Nothing was being brought into her life. This was a simple business transaction. With the mob.
His casual interest seemed to shift into something more and he suddenly studied her intently. Nodding at her hospital badge, he said, "Dr. Caroline Forbes. Tell me, love, what sort of doctor are you?"
Confused, she replied, "I'm a trauma surgeon."
Kol suddenly spoke up, his tone incredulous as he said, "You can't be serious, Nik! Just from the look of her you can tell she's too clean."
At Caroline's questioninglook, Klaus explained,"The family is in need of a doctor from time to time. Just someone to be on call if anything untoward were to happen." He lightly tapped the dark glass on the desk, adding in a tone full of false concern, "I fear it's only a matter of time before your mother becomes indebted to us once more. Let's negotiate — we could come to a generous arrangement now that will save you future unseemly hassles."
For fucks sake — Did he just ask her to be a mob doctor? How was this her life? Reaching in her purse, she pulled out the notarized cashier's check, slamming it down on the desk. Glaring at Klaus, she flatly said, "No." She took a moment to enjoy the stunned expressions on the Mikaleson brothers' faces as she turned to leave. "And any trouble my mother finds after this is on her."
