Chapter 6
"Caroline ! Matt !" Bonnie waved at them as they neared the flower shop.
In the month she'd been in Chicago she'd developed a friendship with Bonnie and Matt. They might not be best of friends yet, but the two had sort of taken her under their wing.
"How're things with the shop ?" Matt asked the pretty dark skinned girl.
"As usual. We pay for protection, we're not bothered, and we're selling our flowers." She shrugged.
"Protection ?" Caroline tilted her head.
"To the Mikaelson, all the locals around this part pay them a tithe and they leave us alone and if other gangsters make trouble they protect us."
"Is the Mystic the same then ?"
"The Mystic is special, they kind of own a part of it, though it's mostly Gloria's. I sometime forget you aren't from around here and don't know those things." Matt told her.
"Well, it's your home now, if you want to know something just ask us."
"Thank you. I'm glad I got to meet you two." Caroline gave them a smile.
They answered with one too, before Matt took a serious air.
"Things are getting tense around here. There's a buzz around the patrons recently like something is about to happen. I asked Gloria and she said I should keep my head down in the coming months and not get caught up in it. You girls should do the same." He warned them.
"How serious is it ?" Bonnie lowered her voice, a hard edge in her eyes.
"I'm not sure yet." Matt shook his head.
Bonnie sighed and turned to Caroline, who was absorbing the information silently.
"Looks like you'll get to witness Chicago brand of trouble sooner rather than later Forbes."
-O-
"Klaus, Elijah, are you eating with us tonight ?" Freya smiled, delighted at her brothers appearance in their house dining room.
"We finished work sooner than we thought." Klaus answered, settling at the head seat of the table, as Elijah pressed a kiss to his older sister's cheek in passing before sitting to his right.
"Well, maybe your presence will make up for Kol appalling manners." Rebekah appeared from the kitchen door followed by said brother.
"When did you get this uptight Bekah ? Careful you don't get stuck that way or nobody'll want you." He joked with a wicked smile as Rebekah turned red.
"Shut up !"
"Enough." Elijah gave them a look.
"Nik ! Lijah ! You're here !" Henrik happily greeted his older brothers upon entering the room.
"Had a good day Henrik ?" Klaus grinned at his youngest brother.
"I'd rather help you with the business." He pouted.
"Finish school first." Freya said as if having repeated the same thing a hundred times.
"Ah, I remember that phrase." Kol grinned.
"But unlike you, Henrik actually get good results in school." Elijah said.
"We all have our strong points, I like my skills set just fine." He answered smugly.
"Don't we know it." Rebekah rolled her eyes.
"Come on, dig in while it's hot." Freya ended the discussion as the last dish was put on the table by the housemaid, Keelin. As everyone began to eat, she looked at her family around her satisfied. "It's been too long since we all ate as a family like this."
"You're right sister." Klaus looked at his eldest sister at the other end of the table. A rare softening in his eyes.
"Well, Finn's missing though." Rebekah said.
"He'd be boring anyway." Kol shrug before smirking. "Though if he brings his wife, watching you trade barbs with her might be interesting."
"Sage can just stay in London the next time he visit." She grumbled, making him laugh and Klaus lips corner curled un-noticeably upward.
"Hush. She's not that bad when you give her a chance, and she's loyal to Finn." Freya added.
As the family continued to eat while talking and having a good time, Klaus felt himself relax for the first time in days. Yes, he'd protect them in the coming time. Always and Forever, that was their family promise when he became the Mikaelson head and he'd protect that.
-O-
In the dead of night, on a pier, one man approached another in the shadows.
"Everyone's in place Inspector." Officer Brady O'Leery reported to his superior.
"Good." Inspector Coleman answered. "As soon as they get their hands on the merchandise, give the signal. The cleaning of Chicago streets begins now."