Hey guys, sorry about the short pause in updates. My dad had an accident with his horse and had to have surgery.
Will still try to keep a regular post though, just might not be quite as fast as it was.
Anyway, hope you enjoy!
Elena had Alaric drop her off two blocks from her house, at a destination she and Katherine often used to keep their actual address anonymous.
Sure, Alaric was probably trustworthy, but at the end of the day she couldn't say she knew him well enough to be sure, and their home was where Nadia was.
Risks were not taken with that little girl's safety, no matter how friendly and easy going they appeared.
Before she had exited the car, she had removed Damon's gun and given it to Alaric, who she had then thanked and watched drive off with a wave.
It was a brisk walk to the small house, but the fresh air was good; helped clear her brain so she could think.
Damon's offer had taken her by surprise, to say the least.
He had proven tonight that there were benefits to working for him, and he had made good on his end of the deal.
So as a boss, he could be trusted not only to pay up, but also to make sure she was taking the least dangerous route to get the job done.
And he had said that the new job was easy. Safe.
For thirty thousand dollars.
That kind of money, topped with what was already in the bag on her shoulder, was hard to turn down, but Elena had never considered herself a greedy person.
Was money nice to have? Absolutely; especially given Nadia's medical needs, but the fact that Damon had failed to mention what she was supposed to be picking up didn't sit well in her gut.
She believed him when he had said that the job wasn't dangerous...but that didn't necessarily mean that whatever was in the bag wasn't bad news.
What if it was more drugs?
That wasn't about to become her game, no matter how much she stood to profit.
But Damon had said it was nothing illegal, hadn't he?
He had yet to lie to her, and there was no reason to think he would start now.
She needed to talk to Kat.
Damon had not mentioned the need for her sister to be involved, but she wasn't going to accept before running it by her twin.
Especially since tonight was supposed to be a one-and-done.
When Elena reached her house, she noticed that her car was covered in the drive and there were a few lights on.
So Katherine was already back, which meant the kind older neighbor who sometimes watched Nadia for them had left and her sister was probably getting the little girl ready for bed.
Good; that meant they could talk sooner rather than later.
As she walked up the porch steps, she wondered what Katherine's opinion of the offer would be.
Tonight had gone smoothly enough, and the payout was more than worth it.
Surely she would be on board with another contract of similar profit, for Nadia's sake if nothing else.
Nothing else? Yeah, right.
Elena had conveniently avoided thinking of the other part of the job.
The "alone with Damon in a car for five hours before staying overnight at a hotel" part.
Her libido already felt cheated by the backtracking she had done tonight, so she could only imagine how flared it was going to get if she and Damon were sleeping in the same building, somewhere miles and miles away from reality.
The idea was as exciting as it was dangerous, because an ongoing business relationship would mean zero chance of a physical one.
Business and pleasure doesn't mix, and all that.
He would go back to being a bad idea, and she would go back to wishing he wasn't.
One of her hands came up to touch her lips, as the other opened the front door.
Damon had kissed her tonight, with impassioned relief, and the fact that he cared so much had been baffling.
He was like a hurricane in her life; air thickening, fast, chaotic.
The moment she thought she was figuring something out, another whirlwind would sweep her up and leave her with a big question mark.
But when he kissed her, nothing else seemed to matter.
He had said he had needed it, and at the time, that was thrilling, because she had wanted more and was determined to get it.
In hindsight, whatever this attachment was that had been forming between them made zero sense, and was developing a hell of a lot quicker than she'd ever expected.
So quick, that she wasn't sure she could keep up.
"Elena?"
Katherine's voice sounded like it was coming from the bathroom, so she locked the door behind her and started that direction.
"It's me," she confirmed, stopping in the entryway. Nadia was standing on a little stool, brushing her teeth over the sink, and waved at Elena brightly when she saw her.
Katherine, who was standing behind her daughter, relaxed at her arrival.
"Everything went okay?" Kat confirmed, brushing the top of Nadia's hair and Elena lifted the bag to show her sister, "Yeah. All of it's here."
Katherine eyed the bag, and nodded, "Thank God."
"Done, Mommy!" Nadia piped up then, showing Katherine her teeth after rinsing out her mouth.
"Good job," Kat said, then glanced back to Elena, "Give me ten minutes to get her down?"
"Sure."
Nadia was less than excited about going to sleep, wanting to tell her mother and aunt all about the pictures she had drawn with her babysitter, and the show they had watched with dancing animals that taught you numbers.
They indulged her for a few minutes before Katherine insisted it was bedtime, and with a few grumbles and promise of a short story, Nadia complied.
Unlike her sister, Elena had yet to eat dinner, so while Kat took care of the night time routine, she sat the money on the table and wandered to the kitchen next to it.
The shelves were looking a little bare, she noted, apart from the medicine on the top one.
The sight of them just reaffirmed her point about the job. They needed the money for Nadia's medical treatment.
She grabbed a lean cuisine from the freezer, figuring it would at least be quick, and popped it in the microwave before making a glass of iced water.
Hopefully keeping busy would mean her brain couldn't fantasizing any more about the possible trip with Damon; at least not until she talked to her sister.
No need to mentally jump the gun. Or Damon, for that matter.
With a shake of her head, Elena cleared the counter and grabbed some silverware to eat with, then waited for the beeper on the microwave to sound before taking the spinach and butternut squash ravioli over to the table and sat down.
That's where she was when Kat finally resurfaced from the hallway.
"She passed out fast," her twin said, before walking right up to the bag and unzipping it, "Holy shit."
"I know," Elena smirked and took another bite of her ravioli, "I haven't done an exact count, but it looks like it's all there."
Katherine shook her head, "We're going to have to deposit this in smaller increments."
"We have the accounts, it shouldn't be an issue," Elena reasoned.
Kat nodded, and took a seat across from her, "So. It's over. You did it. And we were really just paid fifty thousand dollars."
"Seems unreal, doesn't it?"
Katherine flipped through some of the bills again, then zipped the bag back up, "I admit, it sounded too good to be true...but you really did it."
"We did it," Elena corrected and leaned forward, "Tell me about the dinner! I didn't get a chance to call you after the extraction."
"No, you were too busy talking to Damon," Kat suddenly became very animated, "Which, by the way, you owe an explanation for, Missy!"
Elena's face scrunched in confusion, but her sister was having none of it.
"Ah, ah, don't even try to tell me that there's nothing to explain," Kat waved a finger at her, "I saw the way Damon acted around you tonight! What was that about? You told me he was hot and flirty, but you didn't say anything else was going on! He was all over you! Did you sleep with him? You would have told me, right? What am I saying, of course you would have, but Elena come on! You can't say what I saw, with my own two eyes, was nothing!"
Elena laughed a little as Katherine finished, because the way her twin's arms crossed reminded her of Nadia when she was being stubborn.
"First of all," she said slowly, "No. I haven't slept with him. But...some things might have happened."
"Things?" Kat pounced, "What kind of things?"
Elena flushed as she remembered when Damon first kissed her, "Well, I sort of ran into him after my date with Liam the other day and we might have...hooked up."
"Hooked up?"
Elena sighed, "We made out against my car and got a little handsy, but that was all."
"Oh my god! And you didn't tell me?" Kat accused, then her expression turned pensive, "I mean...was he any good?"
The blush darkened, "That doesn't matter-"
"That means he was," Katherine smirked, before letting out a sigh, "So, he's into you."
Somehow that summary of what had been transpiring felt too simple.
"I don't know," Elena admitted, "He flirts and maybe I've flirted back, but I don't know what this is. In the handful of moments I've shared with Damon, we have either been arguing or fighting against the most intense attraction I've ever felt."
"So you're into him, too?" Kat inquired and she bit her lip.
The short answer would be yes, but it was all so much more complicated than that.
"I shouldn't be," she said, "It's like you said, he's dangerous, and his type of business is above our paygrade…"
"But?" her sister pressed.
Elena sighed, "It's just physical, right? I mean, I tell myself that maybe if I just give in and get him out of my system, I can put this all behind me, but...I don't know, Kat. Something about being around that man is just...I can't even put it into words."
Katherine didn't immediately respond, which was a surprise, and those brown eyes, so like her own, were clouded.
"What?" Elena urged.
Katherine sat back in her chair, "Listen, Elena, I'm all for a girl getting her rocks off. And Damon Salvatore? I mean, can you say yum? And maybe you're right and the two of you just need to screw it out or whatever, but...I don't think that's what I saw tonight."
Ignoring the rest of her food, Elena pushed the plastic container aside and frowned, "What do you mean?"
"I'm your twin, remember?" Kat said, almost teasingly, "I know you better than anyone. And I know that you hardly ever look twice at men, even the cute ones. So I get the feeling that this has to do with something a little more than just physical attraction. For both of you."
Elena lifted a brow, "Both of us?"
Her sister nodded, "I did spend all evening with the guy; and that dinner was…"
Kat gave a little laugh as she shook her head, "I felt like I had fallen into some Godfather parallel universe to be honest. These rich people talking about drugs like it's retail and Damon had them all on edge. I'm still not entirely sure what was going on, but he was dominating that conversation, dragging it out...for you."
Elena's frown deepend, "Yeah, that was the plan, right? Keep the board distracted long enough for us to-"
"Sure it was the plan," Kat allowed as she cut her off, "But what I mean is that he did it because he was worried about you. You should have heard him in the car on the way to the restaurant, threatening to torture and kill anyone who hurt you; and then there was the way he was acting before we even left..."
"What are you trying to say?" Elena asked, resting her weight into her elbows on the table.
"That he cares about you," Katherine stated plainly, "Damon Salvatore cares about you. Now maybe that's a good thing, or maybe it's not, but either way, you mean something to him. And obviously you feel something for him too, or you wouldn't be blushing right now."
Elena's hand shot up to cover her cheek, "I'm not blushing."
"Yes, you are. But that's beside the point."
"Right," she gave a nod, "And what is the point exactly?"
Katherine's expression was exasperated, "That apparently a hot murdering drug lord is in love with you?"
Elena let out a loud huff and pushed away from the table, taking the now cold leftovers with her to dump in the trash.
"Damon is not in love with me," she argued, washing her fork in the sink, "In lust, maybe. And trust me, I get that he's extremely screwed up. But whatever we may or may not feel otherwise, it doesn't matter. He's technically our employer, so I'm not even going there."
She heard Katherine sigh, and half a second later, the chair scraped across the floor as her sister stood and came over.
"Well, it kinda sounds like you already have," Kat hoisted herself up onto the counter next to the sink, "And since tonight's job is finished and paid for, I'm not sure you can technically call Damon your employer anymore. So what's the next excuse?"
"The next excuse?" Elena turned to face her, "I'm sorry, but are you suggesting that I should stop making them and actually pursue Damon?"
"Of course not," Kat waved her down, "But I also wouldn't suggest lying to yourself about what's going on with the guy."
"I'm not lying to myself. There's going to be nothing going on, because nothing can go on!" Elena's voice was sharpened by her temper, "How many times do I have to say it?"
Kat didn't budge, "Until you actually believe it."
She cursed and leaned back against the sink as silence settled around them.
It lasted for a total to two short inhales.
"Damon offered me another job."
"For me?!" Caroline Maxfield squealed loud enough that Julian was almost tempted to cover his ears against the noise, but he smiled, nonetheless.
His daughter jumped up from her bed and sprinted across the room to throw her arms around his neck, "Oh Daddy, thank you!"
"Of course, my dearest," he stroked her hair gently, "I think a week in the Caribbean will do you wonders, what with the weather being all dreary here of late. I want to be sure we are making the most of your time off before college."
She pulled away, eyes wide and spinning, "You really are the best! Not even my birthday and you're surprising me with a cruise! I love you so much, Daddy! Oh goodness, what will I wear?! You said the ship deports in a few days, right? Well, I can call Amber, and we'll hit the shops on Broadway before we-"
She danced around the room, grabbing different things as she prattled on, and Julian just continued to smile.
Since her mother had left them, Caroline had been his whole world. He knew he was probably too indulgent, but his princess deserved the best that life could give her, and it was his job to provide just that.
However, this particular luxury expense had an even bigger purpose than putting that sparkling grin on his daughter's face.
There was business to be attended to, and not having Caroline roaming about was for the best.
Grapevine gossip told him that Damon Salvatore had recently congregated with members of the Augustine Corporation and had left quite a few feathers ruffled.
Not surprising, given the man's nature, but there were a few things that were curious about this meeting.
One, according to the Augustine rep, Damon had shown up without his bodyguarding duo, and instead, had brought a date, with a very familiar name and description.
And, as it would turn out, this meeting took place the same week that Julian had noticed a specific rubied necklace had gone missing from his safe.
Oh, he had been infuriated at first, when he had arranged a transfer of the jewel to his vault in Manhattan, only to discover it gone, but had since taken the time to calm down and think logically.
Logically, only a few people knew that he had purchased the necklace.
His brother, his daughter, the seller, a total of three colleges, and Katalena Pierce.
Of that limited grouping, only one was known for her skills as an undetectable thief.
The next question had then been to ask: Why?
Katalena had worked for him on a number of different jobs and he had never had an issue with the young woman, until Damon Salvatore.
Perhaps she had taken the necklace as a payback of sorts, for his cancelling of their last contract, but he wanted to believe she was smarter than that.
He would know it was her, and it wasn't as if she could anonymously hock the thing for cash, so what was the point?
The answer had alluded him until that rumored meeting had taken place.
Why was Katalena playing escort to Damon Salvatore?
Unless the man had hired her.
Given her particular skills, and the fact that Damon had seen her face, it wasn't impossible to think that he might have been able to track her down again.
And Katalena had worked for other employers in the past, Julian knew that.
The two of them had always operated on a don't-ask-don't-tell understanding, but since he had never gotten news of anything stolen, he'd assumed she ran her jobs elsewhere.
But this?
If Damon had flipped her to use against Julian, it was personal.
Had to be, considering Salvatore had absolutely no use for the rubied necklace, other than to take it as proof that he could.
It was an insult; a spit in the fact that Julian refused to roll over and take, no matter how much power his adversary was accumulating.
And he wouldn't be alone if Damon had, in fact, pissed off the Augustine board by getting greedy.
It was easy to form a plan, once all the information was in place.
As soon as Caroline was safely out of the way, he would call his own meeting with the Institution, and perhaps even the Whitmore's themselves.
No one hated the Salvatores more, after all.
Together they could deal with this.
There was a natural order to this world, after all, and it was time the new hotshot learned his place in it.
Not a lot of Delena in this chapter, but it's coming up!
What did you guys think? Let me know!
