Possession

by maevelin

She belonged to him, she was his possession, his wife, but how could she feel drawn to the man she should hate? He knows that if he lets her in she would become his greatest weakness but she has awakened his heart. An arranged marriage between two rival mafia families is just the beginning. AU/AH

6. Queen Takes King

A/N : No, this is not a hallucination. See you downstairs.

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Disclaimer : I own nothing.

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Warnings : M rated story that may occasionally include dark themes.

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Many thanks to the amazing Anastasia Dreams for her beta work.

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Songs used as inspiration for this chapter :

Renaissance by Paolo Buonvino & Skin (Music From "Medici Masters of Florence" Tv Series)

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Chapter 6: Hell Thy name is Woman | Part I

Queen Takes King

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Sometimes I justify the words I spill
Like spitting ambers they spoke and kill

Outside my troubles are colder
But in these eyes the melody smolders

I know the whispers they hurt sometimes
They swell and fracture my peace of mind
But can't you see the sanity in my epiphany

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Caroline Mikaelson stared at the pale reflection in the vanity mirror looking back at her. 'Such a peculiar feeling,' she thought, 'to stare back at a complete stranger in the mirror.'

No matter how much she tried Caroline did not recognize the woman mockingly staring back and she felt as if the parts of her character, that she identified the most with, were soaring and drifting away.

Her eyelids glowed with perfectly applied bronze eye-shadow but the shadows in her eyes brought only a vacant gaze.

She felt tired and on edge. For the last weeks she seemed to have difficulty even when it came to breathing. She always looked behind her and trusted no one. Ever since Mikael's announcement concerning his departure was revealed she had been walking on eggshells around Klaus and his family. The pain she first felt over her forced marriage with Klaus Mikaelson had subsided and was replaced with a different all-consuming sensation that could only be described as dread. She had resigned herself to her fate and that brought a new kind of fear and a new kind of clarity. Klaus had tried to reach out to her and he was always cordial but the danger she felt lurking in her every step in this gilded cage filled with monsters and deceit was enough to challenge her sanity. She was always guarded and she trusted no one and the married woman that was now trapped in the looking glass wore her black silk gown like armor and her red lipstick as a weapon of choice. The chink in her armor was her fear but she had to grow more lethal than her fear and rise above. And so she would. Tonight she would. She promised herself she would.

Caroline looked at the beautiful diamond fan she held in her fingers and with a sigh she pinned it to the right side of her braid. Anna had braided her hair in an elegant updo that ended in a low bun. Some locks framed her face and diamonds pinned in her blonde tresses looked like burning embers in her hair. Her make-up was glamorous with vintage undertones and highlighted the classic image that suited her new name.

Tonight was a special night. She could only avoid the confrontation that was about to unfold only for so long after all.

This night she would return to her old house as a guest. Her brothers were hosting a formal dinner for the families that owed them their alliance and most importantly for introducing the Mikaelsons as part of their extended family through her marriage. So she would attend the dinner as a Mikaelson herself. As Klaus' wife. Their first formal appearance together as a married couple along with Klaus' family.

She hardly reacted when the door of her bedroom opened and Klaus walked in dressed to perfection. His formal suit was black and she forced herself to keep breathing rhythmically when he softly closed the door behind him.

Klaus walked into their room with confidence even though in reality ever since their wedding night, much to Esther's dismay, this room has only been hers. She had to admit she owed him at least that. He had not pressured her at all and he had allowed her to keep her own private space. It was not a safe place but at least he did not impose himself on her. She knew that a man like Klaus considered her his possession and in his mind sooner or later she would give in to him since she was already his.

She pushed these thoughts into the deepest recesses of her mind when a shiver assaulted her body. She felt his penetrating gaze boring holes in her back and she raised her gaze up and saw through the mirror his dark eyes staring at her. She straightened her back and slowly turned around to face him. His stare did not falter for a moment. The twinkle of appreciation in the blue of his eyes was taking in every detail of her appearance tonight.

He took a step forward looking almost mesmerized by the way she looked and he smiled.

"You look…perfect."

The last word of his compliment was spoken softly. An almost awestruck whisper that melted against her skin like heavy honey.

She tentatively nodded and forced herself to smile and it surprised her how easy it was to smile at him.

"Thank you."

Her gracious acceptance of his compliment brought a slow smile on his lips. A sensual curving that laced his features with a magnetic allure.

Caroline noticed the box he was holding in his hand. Black velvet.

Klaus sauntered closer and Caroline swallowed down her anxiety as he opened the box he carried. On top of cream colored satin the sparkle of diamonds caught her attention and she almost gasped. It was a stunning necklace that was a perfect match for the diamond bracelet he gave her before their marriage. She was currently wearing it on her left wrist. It was of the same design with added clusters of teardrops on the front and it was so beautifully crafted that for a moment her vanity won over and her fingers itched with the desire to glide over the breathlessly beautiful jewelry.

Klaus studied her every reaction and he looked pleased at the excitement that was softly colored in her eyes. Even if it swiftly passed.

His fingers threaded over the diamonds as he lifted the necklace in his palm and put aside the box. She wondered then how much blood was shed and how many lives were lost for Klaus to be able to afford such a piece and that only if he bought it and not stole it in the first place.

"May I?" he offered and even though his tone was kind she understood that it was not a request. Her eyes shone with indignation for a moment and then she ingested her anger and inclined her head passively.

"You shouldn't have," she tiredly sighed without bothering to hide the sarcasm from her voice as she spun around and waited for him to faster the necklace around her neck.

She didn't need to turn around to see the smirk that appeared in his lips. She felt it. As she also felt his warm breath against the nape of her neck as he leaned closer so to wrap the diamonds around her heated skin. His movements were calculated and certain. His touch lingering warm and tempting. Her back was almost touching his chest and she willed herself to resolutely look down and not see the image their bodies, in their so close proximity, presented in the mirror in front of them.

When the coldness of the diamonds touched her clavicle and the teardrops touched the curve of her exposed breasts she ran her fingertips over the stones as Klaus clipped the necklace securing it around her neck.

"Shouldn't I?"

He lulled his temptation in a hot whisper that reached and warmed the curve of her shoulder and she shivered as his fingertips lingered at the back of her neck. The temptation his voice carried made her heart beat faster waking her up from the stupor she was in all day while preparing herself for tonight's dinner.

Klaus stared at her intently through their reflections on the mirror; his eyes were sharp when his fingers curled around her shoulder momentarily.

Caroline bit back the moan that rose deep in her throat and broke the spell by nearly stumbling away from him as if she was electrocuted. Her mind was clashing with the desires born in her body whenever Klaus was near. It was uncomfortable when he was coming closer and yet deep inside a part of her yearned this closeness and wanted him to invade her personal space and share his warmth and touch.

"It is beautiful," she accepted his gift while forcibly banning all emotion from her voice and Klaus looked almost disappointed by her constant rejection but it took him only a second to put back on his perfect mask that suited his always confident demeanor.

"Almost as beautiful as you."

His corny line broke the ice she had encased her heart in. She rolled her eyes at him. He pressed his lips awkwardly for a moment as if he was embarrassed for his old fashioned courting but then he laughed under his breath making her bite back a smile too.

Caroline opened her mouth to say something, realizing that this passing lighthearted moment somehow lifted her spirits and replaced her melancholic mood with a sense of optimism but it was only temporary as she reminded herself of what was ahead. She could not compromise just because Klaus had charming dimples and a captivating smile. She had to be just as implacable as he was beneath his façade of civility and for that she had to mimic his ruthlessness.

She gathered all of her courage and balanced on her heels with great aplomb and took her clutch purse in her hand.

Her poise was upright and her head high as she faced Klaus with a daring stare of fearlessness and if she did not know any better she would actually believe that if the way he looked at her was any indication he was impressed if not stunned by the regality of her posture.

"Should we go?" she coldly proposed feeling the overwhelming need to get out of this room and stop being confined alone with her husband.

Klaus bent his head as if he was in deep thought while his eyes remained fixated on her face. It seemed that he was searching for something and whatever it was he must have found it because he took a deep breath before he sauntered closer to her and extended his hand to the right pointing towards the couch.

"Before that I would like for you and I to talk for a while, sweetheart," he softly said and the way he kept staring at her made her feel the need to squirm.

She squinted her eyes at him and examined the soft wrinkles around his dimples in the way his challenging gaze brought a lazy smile of encouragement on his lips.

She tilted her head and arched an eyebrow at his playful provocation since he was not backing down and so she huffed and followed his lead.

They went and sat down on the couch and she tried not to fidget with her purse at their close proximity. He was really good looking tonight and the cologne he was wearing suited his powerful air of assertiveness and his immaculate appearance. Caroline sat upright and waited for him to talk but she only saw the mischievousness in his gaze as if he dared her to speak first. She narrowed her eyes at him and in return he imitated her expression teasingly. It was as if there was an invisible rope both of them kept pulling and pushing, trying to make the other one surrender its hold first.

"So…what do you want to talk about?" Caroline relented and Klaus reached for her hand that rested on the surface of the couch between their bodies.

His thumb stroked the light blue vein underneath the soft skin of her wrist and the pattern he was drawing had a sinful way of creating goosebumps all over her body.

"Us."

His low voice was husky and Caroline took a deep breath. She tried to remove her hand but his palm covered hers, locking their fingers together. A possessive gesture and intimate enough to show her that she was safe with him and yet she would not be able to escape him.

'Us' he had said. A word so small and yet so big in its meaning and she wished she shared his point of view but she refused to give in to that word when it came to him.

She had nothing to say to that proclamation of unity he just made. She waited and noticed how the dangerous menace that always lingered in the blue shade of his eyes, that swirled between darkness and light was replaced with a softness that made him look younger. The clock was ticking between them and the silence felt ominous, creating a strain on Caroline's nerves and yet she was unable to look away and break away from the hypnotic spell he had cast on her. It made her skin tingle. It brought fire to where he touched and somewhere along the way, whenever Klaus was near, she somehow forgot how to breathe. It was a victory over her and she hated it. She hated it as much as she hated him for it.

Klaus sighed and very slowly and reluctantly he let go of her hand and instinctively she flexed her fingers trying to compensate for the loss of his touch with movement.

"I know that we started on the wrong foot and I am willing to admit I am to blame for it. I asked you for your trust and yet I have done nothing to earn it," Klaus confessed almost apologetically but his words vibrated with something she could only describe as vivid. Something vividly hypnotizing and she felt the need to lean forward and let that curious sensation his accent always created inside her melt in her bloodstream. Instead she remained still and she narrowed her eyes at him in suspicion.

"No you haven't," she agreed with caution and the sad smile that appeared on Klaus' lips softened the hard edges around his mouth.

"Neither have you love," he pointed out," you closed yourself off and you are not letting anyone in."

"By anyone, you mean you," Caroline sharp reply was laced with bitterness.

There was a hint of accusation in his admission as he tried to make it all about her. It was not his life that had turned upside down. It was not his choices that were swept away in this mess. He did not have to deal with the whole lot of suck that came along after their wedding. He got everything he wanted out of this deal. For now.

"I am your husband, sweetheart," Klaus insisted breathing out heavily. He tried to reach for her hand again but she removed it as if she was about to be struck by a snake. Something that made Klaus stiffen and look at her almost offended.

"And I have to trust you because of it?" she bit out but otherwise remained calm. She could not afford to let her venom choke her right now. She had to wait to let it out.

Klaus shook his head.

"Because of it… no," he mumbled in acceptance and licked his lips anxiously before staring at her hopefully, "give me a chance, Caroline. One chance. I dare you," he challenged but it was more than just a challenge. He was tempting her in. It was seduction. His eyes were flashing with fire and she tilted her head to the side.

"Where's the catch?" she played along and saw how Klaus beamed at her response.

He nodded elatedly and Caroline's gaze lit up with realization. He was starting to enjoy this game of pull and push between them and she tried to convince herself that she didn't. That there was not a hidden part of her that was becoming addicted to the thrill Klaus offered. That her darkest deepest desires were not waking up demanding to be acknowledged.

"My father will leave the day after tomorrow," Klaus then announced and she froze. She saw how Klaus did not miss the way she stilled. There was an almost undetectable frown on his features but both of them as if they were in sync managed to cover their reactions at once.

"I see. When will he return?" Caroline questioned almost courteously and Klaus gave her a knowing look, making her swallow down the breath she was holding in.

She didn't even have to ask. Mikael would not return if Klaus had a say in it and even if he did, by the time of his return, Klaus would have taken all of his power away. All of his contacts and ties with the mob would be distant to the once upon powerful head of the Mikaelson family and Klaus would sever them. Once and for all.

"Soon," Klaus mused in a vague dismissive tone that agitated Caroline even more.

Klaus' shrug made her push her nails into the flesh of her palm.

"For Rebekah's wedding," Klaus faked an educated guess and the evasiveness that shrouded his words was something Caroline did not like at all.

Mikael was meant to be her last line of defense against Klaus. He was supposed to be her protection and to balance the scales for her in this alliance. Mikael's promise of protection at her wedding had been a matter of honor and she somehow was willing to bet that her father would have never agreed with this union without this insurance. Giuseppe knew that Klaus was volatile and a threat and despite this contract between their families she still believed that her father loved her. He would never sacrifice her to a man like Klaus without making sure that she would have a safety net inside the Mikaelson clan and she had to believe that her brothers also had gotten the same assurances. But somehow, Klaus had managed to prevail in his internal struggle for power with his father and what was promised to her family and to her would not be of much importance now.

And there her husband was once more. Giving so little to nothing at all and asking everything in return. Here he was trying to appear magnanimous and asking for a chance of trust when he was still playing his games behind her back while holding all the cards.

"Until then Mikael's departure should be kept under wraps. It would be prudent if you were not to inform your family."

Klaus revealed his true intentions making Caroline bite the inside of her cheek until the metallic taste of blood hit her tongue.

"Why shouldn't I?" she formed her question in a manner that she hoped sounded like confusion and innocent inquiry. She tried to convince him with her eyes that she was ignorant and naïve enough to not understand why he was asking her this.

"You are a Mikaelson now love," Klaus bragged satisfied and she almost flinched, "your interests lie on this side of the board now. With me."

"Mikael will announce his retirement in due time," Klaus said and his tone dripped with almost maniacal satisfaction that Caroline' breath caught in her throat, "it is not just about our families anymore. There are more players in the game now and we need to be careful with our secrets. For safety reasons," Klaus ambiguously told her.

"Our families? And here I thought we were one family after our marriage."

She could not hide the mockery in her voice and Klaus hummed.

"You and I are," he promised her.

Caroline pressed her lips together. She wanted to tell him that they weren't. That this beautiful delusion was nothing but that. A delusion.

However she said nothing. She didn't have too. They both knew that what was often written on paper did not actually carry any weight in the real world. And yet the weight of the ring on her right hand reminded her of the vows she gave on the altar and the weight of those was unbearable upon her soul.

Klaus took advantage of her daze and he interlaced his fingers with hers; brought her palm to his lips. Her knuckles turned cold and white under the thaw of his kiss.

"One chance," he tempted her once more and she evaded the heat of his touch by carefully removing her hand from his. She guardedly rubbed the spot his lips touched as she absentmindedly tried to put more distance between them. The soft kiss still burned when she tried to nod and his smile cast a heavy shadow. She knew better than to trust a lie and soon he would learn that when it came to lies she has been raised to be one too.

"Klaus-"

He scooped closer and pressed his finger against her lips silencing her. Her eyes widened and she held her breath at the gentleness of his gesture. Tension bounced between their bodies. The close proximity making her heart beat in a frenzy.

"Please Caroline," the way her name slipped from his mouth painted Caroline's cheeks crimson as fire shimmered underneath every letter of her name that Klaus pronounced almost reverently. She had begrudgingly asked him days ago to call her by her name and now she hoped he would not. It was a torture that left her weak, "I do not use this word lightly," Klaus revealed to her and she could tell that he was not a man that was used to asking and pleading, "and I know what I am asking from you. I ask a lot," he admitted and Caroline wrapped her fingers around his wrist and pushed his hand lower until his fingers skimmed her jawline making her skin tingle.

"You ask everything," she whispered almost inaudibly and Klaus enclosed her chin between his thumb and the curling of his index finger, titling her head back in order to make her look at him.

"And in return, I am ready to give you everything. All you have to do is ask," Klaus vowed.

Caroline observed him carefully and when his fingers wrapped around the nape of her neck bringing her impossibly closer her eyes fell on his lips before she stared into his eyes.

"Let us begin, sweetheart. You and I. Together we can have everything. I will lay the world at your feet if you ask me to," he enticed her, sounding sincere. "All I am asking is one chance. Only one."

"One chance," she repeated straightforwardly pretending to think about his offer. And, for some moments, she was ashamed to admit that she actually did as the world turned and spun around them. It would be so easy to surrender to him. But, she held on to her last remnants of resolve before they dissolved before him. Becoming Klaus' trophy wife and his pawn was not the everything she craved.

"One chance," Caroline agreed with a trembling voice full of emotion. Klaus exhaled with relief. The lie that slipped through her lips sounded honest and nothing but sincere which prompted Klaus to give her a genuine smile of gratefulness and she did not miss the sparkle of victory that showed in his eyes as she pretended to bestow her trust and fealty to him.

She withdrew from his hold before he could seal their deal with a kiss and saw the pained fever and the need that flashed through his eyes as she tried to recollect herself and her stray thoughts.

"I promise you won't regret it, sweetheart," Klaus gave her his oath fervently, with so much passion, Caroline almost believed him.

Stefan had once told her Klaus Mikaelson was a master manipulator and he was able to weave his schemes and web of enticing lies in the shadows and under the nose of his enemies and his victims. And, Caroline could now see why. In the last days she had seen the way he slipped through shadow and lies and right now she felt how much he enjoyed the game. The temptation. The strategy. The thrill of bringing someone to the precipice of destruction, and without them ever seeing it coming, give them a shove into his world until they bowed and belonged only to him either as servants or as casualties. But, she would not be collateral damage. Not for him or her brothers. Never again. If Klaus wanted a chance, he would have to prove himself to her and treat her as an equal and for that to happen she would have to prove him to that she was one. One that could play him in his game. And win.

Caroline hid her thoughts from his prying scrutiny; she took his hand without averting her eyes from his heated gaze as he got up and graciously helped her stand. The matching diamond infinity bracelet slid down her wrist and Caroline as if she was in a daze watched the diamonds shining on her skin reflect the light. She felt detached from everything as Klaus pretended to be the perfect gentleman attentively wrapping her shawl around her shoulders; he then secured her arm on his elbow leading her out of what others knew as their bedroom.

As they walked down the marble stairs, ready to join Klaus' family Caroline saw the awe and the envy they attracted from everyone. Together they created quite an image. Of a couple regal and united while she wore Klaus' gifts as tokens of his power and as a sign of her commitment and loyalty to her husband.

And truth to be told, the necklace Klaus gave her just like its twin bracelet were nothing less than fit for a princess. Wrong she mentally corrected herself. They were a fit for a Queen.

She used to be a princess but no more. Because everything she wore tonight sent a message. And, Caroline knew perfectly well what that message was meant to say. She was the wife of the King and everyone was meant to see her as such. And, for tonight, she would embrace this role with confidence and vicious ruthlessness.

She knew what she had to do and how to act and use these gifts in the right way, even if the emotions they created in her was a new experience. She had been raised in similar luxury, always pampered by the wealth of her family. Her father and her brothers always graced her with expensive gifts and yet somehow these diamonds did not seem to belong to her. She was not that kind of person anymore but just as she rejected the heavy weight they cast upon her heart and identity while embracing her new station in life, realization crashed over her once more. She might have once believed that she had defeated the world she was born in, but she hadn't. Because if she had, she would not be here now wrapped up in all dressed up in black silk and high heels standing next to Klaus Mikaelson and wearing his wedding ring on her finger; Caroline realized with dread that this was the person she was now and that peculiar feeling of cognitive dissonance assaulted her again. The same feeling of looking in the mirror and not recognizing herself anymore. She was not the girl she used to be when she ran away to college with hopes of escaping the world of bloodshed and she was not even the girl she used to be before that.

So? Who was she? Would she be able to live with this new woman that was emerging from the Mikaelson name? Would she be able to survive her?

The answer was simple.

Yes, she would.

And that was more she could say for everyone else.

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Three weeks ago.

Caroline sucked in an unsteady breath when she entered the chilly atmosphere of Esther Mikaelson's winter garden. The sun's pale autumn rays cascaded over the glass ceilings and stained windows, dimly casting shadows and reflections of rainbow colors at every corner of the massive indoor garden.

Heavy fragrances from flowers, fruit trees and plants assaulted Caroline and she cautiously wrapped her black jacket closer to her body and looked around at the surroundings rather impressed.

Klaus in one of his attempts to reach out to her with small talk and bring some sense of familiarity and comfort to their rocky relationship had told her that the gardens in the house were Esther's creation and she was the one that took care of them. Right down to the dirt she would kneel in and work her magic. Their gardeners were rather irked by the fact that the lady of the house did not allow them to interfere with her gardens and effectively replaced them. Which from the looks of it was a massive undertaking.

Klaus had then told her with dripping sarcasm that the gardens were his mother's pride even more so than her children were. Caroline had said nothing at Klaus' bitter tone but she had heeded his warning when he had told her to never go anywhere in the winter garden without his mother's permission. Obviously, this place was off limits and it was Esther's sanctuary. No one was allowed to enter this place without being invited.

Today was a fearful exception. Anna had told her that Mrs. Mikaelson had asked for her and Klaus was having a meeting out of the house which seemed a rather peculiar coincidence to Caroline. Usually Klaus intercepted Esther's attempts to speak to her alone and Caroline could not help but wonder why he was so insistent to keep her away from his mother. His persistence was making her curious and unnerved her at the same time. Of course, it was not as if she wasn't anxious to meet Esther Mikaelson all alone. There was something unsettling in that woman. Maybe it was the stern sharpness her gaze held or the mystery that surrounded her but Caroline had to admit that she was terrified of her. So far, she seemed to be one of the few people that were able to keep the Mikaelson family in check. All of them. And, Caroline did not have to be a genius to understand that only a powerful and dangerous person would have such control and power over these untamed killers.

Caroline tentatively walked over the stone path and under the vine and arbor ceiling that along with the greenery and the trees on each side of the trellis panels created a sort of tunnel decorated with ivy, climbing roses and purple flowers. The humidity and flowery scents were almost suffocating.

The guards keeping watch outside the entrance doors had told her to walk straight ahead until she reached the wooden frames with the grapevines that led to the staircase. Mrs. Mikaelson was already waiting for her in the conservatory. Anna had given her the same instructions but had not warned about the intimidating environment.

The interior was modern and made of glass, brick and wood. But, somehow, Caroline could swear that there was something very sinister looming about this place. Maybe it was her imagination playing tricks on her but she was afraid that something would attack her and bury her under one of the trees where no one would ever find her ever again.

She closed her eyes and shook her head trying to channel her inner Scarlet O'Hara again. She would be strong and she would live through this one way or another.

She peered through the vines and took in a deep breath."I can shoot straight, if I don't have to shoot too far," she muttered, looking around and feeling her stomach turn leaden. Reciting her favorite movie quotes usually gave her courage but right now her motivational speeches were failing her.

'Perseverance' she thought. Right! Sure, she could do that.

"Right?" she wondered aloud and then almost swore under her breath, "Oh, who am I kidding!" She grumbled, hoping that there were no cameras in here recording the first outbursts of her panic attack and kept walking.

"I am talking to myself now. The first signs of insanity! Just great," she mumbled with annoyance and almost tripped over one of the stones. She huffed agitatedly, blowing her hair away from her face. She wiped her clammy hands over her jeans and tried to calm their quivering.

This garden somehow evoked memories of her lessons from her Catholic and very strict governess. This place was like the garden of Eden and Caroline knew all too well that there were too many snakes gathering up in every corner under every stone.

Venomous snakes. All of them. And all of them were ready to bite.

Caroline once would have expected that all the Mikaelsons shared the same brand of poison but she could not be more wrong on this. During the last weeks of staying with the notorious and most feared Famiglia she came to realize that every one of them was extremely different and dangerous in their own way.

There were always eyes that followed her every turn but she was also returning the favor. Caroline was studying the Mikaelsons and had come to the understanding that the more she grew to know them, the more reasons she had to fear them.

Rebekah was made of acid and sharp claws always ready to tear her down and then there was Kol, a blend of a manic tantrums and volatile outbursts who always stalked her with a Joker-like smile, always trying to terrorize her with looming underlined threats that he presented as compliments and innuendos. Kol actually reminded her of Damon. He was unpredictable and prone to violence and he enjoyed playing with his prey but in comparison with Damon he was far more unstable and that was something that scared the living lights out of her; not that she would ever let it show. She would not do that favor for any of them.

Showing them fear was not an option and yet she lived and breathed in that fear every day. Every story her father and her brothers had told her in the past about the Mikaelsons was a constant reminder in her mind now.

Klaus had told her to pay no attention to Rebekah and that Kol was not going to hurt her in any way so she should not bother with his childishness but that was practically impossible since the younger Mikaelson kept jumping in front of her every time she came out of her room or was alone and that not only messed with her nerves but also made her reluctant to actually leave the bedroom. It was a new kind of madness that made her restless and irritable. And, in all honesty, Caroline was confused about how Klaus considered traits like killing and hunting down living prey like a bloodhound to be childish quirks. Their idea of normality was obviously very different from what other people perceived as normal.

Caroline would be a fool to trust Klaus' reassurances of any member of his family. She did not trust Kol as she did not trust Klaus' promises of actually being safe in his house despite all the guards. There were more ways of hurting someone than simply using physical violence and Caroline understood that the Mikaelsons excelled in that even more so than using brute force.

There were nights and days when both Kol and Klaus returned to the house covered in blood. As red as the roses that bloomed at her every step now. Caroline was not a stranger to the sight of blood. Ever since growing up, she remembered seeing her brothers bathed in the thick blood that belonged to their victims or them. Both Stefan and Damon were made before the age of fifteen and entered the family business under their father but seeing the Mikaelsons painted in blood and gore and pieces of human flesh while holding smoking guns and bloody knives was not something she could come to terms with. She had grown up fearing and hating the name Mikaelson and now she was stuck in their domain helpless and trapped. It was daunting and terrifying.

However, no matter how fearsome Kol and even Rebekah's menacing disdain was, Caroline had to admit that neither of them could compare to Klaus. There was a glint in her husband's eyes always signaled danger.

Klaus was not just baring bloody fangs of poison. He was trying to entice her with apples. There were times she could see cold and hot rage in his eyes and then there were times she could see want and need and temptation. Every time he looked at her in that way her skin tingled. She kept trying to convince herself that the thrill she kept feeling was made of fear and worry. She could not possibly like Klaus and she could not possibly feel safe around him.

He was a monster.

They all were in their own way.

Even her.

She wanted to pretend that her moral compass was better than anyone else's under this roof but she was accustomed to blood and murder and the code of the Mafia her whole life. She had loved her family despite their crimes and she had covered for them. She had tended their wounds and she had kept her mouth shut. Even though she had tried to get away from that lifestyle, she had been ready to give her life for them should it be needed. But, that was before they betrayed her by giving her to Klaus.

And, then there was Klaus. Who was able to yield a gun and a smile with the same precision. Klaus that smirked and smiled and tried to reach out to her with caring and gentle gestures while his hands were ready to wrap around anyone's throat like a vice and rip them apart. His smile made spiders crawl under her skin and set a burning temptation in her heart that confused her so much.

She was so caught off guard by his demeanor. She knew he was a trickster and a master manipulator but he confused her so much. He was attentive of her and protective and at nights she burned with dreams of their wedding. Every rumor she had heard about him, she realized, was the truth and a lie. She knew what he was capable of when it came to being a Capo ever since he had reigned over New Orleans before Mikael stripped it away from him after Elijah's demise. It was too late then, though. Klaus had already made quite a name for himself.

And, yet, despite the horrific tales that always followed his name she got to see glimpses of his identity under the monster and she understood that there were things she did not know he was capable of. Like smiling and laughing and looking normal which made her realize that Klaus' lies and truths were always intertwined. And, that alone made him elusive and fatal. A kind word and a smirk was what Klaus was. The Devil in the garden that offered you the apple with a smile all the while wrapping its length around you and twisting you up and breaking your bones with glee.

Klaus was destructive in as much as he was able to seduce and use cunning affection in his actions to make you think that dying in his hands was what you truly wanted. Klaus was able to roar in rage and whisper lullabies and Caroline's biggest fear was the fact that he was slowly taking away her fear and her boundaries. If this new life she was forcibly thrust in was the garden of Eden then Klaus was definitely the Serpent. He was breathing temptation and she feared that she did no longer feared him.

Only, she did. So much. She feared every temptation and all the violence even though she was starting to become numb to that fear. And, that kind of insanity was making her hang on her last strand of logic and self restraint.

And when, Caroline thought this could not get any worse then there were Klaus' parents. Her in-laws. Now, that was another whole level of terrifying hell. Mikael's lethal presence and Esther's mysterious poise were contradicting Klaus ways for the most part. At least when it came to the way he was treating her.

Klaus was always a looming danger but so far he had not hurt her. He was trying to be civil with her and even allowed her to keep her own space and distance from him. He had asked her to trust him but she was not naïve enough to believe his sweet words and vacant promises. And yet, Klaus' efforts to make her trust him had rung different from his echoes of manipulation from time to time. She was still so angry with him and her hate was still raging hot but at least she had managed to settle down a little and allow Klaus to challenge a different reaction from her. In time. Maybe.

A maybe that kept shattering in a thousand pieces every day.

Mikael and Esther would soon leave and she would be left alone with Klaus. Her husband would not have to hold up the pretenses anymore. No matter how dangerous and awful her in-laws were, they were still her last thread of safety in a very fragile net that was meant to protect her from Klaus. If anything, Klaus' ability to dethrone Mikael while the older man was still alive and yielded power in the mafia said it all. He was powerful enough to be able to sideline even the boss of the Famiglia. How much more a naive wife that held no real power aside her name and blood. Mikael's hate towards Klaus was the only thing that managed to balance and put a stop to Klaus' ambitions and most importantly keep him in check. The more terrifying Mikael was, the more of an obstacle he could be to Klaus and his plans. Even the plans he had for her. And now, Mikael would leave Chicago along with Esther. What would that even mean for her?

The more she walked deeper into Esther's garden the more those questions loomed over her and guided her path towards her mother-in-law.

She was lost in the same things she thought constantly.

Every waking hour, every day and night she kept analyzing the Mikaelsons. Trying to find their weak spots. Trying to evaluate their strengths. Trying to understand their motives and their actions. Trying to translate everything that was said and most importantly everything that was left unsaid. This was a certain way to dive into madness but she had to somehow find out how she could use any weakness that family had against them and in her favor.

Still, she was in square one. She needed allies. She needed connections. She needed some privacy in order to find a way to contact people that could give her a helping hand. Klaus and his siblings would never allow her any wiggle room and logically neither would Klaus' parents but if there was something Caroline knew she could count on it was the hate that existed in made men when it came to their enemies. If it was left to brew, in time it could be an unstable explosive that could be used at the hands of those that knew how to use it. She could use it if need be.

The equation was simple. Klaus hated his father and Mikael hated Klaus.

There had to be a way to infiltrate that web of dispute and weave her own way out of the predicament she was in. Mikael had to be the answer and it was a mortifying one and so very dangerous. Dangerous beyond comprehension and even like that it was futile. Klaus had cast him away. And, even if he hadn't, would Mikael ever give her the time of the day to begin with? How would she be able to even approach him without Klaus noticing it?

It made no difference. Tactics, manipulations and strategies were a fairly new game to her, at least actively, and Mikael would soon be miles away from Chicago and her.

The mess of her thoughts carried her to steep steps that led to a narrow gravel path attached to wooden panels veiled with colorful ivy that gated the sunroom deep inside the winter garden. Caroline did not even notice how she reached the lower level to which Anna had told her Esther Mikaelson waited for her.

Evergreen climbing plants, orchids and roses, snaked up the stone walls creating a hanging waterfall of flowers and green leaves over the glass doors and the bricks. The plants swallowed the wood and lunged on every surface that led to the arched doorway of the conservatory.

Caroline felt her legs cramping and her hands sweating but despite her anxiety and jumbled nerves she forced herself to wear one of her most confident smiles and-

Before she could even take one more step to enter the conservatory she froze and the smile faded from her lips.

"How long do you think you can avoid our inevitable exile?"

Caroline narrowed her eyes. This voice belonged to Esther Mikaelson, that much she expected anyway. She was obviously not alone.

It was the word 'exile' that mostly triggered Caroline's curiosity. Without putting much thought to it, she snuck closer to the wooden panel close to the half open door and pushed herself in the midst of the amethyst blooms and roses. The green leaves ate her body and enveloped her in their cool shadow. She crouched down and moved closer to the arched frame, making sure that she would remain undetected. She looked around breathlessly. No cameras thank God. At least, she could not detect any. A calculated risk she had to take.

The baritone cadence that followed brought chills to Caroline's spine even though she half expected it. She gripped on the roses. The crumbled petals bled their scent into her fists.

'Exile'.

Now that was an interesting word. Klaus had exiled two people after all. The King and the mother Queen of the Mikaelson family. Just so to usurp their power even before their deaths. Mikael might have postponed his journey with Esther to Europe for a few weeks much to Klaus' dismay but it was still a done deal. Their internal war was obviously on-going but Klaus seemed to hold all the cards. Caroline could not even begin to comprehend the kind of leverage Klaus had over Mikael in order to be able to pull off such a move.

The cold voice that now filled Caroline's ears held anger and contempt. Icy fury in every syllable and even though her father in law was trying to keep his anger on a leash, Caroline did not miss the threat and the murder in his tone.

Caroline looked around again. No guards or cameras here. If she was to be caught while spying on Mikael and Esther she feared that she would not leave this place in one piece. For some reason, she felt that this was worth the risk. She had to start collecting her own information and everything that she could use as leverage in this place would be worth any risk.

She held back an irritated sigh. Even though she was close to the door and even though she could see Mikael and Esther from the cracks of the ivy over the glass wall above her head, she could hardly make out what Mikael was saying.

She knelt down further on the ground and leaned against the knee length built stone. She had to go closer. Dangerous as that might be she had to risk it.

She pushed herself closer to the heavy pillars of wood that supported the arch frame and pushed herself more in the weaved in ivy and roses. The rich scent of the blooms filled her nostrils. The voices were coming closer so she stepped closer still. She remained guarded. Her instinct took over and she pushed herself more inside the embrace of the vibrant shades of green and of autumn red as she allowed the rose plants to swallow and shield her from view. Their petals almost choked her and their thorns burned into her now bleeding palms. She flinched at the slight rustling of leaves and prayed that it would not be enough to alert them of her presence.

So very carefully she peeked through the tangled vines and thorns and looked at the two figures who faced each other. The sun from the glass windows illuminated clearly both Mikael and Esther while Caroline was hidden in the shadows hoping that they would not discover her.

She frowned when she heard Klaus' name and then her own. Mikael was spitting Klaus' name in an angry hissing symphony of consonants and vowels.

Caroline grit her teeth. For some reason, this did not feel right. No matter who Klaus was he was still Mikael's son. He did not deserve this.

These people were trying to present a united front to their enemies when in reality they were brewing a war inside their own family. They kept trying to one up each other with scheming conspiracies in the dark and from the looks of it this was rubbing off on her too. So much for family loyalty and the trust Klaus was trying to earn from her.

"The Salvatores are not the bargaining chip you hoped they'd be," Esther's voice gained Caroline's attention again. She seemed composed and detached and Caroline flinched both at her cold blooded demeanor and at Mikael's ire. They were both polar opposites of ice that seemed to clash with each other. It was hard to believe that those people had ever been close enough to bring children into this world.

"Neither are you. You betrayed me Esther. Your bastard son found an ally in you too," Mikael accused her and Caroline could not help but wonder if this was actually true. From all the people in this place it was Esther Mikaelson that confused her the most.

Esther ignored Mikael's accusation all together and kept her cool.

"My son seems to be collecting those in countless numbers lately. Starting with his lovely bride." Esther's smile was competing with the frost of her winter garden.

Caroline felt her blood boil. This particular 'lovely bride' was not Klaus' ally. She was yet to know what side she would take but bending to Klaus' will was not something she was ever going to do.

"His wife holds no influence," Mikael rejected Esther's claim and Caroline blinked. If he believed that then her life was of no importance to any of them. That prospect terrified her because it was true. In essence, it was true. She did not have any influence. Not here. Not now. She had to change that. Somehow and fast.

Caroline felt her heart beating faster and faster inside her chest. Painfully so.

'Lovely bride' be damned. She would not play their game. She was more than just a frail centerpiece for Klaus and the Mikaelsons to put on display for gaining power.

"Influence or no she still carries a legacy and Klaus... seems to grow fond of her."

Caroline froze. She forgot how to breathe. Or to move.

Was this true? Surely it could not be.

Mikael's hard laughter echoed in the garden. The thorns felt like nails mangling her flesh as she held on the vines.

"You know better than I that your son never cared for anyone but himself. What do you think your bastard will do when his new bride tires him? He does have a certain talent at disposing family members he claims to love after all," Mikael said and Caroline understood in that moment the gravity of her situation. Tatia's and Elijah's names and their stories played in her mind over and over again. Either Mikael was right or wrong and in the end it would seem that being loved by Klaus Mikaelson could be even worse than being hated by him.

All her fears and all her mistrust when it came to Klaus were not unfounded. His gentle words and his smooth approach could not hide the monster underneath. Klaus, just like every other man in their world, was capable only for one thing. To destroy.

Either he would blow cold or hot in his affections and in the end it was a dead end. She was in a free fall. Surviving Klaus' family did not mean that she would be able to survive him and vice versa.

How much more proof did she need than hearing Mikael himself setting her fate in stone? She realized now more than ever that her life was actually hanging from a thread. She was in the den of starving wolves and soon enough her husband would sink his teeth into her and tear her apart. As he had done with his brother. As he had done with Tatia. How many victims would she have to count before she would join the ever growing list?

This was all the confirmation she would ever need. The seeds of doubt and fear that were planted today in her heart would not be plucked out easily. She had to find a way out of this marriage. Of this life. She had to find a way to escape Klaus Mikaelson.

"And how about those he never loved, husband? What do you think he is capable of doing to them?" Esther challenged Mikael and Caroline could tell that the older woman was entering dangerous waters. From the way that Esther remained calm in front of the increasing threats that seemed to be building in Mikael, maybe there were waters that were not uncharted to her.

Caroline did not know what to do. She could see the danger about to get unleashed. It was as if Klaus was Mikael's trigger. Caroline knew that she had to turn away. To leave. To find an excuse later on for why she had not visited Esther as she should but her legs were not obeying her. Her body had turned numb. Fear had clouded her instinct. She wiped the blood of her hands on her black jeans, hoping the stains would not show. She tried to make her hands stop shaking. Tried to hold on to something.

"Especially now that you only hold the power my son allows?" Esther seemed to derive a certain pleasure at pushing Mikael's buttons and Caroline winced and gripped the stem of a rose harshly. She jumped to her feet just as Mikael moved to strike his wife and before she even understood what she was doing, Caroline stepped in.

She did not know what possessed her to come out of hiding and stand up for Esther Mikaelson but it was reactionary and now she tried not to cower under the hate she saw in Mikael's glare. Her presence here fueled the tension in the air.

Caroline took notice of how Mikael's hands had clenched and turned to fists but then the blazing fury turned to a cold mask of eerie calmness that somehow terrified her more. It was as if the air was sucked out of the room.

"Good morning Mr. Mikaelson. Mrs. Mikaelson, you asked to see me?" Caroline genially asked and a voice inside her head kept ordering her to act as if nothing was wrong. To smile. To look unconcerned. She had wanted to become a drama major after all. She could do this. So she smiled innocently and the scent of fear was pushed back.

Mikael's lips twisted to a line of hatred as he glanced at his wife one more time before he wore the mask of cold civility once more. Caroline held her chin high. Fake it until you make it would be the only mantra that could get her out of this mess she had found herself in. Mess after mess. So much for calculated risks. This was her every day routine with the Mikaelsons. And, right now showing weakness was not an option.

Mikael would not dare hurt her anyway. Not in any way that would leave marks and bruises. If anything his feud with Klaus and the code of the family assured her well being for now. It was such a tentative idea that Mikael would not be able to hurt her and treat her like he obviously treated his wife and probably daughter because of the protection Klaus' offered her through their marriage and yet Mikael ironically enough was the protection she needed against Klaus because of that very same marriage. How did her life come to this?

"Good morning Caroline. Please feel free to join us," Esther invited her cordially as if she had not interrupted anything important.

Mikael's eyes scanned Caroline and she tried to not betray her thoughts. At this point, Caroline could tell that Mikael not only suspected that she was eavesdropping on them but he was sure of it. However, Caroline stood tall and refused to cower in front of him.

"Yes, I am sure you have a lot of things to talk about with your mother-in-law, girl," Mikael finally said before he cast one more scathing gaze at his wife and walked out of the sun room.

Caroline closed her eyes but the moment of relief did not last long. Mikael had left her with Esther and for some reason it felt as if the room turned even colder with his absence. Caroline's heart started pounding in fear and while she would have expected to be able to breathe more freely now that Mikael had left, she did not.

Not when she was standing in front of Esther Mikaelson.

---

Hell, thy name is...family dinners.

This was the one and only thought that blocked out the chewing noises and the sound of cutlery grinding over fine bone china. The occasional chatter was harder to ignore and so were the intense gazes constantly directed her way. She was a novelty after all. A Salvatore married to a Mikaelson. More so to Klaus Mikaelson.

Elena had prepared one of Caroline's favorite dishes for tonight. Probably to please her, but as Caroline glanced down at the raspberry sauce dressed pork chops she felt queasy. She kept washing down every bite with wine but it still felt like ash in her mouth and waves of nausea kept attacking her stomach.

Caroline wanted nothing more than to leave the impressive dining room and go get some fresh air. Even more she wanted to massage her temples just so to tone down the ache under skin that seemed to be turning into a persistent throbbing. She could tell that it would not be long until she would have to deal with a painful headache. Her nerves were already a twisted mess and she wondered if it was because of her efforts to appear cordial and smile instead of screaming because she knew what was about to come next. She was counting minutes until it all went down.

It was a struggle and an effort to maintain her composure and the setting of this Shakespearean charade was not making it any easier.

She peered at her surroundings. She had finally found herself back in familiar territory. To the place she used to call home and yet now she kept trying to understand why she did not feel at home at all. She knew every corner and wall, every step and piece of furniture. And yet she felt as if her legs had carried her to unknown terrain.

This had been the house she grew up in. The house where she used to dream and feel safe and yet when an hour ago she walked on the stone floorings and the plush carpets once again, she felt nothing. No comfort. No security. She only remembered that the last time she was here she was placed under lock and key. A prisoner inside a gilded cage just so she could be delivered to Klaus on their wedding day. Her last memories from this place were bleak and painful and she had been trying to suppress them for weeks. Now finally back in her old house she felt...nothing. No nostalgia. No emotion. No pain. Emptiness alone.

Klaus himself was the one that helped her out of the limousine and offered her his hooked elbow. She had stared at the monstrous estate that loomed in front of her like a giant in the night as Klaus escorted her into the brightly lit Salvatore mansion. Rebekah Mikaelson, Esther and Mikael himself were following them a few steps behind and she could feel their gazes boring holes into her back.

She had felt nothing when she had entered the foyer and Elena rushed to hug her. She felt cold as she exchanged a few polite and impersonal words with her brothers and remained glued to Klaus' side that somehow seemed ready to shield and protect her from anything that might make her feel uncomfortable. Her dark knight in shining armor that seemed ready to fight for her. 'You've got to love irony' a little voice had whispered in her head. Little did he know that she had her own sword to yield under her aloof exterior.

As the minute hands slowly turned on the clock she had not missed the way Stefan and Damon looked at her interactions with Klaus or simply looked at her.

And neither she or anyone else had missed the fact that for the first time ever since she was born in this house the Mikaelsons were parading under the Salvatore roof as honored guests. As family. No guns were drawn and no blood was shed. Everyone seemed to be on their best behavior as if they genuinely liked each other.

This had been so surreal that it momentarily knocked the air out of her lungs and triggered a hysteric reaction before she remembered what she had to do tonight. It was then he had turned her spine to steel and thanked whatever instincts she had for becoming cold and not letting old memories soften her resolve. She wore her new name as a shield and despite Elena's efforts, she remained close to the Mikaelsons. She had watched with vacant eyes as the families allied to her brothers made an appearance. The one after the other. Captains and guards on their tail. She watched Elena playing the role of the perfect hostess while Henry Wattles, Damon's most trusted soldier, escorted the Heads of the Five Families and their representatives in the living room.

Montavaro, Giardano, Varonese, Berromo and Cantovanni.

All of them were present tonight in some form or aspect. The most fearful and dangerous families aligned with the Salvatores. In total there were eight families that forged the Council table of the Sicilian Outfit, including her own, but the Heads of the Gali family and of the Varusos were currently in jail facing charges for murder, extortion and countless more crimes like racketeering, trafficking, money laundering and everything else the FBI could to pin on them in hopes of actually being able to take them under. It was nothing out of the ordinary, of course. Most of their made men and even their Capos were coming and going in and out of jail and surely in a few months Fat Frank Gali and Tony the Mad Varuso would be out and back in the streets. For tonight they had sent their consultants and their third in ranks for the midnight council but they were considered small fish in comparison with everyone else her brothers were entertaining tonight so they were waiting in the wings and did not attend dinner.

Caroline watched with emotionless eyes as Elena made nice with the wives; she herself had exchanged greetings with everyone but stayed with Klaus and watched as Esther and even Rebekah with her endless snarky comments were engaging in small talk with Elena complimenting her house. Her house indeed. Elena, as Stefan's wife was for now the only lady of the house but this would change. Soon enough Rebekah would become Damon Salvatore's wife. The wife of the Boss of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra. The first wife of the Chicago Outfit. The same position Elizabeth Forbes once held, Caroline recalled with the first tinge of nostalgia and sadness for the night. A fleeting emotion, it passed through her and immediately evaporated as the rest of the guests entered the living room. Rebekah was trying to hide her distaste and was watching the lush surroundings as if they were beneath her and she did her best to ignore Damon. This had been the only source of amusement for Caroline before they all had gotten up and followed Damon, Stefan and Elena to the dining room.

They had all walked past the guards and the servants positioned next to the double doors leading to the opulent dining room meant to host the family's formal dinners. Caroline remembered how she used to sneak out of her room as a child and try to peek at the dining room or the ballroom where all the celebrations were taking place. Little did she know back then that none of those events were joyful or something someone should anticipate with eagerness.

Tonight she knew all too well how dreadful these gatherings truly were. How no one actually enjoyed them and how much of a toll they could take on a person.

The splendor and the luxury did not impress Caroline anymore and when she entered the dining room her eyes did not see a place of comfort but a torture chamber despite the fact that she knew there were people in this world that would die just to have a chance to be so 'fortunate'. But that fortune came with a heavy price and it was not worth it.

From the moment Caroline had stepped inside the dining room she knew that her brothers were trying to impress the Mikaelsons. To show off and win in the game of first impressions.

Klaus had seen her old home when he came to see her, or more to inspect her, before the wedding and to arrange the last details with Damon and Stefan but tonight everything in the Salvatore House was alight. It was as if she had stepped inside a jewelry box that caused people to gape and gawk.

The opulent spacious room was made from stone and rosewood. Fires were already burning softly in the fireplaces. In comparison with her new house this one was drowning in dark and crimson colors with details of gold and ivory.

The polished wood panels on the floor shone with such intensity they reminded one of mirrors. There were crystal vases with roses decorated tables and prized paintings and mirrors in gold Victorian frames hung from the walls.

More lights were strategically embedded in the walls and ceilings. Velvet curtains were adorning the floor to ceiling windows.

The cameras were cleverly concealed of course but were surely recording.

All this excessive display of wealth was nothing but a testament and a reminder of the power her family held.

Caroline could not help but compare and contrast. It was as if the two rival families competed with each other in their luscious presentation of power but used polar opposite colors even in the way they decorated their domains.

The Mikaelson home was encased in mostly black, cream and white colors adorned with gold and silver while the Salvatore mansion had dark red and brown colors along with black and gold. The Mikaelson manor had a lot of marble and granite while the Salvatore house had more wood and stone.

Come to think about it only her bedroom with Klaus, the one she still had to share with him, resembled the colors of her former home; otherwise the coloring patterns of the Mikaelson Mansion were completely different. It was as if someone had tried to turn the bedroom she would live in into a place she would feel comfortable in. A place to remind her of old home. She was sure that it was nothing but a coincidence, however. Who would bother to show her such consideration? In the end, it was obvious that the Mikaelsons preferred the impersonal colors of ice while the Salvatores preferred the colors of fire. Both houses had one thing similar. Both were fortresses and both were packed with guards and goons.

The similarities and differences kept piling up but there was one thing her old home was lacking in comparison. Something Caroline had immediately noticed at the beginning of the evening when she got out of the car.

She used to love the garden's in her old house but now they seemed lackluster. Nothing could ever compare with Esther's gardens. The Salvatore mansion had beautiful yards and sprawling lands of grass and trees. Flowers and plants were blooming inside stone carved pots of all shapes and sizes that resembled art and connected with paths, stairs and fountains. Her former family had even embedded reflection pools carved on the upper level floors and patios that led towards the grand entrance of the house along with the beautiful outdoors lit pools for decoration and swimming.

But the gardens in the Mikaelson home were nothing less than heavenly and terrifying. That place was a maze of forests. A labyrinth of groves. The winter garden and the gardens outdoors created awe in everyone who saw their plush colors and intricate designs that were almost impossible to describe. The colors were so vivid they created a small paradise on earth enclosed in gates of iron that kept the enemies of the family outside and the members of the family imprisoned inside. Because no matter the unspeakable beauty of those gardens and of the house, in the end it was nothing less than a prison like this one. Maybe that was the most common thing both houses and families had. No true freedom aside from the one that only death would one day bring.

All stray thoughts like these vanished early on. Before she had sat next to Klaus at the table, Caroline felt as if someone had punched her in the stomach when Damon took his rightful place at the table. The place of Giuseppe Salvatore. Just over a month had passed since her father had died and they were all celebrating and throwing weddings and lavish dinners. And Damon looked thrilled as he replaced their father at the head of the table.

The massive table was the center of attention under the three heavy chandeliers that hung from the high domed ceiling. It was set masterfully. With candles and roses. Fine linen and fragile old porcelain. Crystal glasses and decanters. Silver cutlery and fancy napkins sewed with the initials of the Salvatore Family. The servants were stationed close to the table ready to serve every guest at any time.

Damon had been the first one to sit at the head of the table in a throne like chair. Mikael occupied the other similar chair at the opposite end. The rest of them and the guests were seated in the beautifully carved chairs with the tall round backs and the crimson cushions. The table had more than thirty chairs.

On Damon's right side sat Stefan, on his left, as order dictated sat his Sotto Capo. Giovanni Montavaro. The Underboss that many secretly called The Don now that Giuseppe died. Next to him sat his wife Laura Di Conti Montavaro. Or as Caroline used to call her from an early age auntie Laura. Her mother's best friend and the only motherly figure she had left ever since Elizabeth Salvatore died.

Next to Stefan of course sat Elena. The proud wife of the Captain that still roamed the nights as a Hunter next to the soldiers and the rest of the Captains. The bloodiest Caporegime of the Outfit. The Ripper who kept his humanity alive only for his wife and sister. The most loyal to Damon, much to the dismay of many that would have preferred him to be at the head of the table instead of the impulsive hotheaded Salvatore. But Stefan, no matter how much he had adored his father and claimed to love her and Elena, in the end, there was one person in this entire world that always came first and above everyone, including his own soul and sins. His brother. Damon. Stefan would fall into fire for Damon. No questions asked. Stefan who now in the shadows was slowly replacing Montavaro and even Giardano for Damon as their brother trusted Stefan before everyone else despite their constant rivalry. A competition that lately began and ended with one name. Elena. Still no matter how much they clashed heads they always remained united. Stefan would kill for Damon. Would betray for Damon. And he had. He had betrayed her. He had said nothing when Damon locked her in her room and traded her to the Mikaelsons. He stood back when Damon threatened to kill her friends and when he dragged her down the aisle.

So when she had sat far away from Stefan, who kept a watchful eye on her all evening, she had been grateful despite the fact she now sat at the end of the table with the Mikaelsons, next to Klaus, knowing that all hell was about to break loose soon.

One thing had been made abundantly clear to everyone from the first moment and more so as the night progressed. Despite their truce and despite her marriage with Klaus they were all treading a very thin fragile line. Everyone was on edge tonight and the table itself was separating the Mikaelsons from the Salvatores and the Heads of the Five Families.

The places they sat had an imaginary divide meant to convey one message. United but not one. There was too much blood to be considered water under the bridge. Just the fact that all former blood enemies were sitting at the same table was already something close to a miracle. Should Nonna Agnes be alive, she would be making the sign of the cross and spitting on the floor.

The allies and high rank members of the Salvatore that were here tonight to make nice with the Mikaelsons for the first time in decades were already going the extra mile. All families had mourned and buried loved ones in this war. Everyone had lost and bled and sworn vengeance. The Italian branch always clashed with the members of the American Cosa Nostra and everyone had marked their territories by the rising numbers they counted in hollow graves.

The Mikaelsons had claimed New York, New Orleans and London throughout endless years of bloodshed while her family had roots to the Italian Mafia and most of the Eastern region of the United States.

Oh, she remembered her history lessons of course. She knew every name and every piece of history each family and each participant had at this dinner.

While other normal children were taught history in schools, she was homeschooled to learn the history of her family and of the Italian-American organized crime syndicate. To understand the importance of family and blood. To learn from a young age what was expected from her. To understand what the Salvatore name meant and what her responsibility to the family was. To learn from early on that one day she would have to marry into the Mafia so to bring more power to her family with a marital union. Of course, back when her devout governess, Agnes, was teaching her how to act and behave herself in this messed up world no one could have guessed that she would end up marrying a Mikaelson. A made man of the Famiglia. It was an insane idea that even a few months ago would be considered to be sacrilege.

Decades ago when the American and the Italian organized crime syndication broke into two major families they turned Chicago into a battlefield for years with no end as her family and the Mikaelson clashed and sought to gain power by eliminating each other. Their feud reached its zenith during the reign of their fathers. Mikael and Giuseppe painted the streets red. Blood red as rubies flowed to every alley and nights became nightmares. The Mikaelson sons grew in power and her own brothers had to become more bloodthirsty and cruel and notoriously ruthless just so to be able to keep up with the Mikaelsons and continue the legacy the Don of the Outfit left them. Now Damon would have to fill Giuseppe's shoes with Stefan by his side and soon enough Klaus would step up as the leader of the American Cosa Nostra known as the Mikaelson Famiglia or simply The Famiglia.

Something that no one had once expected since Klaus was the third son of the Mikaelson family and had lived ever since the age of five in London away from his family. But Finn Mikaelson had died by the hand of Giovanni Montavaro's second and this was why the Mikaelsons had shifted most of their house's power from New York to Chicago igniting internal war. As a supposedly retribution for Finn's death. Mikael of course only wanted to impose his power; Giuseppe's influence had driven him out of Chicago and Mikael wanted to rectify that. The Salvatore's strength was something the Mikaelson patriarch despised for years and Finn's death was what Mikael had been waiting for. A chance to return to Chicago and reignite the war. Many even assumed that it was Mikael himself that staged the situation that led to Finn's death while on the other hand the death of Elijah Mikaelson was still a mystery. One that was of course solved by no one daring to speak the truth out-loud.

Caroline remembered both her lessons and the talks her brothers used to have about the Mikaelsons. Elijah Mikaelson returned from France and was left back to rule over New York with Klaus when Mikael went to Chicago to avenge Finn's death; eventually as the heir of the Mikaelsons, Elijah returned to Chicago as the second in command. Mikael could not allow Klaus to gain power over New York as he had with London so he had cast him aside to New Orleans; and so Klaus ruled over NOLA for years turning it to one of the most feared and profitable territories much to Mikael's dismay. Many had assumed that this was Klaus' Kingdom and his exile up until Elijah's marriage with Elena's cousin, Tatia Petrovini, took place. After Mikael ordered Klaus back to Chicago, so to keep an eye on him, and strip him of all power.

Everyone back then talked about Tatia's affair with Klaus. After her suicide, or at least what was considered to be a suicide, many said that Klaus avenged her death by burying the burned remains of his brother in the cement he threw in the docks. Elijah Mikaelson died in an unexplained explosion at one of the Mikaelson's warehouses and so Klaus Mikaelson, the third despised son, became Mikael's heir. And despite the suspicions over Elijah's death no one ever dared to raise a blaming finger at Klaus, because that would mean death. And not just their death. Klaus was known to kill not just his direct enemies but also those that his enemies knew and loved.

Damon back then had laughed at the idea that Klaus would ever kill for love since as he had said 'that bastard loved no one but himself'. He had said that Klaus had no loyalties to blood. He did not care. He did not feel.

Klaus Mikaelson killed for power. He wanted the throne and so he took it and back then Caroline's blood had chilled and she had considered herself lucky. Lucky that her brothers, despite their rivalry, truly loved each other and would never turn against their own blood and luckier still that she would never have to meet Klaus Mikaelson.

Here she was now. Sitting at the side of the monster that could not feel or care. Married to the man she prayed to never meet. The man that did not hesitate to kill even his own brother. And as if this was not enough of an irony as it was, their marriage was meant to bring peace. As if Klaus Mikaelson and everyone else from both families even knew the meaning of that word.

As if a fairytale looking wedding was what was always needed. Sacrificing her to the Mikaelsons was the happy end everyone wanted and so the war between their families supposedly had ended and history was put to rest.

Caroline knew as well as everyone else attending the family dinner tonight that this only applied on the surface. The waters beneath the surface were dark and deep and fueled with blood and corpses. The tentative peace the Families were aiming at in order to stifle the new uprising families in Chicago was fragile at best. Everyone knew it. It would take much more than just her marriage with Klaus and even Rebekah's marriage with Damon for this alliance to actually stick. This was why tonight's dinner was also as important as the meetings in the Mikaelson House and her marriage celebration had been.

The gangs and the allies that bowed to each family were sworn enemies of the others for years. And now these enemies were casually eating at the same table. Using their knives only for carving their meat and trying to maintain the degree of civility that was necessary for certain arrangements to fall in place.

Arrangements that would change history.

The security precautions were insane tonight. All of them under the same roof could mean all sorts of danger. Captains and Soldiers from the Outfit were guarding every corner of the house, packed with weapons from head to toe. The Mikaelson's as a sign of faith, had brought only but a few of their people and hardly any weapons. They were surely outmatched but Caroline knew that even with these odds it was not impossible that fights could break out between everyone that attended dinner.

She watched through hooded eyes the surface of the table that extended long and wide between the Mikaelsons and the rest of the guests of the Salvatores. It was so surreal that she was at this end of the table. She was the only link of the truce for tonight. The wedding band on her finger was a brand that made everything possible. So here she was. Sitting next to Klaus, a guest of honor inside her own house. Correction. Her old house. No guns were blazing and no blood was raining. No one was trying to save her from Klaus and his family as they would have just months ago if she was so close to the enemy.

Caroline noticed the look Laura Di Conti Montavaro was giving her as she sat proudly next to her husband. A gaze of understanding and grim sympathy. One that told Caroline that she herself had once walked in her shoes. She was the wife of the Underboss and she had seen and endured a lot.

The Don under the Don, Montavaro. Terror and blood. Giovanni was dangerous and a cold fish according to Damon since the old man barely ever showed emotion but he had also been a close friend of her father; however, despite his cruelty on the streets and the number of his kills, second only to her grandfather, his treatment of Laura Di Conti was surprising. The Montavaros had always been close to her family. Close enough for her to know that in comparison with the other men in the Outfit Giovanni allowed his wife from the first day of their marriage to also keep her paternal name along with his own. He was smart enough to know that honoring the Di Contis would bring him more power. He knew when to use honey instead of guns and Caroline had heard her father once say that Giovanni, despite his brutish ways on the streets, also embraced every bright mind he could trust and he trusted none more than his wife's, Laura.

Laura Di Conti, before her marriage into the Montavaro family, had been close friends with Esther too. Both women seemed subservient to their husbands but Caroline now knew that both of them held power. Great power. Real power.

The only difference was that Montavaro respected Laura. She would not go as far as to believe that he respected women in general but Caroline knew that Giovanni also adored his daughter Dana and that he had once told her that he regarded her as one of his children also.

Having his support, even because he was calculating what her old and new name brought to the table, was a blessing. One she would not let go to waste.

The same could not be said, of course, about Pedro Giardano and his wife Rosetta who sat next to the Montavaros. One more marriage of convenience; but Pedro Giardano, with his always sweaty chubby cheeks and his crooked teeth was nothing like Giovanni and surely Rosetta was nothing like Laura. Pedro tolerated his wife at formal gatherings and let her spend his money as long as he would not have to hear her speak; ironically, many times her gossip could have been useful to Pedro. For as Giuseppe's Consigliere had been widely known as the Spider on the Wall and the one person that could peacefully resolve the disputes inside the family.

Pedro now as Damon's Consigliere bowed only to the Boss of the Salvatore family. He acted as the counselor of the Don and once her father had died all his allegiance immediately shifted to Damon. Completely. The man despite his cunning and elusive nature had no real backbone. He rarely ever killed these days. Even blood made him squeamish. His loyalties were only to the true Salvatore power and to no one else. Caroline assumed that was because he was afraid. Her father always kept his trusted men next to him for years but Damon Salvatore was not Giuseppe.

Giardano knew that Damon would only tolerate him until he settled into his power. After that, Damon would be able to challenge him and find someone more trusted to replace him. Her brother never forgot the close ties Pedro had with Giuseppe and he hated that despite the fact that Pedro was sucking up to him relentlessly. More so, Caroline knew that Damon only trusted Stefan the most and that was not going to change and if she knew it then Pedro knew it also. The Spider Giardano was expendable and he knew that his days were numbered and that was why he was trying to win Damon's favor at all cost. That was why while Damon had locked her in her room before her wedding to Klaus, Pedro had visited her many times and tried to make her see reason. Why he had tried so hard to ensure her compliance just so to soothe Damon. Why he had sent his coquettish insufferable wife to help Elena with all the wedding preparations, since obviously she was not allowed to leave her room. Not that she had wanted to organize that awful charade; and surely Rosetta would have taken over the whole event if Rebekah had not stepped up and took over completely.

Caroline knew that Pedro was aware of everything. And by everything, she meant everything. He was always keeping a cool head under pressure and his spies always whispered to him things no one else knew. That was why he was also feared and respected despite being a leech to the power others provided. So Caroline could not help but wonder how much he truly knew. Was he able to detect the silent conversation that was going on under the table as they all ate and chewed Elena's pork? Did he know how to translate the secret glances Mikael and Montavaro had exchanged before they entered the dining room? The silent conversation she had with them as she pretended to give formal handshakes and smile demurely?

Caroline's mouth went dry and she felt her stomach churning at the loud chewing and the gulping sounds some of the men were making as they devoured the feast laid in front of them.

The Capos, the most hotheaded guests in the table, were sitting next to Rosetta Giardano and Elena. Far away from the Mikaelsons but the distance was not enough to hide their sneering and grimaces of disgust. Vinny Varonese had not said a word as he ate in silence and spat out red sauce and while having one glass of wine after the other. Caroline could tell that he was itching for a fight and she thanked God Kol was not here to pick one with him. Vinny was mad. And Caroline only hoped that Damon was strong enough to reign over him and his psycho tendencies.

On the other hand, Frank Berromo had refused to attend dinner by feigning illness but he had sent many of henchmen and his brother Johnny who barely touched his dinner while he surely wondered why he had to play nice with Mikael and Klaus. If Caroline would take a guess, then she would bet his murderous glances towards her side of the table were directed at her husband and her father in law. Johnny was probably remembering very vividly how the Mikaelsons had killed two of his brothers in cold blood and how Kol had seduced and ridiculed his little sister who was then declared sullied and all her marriage prospects ruined before she was exiled to Italy. To a convent! As if they lived in the middle ages.

Unfortunately, Dante Cantovanni, the widower, did come. His lewd gaze was always traveling over everything that was female and able to walk. No matter how young the girl was. No matter how old he was now at his sixty-two. Dante had his own scores to settle with Mikael, however, he had left his knives at home and was civil enough to not provoke anyone. Dante had never dared to raise his gaze to her when her father lived but whenever her brothers or her father weren't present he used to watch her with hungry eyes. Eyes that made her to want to throw up. Tonight he had only cast her one lustful gaze before Klaus' face filled with murder and weirdly enough he backed down and did not dare to cross that line again. Not with her nor with Rebekah either. Rebekah who had been whispered to be his fiancée for a very short amount of time.

Caroline still remembered her joy when after Tatia's death, Elena got married to Stefan instead of Klaus as it was arranged before Tatia died. Caroline was ecstatic that she would not lose her friend to a monster like Klaus and that they would become sisters. But as the engagement between Klaus and Elena fell apart, Mikael in an attempt to reconcile the tense relations and to gain some lost ground had tried to push for a marriage between Cantovanni and his only daughter.

Judging now by the way Rebekah watched Dante with utter revulsion, Caroline could tell that Rebekah had not forgotten how close she had come to a life of misery next to that vile man who had buried his wife Ludovica after he beat her to death and covered her murder up as a boating accident. That should have been enough to feel sympathy for the blonde version of Klaus but Caroline had none left to give. It would go to waste anyway as Rebekah would soon marry Damon and get to know another brand of misery.

The more Caroline watched these monsters trying to make nice the more morbid thoughts choked the air out of her lungs. The world would be such a better place if someone just bombed this place and killed them all in one blast. Or maybe it wouldn't be. Criminals like those that thrived in her family and in Klaus' family were like vultures. Even if the big Crime Families of Chicago were to fall today, tomorrow a new war would ignite. Other monsters would come to replace the old ones and the cycle would begin anew. This was why she was married to Klaus after all. The Lockwood's mysteriously entered the game and wanted to wage a new war and replace the Outfit and the Famiglia with their own people and gang leaders. So maybe better the devil you know would be a much more preferable fate in the end.

However, right now, she was playing the role of the devil herself and sitting next to another devil who just like her remained silent and watched everyone with keen eyes. Caroline realized that Klaus was doing the same thing she had been doing all night. He was keeping his cool mask as he carefully surveyed under his long eyelashes the incredulous sight of the family dinner they were attending.

Ever since she was a child she always hated these formal gatherings but this one was different and she imagined the same applied for Klaus too, even though he looked as if he were in his element. She could not tell if it was meant to be soothing or terrifying. Probably equally both.

Caroline could tell that his elegance and his charm was calculated. Where Mikael was stoic, Klaus was using his charm and his smiles. Tonight he was playing the politician but underneath his civility Caroline could feel the electricity that poured out of him. He was assessing everyone at the table. He was taking names. He was playing the long game. He was monitoring. Spying. Calculating. He was writing down in his head those that were potentially dangerous and those he could manipulate and use to his advantage.

Caroline refrained from watching towards the other side of the table. She turned her head towards Klaus and for some long moments she studied his features. The shine in his eyes as the wheels in his mind kept turning over and over. She wondered how many times he had done this before. How many times he was the calm before the storm waiting until all hell would break loose. And she wondered how could he withstand the pressure when she was ripping at the seams.

As if he had read her thoughts, Klaus titled his head to the side, directing his penetrating gaze to her. In this environment his eyes studied her like they studied everyone else and like everyone else she had things she wanted kept hidden.

Caroline swallowed hard but despite the pulse that throbbed at her neck she forced a smile on her lips before she turned her attention back to her plate.

She watched the food in front of her and took a bite feeling Klaus' eyes fixating on her every move. Yes. This would indeed be a long night.

And even like that. Time was still running out.

---

The hour of the midnight council was fast approaching as was what was meant to take place just before the men's gathering.

Pedro Giardano was talking again about profit and numbers and those around him pretended to actually be interested in what he was saying. The Mikaelsons remained passive and cordial but kept a low profile and occasionally Esther engaged Rosetta in small talk. Laura Di Conti Montavaro, Elena and Rebekah and even Caroline commented mostly curtly in hopes that Rosetta would just stop talking. Klaus kept giving her amused glances as he could tell that she hated participating in that sort of chit chat.

Caroline picked at her food and subtly watched the clock; she glanced at the armed guards at the corners and the doors. Without adding the Heads of the Families, their representatives and their own soldiers and Captains along with those Klaus and Mikael had brought with them, Damon had gathered a personal substantial force; no less than a private army in and out the house. Even on less eventful nights there were many Salvatore men surrounding the premises but tonight the place was packed with metal.

From what she saw, the Mikaelsons had one third the amount of soldiers and also two Captains guarding their house right now along with Kol and his men. She knew the exact number and that stressed her more than anything.

She refrained from fidgeting in her chair and forked her salad when she heard one more time Rosetta's insufferable giggle; she did not know if she wanted to scream or laugh or run for the hills. She looked at the guests at the dinner table one last time.

In comparison with her wedding celebration were the Mikaelsons and their allies outmatched her brothers and the guests from her side, tonight the number of Mikaelsons compared to the Salvatores, and those that allied with her brothers, was by far outmatched. Klaus and his father did not object attending dinner with only but a few men protecting them. A sign of good will and of diplomacy since her marriage with Klaus supposedly had settled the blood feud as the code of honor prevailed. The same code of honor that would be cemented once she turned into Klaus' baby factory. She looked at Esther feeling bile rising in her throat but quickly averted her eyes when the older woman's hawk like gaze locked itself with hers. Echoes of Esther's advise rang in her ears and she tried to banish them from memory. The last thing she wanted was to allow Esther to manipulate her into becoming what Klaus and his family wanted.

This was why she hoped that the imbalance of numbers of men would remain true in the next half hour. She was new at this game but the men that played it were not. She had to trust that and make sure she would not get overwhelmed by her fear. Tonight was just the beginning after all.

Finally, she tuned in to the discussion on the table. Mostly because of an interaction between Elena and Rebekah, which was making Damon uncomfortable. This was something she did not want to miss.

"Have you tried the truffle rice yet, Rebekah?" Elena offered in an attempt to warm her up since Rebekah had all night kept a bitter stance. One that surely she would not let go once she and Elena lived under the same roof.

"Is that what that is?" Rebekah sneered and Caroline realized that when Rebekah was not cornering her, it was actually fun to watch her in action.

"Play nice, sister," Klaus tsked his sister, even though his voice was full of delight.

"When have I ever not, brother?" Rebekah exclaimed, feigning shock.

"Manners, Rebekah," Esther scolded and Rebekah straightened her shoulders before a sweet smile appeared in her lips. A saccharine smile that was so unlike her that even Damon almost choked on his wine and Stefan cleared his throat.

"Yes mother. Thank you Mrs. Salvatore," Rebekah thanked Elena who pressed her lips together annoyed. Stefan gripped his wife's hand over the table and there was something of a collective sigh from the men. Rosetta, however, looked delighted and watched everything with extreme curiosity.

Rebekah looked every guest in the eye, keeping her smile in place. Caroline could have sworn she saw some seasoned killers flinch.

"Your cooking is lovely," Rebekah complimented Elena as she made a point to push away the plate with the rice.

Caroline tried. Tried really hard. But the chuckle that escaped her lips made everyone look at her and she flipped some of her stray locks away from her face.

"It is, isn't it?" Caroline laughed, playing along with Rebekah for the first time since she met her. Rebekah's brow shot up in surprise. Elena looked at Caroline with a hurt expression but Caroline only shrugged and Klaus glanced at her bemused. Even Rebekah smiled at her pleased.

"The pork has been exceptional," Pedro intervened trying to mediate and cool things down.

"Here's to that," Damon mumbled before he looked at Scarred Johnny.

"Has your brother given you the charts I asked?" Damon asked the youngest Berromo in an attempt to change the subject. Johnny, even though he gruffly nodded, remained stubbornly a mute and Caroline saw how Klaus stretched in his chair with fluid grace.

"Be honest now, Damon. I asked for those numbers mate. Not that I do not trust your lot or anything," Klaus revealed to Johnny. His words were sarcastic enough to make Johnny Berromo growl and Vinny Varonese look as if he was ready to pounce. Pedro Giardano pinched the bridge of his nose. By asked Klaus meant ordered -ordered the Don himself. And by trusting, he meant to offend. Berromo's men who stood near the hall watching the dinner from afar started to squirm from their standing attention positions. Ready to defend their Captain and their House.

"You would doubt our loyalty...for him?" Johnny finally exploded, his angry words the first thing he had said all night and Dante scoffed, his mouth full with meat.

"My brother will hear of this!" Johnny grit out, his jaw clenched, making the gruesome scar that ran from his cheek right down to his neck stretch more. Klaus pretended to be in distress. Johnny's men took a step forward. Everyone else remained still in their positions.

Esther and Laura exchanged the first knowing glance they had all night. As if they expected this would happen and yet Caroline would have not have expected Klaus to spark this aggression. She would have thought that one of the more hot-headed guests would have fanned the flames.

Unless...Unless Klaus had wanted this to happen and had waited for the right moment.

"Stronzo!" Vinny grumbled and his men yelled along with him. Caroline bit her lip looking at Klaus who seemed to be enjoying this even more than Kol would if he was here. And for the first time since she met Klaus, she could see the resemblance between him and Kol.

"Vinny," Damon and Stefan both warned, but Vinny pushed his chair back ready to stand and Stefan gave him a warning glare; Vinny kept his eyes trained on Klaus. He slid his hand on the knife next to his plate and the derision in Klaus' stance aggravated Vinny more. The Salvatore guards in the dining room were ready to intervene and every other soldier from the other Families -aside from Montavaro's who awaited orders- caressed the hand grip of their guns ready to take charge. Stefan's pointed look was the only thing holding them back but Caroline could see that even Stefan had his gun at close reach.

The few Mikaelson men were far away in the pool house. They would not be here in time.

Caroline tensed when Klaus simply leaned back in his chair in a completely relaxed way that ridiculed Vinny's bravado further. Mikael, for the first time ever since she had seen him, had a hint of a smile on his face.

Caroline felt Klaus' hand on her leg under the table. She looked at him worriedly but she realized that this was meant to be a comforting touch. His hand was steady. Not even a tremble. The closest touch that had transpired between them. The most intimate since their wedding and still there was nothing sexual about it now. His fingers were warm and a solid comfort. The fact that he even cared to take away her fear in the midst of the mess he caused -which had to be for a reason- made her feel lightheaded. She did not know why but her hand slid underneath the table and her fingers interlaced with his. His thumb drew soft circles on her skin while at the same time Klaus kept his daring attention solely focused on Vinny.

"Enough!" Damon exploded setting his glass down with a thud. The wine spilled on the fine linen and the plates shook. Elena seemed to get unnerved at seeing Damon like that but Rebekah seemed rather pleasantly surprised.

Damon cast both men a forbidding glare to make both Johnny and Vinny settle down. A show of authority that made Klaus mouth slip into a mocking smirk.

And as expected, Vinny got up and ignored Damon. Caroline closed her eyes and shook her head incredulously.

"Sit down Vinchenzo," Montavaro said with a low voice and Vinny stilled. Damon was seething now and Vinny looked between him and the ever calm Giovanni. Whatever it was that he read in Montavaro's eyes made Vinny finally back down. He threw the knife on the plate with a clang and muttered more swear words but sat down. Rebekah scoffed earning a look of disapproval from her mother.

Klaus' smirk widened; his expression one of victory and Caroline pushed her nails deep into his palm. Hard enough so to make him wince even though he didn't; his eyes only gleamed with wicked satisfaction. She dug her sharp nails in hard enough to show him her dismay for the stunt he pulled but Klaus' hand did not even move in her hold it was as if he felt no pain. He did not even try to break their connection.

A challenge. This had been a challenge. To test Damon.

A challenge when it came to Damon's fragile power and the fact that Damon talked about this at the table and not in the meeting was also a sign of inexperience. The fact that her brother's men could not control themselves at this table and would even go as far as to even question Damon was proof that Klaus needed. The proof that Damon was a weak leader. And he was dangling that statement in front of everyone effortlessly.

Everyone here was a pawn in Klaus' war game.

"I also asked for those numbers myself before I knew you had requested them too, Klaus," Pedro finally spoke. Ever the diplomat. Klaus' expressive gaze only showed disbelief, despite inclining his head and pretending to acknowledge the truth of Pedro's statement.

Johnny spat to his left and Stefan scolded him.

"It is true, son," Pedro insisted, "there are many variables now that both the Salvatore and the Mikaelson Houses have united. We need the lists. You handle the streets but business is all about numbers," Pedro tried to reason with Vinny and Johnny while Stefan shook his head at Damon. To make sure to restrain whatever reaction their brother was about to have.

"And numbers is what Rosy loves when she gets to spend them on shoes," Dante laughed and when Pedro muttered the same swear words, even Vinny himself seemed to relax, more so when Stefan laughed at Rosetta's outraged protests. One more attempt to make everyone at the table forget what had just happened.

And what had happened was that a fairly innocuous jab -at least on the surface-was able to create such chaos. A breath away from mayhem.

Tension seemed to dissolve but not for Caroline. Not when her fingers were still intertwined with Klaus'. Their wedding bands touched and Caroline immediately yanked her hand away. Klaus winked at her and she pointedly turned her attention to what Rosetta was mumbling about, making sure to ignore him. The ripples of his soft laughter, an echo just under his breath, created a dusty shade of pink on her cheeks.

It was not enough.

What had just happened was not enough to take her mind away from what was coming. She almost stopped breathing when she realized what she was about to do to Klaus he had just done to Damon. This felt like a punch in the gut. Without knowing it, both of them were about to make the same statements. But while Klaus' would ignite a bloody fistfight, hers could ignite war. Tonight. In a few moments. She did not hope that it would be enough to destroy her marriage and allow her to take her distance from Klaus any time soon but after tonight everything would change.

She knew it. She expected it. As Klaus had known and expected what would follow when he pulled Johnny's and Vinny's strings. And Damon had not even seen it coming. And Caroline was willing to bet that her brothers did not even realize the true lengths of Klaus' deception. They thought that it was a simple provocation. One to be expected. But it was not. It was one more step. One more calculated move. One that he made and not his father. Even the fact that Mikael was a decorative piece at the dinner next to Klaus was meant to tell her brothers what was truly happening just under the noses.

Caroline understood Klaus' goal even though her brothers did not. Klaus did not plan just to become the boss like Damon. He wanted to become Capo di tutti Capi. The Boss of all Bosses. He wanted to be King and he was establishing his authority at every chance he got. By making all others seem weak. By turning them weak.

The connections of marriage between their families stood on equality and an understanding of how power would belong to both families, divided maybe but still shared. But Klaus did not want that. For what he wanted, her brothers were an obstacle and she was the pawn to run interference and give him the leverage he wanted until he dethroned Damon, took out Stefan, took everything. And who would be able to stop him when their children who would also share Salvatore blood and be the heirs by blood? What would he do to her then?

What boggled Caroline was Rebekah's part in all of this She wondered how Klaus planned to use her. Obviously he wanted her marriage to Damon to happen. Was it just for the children she could have or for more? Was Klaus ready to give more power to Rebekah and turn her into his ally or was she just a pawn too? Or maybe a combination of both. Whatever Klaus' plan was it seemed as if Mikael wanted to interrupt it and make sure that Rebekah remained his daughter first before she would become Damon's wife. He seemed to want her to shed all her ties with Klaus in the process.

Caroline did not know if that was even possible but for now she did not care about it. All she cared for was to gain access and power to the men in Klaus' clan and to push loyal Captains of her family inside the Mikaelson territory. Something that no one had been able to do until today. Not ever. To bring in a private army inside hostile territory without waging war with guns and knives. This was it. Her only chance to make sure she would get to have people loyal to her and only her and to make... a statement. She would not get another.

More so she had to at least make sure Mikael remained her contingency failsafe should she need one. After all, everyone knew that Klaus' biggest enemy and the only man that could actually go up against him was his father and Caroline needed that assurance in her life. Along with everything Montavaro owed to her. Saving his son's life had been a personal blood debt and not just a favor between their families and it was time for her to collect. More so since she knew that Giovanni ached to land a fatal strike to Klaus. His calmness tonight did not reveal his true intentions or his true feelings. His hate for Klaus Mikaelson would not be forgotten just because she happened to marry into the Mikaelsons. Giovanni was not an idiot like Johnny and Vinny. He knew how to pull strings just as successfully as Klaus was pulling them.

And maybe this was her playing with fire or just maybe this could be her way out. Somehow. There had to be a way out of this marriage. A possibility to start a new life.

She could tell that Klaus would not let her go. Not any time soon. He was only stalling when it came to getting her into his bed because he liked the chase and the hunt and he already considered her his. Deep down, past his arrogance and his megalomania, he actually believed he was merciful with her. That was his idea of mercy. To take everything from her and then throw her crumbs and ask for her trust while appearing magnanimous. To start a bloodbath and hold her hand as if she was weak and his to protect. To show her pity. As if she asked for it. As if this was what she was deserving of. His pity.

Caroline drank hearty gulps from her wine and gripped the hilt of her knife hard. Tonight Klaus would get a taste of her own mercy. The same mercy he had shown her. Let us see how well he would react when someone used his scheming tricks against him. At least Damon had a whole council here tonight backing him up. Klaus had none.

She only wished that she could also stab him in the back with the knife she was holding just to add to the dramatic effect. If only she could use that knife on Klaus and to Damon and to all the men in here that treated her like an object.

"Are you alright, love?"

She was so lost in thought that she had not realized the dinner was once more continuing as if nothing had happened. And she seemed to be in a daze. Everyone would probably think that she had been too upset by everything that had just happened. Too scared. Terrified.

'Good. Let them think that,' she thought.

Caroline blinked away her bitterness and managed to smile. She scolded her expression into a portrait of innocence and nodded reassuringly to Klaus who looked at her as if he was worried for her well being. He had placed his hand over hers and that gentle gesture alone was wreaking havoc on her defenses.

Such a show she reminded herself. He is putting on the show of the good husband. Nothing more.

"Just a head rush," she quickly recovered and uncurled her fingers from the knife, "I had forgotten how strong the wine from the Salvatore cellar is." she smiled apologetically and suppressed a shudder when Klaus stroked a finger over the back of her wrist. She saw the marks her nails had left on his skin. Their touch from earlier was still a whisper on her palm. His scrutiny blazing hot over her and she held his gaze without wavering. Tension made her cheeks flush. She could feel the heat rising on her face and hoped that alone would assure Klaus of the effect the strong alcohol had on her even though the wine did nothing to her tonight.

Damon smirked and it was his voice that carried her attention away.

"Ah yes. Caroline could never take more than two sips of our red," he taunted and even though she was thankful for his intervention that did not change the fact that his tone was grating her nerves. His mockery hit another sensitive spot inside her. Damon was lucky that her priority was Klaus but she would not forget. He was coming next. She might have to side with him for now but this was not over between them. Not by a long shot.

She felt her pulse ticking especially when Vinny and Dante laughed at Damon's jab.

Caroline pointedly took her glass and gulped down some of its content giving her brother a challenging glare while doing it. Stefan seemed to be drowning in a sigh.

"You will come to find, brother, that your wine does not affect me any longer. Many things have changed lately," she ruefully threw back at Damon who looked at her with a hint of incredulity that he barely managed to hide. Klaus gazed proudly at her before casually taking a sip from his own glass.

"I am pretty sure Caroline can easily handle such watered-down vintage now," he supported her even though she half expected him to scold her for her audacity instead of enjoying her banter with Damon who looked aggravated now. Rebekah tasted the wine and dismissed it entirely with a scrunch of her nose. Caroline coughed behind her glass, trying not to laugh when Klaus winked at her.

Klaus' comment would have probably have sparked a new round of hostilities around the table but most of the guests were gawking at them. At the way they seemed to be supporting each other. Their body language. Their reactions. They were all in sync and it was probably unnerving for most of the people here to see this side of Klaus. The more playful, caring and even protective side. Truth be told, it was for her too. Maybe this was part of the game. To keep up the appearances but there was something in the twinkle in his eyes that made the alcohol in her system evaporate in steam. She felt hot all of the sudden but euphoric. It was like a pull. Electric. Closer. And closer.

'It would be so easy to fall for him,' she thought and was taken aback by the way her mind betrayed her. Where did that thought came from?

They looked at each other and Caroline clasped her glass as she glanced at his lips stained with the same color the glittering liquid in her crystal glass had.

She supposed this was his attempt to show her his support, to prove that he meant it when he asked for her trust. He had told her that she could rely on him and only him. Obviously even for things like putting a barrier between her and Damon. Anyone else in his place would not have dared. She grew up with people expecting Damon to rise one day to Giuseppe's place and whenever he taunted her, people laughed with him at her. His digs were always a joke with only Stefan telling him off.

But tonight things were different, Caroline reminded herself and cooled down. She should not forget the reason she was here and what she had to do. Taking Damon's bait because she was on edge was not helping.

Damon was after all the Don of the Outfit now. She was not facing just her older brother tonight but the Boss. The alliance had to hold and she was now a part of the Mikaelson family. Klaus did not seem to mind, of course. If anything he relished in taunting her brothers. He did not seem to respect or even acknowledge Damon's influence and Caroline decided that she had to stop giving him ammunition. She, however, only pointed a direct stare at her brother who was sitting at the head of the table and gave him a subtle nod of backing down. So when Damon snickered and picked up his glass, she did the same. They both drank at the same moment and everyone else followed their lead. A united front despite her marriage with Klaus.

Small talk broke out again at the table and it was not long before Rosetta Giardano directed Caroline's focus to her. After cornering Rebekah, who simply ignored her, and without daring to engage Esther, who seemed to have blended into the shadows for most of the dinner like Mikael, Caroline was now her next target.

"So, Caroline dear, how is married life treating you?" Mrs. Giardano fizzed with her annoying lilting voice while examining her and Klaus with sharp eyes filled with curiosity and skepticism.

Caroline almost let out a long suffering sigh. That woman was the worst gossipmonger of them all. She was dying to unbury scandals and throw mud on everyone. Caroline could tell that she was fervently waiting to be given a chance to spread rumors. True or false, it did not matter. As long as she had gossip to play with. And what better chance than tonight? She was witnessing firsthand how the Salvatore princess faired in the hands of the cruel Klaus Mikaelson.

Despite the malice in that busybody's face, Caroline could also see the envy in Rosetta's eyes as she fixated on the diamonds that adorned Caroline's neck tonight. Much to Rosetta's chagrin, Caroline casually let her fingers hover over her necklace, drawing the older woman's attention there. Caroline knew herself the worth of what she was wearing and her innate narcissism was well fed.

Majestic and stunning. Klaus' gifts had been nothing less than magnificent so far. Aside from the baubles and the jewels she had been officially given as Klaus' wife, some at close reach in her bedroom's closet room and some kept at the safe deposits in the vaults a few levels below the cellars of the Mikaelson home, there were also the personal gifts Klaus had given her during the last weeks.

Just like the gift he had personally wrapped around her neck tonight.

Klaus was...excessive. He kept showering her with gifts as if he was unable to contain himself or balance his generosity. Almost every day, he would go into their bedroom whenever she would not be there and he would leave on her pillow a red rose and a breathtaking jewel. Gold, silver, diamonds. Things that would always make her gasp before they would ignite anger and guilt in her. Anger because he was insufferable at his attempts to woo her and he thought he could buy her affections and guilt because she should not like his gifts, no matter how gorgeous they were.

Maybe Klaus thought he could sweep her off her feet with those presents or maybe those gifts were nothing else but one more brand for her to wear aside from her wedding ring, reminding her to whom she now belonged. One more of his possessions.

In any case no one, and certainly not her or Rosetta, could deny that Klaus' gifts were worthy of royalty and were causing envy and heartache to anyone who gazed at them. The diamonds Caroline wore tonight felt like stars woven over her skin. As bright and as heavy and as glorious. They sprinkled their sublime glow in every direction and there was no comparison to any jewel any other woman wore tonight.

And despite her situation, Caroline could not ignore the satisfied whisper of her vanity that relished in the envy that flickered in the eyes of those that regarded her with fear and jealousy. Her marriage to Klaus had brought her fear and pain and sadness and even though she was caught in the trap of their feud it was obvious to her now that simply by being Klaus Mikaelson's wife and standing by his side, she was feared and respected by all others. She had a voice. Maybe in their world she was meant to have a certain position and to be demure and humble and obedient but yet she had risen above most of those that used to disregard her in the past and treat her as a nuance.

If only this newfound power of hers was not an illusion and it was not coming with such a high price. If only she did not have to fight for her everyday survival despite how there were women in their class who viewed her fate as something to be desired and coveted.

She did not. But she could not allow anyone else to see that. She had to play her part accordingly.

The edge of Caroline's lips lifted upwards until they fell into a blindingly happy smile. The diamond drops of her necklace fell from between her perfectly manicured nails and she enjoyed Rosetta's sour pout before she turned to look at Klaus almost teasingly.

How did married life with Klaus treated her? Like the Devil treats his guests probably.

"Better than I expected to actually," wry humor painted her words and Klaus smirked and took her hand in his. His kiss, as light as feather hovering on air, warmed her knuckles.

"Oh how splendid!" Rosetta croaked before she gave an overly dramatic sigh, "Your wedding has been the talk of the town! The talk of the decade!", she said with envy," It was such a grand affair. I can't wait for you to tell me everything that happed after the dancing. Your wedding night must have been quite exciting."Rosetta's lewd insinuations had some of the men in the table smirking.

"It was." Caroline shut her down and even Klaus observed her directness silently. The fact that they both knew of course that nothing had happened on their wedding night was giving another spin to her words but Caroline refused to allow herself to blush or even look at Klaus now. As she also refused to cower down in front of Rosetta. If it was up to that woman there would still be a showing the sheets after the wedding nights.

"No details to share?" Rosetta nagged and Caroline could have sworn that Rebekah whispered 'bitch' under her breath. No matter what, some things would never change. Rosetta had surpassed by far the boundaries of propriety and she believed that she could do it.

Caroline stared at Klaus and covered his hand on the table. He held on. A reminder to everyone whom they were addressing now. He did not intervene. He let her deal with it.

"What would you like to know?" Caroline threw at Rosetta and pinned her with an unfaltering gaze; everyone froze and looked at her with surprise. Even Damon seemed taken aback by her sass.

Rosetta gulped down. She had taken it too far. Surely expecting for Caroline to be at loss before she would turn it to a harmless joke.

Pedro was rubbing the bridge of his nose again. Caroline did not know if she admired or pitied the old man. It would take quite the brave soul to endure Rosetta for so many years.

"Well-" Rosetta started but a strict voice interrupted her.

"Rosetta mind your manners," Laura Montavaro finally admonished Pedro's wife with a stern tone.

Caroline looked down at Rosetta Giardano who flinched and Elena looked at Caroline startled.

"It's okay Mrs. Montavaro," Caroline eventually took her eyes away from Rosetta as she also removed her hand from Klaus'.

Pedro was reprimanding his wife in hushed whispers and when Caroline saw Laura's sweet face she allowed herself to relax a bit," I do not mind," she mocked but looked fondly at the older woman. Laura had been Elizabeth's friend and always cared for her.

"You should." Klaus spoke at last and no one this time dared to take offense. Caroline's eyes darted at him. She was shocked for a moment. There was a restrained anger to his words. Nothing like the previous irony he had used against Vinny and Johnny. Laura nodded at what Klaus said and Rosetta blanched.

"I apologize on behalf of my wife. Sometimes when the wine is strong she tends to forget herself." Pedro quickly excused his wife and showed actual remorse.

Klaus leaned over the table, setting his elbows on the surface.

"There is no wine strong enough for her to forget who she is talking to," he coldly said and held Rosetta's gaze.

Caroline tried to soothe his cold anger but she realized that this had been an offense to him also. She was not just Caroline anymore. Or even the sweet Salvatore girl everyone wanted to protect or treat as if she was the least important member of the Salvatore home. She was his wife. If anyone disrespected her and more so in public, then he would-

"Klaus-" Caroline tried but Klaus' ire was firm.

"Apologize to my wife," Klaus snapped at the older woman. His voice like a whip cut through air. Everyone felt silent.

"I did not mean to offend I-"

"Apologize," Klaus repeated again and this time his calm tone was a warning. No one in their right mind would ever dare to not adhere.

"Now, Rosetta," Damon backed up Klaus and Caroline blinked. Pedro glared at his wife expectantly as did every last one of the Mikaelsons and the guests.

"I am sorry, Caroline," Rosetta mumbled. Her voice was just a decibel above a whisper. She looked ashamed but most of all she looked scared. Scared of Klaus.

Caroline accepted her apology with a tilt of her head and swallowed hard. Klaus gave one last scathing look to Rosetta who seemed to shrink in her chair. Rebekah and Esther seemed pleased. Mikael kept an impassive stance and everyone else kept their tongue's behind their teeth.

This was not right. This should not be happening. Klaus should not be doing this.

She tried not to have second thoughts or doubts for what would happen in a few moments but there was a thorn in her heart planted now. This was not right.

She turned towards Laura Montavaro but in truth she stared straight into the eyes of Giovanni Montavaro. There was no going back even if she wanted to but she shouldn't want to. This changed nothing. Her predicament was still the same. So why did this feel infinitely more difficult now than it had just minutes ago?

"Well Rosy was right for at least one thing. The wedding was indeed a lovely affair. The Mikaelsons do know how to throw a party," Dante mentioned, trying to defuse the tension and for the very first time in her life Caroline was relieved for the man's intervention until she remembered who was talking.

People started talking about her wedding and Caroline tried her best not to look at Klaus. She watched as Dante Cantovanni kept eating everything at sight.

Her stomach turned and she noticed that Rebekah was watching the man equally repulsed if not more. Dante Cantovanni was widowed for the last ten years. It was common knowledge that he had many mistresses but he had not taken another wife ever since Ludovica's death. He was over sixty and Caroline saw how Rebekah cringed every time she glanced him. Mikael a few years ago had tried to sway him to their side by offering her hand in marriage but Cantovanni was loyal to her father and refused. Or it was not loyalty at all. Giuseppe was known to hold leverage over the men who served him.

Back then, just as she turned fifteen, she remembered she had dreaded the possibility of taking Rebekah's place in an similar arrangement but her father fortunately had not even considered such a thing. Either because she was too young or because he cared enough for her and did not want to give her to a man that could easily have been her father or her potential future murderer. She remembered when her mom still lived she had promised she would make sure that her father would give her to a man who would treat her with respect and would care for her. Back then, Caroline did not understood the meaning of the word 'give'. She did not understand that even at the age of ten, her fate was already written and she was a possession to be given and passed by the hands of her father to the hands of her husband.

Back then, she had smiled with gratitude and was happy and dreamed of a gentle white knight. A prince to love her and put her in a beautiful tower. Well she did get the tower. The gilded cage she was stuck in was as beautiful and as cold as a fortress. A castle for a trophy wife to be held in. As for her prince, well she got a King instead but his colors were all black and instead of respect, her heart was drowning in anger and hate.

A man that would treat her with respect her mother said. Tonight Klaus had demanded respect for her as he had every time anyone from his family caused her discomfort. As he had the night of their wedding. He never wavered. He stood next to her in a way that Dante Cantovanni and men like him would have never even bothered considering. Women died at the hands of men like Dante and Mikael.

Mikael's words echoed in her mind again.

Women also died in the hands of men like Klaus too. Something that Klaus seemed to be making her forget lately.

Caroline looked at Dante Cantovanni realizing that if it was up to Damon and not her father she could have ended marrying a disgusting man like him. Ice flooded in her veins at the thought before she turned her head to the side and took a peek at her husband. Klaus had quite the reputation and he was a force to be reckoned with but at least she had to admit that he was young and... hot.

Well not hot... Just good looking. No, not that either. Who was she kidding? She was not blind. Despite her best efforts to not notice she could not help but admit that Klaus was hot as hell and she assumed that were traits even Satan must have because it really was unfair. Dimples and sandy hair were not meant to be given to people like Klaus. Having an angelic face and a demon's heart should not go hand in hand.

Why was her mind betraying her like this? Why did it matter? It shouldn't matter. It didn't matter.

Caroline shifted in her seat as she had to remind herself all over again of what she had to do tonight. It was simple and easy and all she had to do was throw bait. She could not back away from the deal at the last moment and she surely could not trust Klaus' charming words or his acting skills. Just because he was sex on legs and made everyone dance to his tune, it did not make him any better than Dante Cantovanni. He was worse.

Yes, Klaus had not forced himself on her and he was trying to woo her like they were stuck in the regency era or something. His old fashioned courting sometimes was cute and funny but Caroline knew that it was just a facade. Just like what he did earlier with Damon and Rosetta. He didn't care for her. He never would.

She had to keep reminding herself what that man had wrought in her life. He had taken away her freedom, her choices and her life. She had been forced to marry him and he was using her as a step towards power. She nothing but a foot stool for him and a tool for playing his power games and she could not just hold on to his promises when it came to her protection. Respect was a running river that had no depth. It was not only a play for sake of appearances.

After all, this was not their initial deal and he had cheated her family into giving her to him without having any intentions of honoring their pact. Mikael had pledged for her safety. She had to remember that. He was meant to be her protector and Klaus was meant to wait in line for the throne. Damon was meant to interact with Mikael and Klaus was meant to obey them and not the other way around. She was supposed to have Damon and Mikael as her shield against Klaus, should she ever need one, and it was not such a stretch to believe that she would.

Klaus wanted it all. With no strings attached. So if he was allowed to break the deal their families forged in blood and oath then so she could be allowed to re-forge it.

A little traitorous voice sang in her mind that if she wanted to be honorable to the initial deal of their families and hold Klaus to it then she should be too. She should be sleeping with him and should be sharing his bed. But spreading her legs for him was not something she would have ever consented if she was not forced to walk into that chapel. They all kept trying to blur the lines but she had to keep her mind sharp and remind herself that she was fighting for herself here and not for the families. She had rights. And she had to defend them. Klaus defending her honor because she happened to be his wife was not the same. It was degrading in the end as everything else in this marriage was. If there was anyone demanding respect for her name then that someone should be her. And as Klaus had just said she should take offense. She should demand respect. And she would.

"Caroline looked very beautiful in her wedding dress," Elena's voice rang in her ears. The small talk was continuing but Caroline felt as if she was at the end of her patience now.

"Just like our mother looked in the photos of her wedding to father," Stefan added, looking at Caroline with a sweet expression. Almost a longing. For her to smile back at him. To forgive him.

'Fat chance,' Caroline thought bitterly and refused to even acknowledge what Stefan had said. It was as if he did not exist for her tonight. She twirled the glass over the table slowly watching the last drops of the wine spill inside the crystal walls.

It was then that she heard it. Just the hint of a sound no one but her paid attention to.

One.

Her hand stilled. The glass stopped turning.

Two.

Giovanni Montavaro tapped his knife on his plate two times before setting it down. Caroline tensed, inhaling sharply. This was it. The signal she had waited for all night. It was as if her body would get in sync with that signal no matter what noise screamed next to her.

She glanced at Montavaro, who inclined his head. A shadow of movement not even Klaus caught. But Mikael did and hid his smirk behind his knuckle.

It was starting. It would not be long now.

"Yes, so we've heard," Laura spoke, with a tone of carefully veiled regret, "we wished we could have been there too. Unfortunately, we were in Italy those days."

It was an excuse. Everyone knew that. Montavaro would never step his foot in Mikael's house. Not even for the wedding. It didn't matter to him how it looked that the Underboss of the Outfit was not present at her wedding and had not even sent an official representative in his stand. He had not opposed her marriage with Klaus and was present when the contracts were signed a few days before the ceremony but his absence from the wedding had been a message that despite the treaty and the union of the Families no one should forget. There was a dire solemnity in that message and Damon, despite being the new Boss of the Outfit had been unable to control him. Not even Pedro's intervention changed Montavaro's decision to not attend that night. Should Giuseppe have been alive Giovanni would not have dared to act this way but her dad was dead and Damon was new in his seat of power and nothing like their father. It was no wonder that many secretly called Montavaro the Don these days.

Maybe this would serve Damon right one day. To have his position usurped by his second. But with Marianno's state this was not something that would ever happen unless it was Stefan that would step up.

"I understand," Caroline smiled, her good manners shining," we sent the invitations out at such short notice," Caroline said with an even tone and Klaus raised an amused brow at her diplomacy.

She knew where this discussion had to end. The long way around. But still it felt so strange to be able to speak of her wedding in such a way when in fact it had been such a dreaded ordeal for her. One that bound her to Klaus and still haunted her dreams and nightmares, "I missed Dana mostly and of course your son at the ceremony," she carried on without letting any of that depressive emotion that threatened to choke her show. She was stronger than this.

"How is he?" she asked, making sure to lace her words with enough care that even Klaus next to her narrowed his eyes.

"Alive, thanks to you," Giovanni said respectfully and Klaus cast her a questioning gaze.

"You know Marianno was shot a few years ago don't you, Klaus?"Caroline openly challenged him and Klaus lifted an eyebrow. It was as if the air thickened in the room.

Caroline was sure that Klaus remembered all right. And from the perverse wave of satisfaction that rolled off of him in waves, Caroline was willing to bet that he was also damn proud for what he had done.

She still remembered Laura breaking down at the hospital and Dana crying in her arms. Klaus had shot Marianno in retaliation for Finn's death. Marianno was barely made back then. Just hardly out of his teenage years.

Giovanni had said to her father in that dimly lit corridor of the private hospital her family owned that he was certain that Klaus' shot was deliberate.

Klaus never missed. He always went for the killing shot. The head or the heart. A reminder to what happened to those that dared go up against him. The lucky ones he would kill fast. Those that were not lucky would have to withstand torture at his hands first before he would throw their corpses on the steps of their families' houses.

But he didn't do that with Marianno. Klaus had killed all of Marianno's men and when he left his body on the steps of one of the Montavaro's residencies ,Marianno was barely breathing. He was gravely wounded but he was breathing.

Marianno later on had said that Klaus and Kol killed his men -for which he was still mourning even after the years that passed - and had then toyed with him and left his survival to chance since as they had said they were not that close to Finn anyway so they threw his life on the dice by avenging the brother they barely loved.

This had never been about Finn. It was about the Mikaelson name her father had said back then Mikael had already been brutally killing without discrimination Giovanni's nephews on the streets and any man of the Montavaro family he could get his hands on. Either they were high in the ranks or simply underlings. And he was doing that long after he killed the man responsible for Finn's death.

But it was Klaus that delivered the final blow.

Montavaro knew this to be a great offense to his name and honor and not just a strike at his heart. They had targeted his son but they had denied him an honorable death. They left him without his legs. One of the bullets shuttered Marianno's spine and no matter the surgeries and the treatments, they all knew he would never walk again.

Paralyzing Giovanni's only son and leaving Montavaro without an heir was something that forever haunted both Laura and Giovanni and established Klaus' power. It created more tales of darkness and danger around his name. So much that people now begged for a clean kill at his hands.

Caroline still remembered the day the flowers Klaus had sent to the hospital wishing Marianno a fast recovery arrived. Her stomach had twisted and she wanted to throw up.

Raw stark emotion blasted inside her at the memories. She could not understand how Laura and Giovanni were able to sit so calmly and patiently at the same table with Klaus tonight.

"Marianno's blood type is rare. Like mine," Caroline informed Klaus, watching him for a lingering moment. Expecting to see even a hint of remorse in the blue of his eyes. She saw none.

"Caroline came to the hospital and donated blood," the frost in Laura's voice was as chilling as the glint in her husband's eyes.

"She actually snuck out from our security to do so," Stefan said almost proudly even though everyone looked at Klaus gravely. This hate would never go away no matter how many marriages and truces the families signed.

"Was he a friend of yours, love?" Klaus finally asked and Caroline almost gaped at him. This memory evoked no sentiment in him but somehow this revelation had a spiked a flash of jealousy in him.

Caroline shook her head and forced one more painful smile on her lips.

"His sister is," she clarified but kept her tone elusive. Something that Klaus immediately recognized and she saw how his lips turn to a thin line. His eyes became slits; it was as if he was examining her honesty. She only gave him a shrug. Truth was she had grown up believing that she would one day probably marry Marianno. It was the dream of their parents once; at least it was before he was shot. Of course, the fact that he was gay was not something Mariano ever shared with his family, aside from Dana, and in the end it would not have mattered. He would have gone through with the wedding if it was asked of him and then she would have had to deal with the repercussions because if her brother forced her to marry a man like Klaus, he would do the same for any other groom in question. The only way out of marrying Marianno would be to reveal his sexuality to her family but she would never do that to him. In their world it could mean death.

"If it wasn't for her generosity my son would probably be dead," Laura said. Blazing fire burned in her words despite her cold exterior. Emotion choked Caroline.

"Maybe it would have been for the best," Dante said as he kept chewing his rare stake and Caroline tried not to grimace but Giovanni had no reaction. It was only Laura's features that turned to a mask of unbearable pain but she said nothing herself either. Vinny and Johnny were pointing death glares at Klaus who remained unaffected. Not even a flicker of emotion broke through his calmness.

"My sister, the everlasting saint," Damon's mockery as he played with his glass earned him a glare from Stefan. Caroline felt Klaus tensing next to her. She could tell he was about to snap at Damon. The fact that along with Klaus, Damon had also asked from Rosetta to apologize to her earlier did not change their strained relationship. Damon was always protective of her when things became serious enough. No one could protect her from his spite, however. They never got along despite sharing the same blood and name. Damon, just like she was used to before her marriage, only cared for Stefan. And now, he also cared for Elena too.

Caroline's laugh was full of derision.

"Hardly, brother. I only did it for our family. Dear friends are family also. We always look out for each other in times of need."

She kept her chin up. Everyone looked at her now. Her tone showed her uncompromising will when it came to this.

Her declaration was a hidden message to those who knew how to read it. Giovanni Montavaro nodded at her and Caroline noticed that Klaus was observing their interaction with sharp eyes.

'It was a little too late for that' she thought.

"Let us all drink to that," Pedro mediated for the thousandth time tonight and so they all followed his lead.

Damon drank from his wine while watching Caroline with the same curiosity Klaus was looking at her with too.

Caroline ignored them. She only put her glass back on the table with an elegant move before she addressed Laura Montavaro again.

"I last heard that Dana decided to travel. She sent me a card from Paris," Caroline said. Of course no one was about to mention that Dana was allowed to travel with her aunt and heavy security guarding her so to escort Marianno to one more orthopedic neurosurgeon in Europe.

Laura nodded with a bittersweet smile and Rosetta took the opportunity to move past what had happened between them and despite the scolding glare her husband cast at her for daring to talk again, Rosetta started babbling about how much she loved shopping in France. Esther agreed with her in an attempt to rebuild the bridge between them and forget the earlier incident and even Elena pretended to be interested by what the old woman was saying and joined the conversation. Even Stefan laughed and spoke about his honeymoon with Elena in Paris and Chartres.

Caroline felt Klaus's soft touch against her strained back. She looked down at his extended arm between their bodies before she stared at him in question.

"Have you ever been?"Klaus smoothly whispered, leaning towards her side. His previous suspiciousness had subsided long enough for his whisper to get tainted with a seductive timbre.

"France? No," Caroline dispassionately admitted.

Despite the wealth of her family she had lived a very restricted life. As the daughter of Giuseppe Salvatore, she always had a target on her back and was always cloistered. The only place she had visited and that was a kid was Italy and she had mostly spent her vacation inside their mansion in Palermo always heavily guarded. She used to burn with the idea of traveling all over the world. Seeing new places. Trying different things. Indulging in other cultures. But she had learned from early on that it was impossible. The only time she had been able to break her chains anchoring her to the prison her family had created for her was when she had managed to go to college In the end, they had taken that away from her too.

"I'll take you. Anywhere you want. I do owe you a honeymoon trip after all," Klaus drawled, his words laced with promise and shimmering intensity. More so with longing. His breath, so close to her ear, made her heart skip a beat. His accent was doing weird things to her sanity and her own breath actually hitched slightly when she saw his face light up at his proposal; as if he truly wanted to show her the world.

She knew that he was using his charm for a reason. This public affection had to be for a reason. And for him, this was nothing new but this closeness was still sending shivers down her spine. His fingers warmed her clammy back, slightly curling against her skin. It was as if the world was becoming smaller and finding a new axis in its center. Them. Everything and everyone else disappeared.

She knew that those hands had killed. Had sent men to their graves and others to wheel chairs. Klaus was bathed in blood and still his touch was always challenging the last tethers of her emotional restraint.

Caroline's throat constricted violently. She knew this to be a lie. One more empty promise and that hurt more. It hurt because she hated this hope blooming inside her against all reason.

"You wouldn't be able to find the time," she argued, returning to her pragmatism, knowing that soon he would not even want to anyway.

"For you, I would. I will," his voice carried an honest pledge before he crossed the last distance between them and kissed her on the cheek softly.

Caroline blushed, the candlelight on the table blurring between her long eyelashes. It was as if he was breathing her in. She could not think. She had only felt like this once before. When he was slowly undressing her the night of their wedding. It was intimate. Magnified. A simple kiss on the cheek and yet-

"It looks you've married a romantic, Caroline," Rebekah sniped. She could have thrown cold water at her as well. The moment was ruined and Caroline reached for her wine as Klaus withdrew and glowered at sister who wore her most innocent expression.

Caroline brought her glass to her mouth with a shaking hand, hiding her turmoil behind the crystal on her lips. Klaus was right. When had this wine turned to such a watered down disappointment? She remembered it to be stronger and now it did nothing to wash down the fire burning her.

She had to concentrate and stay on track. 'Focus Caroline,' she mentally scolded herself but Klaus 'next words almost made her choke on her wine.

"I am all for romance, little sister," Klaus playfully retorted and Caroline set her glass down, unable to stop herself from incredulously rolling her eyes at him. She then noticed that everyone, but most of all her brothers, were in awe of her interaction with Klaus. It was as if they had discovered a new miracle or something.

"Talking about romance," Laura suddenly intervened after looking at her husband first. "How about you two?"she asked, smiling at Rebekah and Damon, "when are we expecting to get your wedding invitation?"

Esther's eyes snapped to Laura Di Conti Montavaro. Caroline could tell that Esther knew that Laura would never ask something like that. Not in that tone. She was not Rosetta. And Laura's exchange of looks with Giovanni proved it.

"In a couple of weeks more or less," Damon shrugged as he did not even care. They had not even made any preparations. It looked as if Damon expected to only wear a costume, go to the alter and get drunk before and after the ceremony. With all the things that kept happening in the business, no one really cared for weddings. The preparations would probably happen at the last minute as had happened for her wedding with Klaus.

Rebekah seethed and reached for her glass. Esther's austere silent warning was the only thing that stopped Klaus' sister from lashing out with her usual snippy remarks.

Caroline swallowed down her laughter. Damon Salvatore would have to live a cursed life with Rebekah Mikaelson at his side. That thought somehow made Caroline relish the miserable future that awaited her brother. Klaus and Kol doted on Rebekah and seemed to adore her but even they seemed as if they could not stand her for extended periods of time. How much more Damon who could barely tolerate himself.

"I am sure Caroline would not mind helping you with the preparation's, Bekah," Klaus' proposal earning him a seething glower from his sister.

"Aren't you a lucky one mate?" Klaus joked and Damon responded at his jab with an acidic smirk accompanied with a grumble that had Vinny snickering.

"Oh, sod off," Rebekah cursed and Klaus laughed. Esther sighed tiredly but Mikael remained unresponsive. He only watched...her as she found the right opening she was waiting for.

"I would love to help but... I have been actually thinking about this and I believe that rushing the preparations is not the best thing to do," Caroline cut in smoothly with an innocent expression, internally grateful that finally Laura got the conversation to the point they wanted.

Rebekah's eyebrows shot up. Caroline did not have to see from the corner of her eye Klaus' reaction. Whenever his eyes were on her she would feel it. It was as if every instinct of hers was on alert.

"We are talking about my brother's wedding here. And Rebekah is now my sister too. They deserve the best and I should know because when it comes to organizing such events I am the best," Caroline stated smugly. It was a fact after all. Everyone knew it. Damon and Stefan and everyone else in here knew how much she loved organizing parties and celebrations so this did not seem out of character for her.

Vinny let out a long sigh. Caroline glared at him and he rose his hands up in surrender. A much different reaction than the one he had when he was reaching for the knife to gut Klaus. Caroline directed her glare to the other side of the table. Vinny along with Johnny and even her brothers looked scared and discomforted.

They were probably remembering how she had ordered them and everyone else around when they were throwing parties for the Families. Those were the only times where she had free reign to do whatever she wanted and everyone else had to obey her whether they wanted to to or not. And, oh boy, they did. So much that everyone was trying to hide or run away whenever a ball or a party or any kind of dinner celebration or gathering was about to happen.

"As I was saying," Caroline continued breezily but with an authoritative tone, "I know that everyone is expecting a grand wedding but with this narrow frame we can hardly organize everything in time. And no matter how beautiful my ceremony and the celebration afterwards were," she recalled with an acerbic smile she threw at Rosetta who squirmed in her seat, "I regret not having the time to work on the details and make it my dream wedding," Caroline lamented and saw how Klaus cocked his head towards her.

"Rebekah's does not have to be that way. So I have been thinking about it and-" she paused feeling Mikael's and Klaus' sole attention bathing her, "what if we followed the more traditional route and threw an engagement party first?" she proposed.

Rebekah's back straightened up at once. Surprise went through her and for the first time her facade of nonchalance cracked.

"What a lovely idea!" Rosetta squeaked and Caroline held back her smirk. Stefan and Damon looked taken aback. Klaus went very still next to her.

Pedro peered at Damon and then he cleared his throat.

"I am not sure if our timeframe allows it, Caroline," the man started but was cut off by Klaus' sister before he could continue.

"It should be," Rebekah declared, "this is still my wedding after all," she asserted, dead set on not allowing anyone to sideline her. There was a breath of hope for her in Caroline's suggestion. Caroline knew that feeling all too well. Right up to the moment she married Klaus she was praying and hoping for an intervention. For someone to stop the wedding and call the whole thing off. No one came for her.

"Our wedding, Miss. Mikaelson," Damon corrected Rebekah sardonically.

"Semantics," Rebekah waved her hand dismissively; her sharp smile made the impressive blue in Damon's eyes glint up even more. Rebekah looked more like Klaus now than ever before as the ruthless smile on her lips grew bigger. She was sharpening her nails for war and she was not afraid to shed blood. She looked as lethal as any of the made men in this house. Headstrong and refusing to bow down to anyone, Rebekah managed to somehow intimidate everyone.

"Rebekah-" Esther began.

"No it is not," Caroline corrected as Rebekah narrowed her eyes.

Esther's reprimand was intercepted by Caroline' unfaltering intervention. Rosetta actually gasped at her audacity but Esther just like Klaus only scrutinized Caroline.

Caroline however only focused on Rebekah and if there was any shard of gratitude towards her for her suggestion to stall the wedding with Damon it was obviously gone now.

"Your wedding is important," Caroline pressed on in all seriousness that clearly unnerved Rebekah but Caroline looked at Damon too, "for both of you. You don't get to have another," she twisted the knife in harder, enjoying the way Damon's face seemed to pale. He had to marry someone he did not want to marry too. While he desperately loved another. A despised marriage to match a forbidden love, "so this needs to be done right," Caroline concluded, unable to keep the condescension at bay.

Damon's fingers turned into a fist next to his plate, mirroring Rebekah's reaction.

"Truth is that I have missed my family," Caroline complained with a fake pout. An easy gesture, easily letting the lie slip from her lips," and it will be an excellent opportunity for all of us to meet and arrange Damon's and Rebekah's wedding. Surely no one should mind now that we are all one family." She dared everyone at the table to argue. Her face lit up with a big innocent looking smile.

She was hardly lying in any case. All of them were after all...One happy Frankenstein family.

"I am afraid," Klaus' said, his voice controlled, "that Pedro Giardano is right, sweetheart. We do not have time for such luxuries."

His hand underneath the table gripped her knee. A warning.

Caroline pivoted her body on her chair. To solely face him. With no fear. No hesitation. And even though her stomach tightened painfully at the warning she read in Klaus' features she held her chin high.

"There is no need to rush things," Caroline insisted, sucking her lips in her mouth as if she was thinking of what Klaus said," We are not two families anymore after all. We are one," she repeated, mocking him, making sure that only she and Klaus would translate the underlined meaning of her words. Caroline saw how the color of his eyes turned a shade darker.

His words from earlier that night in their bedroom at his house rang between them. A deafening sound. His fingers tightened around her knee.

"Our families? And here I thought we were one family after our marriage." Caroline could not hide the mockery in her voice and Klaus hummed.

"You and I are," he promised her.

Klaus pressed his lips into a thin line and Caroline grinned without guilt as she yanked her leg away.

She looked at the people at the table again expectantly.

"Rebekah and Damon can spend more time together before their wedding and I get to throw a party!" she clasped her hands excited.

It was not that hard after all. To act as if she was happy and thrilled to be the event planner again. All she had to do was commit to her goal. And she could do this. She always did before Klaus and so she would after him. Even if she had to pretend to care about such things when her life had taken such a turn.

"I didn't get to enjoy the preparations for my wedding," Caroline blabbered on," and with the mourning for my father I could hardly even enjoy my own wedding." She pouted more with a sullen look, swallowing down her irony. As if she would enjoy her marriage with Klaus otherwise.

She then sat more comfortably on her chair. Leaning back with feline glace. In the same way Klaus had when he had scorned Johnny and Vinny earlier.

"I am sure that between us we could find a solution to please everyone," Caroline proposed beaming. She met Klaus' gaze and held his stare. He was becoming angry.

Good. Angry was good her father had once said. People were more prone to mistakes when they were angry and Klaus' anger was always a fury and it was now starting to brew under the surface.

"My wedding is not one more party for you to throw, Caroline," Damon bit out and Caroline snorted.

"Really? Is it not?" Caroline provoked Damon ironically.

"Care what Damon meant-" Stefan started but a deep voice stopped him.

"It is not," Giovanni Montavaro chastised and Damon smirked pleased watching her in a 'told you so' kind of a way but Caroline only arched an eyebrow at him when Giovanni continued speaking.

"It is a testimony of commitment to us all," Montavaro said and Caroline sat back and decided to enjoy what would come next. Klaus was on the edge of his seat now. No longer distracted by wrongly assuming that he had her favor. Montavaro's involvement now surely worried him the most. Maybe she was not to be taken seriously by the men in this table but Klaus new that Giovanni was another variable. And everyone knew that Giovanni Montavaro never spoke or acted without aiming to gain something.

Well, he was speaking now.

"Truth is that the families siding with us won't welcome the new Don marrying so quickly and more so a Mikaelson after Giuseppe's death," Montavaro finally said, backing her up and Caroline held back her smirk when Pedro's head snapped towards him. Even the Spider himself was at a loss," The mourning period has not yet passed and we already had the festivities of Caroline's wedding before her father's body even got cold in the ground yet. Only days had passed," he reminded everyone. Disappointment painted his words. One that ran deeper than just regretting the time her wedding was held. If it was up to Giovanni her wedding with Klaus would have never happened.

"Well if old Giuseppe's body did not roll in his grave with the one wedding I do not see why it would for the other," Dante mumbled and Rosetta tried not to giggle.

"Maybe it did. We should check to be sure," Vinny chuckled earning a glare from Stefan.

"No one will disrespect my father's name again. Especially under this roof," Damon proclaimed but not with much fervor. His eyes twinkled with amusement. Any jab against Giuseppe always seemed to please him but the forced coldness in his voice had the desired effect and Vinny only bowed his head and kept his mouth shut.

"Giuseppe's memorial service is upon us," Giovanni austere tone forced seriousness to the table and Johnny crossed himself making Caroline scoff. Sure. Kill first, pray later.

"It is a matter of tradition," Montavaro declared, "none of us except Caroline has married without a traditional contract of betrothal first. Blessed by the priest before the marriage."

The gleam in Klaus' eyes told her enough but as he opened his mouth to object Mikael beat him to it. Finally speaking for the first time tonight. Only so to belittle Klaus in front of everyone.

"Are you planning to fight tradition now too, boy?" Mikael's jab almost made Caroline flinch. There was no humor and the way he articulated the last word was so degrading. Rebekah paled but Esther remained unmoved.

A muscle ticked on Klaus' jaw but he said nothing. Mikael's and Klaus' wills crashed against each other silently. Klaus might have undermined Mikael's power but his father was still the Boss of the Famiglia and in public that was what mattered. For many it was the only thing that mattered in essence despite Klaus' poking holes in the old man's power. Caroline realized that she had to find out which people still supported Mikael in the Famiglia. That knowledge could turn out useful in the future.

Still there was a part of her that ached at the way Mikael treated his son. She didn't know why but this did not sit right with her. Damon and her father always clashed too and Damon hated him but they at least remained civil in front of others outside the family. Mikael never hid his hate for Klaus and Klaus had to grew up in a family where he would have to take every humiliation without retaliating. Not when Mikael was the Boss of the Famiglia. Not when Klaus was the third son. Not when no one would support him.

Like tonight. No one would. She wouldn't either. That thorn of guilt she had felt earlier shifted again in her heart. Just a little bit. Enough to throw her out of balance.

"Our world is built on traditions," Montavaro pressed, "nothing and no one could ever change that."

This was a direct message with Giovanni subtly acknowledging Mikael. Giovanni was now looking straight at Klaus. If anyone would know what happened between closed curtains and where the shift of true power between Klaus and Mikael now lay it would be Montavaro. Despite everything, she had not dared to tell Giovanni the truth. She had to speak with her brothers first but she was sure that he knew. He was the one and only person that was able to know things before Pedro Giardano himself. Pedro who now bore a calculative expression. Montavaro wanted to use the element of surprise for tonight. Caroline was certain that she had not included Pedro in his plans and surely he had not informed her brothers either.

Caroline swallowed down the breath she did not know she was holding in so far.

"Our families are already united," Caroline joined Giovanni. Her words came out softly but her tone was even despite the turmoil that raged inside her. Klaus slowly turned to face her. Her skin stretched over her bones. She did not take her eyes away from him as she did what she had promised herself she would. She twisted the knife deeper. So why didn't it feel good? "and we could take our time to make the wedding a grand celebration. I am sure Rebekah would want a beautiful big wedding and this can take time. Months even," she knowingly said and Klaus licked his lips. Danger and...pain was wafting around him now as he was taking in what she was truly doing," but in the mean time we could just throw a party for your engagement instead."

"Are you sure this is what you want to do, Caroline?" Klaus asked her. Gently. She understood his question even if most people in the table were not meant to.

Her eyes momentarily burned before she nodded. A sour smile appeared on Klaus' lips. It was as if the air around them was swirling violently. Choking the oxygen out of their lungs.

"Oh, but this is a great idea! Keep your business talk for yourselves but wedding and engagement preparations are things that belong to us!" Rosetta's shrill voice was pumping with enthusiasm but the world had fallen silent.

Klaus looked disappointed...defeated even. As if he had expected more from her. And he had. He had, without caring at all for what she had expected from him.

Caroline felt as if gravity was pulling her down.

It was as if there was an imaginary thread between her and Klaus and it was starting to tangle all around them. Pulling and pushing them far apart and closer at the same time. Only screaming thoughts and whispers were left in the between.

"Maybe we should discuss this another day? Maybe after the meeting," Stefan offered and Caroline finally removed her gaze from Klaus'. She felt colder somehow.

She watched the pleading gaze Stefan was giving her. As if he was afraid for her now.

'Idiot,' Caroline thought begrudgingly, trying to blink away the burning from her eyes.

Caroline inhaled deeply and somehow the scent of the food and of the wine mixed with Klaus' cologne from their close proximity suffocated her.

Her breathing hitched slightly.

"I understand that my marriage with Klaus had to happen fast but due to the mourning and Damon's rise it had to be kept relatively modest and my father's death is still fresh," she let out calmly.

Damon seemed pensive now. Elena was watching curiously as Stefan watched Caroline, with caution," but a wedding is such a... joyful occasion," Caroline told everyone, feeling something in her break. It should be a joyful occasion.

Everyone on this table knew that most often than not it was not. It wasn't for her and would not be for Rebekah who had fallen silent. She was watching Klaus with uneasiness as if she could tell that she should not push him tonight.

Weddings and funerals in their world didn't mean the same as they did for others. For some a funeral was a much happier circumstance than a marriage. The death of one meant power for another;

Everyone at this table craved power. For different reasons. She did too if it meant ensuring her safety and even a chance at freedom.

Damon always craved power too. As much as he hated their father. 'Just like Klaus,' Caroline though ironically.

"We can even use the engagement party... for establishing Damon formally as the new Head of the Salvatore family."

Damon narrowed his eyes at her bluntness and at the way she intervened in matters that no woman should have a say at but Pedro looked at Giovanni that nodded back at him. The tide was shifting. The men from the Salvatore side were now paying serious attention. This was an opportunity to establish more power for their side instead of sharing it more with the Mikaelsons.

"Mrs. Giardano could also help me. I always loved the parties you hosted in your house," Caroline told Rosetta.

Goosebumps were skittering down her body. Klaus fingers were caressing the edge of the table in front of him. Slowly. Patiently. His eyes on her.

"Thank you, sweetie. It is so rare that I get to host such events nowadays," Rosetta nagged with a nasty voice while casting a deadly glare at her husband.

"Uhm," Pedro cleared his throat, ignoring Rosetta completely, "truth is that Caroline could be right. Damon has not only inherited Giuseppe's power but also his responsibilities. As the Don he must abide to certain traditions," he peered at Montavaro who gave him the permission to continue.

"Klaus is not the Boss of your Famiglia so you could afford to skip certain obligations," Pedro said with a shaky voice addressing Mikael who now smirked pleasure as did Cantovanni and most men at the table. One more veiled insult towards Klaus.

Why did the little thorn grow more?

Damon on the other hand looked both pleased and peeved. Caroline understood that he did not appreciate her stepping in how she was but next to him it was Stefan that looked horrified.

As if he had finally understood what was happening. And he must have had since his phone was now on the side of his plate and he had just read an incoming message. Elena was asking him what was wrong but Stefan tensed up and sent a questioning gaze to Montavaro.

"What do you think….father?" Caroline finally asked Mikael directly. Calling him father while doing so.

Silence.

Unnatural silence fell over the whole room as Caroline faced Mikael himself. Mikael who had chosen to remain mostly neutral for most of the night. Because Klaus was pulling his strings and because he was pulling Klaus's strings just under his nose. With her help.

Mikael looked at Klaus with a satisfied smile.

"I agree...daughter," he then said and that word made her feel extremely uncomfortable but she kept her face straight.

Mikael sat up straighter in his chair. The other chair that resembled the one Damon was sitting on. "I think it is an excellent idea. There are some adjustments that have to be made of course but I am sure we could take care of that ...in due time," Mikael's voice as he directed his words at Klaus was pure menace, filled with contempt.

More minutes of silence followed his words as Mikael rested his elbow on the armrest of his chair and drank from his wine contently.

No one here, but her and the Mikaelsons knew that Klaus was forcing Mikael and Esther to leave Chicago. Not just Chicago. He was forcing them to leave the continent. Making sure that Mikael would have to shed more of his power as he would be forced into exile. This is how Mikael and Esther had called it in the winter garden. An exile.

An exile that would now have to be postponed. For months. Until the wedding at least. Something that Klaus wanted to ensure would not happen.

"With Salvatore Giuseppe dead," Giovanni's spoke quietly, "I realize that men like me can only rely on the honor of those that share the same code of honor and age."

Like him and Mikael, Caroline understood. Like Cantovanni and Giardano. The last elders of their houses. And Montavaro would rather accept the devil Mikael was than give anything to Klaus Mikaelson. He still owed him a debt. Retribution for Marianno.

"Unfortunately the newest generation does not share our understanding," Giovanni sighed, earning a sardonic nod from Mikael. Pedro advised with his gaze to Damon to not say anything. So did Stefan.

Klaus's nostrils flared. His perfect armor of control was finally starting to crack. He threw a warning gaze at his sister who was obviously caught between her brother and father.

"Damon is right," Klaus finally said and Damon looked incredulously at Klaus. That was probably a phrase he never expected to hear from Klaus. "This wedding is his and Rebekah's," Klaus continued," they will have to decide what they want."His every word tightly controlled, tamed the beast underneath.

"I am pretty sure they will make the right choice, my love," Caroline told Klaus sweetly.

The way Klaus now looked at her would have had made men running for their lives but for some reason she was not afraid of him. She never feared him in that way. Her fear ran deep but facing him in this way was not something that troubled her. Maybe she was an idiot or maybe she had been accustomed to people like him.

'Liar,' a voice taunted her inside her head. There were no people like Klaus.

Still she did not back down. She could smell the fear on Stefan from the other side of the table as she opposed Klaus next to her. Maybe fear had its own scent or maybe it was a sixth sense people like her had in response to living with that kind of fear in their whole lives. It was like a brand. It marked. It scarred. It became part of you. And you could recognize it anywhere.

Caroline always saw and felt fear when people were near Klaus. Stefan had that fear now. Fear for her. But she did not as she smiled at Klaus, betraying his trust while doing so. In the same way he had betrayed her trust too she had to remind herself.

"After all which girl does not want an engagement party and more so a memorable wedding?" Caroline teased and Rebekah looked at Klaus. For the first time since Caroline had gotten to know her, Rebekah Mikaelson looked...out of her element.

However, when Mikael craned his head just a tad towards her, Rebekah gave Klaus an apologetic glance before she stared down.

"We girls do enjoy the preparations and I was denied that for my wedding since it all had to happen so fast," Caroline ran her tongue over her lip," Rebekah helped with all the preparations for my wedding so she now owes me... the chance to repay her," Caroline smirked, running her fingers over the lace patterns on the intricately folded napkin next to her. Ever since her wedding with Klaus, Barbie Klaus as Damon called Rebekah, had been a nightmare to her.

'Time to repay the favor,' Caroline thought almost sadistically.

"It will be so much fun for me and Rebekah and give us an opportunity to bond. Wouldn't you agree...sister?" she asked Rebekah who now was looking at her with hateful scorn.

Both of them sharing flashes of the same memory.

Four weeks earlier.

"Did you like the arrangements tonight? I hope everything was according to your taste," Rebekah said as if she cared what Caroline thought.

"Yes, very much so. You did a beautiful job, Rebekah. I am only hoping to return the favor," she said dryly.

The two girls stared at each other. They both understood perfectly well each other's intentions.

"Maybe we should go back," Caroline said, wanting to get away from Rebekah. She started regretting leaving the celebration and even though she was smiling, internally she didn't want to spend any more time competing with the girl. She already had enough problems.

"Actually, you won't have to Caroline, you have to get ready for your…wedding night"

Caroline took a sharp breath while her face lost all color.

Rebekah motioned to the girl to come closer. When she did Rebekah smiled sweetly.

"Caroline this is Anna. She is working for us,"

"Hello Mrs. Mikaelson, " the girl said smiling.

Caroline tried to catch her breath. She didn't want to show Rebekah or anyone any signs of weakness, but she couldn't do this. She felt her body turning rigid and her heart slowing down. Each slow heartbeat was more painful than the one before.

"Hello, Anna. It's nice to meet you," she whispered without being able to look at Anna's eyes.

"Anna will escort you to my brother's bedroom so… you can get ready," Rebekah said with a knowing smile.

Caroline slowly glared at Rebekah unable to contain her disgust.

"Thank you Rebekah, for everything. And just so you know, I will never forget your kindness…sister."

With those words Caroline followed Anna unwillingly all the while feeling Rebekah glaring at her.

Their staring match continued and Caroline watched Rebekah's vexed expression almost with glee. She knew that if nothing else would work then her competitiveness alone along with her need to prove that she would not back down from a challenge would do the trick.

"I would love that, really," Rebekah clipped, looking Caroline straight in the eye and Caroline beamed.

Bingo! Rebekah just sided with Mikael.

At her side Caroline could feel the way Klaus turned rigid, however she was dead set on seeing this through.

"And Damon could get to know his fiancé better in the mean time. Right ...brother?"Caroline quipped with her most bright and... bitchy smile; One she had not used for quite some time. She then glanced between him and Elena causing Damon's Adam apple to bob up and down in his neck.

Damon shifted uncomfortably in his chair, casting a subtle glance at Elena who was silently staring down at her plate.

"Let us not get ahead of ourselves, Caroline," Stefan interjected, oblivious to the paleness that had taken over Elena's face.

'Moron,'Caroline thought.

Pedro politely coughed.

"I have no doubts it must be exciting to organize a wedding," he side-eyed his wife with an exhausted expression, "but we should not forget that this is first an alliance and-" Pedro started but Klaus rose his hand on the air.

"We should also not forget that it is Damon who is Boss", Klaus said and drops of sweat dribbled down Pedro' forehead as he almost frantically watched Damon who was now smirking, "I know it hard for some people to accept but this is the new age...and despite what any remnants of the old eras that are soon to be forgotten suggest, your Don can surely decide for himself," Klaus responded, the insults he had gotten in created an electrifying atmosphere all around," Or does he need assistance?" he easily threw the ball at Damon's court to bait him.

A heavy pause followed and Caroline watched her brother carefully as Damon leaned forward. This could all go downhill now if Damon took it all too personal and considered his influence being undermined and tried to prove differently by acting irrationally.

"Nice try. You'll need a bigger bait than that, Klaus," her brother clicked his tongue and Pedro sighed in relief. Even Montavaro looked pleased with Damon. Which was a first.

"I could find one easily, mate," Klaus assured him with arrogance and Caroline realized that both Klaus and Damon were similar. The liked danger and provoking others. Even friendly banter for them could end up in a bloodbath they would surely enjoy participating in.

"I am sure anyone could find more than one," Rebekah said with exasperation and the edge of Damon's lips tugged upward.

"Feel free to try anytime you wish, princess," Damon used his most suggestive tone that Rebekah brushed off without caring at all. Esther seemed disappointed but Rebekah's stance only seemed to amuse Damon more.

There was a groaning noise from Cantovanni who was wearing a dull expression. As if he would rather be anywhere else than here right about now.

"All this back and forth with weddings and what not has become grating," Dante tiredly piped in, "Elena, darling, be a doll and call for the desert," he grumbled but when Stefan glared at him he only added, "please."

Caroline could not help but grimace at Dante's sight which seemed to be the only way to find common ground with Rebekah who obviously shared the same disgust for the old man picking his teeth with a knife.

Elena rested her hand on top of Stefan's to assure him that she was not offended before she smiled at everyone on the table.

"Are we all finished with the main course?" she asked politely.

"I doubt it," Vinny snickered with a knowing look and even Johnny seemed amused despite the remaining tension. Elena's smile remained in place as she got up and went for the kitchen to talk to the chef.

"I hope its chocolate," Dante rubbed his belly eagerly.

Caroline watched as the servants started removing the used plates from the table. She kept her head upturned making sure to smile to the people who served her and maintain her composure.

Spiders were crawling all over her skin now curling their limbs around every inch of her. She noticed Klaus playing with his wedding ring. Slowly turning it around his finger with his thumb. It was almost hypnotic.

His gaze was like a brand on her.

"So...what is the verdict after all? I am dying for an engagement party," Rosetta yapped and Cantovanni snorted annoyed for having the same discussion brought at the table again.

"I think that Caroline's brilliant idea," Mikael articulated," will be an interesting subject for our private meeting after dinner," Mikael suggested with a deceptive croon. Caroline saw as Klaus' movement with his ring halted just for a fraction of a second. The blood coursing in her veins lost its warmth.

"Of course. Let us not forget that your marriage is also an alliance and not just a ….event. I am sure the best date will be decided," Esther diplomatically tried to avoid any more confrontations as Elena returned and soon enough the household servants started bringing in the desert.

In the middle of the commotion on the other side of the table separate discussions seemed to be happening at once in whispering tones. Her brothers were talking as were Pedro and Montavaro. Rosetta was chuckling loudly as something Dante was telling her covered the discussions of the men.

There was an aura around Klaus. This was the only way Caroline could describe it. It was as if his rage was becoming tangible. It was giving birth to darkness. He had gone still. Utterly and lethally calm while she appeared to be the same way by his side even though her heart was pounding.

She saw now how a shaken up Stefan was exchanging words with Damon that looked solemnly astonished.

Montavaro inclined his head at Stefan before he turned his attention to her and mimicked the same reaction this time for her benefit. She gasped down a sharp intake of breath when she saw recognition stirring in Klaus' eyes. It was as if he was finally waking up from the slumber she had put him in with her fake acceptance when it came to trusting him. He surely had connected the pieces from before but catching on to the direct signaling with Giovanni Montavaro, out of all the people on this table, was something different.

Something coiled inside Caroline's stomach when she dared to take a peek at him. Something akin to guilt. Something she immediately strangled and forced on a leash. Their truce was done and a chill rippled down Caroline's spine.

Klaus finally moved. It was as if this movement pushed time into motion once more. He leaned towards her, offering her a piece of his desert. A moment meant to look tender, cheesy even, but as his body came closer Caroline felt the lack of emotion.

She was facing the nightmare of the legends now. Chocolate melted in her mouth when she accepted Klaus' offer. He was watching her closely. Following every movement of her lips. Every breath. Searching for any sign that would give him the answers he wanted. As if he was trying to invade her senses. Her very mind.

"What are you doing sweetheart?' Klaus demanded. A harsh whisper just beneath his breath, it warmed the side of her neck. His lips had curled to a gentle smile. A seductive one to make everyone else consider their interaction as...safe and inconspicuous flirting even though by now almost everyone knew that it was not.

She locked her gaze with his. Ice and fire clashed. His blue eyes seemed almost black now. Fathomless.

Despite the fierce anger that lit both of them from inside out, Caroline mastered a carefully expressionless visage. She twisted her body closer to him. Their faces almost touching. She could not turn away. Something told her that neither could he. The whispers, the murmurs, the sounds from the table vanished.

Caroline then smiled. She could not remember ever evoking this hard of a smile smile in her entire existence. She knew he was waiting for it. For her to devour his 'good will' raw and spit it back to his face.

And so she did.

"I know that this isn't easy for you," she said softly, "but if we don't try this is going to be even more difficult for both of us" she repeated his words, the exact words, from their wedding night. The night he had the upper hand. The night he did not touch her but declared her his possession.

Klaus' frowned at her before he snapping back as if electricity had hit him.

Champagne started flowing. Filling tall crystal flutes.

Caroline took a sip allowing the bubbly iciness to break through the heat that seemed to spread into the rush of her blood like liquid wildfire. She did not care that she was mixing red wine with champagne.

She only knew that if Klaus believed that this was the main course soon he would realize that this had only been the appetizer.

She might not have been allowed to yield a gun before but she knew war was waged as much at formal events as it was outside of them. The first part was set in motion and the second was coming. She looked at the clock again.

Close to midnight.

Giovanni Montavaro pushed his chair back. Despite his years, there was still elegance in his lean body. He picked up his glass of champagne demanding everyone's attention.

Everyone picked their glasses.

"When Giuseppe first mentioned his idea for marrying Caroline into the Mikaelson family, I considered him to have gone insane," Giovanni began his toast.

"Didn't we all?" Cantovanni mumbled, earning some soft chuckles from all around.

"And when Damon honored that deal I feared the worst. Too much bad blood. However, Caroline tonight assures us that she has been treated...well," he acknowledged."And here she is. A grown woman. A lady of her own right fighting for our traditions. Trying to unite us. Supporting us. Supporting her husband," he raised his glass higher, continuing his old fashioned speech that more and more was turning into a lecture.

Montavaro sounded just like Mikael had when he publicly spoke at her wedding table, declaring to everyone that she was his daughter and would be under his protection. Mikael and Giovanni might have been enemies for years but they were made from the same cloth.

"Maybe it is time to close old wounds. Maybe even build new bridges. You have one more son. I have a daughter," Giovanni addressed Mikael who gave him a curt nod.

Caroline tried not to flinch. The idea that there was any kind of day where Dana would be given to that lunatic Kol was making bile coil inside her stomach. Thankfully she was sure that despite all pretenses, Montavaro would rather burn his whole lineage to the ground than unite his blood with Klaus' family.

"I would be honored to invite your blood into my family," Mikael smirked and Caroline almost gawked at the double meaning of his words. Klaus' eyes turned to slits.

"But for that to happen...for me to even consider it," Montavaro paused before an actual smile appeared on his face. And Giovanni only smiled when his finger was caressing his gun's trigger, "some concessions would have to be made. So far only our side has given you tribute. Giuseppe's only daughter," Giovanni pointed his glass to the tribute. Her.

"The Don's sister," Pedro quickly added, making sure to include her worth in comparison to Damon's power. It was as if Mikael and Montavaro, men of the old world, had sidelined Damon and Klaus completely. One more statement.

Of course the fact that they talked about her as if she was a trophy to be given as tribute was only normal and a fact for them.

She gripped her glass so hard it almost cracked.

Montavaro gave a respectful nod to Damon, accepting Pedro's words, before turning his attention back to Mikael. Before he could speak, Klaus' voice ricocheted in the room.

"You speak of concessions when we are ready to give my sister to your side. The daughter of the Boss of the Famiglia to your leader. Traditions and all," Klaus blatant irony was enough to break bones and shutter minds.

Rebekah face contorted in fury but no one bothered to notice.

Despite their antagonism, Caroline saw herself in Rebekah. They were bargaining her away as they had her. They were acting as if she was a commodity to be given from one man to another and she had no say in that. Caroline could see that Rebekah's glass was at the verge of breaking too.

"This is why we would both need to see how this truce is actually treating us on fair ground. We would need to see how both sides operate...from within," Giovanni concluded, enunciating the last word and Klaus' father conceded with a bow of his head. Easily. So very easily.

Klaus head snapped to Mikael.

"A talk to have in the council in a few minutes. No reason to bother the lovely ladies with such boring conversation," Pedro quickly lisped.

"Indeed it would be...dreadful," Caroline pointedly said, making Klaus slowly turn to face her.

Her words were accompanied by the sound of a soft bleep and the subtle echo of vibration.

Klaus's phone. Soon to be joined by a similar sound from Mikael's phone. Mikael completely ignored it, his eyes gleaming sarcastically.

"You should probably check your phone," Caroline suggested and Klaus narrowed his eyes as he reached for his phone.

The screen's light illuminated Klaus face when he read the incoming message.

Caroline could have sworn that Klaus had gone silent for a long moment but in truth, only seconds had passed. Still a lifetime stretched in those seconds, every beat of passing moment crucial as the truth unraveled in front of the blue eyes who watched the message in the bright phone screen.

Klaus grip around the phone tightened. Just barely. A ghost of movement as his muscles controlled the grasp so not to show his surprise and worry to everyone that watched his reaction carefully. Caroline saw it however and somehow she also felt it. A jolt of shock but most of all anger. A flooding river of it threatening to burst out of the dam. Klaus instantly rose.

It was a tangible emotion that passed from him straight to her. Like a shot in the dark. The flash of light from a bullet ready to shatter through bone and flesh and blast away blood.

And despite all the assurances she had gotten from Mikael and Giovanni and despite her own unyielding resolve when Klaus' eyes momentarily glazed with rage and when he went still Caroline spine became as unbending as an iron ruler.

One steady breath and her husband next to her quickly texted back before he gracefully put his phone back into the pocket of his jacket and angled his head towards her. The murder she expected to see in his eyes was missing, however. Klaus was utterly and lethally calm as he surveyed her. Something turned inside Caroline. Something she immediately strangled and forced in a leash.

Something so similar to guilt adding more thorns she quickly plucked out.

Their truce was done and a chill rippled down Caroline's skin. Like bugs crawling over a web that shrouded her. A web that trapped her into becoming the meal for the beast that now was waking up. Still no matter the promise of danger looming over her, Caroline held Klaus' stare. And did not back down. Not even at the briefest of nods he gave her. The one that only told her one thing. Challenge accepted.

There would be no more trust to give or to be given anymore. Clear beyond any shadow of a doubt, there never was.

---

'Montavaro raided the southeast storage. I can't get to it. Salvatore men are gathering outside the house right now. Armed.'

Recognition dawned in Klaus' eyes when he read Kol's message. But it was not until he realized that Mikael did not even bother to check his phone that the picture finally cleared for him. This whole night had been...a distraction. From start to finish.

'Bloody hell!' he thought. It was all staged. The whole thing was a set up.

In order to ensure his stay, Mikael had betrayed them and allied himself with his enemies using Caroline...his Caroline...as a bridge.

Montavaro's men had raided one of his gun stores and he could do nothing. Absolutely nothing. Not when it was him that had given them a free pass.

Four weeks ago

"Stefan is at the docks as we speak, he is arranging the last details. The shipment is arriving tonight," he said while looking at the elders. This was a first step. Damon just gave information that he would never share it the past.

It was then that Klaus took charge. He straightened his body and looked directly at Damon ignoring all others including Mikael.

"As a gesture of good will you can place it in our storages." His voice held a finality that provoked most of the men in the room.

Damon's smirk was a rival of Klaus's. People started whispering, all of them divided until Mikael spoke out loud surprising them all.

"It is needless to say that our storages and everything else that belongs to us will be always at your disposal from this day forward."

Klaus nodded and Damon accepted with a nod of his own.

Klaus bit his tongue so not to swear out loud. They were expecting for him to lose his temper. To lose more face tonight. Mikael was publically the Boss but this was a direct hit to him and he could not retaliate or even prevent it. Not tonight, certainly, and surely not with force.

This was show of power.

'Salvatore men were gathering outside his house.' Kol had texted him.

'Armed.'

There had to be more to it.

Icy fury ran in his bloodstream. So cold that it turned to flame and boiled his blood. He felt his fingers tingling. Itching to kill something.

All night had been a bust. An ambush. From Rebekah's wedding getting rescheduled for months later in order to tie Mikael like an anchor to him and straight to the raid and the siege of his house.

He should have seen it coming from a mile away and he hadn't. There were signs. He had missed them. Completely.

He got...distracted. By a beautiful scent and a smile.

Caroline.

She did this.

She used Mikael as much as he used her. It was not just her showing where her allegiances lay. It was more. There had to be an endgame he was still missing. Whatever it was ,Caroline tonight drew her line in the sand. It was over.

All that he had tried to build with her. It was all over.

The scent changed now. It did not recall longing. It did not soothe him inside. It smelled like gasoline. Gasoline ready to combust with the whisper of a lit match.

His fingers twitched. Caroline's eyes were trained on him now. And his anger turned to restless fury. Such a savage fury that gripped him tightly. Tight enough that his control kicked in.

'Stay put.' Klaus texted back and pocketed his phone in the inside of his suit jacket. He inhaled Caroline's sweet fragrance once more. It excited him so unbelievably before and now it violently cut him deep inside.

He watched her.

She was so very beautiful. The light from the candles bounced off her face, giving it an almost golden hue, highlighting the green of her eyes even more.

They were treading in a very volatile place now. He was staring at the face of adamant determination now. She was not afraid of him. She showed no fear as she rejected everything he wanted to give her. As he stabbed him in the back. The face of a traitor.

He licked his lips slowly. Trying to regain his control. Falling for Caroline's distraction meant giving her the upper hand. He could not allow this to continue.

He could pretend as if this was youth and inexperience but it was not. Caroline knew what she was doing. She was obstinate and uncompromising. She was fully aware of the consequences and more so, she did not regret them.

"Trust should be build upon...equal compromise," Montavaro continued, a gleam in his eyes as he inspected Klaus' every move from the moment he picked up his phone, "should it not?"

That son of a bitch believed he could exact retribution. For his son. From the looks of it one of Caroline's intended suitors before his...accident.

Granted he had sent that kid straight to a wheel chair but he never granted killing shots to barely made men who were practically kids and thirsty for blood when they did not even know how to properly use a gun.

Marianno was marked for death the moment Finn hit the ground but he was an idiot coming into Kol's territory and then throwing himself over one of his men as if he would rather die than see that soldier hurt. He had lowered his defenses, opening himself to the mercy of stray bullets. He was still clutching on to that soldier's dead body for dear life when Kol had found the opportunity to drag that bleeding boy straight to him.

And he could not have afforded to look weak.

Not when Mikael had given the order. Not when his brother had died by Montavaro's men.

It was not as if he was that close to Finn but he was still his brother.

Still, he knew from the start that if Marianno survived he would never be able walk again anyway. He took an opportunity. One to save the kid's life while also showing cruelty and disobeying Mikael without losing ground. So the stray bullet became known to the world as a deliberate shot. His shot.

That kid's fate would serve as a reminder of what happened to those that dared go up against him and his family.

A reminder Montavaro never forgot and neither did anyone else.

"Compromise," Klaus replied, his voice veiled with threat, "depends on a kind of trust and only if it is worth it," he directed his answer straight at Caroline, "if it is...true."

Her face turned up to his and met his probing gaze.

He had seen fragile men and strong men retreat when they had to face him after knowing they had wronged him but Caroline was wholly simmering with intensity from head to toe.

"It is… if it is given freely," Caroline's underlined message was clear.

He gritted his teeth. She would never...compromise. She would never yield and if this night proved anything it was that she was not only contemplating his demise. She was ready to strike. In cold blood.

There was a mean streak running underneath that beauty and if anything it was giving her light another kind of glow. One that gazed upon turned men to stone.

"To trust," Giovanni Montavaro toasted.

"To trust," joined a symphony of voices, except his and Caroline's and everyone saluted and drank from their glasses.

Klaus mockingly titled his glass towards hers before they drank too. The taste of champagne turned to acid on his tongue. Her gaze was burning above the rim of her glass as she titled her head back. The diamonds shining on her neck and wrist.

"It seems we have plenty to talk about but personally I would rather finish Elena's desert first" Pedro tried to defuse the tension for the thousandth time tonight with his incessant voice.

"I hope you liked the cake," Elena smiled awkwardly while she kept cautiously watching the scene at the table. Stefan next to her was a guarded presence.

Despite the anger that was strangling him, Klaus almost shook his head. He could not believe he had almost ended up being married to that doe eyed frail girl. One who both Salvatore men were moronically drooling at.

She was nothing like her cousin. Or like...Caroline. She had no backbone. No voice. No fire. He would have been bored with her from day one but at least a weakling like her would have been easy to handle. She would have never betrayed him like Caroline did tonight. And should she had even tried, she wouldn't have succeeded.

His life would have been easier. Caroline had been tempting him. His stark desire to seduce her had blinded him. She had turned him... weak.

'Damn her,' he thought, fighting down the screaming voice and the sensation of suffocation as Caroline's perfume taunted him. As Mikael's mocking glares reminded him even more of her betrayal.

It was happening now. As he sat at this table doing nothing. Bound.

His eyes roamed Caroline's profile, her silhouette wrapped in silk and his gifts.

Because of her. All this happened because of her.

She did not need his protection, she had decided. She wanted to see him on his knees. Pure menace she was and for the first time he felt as if he was facing a worthy opponent.

"Who doesn't," Damon joked along Pedro for finishing the desert, eating from Elena's cake, "after all we have time to speak business at the council meeting in a while,"the 'Don' said, authority coloring his voice and for the first time tonight, Klaus could finally hear that it was the Boss talking and even Caroline gave him the barest of nods. One that Damon not only accepted with a smile but with a small toast of his glass towards hers.

Yes. Indeed. He should show gratitude to his wife who sided with him after all and maybe his authority would stand more chances of blooming if he did not depend so much on Caroline's machinations and Montavaro's games under the table.

Caroline and Montavaro were working together. With his father. Klaus emptied his glass with one gulp and another servant came to re-fill it.

"Oh, is it your mother's recipe sweetie?"Rosetta wheezed.

"Yes, Mrs. Giardano," Elena answered kindly.

Klaus heard the interaction and watched as Caroline played with her desert. He was not a fool to believe there was even a hint of guilt inside her for what she had done but despite everything that happened Klaus wanted nothing more than to drown Rosetta Giardano in one of the fountains outside.

Ever since she had the audacity to offend Caroline his insides were screaming at him to tear the Spider's wife apart. Piece by piece until her grating voice would be silenced.

This was one more reason why Pedro was tentatively throwing fearful glances at him after his wife's indiscretion.

The moment he had felt Caroline stiffening next to him was the moment he had wanted to defend her honor. To protect her. It was the moment he realized that this was not happening for the first time.

Damon was treating Caroline as if she was a nuisance and people seemed to be following his lead. It was going far further than simple sibling discord.

The way Damon was indirectly, and many times with his rude behavior directly, inciting a hostile environment for Caroline in this house and was giving a free pass for his people to taunt her was making him see red.

And Caroline had decided to side with ...her brother! To betray him for Damon Salvatore!

What angered him even more was that he was still mad with these people for insulting Caroline even in the slightest. Anyone daring to do it again and he knew that he would direct his anger straight to them.

Caroline's hurt feelings should be the last of his problems and he should not even think about it and yet he still did. When he should relish in her pain, he wanted to kill those that caused it.

Even now.

Because she was his he tried to convince himself. And whoever insulted her now was sending a direct insult to him, Klaus tried to defend the way he felt. It was because she was his possession. His wife. It had nothing to do with her as a person.

That would not be possible. Not for a man like him. Not when she had crossed him like this.

She sided with Mikael and her head was still attached to her neck.

With Mikael. She had sided with Mikael.

It was just starting to set in. She was not even realizing the danger she was in. She did not even understand what she had set in motion.

'Worse,' a little voice echoed in his mind.

She did. But she did not care. She did not care either for what she had caused or for...him.

She did not care for him.

And after the anger the hurt came. In waves.

"The dinner was indeed superb, Elena. I am sure the desert will be the same," Klaus heard his mother praise Elena and smiling at the younger woman.

Maybe it would have been preferable. Marrying a woman like Elena. Locking her away with his mother and moving on with his life.

He had even protected Caroline from his own mother and this is how she repaid him.

"I am glad you like it, Mrs. Mikaelson," Elena accepted the compliment with grace.

Rebekah snorted and Esther gave her a scolding shake of her head but he could not help but agree with his sister. This whole dinner was tedious as much as Elena was.

"Superb hospitality too," Rebekah mocked with a saccharine voice that made him tense.

Caroline had used Rebekah too in her attempt to stall an unwanted marriage getting her to side with their father instead of him.

"And we would like nothing more than to return the favor. I would love to invite you all to our house for lunch this weekend. I am sure Caroline would love to be your gracious host as my son's wife," Esther proposed and Klaus saw how Caroline smiled. A smile that did not reach her eyes.

"Oh...I would love to," Caroline warmly accepted and the sound sounded so fake to his ears that he almost smiled. He was certain that she would prefer to actually gauge out her eyes than host a dinner at his house as his wife and truth to be told so would he. Especially after tonight.

He looked at the clock on the wall as did everyone else. Five minutes to midnight.

He resisted the urge to check his phone. He knew already that the missing pieces of Caroline's little game would get solved in the council in a few minutes.

Montavaro would claim his concessions and Mikael would accept them. And if he had to keep up the appearances, he would have to accept getting undermined.

"Then it is settled," Mikael said and the edge of his lip curved up as he pointed a satisfied look at Klaus before he rose his glass again, challenging him to refuse to fall in line.

Klaus grit his teeth and reached for his glass.

All the glasses were raised. Incessant blessings and more fake toasts followed. Vows blessed in blood and promises for ties between families and yet Klaus gripped the crystal so hard that he had to control his strength to not break the glass in his hand. Silence covered his mind like a black shroud, drowning out all noise. The only thing that lingered was the rage.

The rage and Caroline who was sitting next to him. Peaceful as if she had not just unleashed hell on him.

He had been so careful ever since he had buried Elijah's memory to the shadows. Every step calculated like the inner workings of a clockwork mechanism. He had not shed all this blood for nothing. He had not orchestrated everything down to the last detail just to hit a dead end. He had been patient. He had waited. He even let go of the memory of the woman he once loved and anchored himself to Caroline to gain more leverage against Mikael. He used the Triad to open the path for the Lockwood's to enter his domain only to depower Mikael and force Giuseppe's and Damon's hand and out of nowhere a college student decided to play the cloak and dagger game and one up him at his own game and more so she...succeeded. Damn her, tonight Caroline succeeded.

Postponing Mikael's leave was a threat that could set back his plans for years. Mikael had to die in foreign ground by natural causes. Soon.

And now, Mikael would remain here and grant more power to Damon and Montavaro just so to depower him.

Everyone at this damn table had plotted against him. Backing Mikael and throwing him in a corner. Montavaro had craved retaliation for years and from the looks of it Mikael had made a very profitable deal with him.

One that Caroline not only knew but also put in motion. Her ties with Giovanni ran deep it would seem. A little girl barely out of her family's protective cocoon had wrapped around her little finger the honorary Don of the Outfit in ways that would definitely twist his plans.

Montavaro's concessions and Mikael's stay could only mean one thing.

He was about to lose control and power tonight.

Time would run out on him.

Klaus did not know what was promised between them but he knew that he would not like what was about to unravel tonight in the council and he would be unable to refuse. Not if he wanted to maintain the balance he wanted. And Caroline knew it. She had found a weakness and she had exploited it. Not only that but she was about to show to everyone she had.

He would seem weak. If he denied Montavaro then he would not be able to use his marriage with Caroline to his advantage since this truce could not only be one sided; on the other hand, it would look to the Famiglia as if Mikael was still able to take charge against him and no one would accept a weak leader.

Caroline also knew this and used it to her advantage. If, however, he went along with Montavaro and more so Mikael's plans then his father would use this opportunity to rise again and to give to the Salvatores the chance to sideline him. Something that everyone in his territory would come to realize and then they would once again turn to Mikael instead of him. It was a dead end no matter where he looked.

He had to gain some time. To think clearly. To find alternatives and a way out of this mess.

His house was under siege and Kol was trapped inside. He did not know the difference of their forces and how many men they had against Montavaro's. He did not even know the exact damage to the warehouse. It would take hours if not days in order to actually calculate the actual damage.

He was sure that whatever Montavaro was promised would be obvious - at least to the surface- and would be a bloody public statement.

One that Caroline was also making tonight.

And she betrayed him. She planned this tonight, whatever this would turn out to be. Not only had she managed to stall Mikael's exile but she had managed to hypnotize Klaus into a false sense of certainty. She looked straight into his eyes and ...lied.

This was premeditated. Damon and Montavaro were on the same page with her but even Damon was ambushed into this. All evening she was pulling their strings. Even her hostility with Damon and Rebekah was meant to distract him.

Caroline had played him like a fool. Along with everyone else at this bloody table.

He did not even have to wonder how she had gotten into contact with Montavaro to plan this when her every move in his house was monitored.

She had assistance. Mikael was looking like a cat that had eaten the canary and it was Caroline that had fed him.

Even the idea of Caroline and Mikael making plans behind his back and being close enough to do so was throwing his sanity into pieces in black wind.

Klaus blocked out all the noises and pointless discussions at the table and stared at Mikael who was giving him a depraved smile in return. Klaus gripped the crystal harder as Mikael raised his own in a silent mockery of a toast.

Klaus braced himself when Caroline drank in honor of Mikael's toast. He did not know what he would be able to do after tonight. This could not be left unanswered.

All he knew was that the sting of betrayal ignited his wrath. Never ending wrath and the seeds exploded like embers and Klaus felt their burn. If he was not tied down by alliances and conventions, he would go out and paint the city red. He craved carnage. He wanted to massacre gangs and traitors and to contain his anger before he lashed out with no control. He had been so close to gaining everything. He had been so close to getting rid of Mikael. He had stripped from him all his power inside the Famiglia but now he clung to the Salvatore branch using Caroline as his failsafe. Caroline who chose to side with his greatest enemy, instead of him. He who had shown her nothing but patience and kindness. He who had shown her nothing but respect. Respect and mercy. More mercy than he had ever shown to anyone else. Mercy that no one ever gave him. Not even her. Her. A Salvatore down to the marrow.

Kol had been right. She was not to be trusted. No matter what he would do for her. What he was ready to give to her. She would never side with him.

His eyes scanned Caroline. This time under a new light. He refused to acknowledge the inklings of pride when he realized that she had actually pulled this off tonight. No, she would not distract him again.

His eyes roved over her figure slowly. Right now he was seizing up a worthy opponent and he realized his mistake. He had seen the signs. The morning after their wedding he had seen her sharp mind and her potential for darkness. He had seen it but then he ignored it because for the last few weeks Caroline wrapped herself in a veil of apathy that was designed in a way to purposely make her look innocent and harmless. He had thought that he was the one responsible for killing her light and that living with them and not trusting him was slowly hurting her and turning her into the docile wife he originally thought he wanted to have but in the last few weeks he had come to realize he hated that when it came to Caroline. He wanted the woman he had seen on their wedding night. The strong, beautiful and fierce woman that stood up to him and faced him with pride and light when he thought he had scared her into meek submission but it was the opposite. He had gotten that woman. To the tenfold. Caroline's light had not faded. Caroline dimmed it and used the opportunity to study him. To study his family. To make plans. And there was only one reason one made such plans and crafted profiles and strategic moves that where meant to become a surprise attack. Caroline was ready to wage war. And she had picked her side. Tonight she was declaring which part of the battlefield she belonged to.

He had asked for her trust and he wanted her to grant him her favor so much he allowed himself to be deceived by her. By her eyes and by his unexplained need to make her smile and keep her close to him. To make her his.

But he had forgotten that trust had to be earned and now Caroline was not just for him to make smile. She was his wife.

That made her a Mikaelson. And everyone knew that Mikaelsons were not to be trusted.

He had underestimated her and he was paying the price now. Caroline just proved to him what he always knew. Women were more dangerous than shotguns. And in this case, Caroline was far more efficient and lethal. She pulled his strings, becoming the perfect distraction.

Caroline went, saw and conquered and all that with seemingly harmless antics. He had anticipated some kind of reaction from her for weeks now but he had not seen this coming. Not this. And he was only scratching the surface of what his wife had planned for tonight.

He lifted his glass higher. Joining the toast with the vipers who after years of waiting went straight for the strike, relishing his defeat and humiliation.

But it was only one particular brand of poison that rotted him from the inside out. It was set in the green eyes that glazed with defiance as Caroline clinked her glass against the crystal he was holding. Their wedding rings reflecting their shine in the bubbles of the champagne in their glasses.

A feral grin appeared on Klaus lips, perfectly covering the maelstrom of fury Caroline's treachery sparked inside him. It raged and burned but he reigned over it as their gazes clashed and the rest of the world faded.

War. This was war. In all fronts. The pieces had moved in the chessboard tonight and he had to revaluate his moves.

One thing was certain. Tonight, for the first time in years, he was not three steps ahead. He had lost one of his pieces to the Queen. Because this was what Caroline was. She was the Queen piece he had used as a pawn and now she was returning the favor.

Check mate.

---

To revenge, to resolve
To be longed for, I am here.

Sometimes I justify the words I spill
Like secret angels they test your will
Outside my troubles are over
But in your eyes the melody is frozen

---

A/N: So...hi. I am back.

I know it has been a while -understatement- but truth is that I had lost inspiration for this story even though I always wanted to write more. I do not know how many of you that used to read the story are still here but for all of you that still are interested...I hope that you enjoyed this chapter.

I know this was a very, very, long chapter but truth is that the original chapter was almost 60.000 words in 208 pages. So I broke it in half. I would break it in three parts but since I have not updated for so long I just put the 2/3 of the chapter at once.

Anyway thank you for reading and thank you for still sticking around and pushing me to write again. I truly appreciate it.