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Elijah Mikaelson was having excellent, classic taste. Caroline, for sure, tried to shut her mouth while gaping at the things in the living room. She was told to sit down and to wait for some time. Meanwhile, a cup of coffee was offered which she rejected smoothly.

Then he walked into the room, Elijah Mikaelson. He appeared like a busy man with calls and the brunette lady assistant running behind him with a file in her hands.

He did register her presence in the room and stopped right in front of her. When he finally ended the call, he spoke still looking at his mobile screen. "Miss Forbes, you are late by two hours."

"Yeah, that." Caroline let out an awkward chuckle in response.

Elijah glanced at her from his phone, lifted a brow. "I expected Tyler would have informed you about such things." Caroline stiffened a smile as he went on. "Anyway." Placing his mobile into the pocket, he shifted attention to her face wholly. "Since you've delayed, you didn't get a chance to meet Hope, my niece, before she left for school. She'll return in the evening. Meanwhile you can settle down and have a look at your residence."

Oh, she was going to live in here!

"All the arrangements will be done at the guest-house." He said, his voice was still impassive. Bubble of hope was smashed so cruelly. Caroline internally growled in disappointment. "It may take a day or two. The rest will be informed by Miss Pierce." He pointed at the brunette standing next to him, who was having similar kind of expression on her face.

Caroline was going to be bored to death.


"Hope." Marcel tapped at the photograph after he placed it down on the table in front of Klaus.

Quickly his gaze landed on the picture of his daughter. A five-year-old girl was seen smiling freely in Elijah's arms. That brought a frown to his face. It was supposed to be his duty; Elijah was in his place.

She got her mother's hair and his eyes. Unlike him, the pair of blue orbs were so full of innocence though.

Marcel spoke about her lifestyle, how she was guarded to every place she would go. Klaus couldn't help but feel content thinking how much care and effort Elijah had spent for Hope.

"And this is Caroline." Marcel placed another photograph. "Newly appointed caretaker."

Unemotionally Klaus stared at the blonde's picture for more than five seconds, nothing ran in his mind particularly. Beauty, that's all he thought.

"Shame we have to kill her." He purred a minute later, another thought.

"Not necessarily." Marcel came up. Klaus waited to listen the rest. "We can bribe her."

"You know her?" The boss questioned got confirmed with a shrug.

The tan skinned male took a glance at her picture and smirked. "I'm sure you're aware of Bill Forbes and his insane methods of survival." Klaus had to go down to memory lane to recall Bill. He was familiar, yeah.

"He's mental." Klaus stated, recalling his methods to get things done. Years ago that insane old man came in Klaus's way only to get kicked out. Things weren't fine between them, but Bill had learned to stay put.

"And she's his daughter."

Irritation rose in him. "I don't want to deal with anyone's stupidity right now, Marcel. I have more important things in my hands."

"Trust me, she can be useful." Klaus glared at Marcel. "We don't have to kill a caretaker and send someone else in her place while we could get her to do our work." He defended himself.

Klaus inhaled loudly as he shot silent daggers in Marcel's way and muttered. "Whatsoever."


"Hi, Miss Forbes." Hope Mikaelson greeted Caroline with a welcoming smile.

Great. Well mannered, polite kid? So horrifying.

"Hey there." She muttered back and eyed the brunette assistant who was standing at the door, watching with no emotion. Perhaps she was here to check Caroline's behaviour with the kid. It couldn't get any worse. "I thought my duty is to look only after this kid, Katherine."

Then the brunette smiled, a feline like one. "Oh, you know the reason." She replied. "I shall observe your behavior and report it to my boss. He's very specific about the environment around Hope." Caroline wanted to roll eyes. Katherine handed over documentation and smirked slyly.

"What's this?" Caroline skimmed the black lines. "Rules and regulations?" She muttered in pure disbelief.

Rule number one: No cursing in the premises.

Rule number two: No drugs shall be consumed in front of the child.

Rule number three

Four

Five

And the list went on and on, leaving Caroline at a whole new level of madness.

She felt like she would die from the absence of fun. All those rules gave her enough migraine for the rest of evening and a "Fuck me!" escaped from her mouth. So, she decided to hit the local bar and drink half of the place.

Tyler hated her this much? She didn't know.

Caroline dumped herself into scotch and thought to ignore everything for some time. And that's when a familiar voice filled her ears.

"You are alone?" The tan guy strode to her table and sat without asking for permission. "I'm surprised." His grin was pure and eyes were twinkling.

She knew this man, but failed to recall his name.

"We met at a party, Sinclair's night club."

Caroline's eyes were wide in realization. "Yes, yes!"

She had gone wild that night while partying hard. There she met him and surprised to see he was as crazy as her. He gave his name, too.

"Marcel!" She said out loud, snapped her fingers. "Nice to see you again, man!" Her mood altered soon after that.

"Of course. And I never thought I had to see you again in these conditions."

She asked, arching a brow. "What do you mean?"

Marcel shrugged and explained the reason for him showing up this night. Hope. Caroline listened to him, a bit surprised by the end and pondered about it.

Then breaking the silence, she muttered. "You're practically asking me to put myself in danger."

"If you don't, then you are as good as dead." Responded a stranger with thick accent. Caroline rolled eyes at the threat and watched as the dirt blonde man sat next to Marcel.

A pair of ocean blues met stormy blues.

For moment there, Caroline genuinely forgot her surroundings, focusing entirely on the striking new man in front of her. A ghost of smile was playing on his lips as he watched her. She couldn't help but imagine his plum lips running on her favorite spots.

He was hot. So hot that left her drooling, for next few seconds.

"Either way you are in danger." He continued, brought her back to the land of living. Arrogance oozed from his tone. "Caroline." A little shiver of pleasure crept down the length of her spine.

Pulling herself, she purred. "Elijah has an impressive number of connections. He could crush your existence without blinking."

True. Tyler bragged about Elijah so much.

That definitely wounded the man's ego. Marcel, on the other hand, was intrigued looking between them.

"So have I." The man retorted, eyes glued to her face, his nostrils were flaring. "And I would truly enjoy beginning my stampede with you, love."

Men and their ego.

For some reasons, that warning brought a smile to Caroline's face. "I'm sorry, but who are you?" A little insult, a little interest.

"Well, Caroline." Marcel barged in. "Meet Klaus. Klaus Mikaelson. The biological father of Hope."

"Mikaelson?" She eyed Klaus as if he was her personal brand of candy.

No. Candy is for kids. She was an adult. He was her scotch.

"Yeah. He returned from the prison recently and want to get his daughter back."

The glaring fest continued between Klaus and Caroline. Unemotionally he gazed at her before he ordered bourbon for himself.

A perplexed Caroline was having so many questions whirling in her head. She picked one of them and asked. "Then go and claim your daughter. Why do you need me anyway?"

"Hope is being guarded day and night. Except for the name of the school, her birthday and other few useless details we didn't get more information about her." Marcel explained. Caroline stole a glance from Klaus and finished her scotch. "We need someone to bring us more."

Caroline threw an uninterested look at the men and ordered another drink. "Boring plan. I thought there would be some action." Her gaze fell upon Klaus whose expression was impassive and she challenged. "Looks like you have no guts at all."

Klaus gritted teeth, his temper rose second after second. "Looks like Elijah has to find another caretaker."

"Oh, mark me down as scared." She sang with a smirk, not giving a damn about his threat. Chuckling quietly, she glanced at Marcel. "If I accepted, then what's in it for me?"

"Name your price." Klaus grumbled, took a swig of his drink.

"Two million dollars." She responded hastily, only to see his reaction.

"Three million if you survived till the end." Klaus dared her.

He was sure about killing her. He had no idea about her surviving techniques, she laughed inwardly.

Klaus Mikaelson. She inhaled deeply, staring at him with a dreamy smile. "Your offer, Klaus, is as tempting as you." She mumbled, bringing the notch of the glass to her mouth.

His grumpy look faded gradually. First he squinted at her words, then realization hit him hard and then he barely smiled. Caroline was sure he was suppressing his amusement, but his eyes didn't lie.

"Count me in." She whispered, averting gaze to Marcel who was quietly observing. Once she was on her feet, she threw pointed look at both of them. "And, oh, if it means to give my life in the name of your kid, Klaus, then don't expect I would be a noble lady."

"No one is expecting either." Klaus didn't take much to answer. "Report me on weekly basis."

"Good to know we are on the same page." She smirked. "Pay for my drinks, guys. Bye!"

Twirling on her heel, she left the place, leaving Klaus to roll eyes.

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