The Devil In Me

Chapter 31

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"Looking for heaven, found a devil in me"

Florence and the Machine - Shake it out

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"Lord Mikaelson, are you well?" Caroline asked hesitantly as she sat down opposite the forbidding looking man behind the desk. The study was dark, long shadows dancing over the book shelves, licking up the walls and brushing the high ceilings.

"Quite well my dear, I see you got my letter" he said, watching as she pulled it from her pocket.

"I did, and I thank you for the kind words, however, I would still prefer my husband was not told" she said, watching for a hint of an emotion from Mikael, yet there was nothing, he was a wall of blankness.

"Because of you, my daughter Rebekah is very happy, very happy indeed" he murmured, and Caroline wondered how much he had actually drank, as he seemed more lucid than she had imagined.

"I suppose you are my daughter too now, though I struggle to think of you as one" he said, and his eyes trailed over her for a long moment. Caroline shifted uncomfortably, suddenly aware of her own vulnerability before this man. She swallowed and smiled.

"That shall come, I imagine, given time" she said lightly.

"Ah yes, time, perhaps with time, I shall see you less as a woman, a temptation, and more as a daughter, perhaps... given time, perhaps I shall forget how you have tried to trick me" he said, and at his casual words and studied indifference, she froze. Fear ran up her spine as she sat rigidly, her hands going to cradle her swollen belly.

"I do not know what you speak of" she started, only to be shocked into silence as Mikael hurled his glass against the wall and roared out,

"Lie to me no more! Or I swear you shall pay for it!" Caroline rushed to her feet, and started to back toward the door, but he was faster than her, already rounding his desk, his face suffused with an eery calm, he stalked her back toward her chair, until she was forced to sit down.

"Make yourself comfortable, Lady Mikaelson, for I have not given you permission to leave" he said darkly, and braced his arms on her chair, leaning forward as he spoke.

"I do not need your permission to leave, my lord, and I shan't ask for it" she said forcefully as she went to stand, and gasped as his hard grip descended on her arms, and he squeezed her, hard, pulled her closer to him, closer still, until only a hairs breath was left between them. Her heart was pounding, her palms slick with fear, yet, as always, she raised her chin and met his gaze steadily.

"You shall abide me, girl, I have broken stronger women than you before, and they were not in such a... delicate position as you... you would do well to be nicer to me" he said, and suddenly threw her back into the chair. The wooden back jarred her and she fell silent as he stalked away from her, grabbing a letter from the desk, he threw it at her. She flinched and turned her face away as he grabbed the letter from where it had fallen and brought it to her face. As she continued to resist, he crouched beside her and gripped her chin hard, forcing her head around.

"Read it" he said, and crushed her jaw more as she refused. Finally, feeling her teeth ache she began to read.

It was all there, the deal with the lawyer, the conditions, even the day she had signed it. He knew everything, it would seem, he knew she had betrayed him. As she finished, she watched him walk back around to his side of the desk, where he sat down, a little too calmly and steepled his fingers, looking at her over the top of them.