Desperate

Chapter 6

Another few weeks went by before Vlad was informed that his house was finished being rebuilt. He honestly couldn't wait to move back in; the hotel he was staying in was a standard home compared to his mansion.

He parked in front of his house and stared up at the beautiful mansion in front of him, sighing in content that it looked exactly as it had before the tornado struck. He opened the driver's car door and stepped out then handed his keys to the Valet. While his employee was stepping into his car, he opened the back door and took out little Elizabeth from her car seat. She yawned, blinking as she tried to wake up after the long drive home. He smiled softly at her then slammed the car door and walked around it to climb up the front porch steps.

Once he made it to the front door, he turned the handle and stepped inside, taking in the sweet scent of lemon, his preferred smell. He sighed in content then closed and locked the door behind him before looking over his shoulder when the sound of footsteps reached his ears. Normally, he would have turned into his ghost form by now and scared the stranger away but restrained himself from doing so when he registered that he was wearing an orange hard hat, meaning he was with the construction crew. "Can I help you?" he asked, turning to face him fully and straightening up to appear as superior as possible.

The worker stopped in front of him, slouching down a bit at Vlad's intimidating posture. He cleared his throat and glanced down at the clipboard he was holding. "Are you Mr. Masters?" he asked.

He narrowed his eyes at the worker. "Isn't it obvious? I'm the only one here that isn't wearing a hard hat."

The worker muttered something under his breath as he skimmed down the paperwork on his clipboard. "It says here you have a basement used to keep storage."

He rose a curious brow. "And?"

"Well, you see with what you paid the company, we could improve it or enlarge it but only if you want us to do that."

He hummed; the worker had a point. He made sure to pay the construction crew an excessive amount in order for his house to be rebuilt quicker but there could be more done too. He did recall wanting to upgrade the kitchen before the tornado struck but now perhaps upgrading the basement would be wiser. After all, while he and Elizabeth were taking shelter from the tornado down there, he was afraid the ceiling would collapse on them. He nodded once, sneaking a glance at Elizabeth. "Yes, upgrade the basement just so I know Elizabeth and I will be protected during another natural disaster."

The worker nodded, a little too quickly, and walked over to his private study where the stairway to his basement was located. He waited until the worker left before ascending the stairway to the second floor, wanting to make sure all the bedroom's were designed to what he requested, especially his own and Elizabeth's.

After checking all the rooms, including the ones downstairs, he was quite satisfied. His home was officially finished being rebuilt, except for the basement of course; the workers had to upgrade it still.

He sauntered into Elizabeth's room and sat down on the rocking chair. He readjusted his hold on her by placing one hand under her head and neck and the other under her bottom, holding her out in front of him so they facing each other. She licked her bottom lip and blinked a few times up at him as he gently and slowly swayed her from side-to-side.

He smiled softly. "Well, look at you. Aren't you glad we're finally back home, Elizabeth?"

She cooed and smiled up at him in response, making him smile wider.

A coughing sound forced him to glance up from Elizabeth to the door, noticing his maid, Ms. Harrison, standing by it. "Mr. Masters, I'm sorry to disturb you but there's a telephone call for you," she informed.