97. Earning Forgiveness.

[Claire]
As I cleaned up the blood on the floor I could not believe that just a few moments ago I was just having a moment of serenity and bliss with Luke.
I was weak, when I woke up with him by my side I just couldn't bring myself to chase him away, my body and my heart connived and they silenced my mind.
My resolve was gone and I was like putty in his hands.
The first time we made love I thought that I knew bliss but it was nothing compared to what happened between us a few moments ago, it was like he touched me differently.
It just hit differently this time.
Now that I was thinking about it, I felt embarrassed at how wanton and brazen I'd been, I basically pleaded for it, I shamelessly asked for it and took my pleasure from him.
After making love with him again, I couldn't deny my feelings any longer and I just knew that I couldn't keep denying what I wanted most and that was to be with him.
He hurt me deeply but he apologized for it, I even felt his tears wetting my shoulders as I cried before drifting off to sleep.
These days it felt like all my baby wanted to do was eat and sleep.
The smell of the blood mixed with the cleaning agent brought me out of my thoughts as a bout of nausea hit me.
The smell upset my stomach and I stood up immediately and rushed to the bathroom to throw up.
I took a deep breath and tried to settle my stomach down before I walked back out.
I'd never had a burglary incident since I'd been living in the apartment and something just told me that Luke was lying to me.
It felt like he was keeping something from me and it hurt.
"How are you feeling?" He asked when I came back to the living room.
I noticed that he'd already cleaned up the mess and cleared everything up, I ignored his question and just walked to the shelves to check for missing items.
"I made you some ginger tea, I just looked it up now and it says it helps with pregnancy nausea." He said and stretched a cup to me.
I eyed the cup and tried to hide the smile that threatened to break out on my lips.
He was so cute and thoughtful, he had actually searched online for something to help me with my nausea.
It was very nice of him and his concern warmed my heart but sadly I was mad at him for hiding whatever he was from me.
"What do you think the burglar wanted?" I asked accepting the hot cup of ginger tea from him. "Thanks." I muttered quietly.
"I don't know, he was probably looking for some money or valuable items." He avoided my eyes as he spoke and that only confirmed my suspicions that he was hiding something from me.
I knew, but I wanted to play the same game with him, I wanted to see how far he was willing to go with his deciet.
"This tea is really good." I said truthfully as it was already soothing my stomach and his eyes met mine again.
"I'm glad you like it, are you really feeling okay?" He asked.
"Yes." I replied and held the mug in between my hands and used it to warm my fingers. "I'm just still in shock, there has never been a burglary incident here before or even the neighborhood since moved here, I thought it was a safe place."
"It must have been a real scare right, I'm so glad that you weren't alone tonight." His eyes wandered away before they came back to mine.
"I should contact the security, they should be able to give us an update now, or shouldn't we just call the cops?" I asked him innocently.
"No." His rebuttal was sharp and immediate.
"Why not?" I frowned at him.
"It's just… they promised to call when they have news, I don't think we should bother them besides it's late the police sirens will bother the neighborhood." He said and I nodded.
"Which number did you call though, just to be safe, I want to cross-check that it's the correct one, besides how do you have my apartment's security number."
He stared at me stunned and I knew that I had him in a tight spot now, I didn't think there was any escape for him now.
"I'm embarrassed to admit but I came here often after you left, I got the security's number so that I could have easy access to the apartment." He said and I sighed.
Damn! He was good.
"You came here after I left." My expression softened.
Consider the topic changed.
"Yes, I missed you a lot and this apartment helped to keep me sane." He said. "I made sure that it wouldn't be rented out or sold to another and I made sure to preserve it just the way you left it, I didn't want to lose our memories." He said.
"Je— Luke."
"You can call me anyone of the two, it doesn't matter baby, they're both my names." He said and I looked at him in shock. "Yes, my mother was french and so she gave me Jean as a french petname."
"I noticed that the house didn't change, thank you." I walked into his arms and tightened my arms around his neck.
The issue of the burglary was a thing of the past now.
"Claire, please forgive me, I promise I never meant to hurt you, I took you on the trip because I wanted to tell you the truth I swear, I saw how much you were enjoying yourself and so I decided to wait till we were ready to leave before I told you the truth because I didn't want to ruin the vacation for you." He said.
"I believe you, I forgive you, Jean, I can't hate you any longer, I just can't." I pulled away and planted a kiss on his nose tip.
"What!" He pulled me to my feet and stood in front of me. "Did I hear you correctly?"
"Yes, Jean, Luke, I forgive you." I smiled at him, my heart feeling lighter as I forgave him.
"Oh my beautiful dearest, I love you Claire, thank you darling, thank you sweetheart, I promise to make everything right, I'll protect you and our child with my life I swear, I'll never hurt you ever." He laughed happily and spun my around in circles.
"Jean." I pouted. "Put me down, dizzy." I let out after laughing and he stopped immediately but he didn't let go of me.
"Thank you, Elskede." He said and touched his lips to mine.
"Noore secrets or lies?" I pulled away from his kiss and looked straight in his eyes.
"I promise." He looked back at me and I could see the sincerity in his eyes.
"Than tell me the truth about what just happened." I said and pulled away from him when he froze.
"I knew it." I frowned and turned to go back to the room when he just stood there silently.
"Wait." He grabbed my arm and stopped me from leaving. "I don't want to upset you or our baby." He said and led me to take a seat on the couch.
"Okay, then just tell me the truth."
"I don't know what it is but I think the man was hired to harm you." He spoke one word after the other.
"What! Why?" Blood drained from my face as fear began to consume my being.
"I don't know why, I'm still trying to find out who sent him." He said.
"Why would anyone want to harm me?" I asked still in shock and fear.
I was very afraid for my child and I wondered what would have happened if Luke hadn't been with me today.
"I don't know baby but please believe me, I'd never let anyone hurt you okay."
"If you weren't here with me, he would have killed me, and out baby." Tears began to pour down my white face and he immediately pulled me closer to him.
He pulled me on his lap and I buried my face in his chest and sobbed quietly.
"It's alright Claire, my men are taking care of it, I'll never let anything happen to you or my child, I promise please stop crying, my love."
"Why me, but why me?" I kept asking and sobbing.
"It's not you Claire, it's me, I have a lot of enemies and many of them don't want to see me with you, they don't want to see me happy but I will never let them succeeded, I'll take them down before they have a chance to harm you." He said.
"I just want to be happy Jean, let's run away together, we can run away far away from here and start a new life together." I knew what I was asking for was basically impossible but I still hoped his answer would be positive.