99. Claire is Missing.

[Luke]
I finally managed to rock Claire back into sleep after the very traumatic incident and long after she was asleep, I lay awake with my back on the bed facing the ceiling and I thought back to what she had asked earlier.
I wished I could give her the world.
I wished that I could pack up and move across the world with her, I wished it were easy like that but it wasn't.
If I wanted to win, which I wanted, then I wouldn't run away, I would stay, confront the problems and defeat all my enemies.
I was my parent's only child, my father had an older sister so if I relinquished the throne, it would go to her son and as much as I would like to do that, I couldn't, the responsibility was mine, it had always been, I'd been trained for it since I was born, if I were to suddenly relinquish it to him, it would be unfair.
He'd lived in America most of his life and I could count only a handful of times he'd come to Denmark, he didn't know much about the people or the culture, it would be completely unfair to do that to him.
Besides my mother had high hopes for me, she would often talk about when I became King, she wanted it for me so badly it hurt that she wouldn't get to see me become King.
"Jean." Claire's voice startled me and I turned to look at her, I wasn't even aware that she had been struggling in her sleep.
"It's fine, I'm here Claire, it's fine, I'll not leave you." I held her closer and began to kiss away the tears pouring down her face.
"Luke." She opened her eyes, hugged me tighter and sobbed harder.
"I'm here, it was just a nightmare, I promise I'm here, I'm never leaving you." I tried to coax her into sleeping again but she was still pretty shaken up.
"I dreamt that they harmed our child, Luke, someone tried to take our baby from us." Her voice shook as she sobbed.
It felt nice to hear her say our, this was the first time she'd acknowledged that the baby was ours but it couldn't have been in a more horrible moment.
"I'd rather die than let anyone touch our child, I promise you Claire, no one is touching you or our child ever."
She finally calmed down after a while and I was also able to get some sleep.
When I woke up the next day, she was already up and from the smell wafting through the air, I knew that she was in the kitchen.
I groaned as I stood up from the bed, I hurt in many places from my brawl with the intruder last night. Claire had helped me treat my wounds last night and even though they hadn't hurt much last night, they felt very sore and they hurt badly now.
"I made some breakfast and coffee." Claire said as she heard me walk into the kitchen.
"How are you feeling, baby?" I asked as I walked closer to give her a hug but she avoided me and I frowned. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, I'm just hungry." She sat down at the table and gestured for me to join her.
"You don't have to be afraid Claire, I'll protect you and the child, I promise you." I said, we sat down silently to eat and she didn't even glance up at me once.
"I can't stay here anymore, they know my house, they'll probably come back." She said and I nodded.
"I thought of that too, you're coming with me to stay in the palace." I said in a tone that did not suggest that she could reject the offer.
"I can't." She sighed and dropped her fork down. "I already informed Sophie and Michele, they're coming to get me and I'll be heading back to America tomorrow." She said and I hit the table hard in a mad rage.
"You're not going anywhere." I thundered loudly. "You're coming with me to the palace and it's final."
She didn't even flinch at my outbursts and she looked at me like I was crazy.
"And you think whoever is after me and the child isn't at the palace or can't get into the palace."
I hesitated for a moment before I spoke, she was right, the place wasn't the safest place for her and coincidentally, neither was Sophie and Michele's house.
"There's a place they won't find you." I lowered my voice and spoke quietly, thinking of my mother's apartment.
I'd taken Claire there once when she'd gotten badly drunk and was annoying me with her flirting.
It was far away from the city and it was a safe enough place because not many people knew about the place.
"I think I'll be safer at home in America." She argued.
"I'm afraid I can't let you go, I can't let you and the child out of my sight and neither can the country allow you to leave with it's heir in your stomach."
"Luke, I'm not running away, I really am trying to keep us safe." She said and placed her hands on her visible belly bump.
"If you leave." I sighed. "You can't hide that any longer, there'll be a huge scandal." I said and from the look on her face, she hadn't thought about that.
"Fine." She muttered angrily.
My phone rang just as I was about to reply to her and I stood up to go and take the call elsewhere.
It was Liam and he was calling me about urgent news.
"What?"
"I'm on my way."
Those are the two words I said before ending the call and returning back to the table.
"What was that?" She asked.
"I've just received an urgent call, pack what you need, I'll send you to the safe house first." I said hurriedly.
"There's a lot to pack." She complained. "I have no idea how long I'll be staying."
"It doesn't matter, just pack the essentials, if you need anything else, we can just buy a new one or I can drive over and get it for you." I said and tried not to tap my foot on the ground.
It was a habit I had. When I was anxious or really impatient, I would tap my foot on the ground in a pattern.
"If you need to be somewhere, you can just go and pick me up later."
"You think I'll leave you alone."
"I know that there are guards outside, I'll be fine and I'll stay put till you get back."
Her offer was very tempting because I really had to get back to the palace because the call had been really urgent.
"Fine, they will watch the building, lock the door after me and don't open for no one." I warned and gave her a small peck on the head before turning out to leave.
"Also, keep your phone on and with you, I'll be calling." I said and walked out of the door, I waited outside the door to hear the click that the door had been shot before leaving.
I spotted the men at the other side of the building and I jogged over to them.
They didn't have much information on the man but that was okay because I was going to find out everything from Liam.
I ordered them to keep an eye on the building and then I sped off to the palace.
.
.
[Claire]
After Luke left, I crumpled down to the floor. I was glad that I'd been able to convince him to leave.
Of course I had no plans of going anywhere with him, I just wanted him to leave so that I could make my escape.
The safest place for me was my father's mansion in America and though I wanted to stay with Jean, I couldn't play with the life of my child.
The dream had been so real I treated it as a sign from God.
O was sure that leaving would be best, whatever enemies Like had couldn't follow me to America, that would be outrageous.
I got to packing, shoving all my stuff in two suitcases, when I was done I waited for Sophie's to come and pick me up.
My phone rang and thinking it was Sophie, I picked it up immediately.
"Sophie." I said.
"It's Luke, are you done packing am on my way." He said.
"No, I'm still packing." I lied.
"Why did you mention Sophie just now?" He asked.
"She just called me but the call disconnected so I assumed that she was the one calling." I lied again.
I had already told Sophie to pick me up from the back of the building, I only hoped that Luke's guards weren't there.
A few moments later, Sophie called and I draggedy suitcases to the back entrance and walked out.
She was parked at the other side of the street and just as I was about to cross the road, a large van drove in front of me blocking my view to the other side immediately.
It all happened so fast, a pair of hands grabbing me and a sharp pain in my neck was all I remembered as I felt a bag being placed over my head and my body being flung carelessly into the back of the van.