37. The Truth About the Detective.

[Luke]
I rocked Claire in my arms until we fell asleep together on the couch. It was my first time spending the night at her place. After the phone call she received, she ranted for a while and then began to cry bitterly.
I felt bad when I saw her crying and I wondered if she would also cry this way whenever she found out that I'd been lying to her.
Those demons hunted me throughout the night and I couldn't sleep, she on the other hand slept pretty soundly and I was glad that I'd been able to comfort her.
When I woke up the next morning I was alone on the couch, Claire must have gotten up.
"Good morning." She smiled at me, walking into the living room with two mugs of coffee.
"Good morning sweetheart." I beamed at her and accepted one mug of coffee. "Tastes great."
"I didn't know how you liked your coffee so I just made what I usually drink for you." She said,
"How do you feel this morning?"
"I feel better, thanks for last night." She smiled at me and looked away slowly.
I wondered why she was blushing then I looked down at my pants and I realized.
I had morning wood.
"Um." I coughed and awkwardly tried to straighten myself out.
"I could help you find your mother," I said and her expression turned serious.
"I hired a private detective and he's not been able to find anything, I really want to find her." She sighed.
"Let me look into it, I'll tell you whatever I find," I told her and pulled her closer to me.
"I have to go to work." She laughed snuggling closer to me.
"I know, I just want to hold you a little bit longer." I groaned slightly when she accidentally rubbed into me and she froze.
"I'm sorry, I made you sleep on the couch, you must be aching all over."
Not all over and not exactly aching, I wanted to tell her but I just smiled and shook my head.
She was naive if she didn't know what she'd just done and how she was making me feel pressed this close to me.
"I'll drop you off at work." I stood up from the couch when she was done getting ready.
"Okay, but aren't you going to be late, I don't want to bother you."
"It's no bother, babe." I pulled her close to me, my hands resting on her hips. "Nothing about you could ever be a bother to me."
With that, I captured her lips with mine and kissed her hungrily, my mouth was watering for her watermelon sugar but I didn't want her to be late for work, plus I might still have to answer to Sir Thomas for staying out.
***
"Thanks for dropping me." She smiled and started playing with her fingers when I pulled up in front of her office building.
"You know, if you want to kiss me you should just go for it and if you want me to kiss you, all you have to do is flutter those beautiful eyelashes at me and it's a done deal."
"Um, it's just that I'm not really used to this dating stuff."
"Have you never had a boyfriend?" I asked her, really shocked.
"Is that a bad thing?" She asked and I smiled.
"Not at all, I'm glad to be your first," I said and she leaned over.
That was the indication I needed. I kissed her fully on the lips and my hands roamed around her body, u wanted to carry her on my lap so that she would be straddling me but then again there was the time constraint.
"I'll call you later." I waved her goodbye and watched her hips sway as she made her way into the building.
Damn, I was really lucky to have a girl like her, she'd never had a boyfriend, her innocence was really turning me on but it also kept me in check because I didn't want to take her when she didn't know the real me.
As I drove to the palace, my mind went back to the conversation we had about her mother, if truly she were still alive and in the country, the detective should have found her by now.
"Liam." I picked up my phone and placed a call to him immediately.
"Hey man, what's up?"
"I'm great, how is everything over there?"
"You mean after you just took off in the middle of our conversation, everything is fine but you have to get here pronto."
"Yeah I know, I'm on my way."
.
.
[Claire]
All eyes were on me as I walked into the office, I wondered why they were all looking at me but I ignored them and went to my cubicle.
Fortunately, my boss was not yet around so I wouldn't be scolded this morning, I immediately got to work editing an article for the magazine after taking my second cup of coffee for the day.
"Claire, Claire, Claire, you have to tell me who that guy is that dropped you off this morning." Peggy, my co-worker, asked.
Peggy was one of those people who pretended to be friends with you so that they could gossip about you behind your back.
She was also really mean so I didn't have any relationship with her outside of work.
I'd also heard a rumor that she was in love with Mr. Anders and she got extremely jealous anytime another female was around him, even though the boss never paid her any mind, she still went around telling the entire office that he was hers and that we should all stay away from him.
"What do you want to know Peggy, I'm working," I replied dryly trying to dismiss her.
"Oh my God, Claire, he drives a limited edition Benz, you got yourself a keeper." She beamed her fake smile at me.
"Peggy, don't you have work to do?" I rolled my eyes at her.
"Whatever." She hissed and walked away when she realized that she wouldn't get anything from me. "Does he know that your boss has the hots for you?" She eyed me warily but I just ignored her and kept on working.
Peggy and her nonsense, what did she mean by the boss has the hots for me?
Her former statement stayed with me though, I didn't even realize that Jean was driving a limited edition Benz.
Somehow Sophie's words came back to me and I couldn't help but think that he was keeping something from me.
During my break, I decided to call the detective to ask if there was any news on my mother. After the phone call I received from Nana, I felt more desperate to find my real mother.
.
.
[Luke]
"I want you to find me that detective and take him to the safehouse, I have some questions for him."
"Yes sir, your highness." My bodyguard curtsied and left my presence.
When I got to the palace, I had missed breakfast with the King but he did not send for me. He probably thought I had skipped breakfast because I was mad at him for forcing me to get married.
I wondered what his rush was anyway, I was just twenty-six years old and I still had a lot of time ahead of me, he was also still capable of ruling for many more years to come.
I didn't have much on my schedule today so I had time to leave the palace and head for the safe house, when my bodyguard texted me that he'd taken the man, I made my way there.
"Who are you and what do you want from me?" The man shouted when I removed the bag from his face.
I was wearing a mask so he couldn't see my face, it was safer that way, I couldn't take the risk of him identifying me later in the future and I did not intend to kill him.
"The truth," I replied in a very deep voice. "All I ask is that you tell me the truth."
"What truth, I don't know anything."
"Do you recognize the woman?" I asked him, showing a picture of Claire.
"Yes, she's a client of mine, I'll have you know that I don't disclose client information."
I just looked at my bodyguard and gave him a nod, before the man could talk again, my bodyguard gave him a heavy blow to his cheeks and busted his lip open immediately.
"He can go on for days," I told the man who spat blood out from his mouth.
"Well, so can I." He said and I gave my bodyguard another nod.
After like five more blows, the man began to plead and I knew that he was ready to cooperate with me.
"Please, I'll tell you everything, she paid me to find her mother and I've been trying to find her mother, but she's nowhere to be found."
"Another lie and he'll start using different tools." I threatened him.
"Okay, no, sorry, please, it's money, I did it for the money." He confessed.
"What exactly did you do?"
"I accepted money from a man from America and I lied to her, I deceived her that I couldn't find her mother and I sent her information to the man, he said he was her father."
"I thought you didn't give out client's information." I frowned at him and gave my bodyguard two nods.