64. A Week Away.

[Luke]
"How the hell did that happen?" Sir Thomas yelled.
"I'm sorry, she came here unexpectedly and I don't know how she got those pictures." I apologized and tried to explain myself.
"This is a mess, this is a really big mess." He shook his head and grabbed the side of his table tightly.
"What are we going to do about it?" I asked him.
"We?" He glared at me. "I told you if you repeated that then I would wash my hands clean of you, I can't do anything about it at this point."
"Oh no, Tom please, I really need your help, I know that I fucked up but please you have to help me, that news would shake the royal family to its core, and Liam, it would be bad for Liam." I pleaded.
"Luke, you have to know your limits, there's nothing I can do now, I think I'm partly responsible for how you turned out, I never let you take responsibility for anything you've done, I just always helped you cover it up and now this, I can't."
"No, no, no, Tom please I beg you, you have to help me, there's no way I could come up with so much money in so little time, please," I begged, tears pouring down my face.
"Then tell your father, he should be able to help you solve it." He said.
"Please, Tom, I'll do anything you ask, I promise to change, I'll tell the girls the truth please anything but that, you know that I can never tell the King, he'll probably send me away or something, please Tom." I pleaded with him.
He loved away from me while I kept crying, I did not know how to get myself and the people I'd dragged down with me out of the hole I'd dug for us.
"Please, if my mother were here, she'd help me," I said, my last attempt at convincing him to help me.
I know that it was very shallow of me to try to use that to get him to help me but I was very desperate at this time and I knew that if he wanted, he would be able to help me.
"That's not fair." He looked at me, his eyes glistening with unshed tears.
"Please, I have no other person to turn to."
"Fine." He agreed and I rushed to give him a hug.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you."
"Not so fast though." He shoved me slightly from him. "I don't think I have to tell you never to repeat that again and in addition, you must tell the girls the truth and I need you to concentrate on your relationship with Megan."
"Fine, anything you say, please just help me." I agreed sadly.
"Good." He dabbed his eyes and sniffed. "I'll handle it with the palace press, taking pictures on the palace property is against the law and so is blackmailing, we have enough claims to threaten her to give up the names of her accomplices, and then we'd get rid of them." He said.
"Oh thank you, Tom."
"You need to leave the country though, at least until everything calms down. I recommend a week. It should not be hard to ask the King to sign off on that, you've been a perfect son." He said sarcastically.
"Fine, that's not a problem," I said.
"I'll need you to contact the woman and ask her to visit the palace tomorrow and you must have left before she arrives, we'll take care of the rest." He said.
"Okay, thank you again, Tom, I promise to be good, for real this time," I said and gave him a hug to which he responded.
"You can never be this careless ever again, Luke." He said and tapped my back. "Don't worry, I'll take care of it."
"Thanks," I said and left his office.
As I walked back to my room, I sent Liam a message to tell him that Sir Thomas had agreed to help and he replied almost immediately with a relieved gif.
After that, I sent Crystal a message to meet me at my office tomorrow then I proceeded to meet the King.
The King's schedule was so packed it was evening before I was able to find the opportunity to speak with him.
"Son, I'm sorry I couldn't make it for horse riding earlier." He apologized as I walked in.
"Your majesty." I curtsied.
"Luke, it's just the two of us here, you can lose the formality." He said.
"I'd rather not, your majesty, I just came to ask for your permission to go on a one week trip," I said going straight to the point.
"One week? Trip? Why?" He asked.
"Nothing really, I've just been feeling so stuffed and I just want to go to an island and just relax," I said.
"Relax?" He chuckled. "You think you'd be able to do that when you become King." He sneered.
"I really need to." I pressed on. "It's the least you could do for me," I added.
"Luke?" He looked at me in shock but I kept my face stoic.
"Fine." He sighed. "When do you want to leave?"
"Tomorrow," I replied immediately.
"Tomorrow, where are you going?"
"Yes, I'd like to go to Aruba."
"Aruba, I'm afraid that's too soon, there has to be a lot of arrangements before you can fly out. He frowned.
"No, I don't want to fly as the Prince, I want to fly as a regular person, if you could just grant me permission, I'd be so glad," I said.
"Are you traveling alone or with someone?" He asked.
"I'm traveling with a friend and I don't want my royal status to be exposed," I replied.
"Fine, I'll have Kathleen on it, she'll handle everything and give you the tickets tomorrow." He said.
"Fine, thank you, your majesty." I curtsied and left the room when he nodded.
I went back to inform Sir Thomas that I'd gotten permission from the King then I went to ask the maids to pack my suitcase.
***
"Hello, babe." I smiled when Claire unlocked the door.
"Hi." She smiled at me and I scanned her from you to down, she was putting on some cute shorts and a white top, she was holding a wooden spatula in her hands and she tied her hair up in a bun.
"What are you doing?" I asked as I followed her inside the house.
"Cooking." She laughed and I followed her to the kitchen.
"It smells nice in here." I inhaled deeply and she smiled at me.
I watched her as she walked about the kitchen barefoot, she was stirring the pot on the stove and I couldn't take my eyes off her.
She couldn't be sexier right now.
Immediately she turned off the shove, I grabbed her and before she could speak, I covered her mouth with mine.
"You don't know how good you look right now." I groaned and then deepened the kiss.
Carrying her up, I placed her on the kitchen island and separated her legs as I moved in between them.
I pressed her closer to me, my hands in her hair as we continued kissing like there was no tomorrow.
"Jean." She pulled away from me to take a breath. "You take my breath away." She said and I smiled.
"I'm a sinner, Claire, you're an angel," I said and started placing kisses all over her face.
"The food is getting cold." She chuckled and pushed me slightly away as she jumped down from the counter to dish the food.
"Pasta!" I smiled at her as she served the food.
"Yes and carbonara sauce." She smiled proudly.
"Okay, fancy." I laughed.
"You'll like it, I promise." She said as she passed a plate to me.
I looked at the food skeptically as she took her seat beside me, it looked nice and it smelled absolutely divine but I knew that the taste would be the judge of the meal.
She watched me keenly as I rolled the pasta around with my fork and brought it to my mouth.
"It's hot." She stopped me before I put it in my mouth and she began to blow on it and I stared at her entranced.
"Now try it." She nudged me with her arm.
I put the pasta into my mouth and I moaned as the delicious flavors exploded inside my mouth.
"That good huh?" She laughed as she took a bite of her food. "Hmmm." She moaned as well.
"This is absolutely delicious, where did you learn how to cook?" I asked her.
"My Nana taught me." She replied sadly and I realized that I hadn't even asked her what transpired between her and her parents in America.
I was such a jerk.
"She's your real mother," I said and she nodded. "What are you going to do?"
"Nothing, for now, I'm not going to think about it." She said and I smiled.
"Then you should come with me for a trip," I said.
"What trip?" She asked, looking at me smiling.
"A one week long vacation on an island, just the two of us, what do you say?" I asked.
"That sounds tempting but I have work, I can't just leave, I already took a week off." She said,
"Oh yes you can, you deserve two weeks."