Chapter 122 - Mistake

Samuel had to get up extra early the next morning so that he could make it to the jeweler and get back either before Lena left or wondered where he was after she woke up. Jeff had kindly agreed to be up early to take him and assured him if he texted him the moment that he woke up, the other would be sure to respond and be awake. 

The sun was barely starting to come up but wasn't high enough to provide much light for Samuel who decided to rely on his phone light as he left his room rather than risking turning on too many lights and waking up the princess or anyone else by making too much noise. 

He was mildly worried about Lena as she had still been acting kind off even after they had gotten home. Although she was usually quiet, it felt like the silence around here, even during dinner time was heavier than it usually was. Although Genson had certainly got on her nerve and didn't sound like the board meeting that she had to take part in was more stressful than not, it seemed from his perspective that her mood was being affected by something else. Without her telling him what it was, he wasn't really sure what he could do to help though. 

"I see you really did mean it when you said that you wanted to be out of here early and back as quickly as possible." Jeff commented as he stepped out and opened the passenger for Samuel to be able to get into the car with him. 

"I want to be back before Lena worries about where I went off too." Samuel replied as he got into the car. 

"You wouldn't happen to know why her mood might've been off yesterday do you?" He asked as he buckled up while Jeff started the car. 

"Nothing in particular comes to mind. Did something happen at work for someone to set her off or maybe something that he Sir Zane sent her since I know he's away for a few days?" As he began to pull out of the driveway. He already had the navigation upon his phone so that he knew where he would be heading. 

"She hired someone new who is certainly annoying and doesn't things much easier right now, but I don't think that it's just that. I don't know about her father though, it could be. Someone had been texting her before her mood changed. She didn't say who though." 

"I would bet on it being her father then. There's nothing that I can openly say about it, but I know that there are a few unsavory issues that they have been trying to resolve that might be putting stress on her." Jeff explained.

"Perhaps the gift you're getting her while cheer her up though?" Samuel smiled slightly when he said this. 

"It might, but she won't be getting it until the engagement party which won't be for another week or so. Thus, it wouldn't immediately be useful for that." 

"I know how much she works, but maybe you could think about trying to set up something so that you two could go out somewhere and just spend some time together? A nice dinner or something that couples usually do to get away from the things that bother them?" 

"I'm not sure if going out somewhere is really Lena's style, but maybe I could put something together back at the house. She is supposed to be working this weekend so maybe I can ask Ryan to help me put something nice together to surprise her when she gets home." Samuel mused. That wouldn't be such a bad idea. She wouldn't have to leave the house, but it would be something different and if he made something special for it, maybe it would help raise her spirits. He would have to think about what they might be though. 

The rest of the ride was spent between them talking about random things and Jeff turning on the radio. He never really played music when Lena was around because she wasn't that fond of having too much background music going on as she enjoyed the peacefulness of the drive. It gave her a chance to think about things and put an agenda together in her mind of what she wanted and needed to get done wherever she was heading. 

Samuel on the other hand didn't mind the music at all. He and his family always listened to the radio whenever they were heading out somewhere and enjoyed listening to whatever was on or playing games where they each had to guess who the artist was before they looked display screen to see if they were right or not. He always thought that it helped the ride to go by that much faster. 

By the time that they reached the jewelry shop it was a little past eight thirty which meant that Samuel would still probably be pushing it to get back before Lena noticed that he was going. What he wasn't aware of though was that Jeff did give the princess and Clive updates simply because he wanted to make sure that he was covering all bases since he was new to this position and didn't want anything to happen to Samuel since he was the princess's soon-to-be official fiancé. 

Jeff was the first to get out of the car and he came around to open the door for Samuel. The other had hardly stepped out of the car before Jeff realized that something was wrong. He let out a low curse under his breath before he offered Samuel a strained smile. 

"I think that it would be best for you to get back into the car." He told Samuel he was sure the other must've seen the three men who were approaching them. They certainly weren't there with friendly intent that much was obvious by the way they carried themselves. 

Samuel shot him a questioning look as he tried to open the car door again but stopped when he heard the sound of a gun clicking. He felt the adrenaline rush that went through his body the moment that he heard that sound. Jeff wasn't phased by it however, it wasn't the first time that he had come face to face with a gun before. 

"Get into the car." He told Samuel again as he positioned himself in such a way as to act as a shield as he reached for the gun that he kept on the holster located on his waist. 

"Now." He repeated with more force in his voice as the three men continued to approached. Samuel felt conflicted though. He didn't want something to happen to the other. 

"Now, now. Let's not jump to any hasty conclusions here. We just want to exchange some words with that young sir whose standing behind you." The man who appeared to be the oldest of the three explained as he approached with his hands raised to show that he had no weapon. He wasn't the one who had pulled the gun out. 

"If you want to talk with him there are specific channels that you can through to talk to him in an official capacity." Jeff replied as he pulled his gun out and clicked off the safety but didn't raise it up. The men were almost standing in front of them right now. 

"Well you see, I can't exactly do that. I have my own order from my boss that tell me the exact way that this needs to be done. We won't be allowed to talk with him if we do that and it would be quite troublesome." The man replied with a cross between a smirk and a smile on his face. 

"We really aren't here for anything bad thus it would be greatly appreciated if you would just allow us to borrow him for a bit. I promise that he'll be returned with not a single scratch on him if you do." The man reasoned as he looked back at Samuel who's gaze was locked on him. 

"What do you want with me?" He asked he was cut off before he could say anything else by Jeff putting his hand in front of him. 

"I told you if you want to talk with him what you should do. Otherwise please leave." Jeff repeated as he kept his hands down. Reaching into the opposite pocket, he found his phone and pressed a button that he knew would alert the others that something was wrong. 

"Really. I don't want to hurt anyone here but we really can't return empty handed either. No chance that you would be willing to make this easier by letting us borrow him even just for a few minutes?" When Jeff didn't back down he sighed as he titled his head in a downward direction. 

"I was really hoping that we could do this the easy way, but if you're insisting on not cooperating. Seems that I might need a little force in order to reason with you." 

Jeff hardly had a chance to react before the man moved and grabbed his hand that was holding the gun. A scuffle ensued with the other two men coming forward to try and grab Samuel while the older of the three tried to disarm Jeff which turned out to be harder than he expected. 

The scuffle went on for a few minutes before a shout range out. Silencing everything else that was going on.