Read His Absolute Authority: A Scandalous Billionaire Love Story (Jessika, #3) for Free Online

would bring his hand up to touch her cheek.  She'd just randomly sneak in and kiss him on the cheek, and he'd smile and give her a kiss on the forehead in return.  Then they'd go back to work.
    I loved Asher, but I wanted to talk with him and do things with him a lot of the time, too.  We could never work like Elise and Lucent did.  First off, I'd get distracted and get nothing done.  I thought Asher would, too.  Second, if he was in the room, I didn't think I could stay quiet that long.
    Elise and Lucent just seemed like they really enjoyed each other's company and presence, quietly or otherwise.  I didn't want them to be angry with each other.  I thought they made such a great couple.  Honestly, I kind of wondered when they were going to get married, but I never told either of them that.  I didn't want to be pushy or anything...
    And then... well...
    "Lucent's done a lot of illegal things, I guess," Elise said.  "Maybe you know already, and I'm the only one who doesn't.  I wish someone had told me.  It seemed bad at first, but maybe not too bad?  Maybe it was fine.  Maybe I... I could deal with it.  And I tried, too."  She choked on her words for a moment.  "I thought we could work it out, except there was more.  And then he said we could go somewhere safe and hide, except there was more again.  I knew, Jessika.  I mean, of course I knew, because how could I expect him not to have dated before me?  I dated, too, but... maybe dating isn't the right word.  We went somewhere, to one of his ex's apartments, and when we got there, she... she just bent down on hands and knees and started worshiping him, almost.  She called him Master Storme."
    I stared at her, incredulous.  I... well, I sort of knew about some of the illegal things.  The passageways and the saferoom under the Landseer mansion were some of them.  Not strictly approved by the city building council, but Asher, along with Lucent's help and expertise, had started construction anyways.  This happened before I met him, but apparently they used building the guest house as a front for the passageways and the saferoom.  If anyone found out, we might be forced to completely demolish the mansion because of unapproved and potentially unsafe architectural plans.
    I trusted Asher and I trusted Lucent, but... it just didn't seem like something someone should do, you know?  I understood that Asher wanted a place where we could be absolutely safe in the event of an emergency, but still.  Was the risk worth it?  Were we ever going to be put in a disastrous situation like that, where we needed a saferoom that no one knew about?  They even brought in illegal workers from outside the country who didn't speak English to do the construction work, creating a fake construction company in order to hide it from the city council.
    I wasn't going to tell anyone, but it just seemed a little excessive.  And now Lucent had dragged Elise into it, too.  Not only that, but he brought her to his ex-girlfriend's house?  That was more than a little rude.
    Elise agreed with me, but obviously she would.  "I don't know why he brought me there," she said.  "I was so confused about everything else, then even more confused about that, and then I got angry.  He didn't come to me, though.  He didn't try to apologize, and the worst part is I don't know if he would have, either.  If I didn't act mad, what would have happened?  She's better at it than me.  His ex, or whatever she is.  Maybe not a girlfriend, but still.  I can't be like that.  I don't even know how.  She had uh... Lucent likes his BDSM things, you know?  Of course you know, because uh... I don't know.  I know you know, but it's hard to talk about for me sometimes."
    Yes, I knew.  It was hard not to know.  Lucent didn't make a secret of it, but he didn't openly talk about it, either.  Still, the rumors persisted, and Elise's erotica story she'd written kind of confirmed it.  I knew Lucent and