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

anymore.  I wanted to stop, to become stronger, to figure all of this out and to be happy again.
    Asher and I were happy together now, and I was glad of that, but I knew that we needed to do things that threatened to break our happiness, even if in the long run we'd be happy again.
    Elise and Lucent weren't happy together right now, and that hurt me more than I could have imagined.  I wanted them to be happy again soon, though.  I knew they could be.  They could be strong together and overcome this.  I needed to know that they could do it, because if they couldn't I... I just didn't know if I could, either.  Maybe that was the wrong way to think of these things, but I wanted guidance in a way, even if I knew I shouldn't rely on someone like that.  I just wanted all of us to be happy together, even if that sounded stupid and didn't make a lot of sense.  It made sense to me.
    "I'm... I'm not trying to make excuses," I said, regaining some of my composure.  "I don't want to make excuses for Lucent, because if he did something wrong, that's unacceptable.  He's always so excited about you, though.  I mean, it's Lucent, so his excitement is a little hard to see sometimes, but when he's looking at you, there's always something special in his eyes, like a little sliver of awe on the outside showing the way he feels about you on the inside."
    "You're important to him, Elise," I continued.  "Asher acts confident all the time, and indifferent about the media hounding him, but I think sometimes it bothers him, too.  He just doesn't show it.  I think Lucent might be like that, also.  Maybe you two can make up?  I'm not saying you need to, but if he apologizes?  And... you know?  Maybe?"
    I really hoped they could.
    Elise turned to look towards the door, to where Asher and Lucent were.  I wondered if she was thinking about him, if she wanted to go to him right now and ask him to apologize to her?  Or would it be better if he apologized on his own?
    I just wanted to know what she thought, what she was thinking.  She was so quiet sometimes that it was hard to tell.
    She turned back to me, smiling sadly, and said, "I want to.  I really do, Jessika.  I want everything to go back to how it was, except I don't know if it ever can.  I don't know if I'm enough for Lucent.  I don't know if I'm holding him back or he's acting a different way to make me happy, and he's restraining his real self.  Sometimes Lucent is scary.  I've never been scared of him before, and I don't think I am now, but I wonder if I should be, you know?  Maybe I'm being too naive?  Maybe my expectations are... wrong?  I don't want to believe it, but it's hard not to."
    No.  I shook my head.  I didn't believe that.  I thought Elise was so strong and confident.  Yes, she was quiet, but I didn't think she was wrong.  I didn't think Lucent was wrong for her.
    "Everyone has doubts.  If we didn't, we wouldn't be normal," I said.  "Just... just be open, alright?  I know how Lucent is sometimes, but you know him even better than that.  You said you don't know if he's holding back and hiding his real self, right?  I think he's shown you more of his real self than he's probably ever shown anyone before.  It’s scary to open up to people sometimes.  It's really scary when we love the person, because I think we all worry about losing that."
    She raised one brow, looking at me curiously.  "Do you really think that?"
    I nodded.
    "Maybe I'll talk to him.  In a little bit.  Not right now, if that's alright?"
    I grinned and agreed with a quick nod.  I hoped this was good.  It was a start.  I knew it was silly, but I felt like if I could help Elise, then I could do a lot more, too.  If I could deal with this one problem tonight, then I could deal with any number of problems tomorrow.
    "It's up to you," I said.  "We've got cheesecake and cookies and ice cream, so there's no rush."
    All of these things made everything better, I thought.
    "Ooh,