His Absolute Authority: A Scandalous Billionaire Love Story (Jessika, #3) (11 page)

"Yes?" Asher called out.  "Is everything alright?"

It was Lucent.  "I don't wish to intrude on your morning, Mr. Landseer, but I believe it would be most prudent if we discussed our current situation.  I would like to leave this place sooner rather than later.  I hardly wish to rush matters, but I think you'll agree with me that time is currently of the essence."

And then Elise, too.  "Do you have any food here?  We could all have breakfast together.  Wouldn't that be nice?" she asked.

"Miss Tanner, I don't think we're going to have time to sit down and eat an appropriate breakfast.  Something simple and expedited, perhaps, but—"

"Quick," she said.  "Something simple and quick.  No one eats an expedited breakfast, Lucent."

"I am absolutely certain that people eat expedited breakfasts," he said.  "There's no need for your nitpicking."

"I don't know why you're being mean to me."

"I'm not being mean to you."

"You are.  A little bit.  I thought you were nicer last night, but now you're mean all over again."

"I'm not—"  Lucent paused.  "I apologize for being mean."

"That's alright," she said.  "I love you.  I was just teasing you."

I whispered to Asher, suddenly giddy despite our interrupted sexual fun.  "Did you hear that?  I think they made up."

"Yes," he whispered back.  "Sounds like it."

"Do you think they'll have a baby together then?  I mean, maybe it's a bit early to tell.  They've still got to calm down, I'm sure, but..."

"You can ask them over breakfast?" Asher offered.

"Asher!  I can't just
ask
like that!  That'd be rude."

"Do you want me to ask?" he asked.

"You can't ask, either!" I said.  "Or, um... do you want to ask?  Just don't tell them I want to know, alright?  If you ask, make it casual."

Asher nodded with complete understanding.  In a fake interrogative voice, he said, "So, Lucent... Elise... are you two going to fuck like rabbits and have babies anytime soon?"

I laughed at him and slipped away, sitting crosslegged on the bed.  "No!  You can't ask like that.  Don't say
fuck
.  That sounds bad."

"I don't think anyone says 'make love like rabbits,' though," he said.

"Alright, well... no.  Just, no.  Don't ask them.  I'll figure it out.  I'll figure out a way to ask Elise privately.  I think it'll work."

"Oh, of course.  I'm sure it will," he said.

For some reason, I really doubted he thought it'd work.  It might have to do with the way he rolled his eyes at me, or the tone of his voice, but I just didn't think he thought I could.  I knew I could, though.  I'd figure it out, and I'd prove him wrong.

"Put some clothes on," I said.  "I need to talk to Elise alone."

"You're going to ask her already?" Asher asked, both eyebrows raised.

"No!  Did you see what they were wearing when they came in last night?  Elise needs clothes.  I've got plenty here and I'm sure something will fit her.  She can't just not have any clothes, you know?"

Asher looked at me askance.  He didn't say anything, but I was positive he wanted to.  I didn't want to hear it, though.  He was wrong.  Elise did need clothes.  Nothing fancy, just something comfortable and casual.  Asher didn't understand these things.

"Elise," I said.  No one answered.

Asher slipped on his underwear, pants, and dress shirt.  While he buttoned up the shirt, I found my sweatpants and t-shirt from the night before and tossed them on.

"Elise," I said again.  "I—"

I was going to say more when I opened the bedroom door, but I stopped before I started.  Elise and Lucent were there.  Yes, they were definitely there...

Lucent had Elise pinned against the wall.  One of his legs was between hers, knee lifted up and pressing against her crotch.  He held one of her thighs in his hands, too.  She had her arms around his back, pulling him tight against her.  For all intents and purposes, they were crushing each other; against each other, against the wall, against the air.  Both their eyes were closed and their lips were parted, though tight against each other's, kissing passionately, and...

This was just really erotic.  I didn't think I'd ever quite seen anything like it.  I stood there, mouth open, staring.  Asher didn't see it at first, but then he came to stand beside me, and...

He cleared his throat.  Lucent blinked open his eyes and turned to look our way.  Elise did the same.  She looked a lot less surprised than any of the rest of us, though.  Maybe she was dazed and confused?  I couldn't say I blamed her.  If Asher was kissing me the way Lucent was kissing Elise, I'm sure I'd be a little out of it, too.

"My apologies," Lucent said.  He lowered Elise's leg to the floor and moved his knee away from her dress-covered crotch.  At least they were both wearing clothes; that was definitely a good thing, right?

"Sorry," Elise said, too.  "I'm not actually sorry, though.  I'm a little sorry.  I don't want anyone to feel awkward, you know?  That was really nice, though.  For me, I mean.  Lucent is... I... I don't know what I'm saying right now.  I'm sorry that we got a little carried away, but I still liked it a lot."

Lucent sighed.  "You certainly have a way with words, Miss Tanner," he said.

"Why thank you, Lucent," she said with a smile.

"Do you want some clothes?" I asked.  "That's uh... that's what I was going to ask.  Maybe Asher and Lucent can make some food?  There's not much, but there's a little bit in the fridge, and I can help you find some clothes, and then we can all figure something out while we eat breakfast and sit down and talk."

"That sounds quite agreeable," Lucent said.

"Sure," Elise said.

Asher nodded, silent.  I thought he was still a little dumbstruck from seeing Elise and Lucent make out.  I mean, of course they were allowed to make out, but...

"Alright then," I said.  I took tiny steps backwards, retreating into the bedroom.  I pushed Asher out into the hallway, too.  Then I stepped back towards the hallway, grabbed Elise's hand, and pulled her in.  For good measure, I shut the bedroom door behind us.

Now it was just us.  Elise and I.  Alone.

"I don't want to pry," I said, "but do you remember the email I sent you the other day?  Do you and Lucent really do those kinds of things you write about?  I mean, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but do you?"

"We haven't actually done those
exact
things," she said.

"Oh."  I hurried further into my bedroom and brought Elise to the closet.  "Maybe we should talk about these things sometimes.  Is that a thing people talk about?  Sex lives and stuff like that?"

"Um... do you and Asher, uh...?" she asked.

I forgot about looking at clothes for a second.  "Don't tell anyone this, but he used my vibrator on me last night.  Then we had sex, too.  We had sex before that, also.  We're kind of having sex a lot now because it's my time of the month for ovulation and everything.  I don't mean to uh... maybe that's a little too much information."

"That's like my story!" she squealed, jumping up and down and clapping her hands together.  She looked so silly and excited that it made me laugh.  "Probably not exactly, but... I didn't mean to get that excited over you and Asher having sex."

"Oh, it's alright.  It is kind of a lot more exciting to me right now in a way.  Sometimes I think about it, because any time now I could get pregnant, and... well, we want to do that, but still, it seems different.  Kind of risky and exciting?  I don't think it's actually any different, but sometimes Asher acts differently."

"How?" she asked.

"Well..."  I laughed.  This was fun, just us talking, silly sexy stuff about Asher and Lucent.  I felt a little strange, but I'd never really been able to talk to anyone like this before.  Except for Asher, of course; I could talk to him, but that was sort of different.

I helped Elise find some clothes and we chatted and talked and a part of me entirely forgot about everything that was wrong.  The sex tapes, the vandalism, the fire, Elise and Lucent as fugitives, framed for arson, and...

Today was a day of new beginnings.  Fresh starts and vibrant wake ups.  Today was a day when everything would become better.

Hopefully...

***

A
sher and Lucent didn't end up making breakfast for us.  Instead, it was me and Asher, while Elise and Lucent took a shower together.  It made some sense, since it meant that after we talked and ate, everyone could go their own ways.  Asher and I could stay here and shower and relax and do whatever we liked, and Elise and Lucent could leave, and...

I wasn't sure what happened after that.  The strange finality of it bothered me.  Where were they going and were they going to be gone forever?  I didn't think so.  I mean, I wasn't entirely positive or absolutely sure, but they'd definitely come back, right?  Lucent must have some place he could bring them where they could hide away for a little while until this all settled down.

Asher and I needed to speak with the police, as well.  I vaguely remembered them wanting to talk with me the night of the incident at the mansion, but I wasn't really in a state to do much more than cry and scream.  I didn't like what I'd become right then, but I understood it, too.  I thought they were dead, or missing, or worse.  I didn't know what exactly was worse than death, but in my panic-stricken mind, I wasn't thinking rationally.

I could think now, though.  I could explain everything.  I could talk with the police and make them understand, and then Lucent and Elise could come back and it'd be like nothing bad had ever happened.

That wasn't entirely true, though.  We still needed to deal with the incident at Landseer Tower.  As far as I knew, no one knew who had gone through my office when I stepped out for a few minutes that day.  Also, there were the sex videos and nude pictures of me and Asher, as well.  The entire past few days were a huge disaster.

And all of this while Asher and I were trying to conceive.  I laughed to myself a little and touched my stomach.  Good luck, little one, I thought.  Your mommy and daddy's lives are kind of a mess right now.  It might not be that great of a time to come into the world.

Now wasn't, but what about nine months from now?  Would everything be better by then, or worse?  What was I doing nine months ago?  I couldn't remember the exact situation, but I knew Asher had been trying to tell me that everything would blow over with the media and soon no one would even think twice about what happened.

That didn't quite work as planned, now did it?

"Am I missing a good joke here?" Asher asked.

"Huh?"  I turned to him, confused.

"You were laughing while standing there and staring at the pot of pasta sauce," he said.

I looked at him, confused again.  He returned my look, though his held less confusion and a slight smile.

"I..."  Was I laughing?  Oh!  Right!  I laughed again.  "I'm kind of out of it at the moment," I admitted.  "I was thinking about how many things are going wrong lately, and if we were going to have a baby now, then how things would be in nine months, if they'll be better, and... it's just kind of funny to think about, you know?  Sometimes you just have to laugh, I guess.  It's better than the alternatives."

Asher flashed me a brighter, more brilliant smile.  "In nine months, we'll have forgotten about everything.  It'll be like a dream.  Did that really happen?  That's what we'll ask ourselves.  I promise."

"I want to think so," I said.  "Asher, I really do want to believe that, but it's so hard sometimes.  What's going to happen?  Not just to us, but Elise and Lucent.  After we leave here, we need to go right to the police department.  We need to talk to them and explain things to them and tell them that it wasn't Elise and Lucent.  The police will understand.  They have to understand."

Asher nodded.  "Alright.  I'm going to take the day off, I think.  We'll go there, then maybe we can talk with my lawyer?  Doesn't sound like that fun of a day, but I'll make it up to you later tonight.  How's that sound?"

"Like last night?" I asked, giggling.  Oh, last night was stressful sometimes, but, oh, so relaxing at other times.  Relaxing and sexy and sensual and fun.  I loved it.

"Exactly," Asher said.  "Just like last night."  He snuck over and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.  "I think you're forgetting to stir the pasta sauce, Mrs. Landseer."

I shook my head at him and stared at him, indignant.  "I'm letting it simmer," I said, pretending I had actually been doing that.

But as soon as I said that, I grabbed the wooden spoon and started stirring.  Good thing, too; the bottom felt a little like it was about to burn and start sticking to the pot.

While I stirred, Asher diced some of the extra vegetables that Jeremy brought over.  We were going to add them to the pasta sauce to make it a lot chunkier, then have some fresh pasta with it, as well.  Not really much of a breakfast, but we didn't have anything else.

This was all going well.  This was going good.  The pasta simmered and bubbled, sending the delightful aroma of herbs and spices and tomato into the air.  Asher chopped at the spare vegetables, filling the space around us with chop, chop, chopping noises.  Further away, down the hallway towards my small old apartment's bedroom, Elise and Lucent were in the bathroom off to the side, showering.  The sound of the shower pattered through the hall, becoming a faint, quiet backdrop to the rest of the morning affairs.

Suddenly, someone knocked loudly on my front door, interrupting everything.

I jumped, nearly sending the pasta sauce flying.  Thankfully I dropped the spoon in the process, and I jumped backwards instead of forwards, so only a tiny splatter of sauce splashed against the countertop.  Either way, it was still nerve-wracking.

I looked to Asher and he looked to me.  Were we expecting anyone?

"Maybe Jeremy?" I asked him.

Asher shrugged.

I decided to call out.  "Who is it?" I asked.

"Police, ma'am," someone answered.  "Can you open the door, please?"

My eyes widened and I stared at Asher, dumbfounded.  "What do we do?" I asked in a harsh whisper.