Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 127712 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127712 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
“What did I just say?” Mercer bellows. “Are you not listening? He can’t walk away, Nova. He’s not walking away, OK? You need to tell him that he doesn’t need to be here anymore because that dream he has going in his head—that fucking fantasy where he believes himself to be Veda’s father—is just that. A fantasy. Tell him!”
Nova doesn’t tell me. Not with words. But I can see it all in her eyes.
It’s true.
Veda is Mercer’s child.
He had sex with Nova before I took her into the woods. Before Olsen and me had our little threesome with her.
He claimed her.
She is his.
And so is Veda.
“Michael,” Nova says, still holding my hands. “This is just half of it. There’s so much you need to know.”
“Tell him then,” Mercer says. “Tell him everything. You know all the truths, right? You know everything, right?” Mercer turns to me. “Did she tell you we’re married, Locke?”
I blink at him. “What?”
“Oh, that’s so not fair!”
“Not fair?” Mercer whirls on Nova. “Not. Fucking. Fair? Bitch, you fucked me over. You knew the whole time—”
“You made me!” Nova looks at me, desperation all over her face. “He made me, Locke! He told me that if I was his wife, then I couldn’t testify against him!”
As soon as these words come out of her mouth, life as I know it kinda ceases to exist. All three of us go silent. But both Mercer and Nova are staring at me.
I take a moment to wrap my head around these new facts.
Mercer and Nova had sex before I took her into the woods.
She got pregnant right then. I believe this. If Mercer says the child is his, then he knows for a fact that Veda is his.
They got married.
Because she wouldn’t be able to testify against Mercer if we got caught.
And we were going to get caught, right?
We were.
If Nova had stayed in the game, life as we know it would be something else entirely. The three of us would be famous right now. We’d be heralded as scientific geniuses. Hell, Nobel Prizes all the way around. We’d be in history books. Children would learn about us the way they learn about astronauts and explorers. Because that’s what we were.
Only we didn’t explore the moon or new lands over distant oceans.
We explored the brain.
We made history.
Nova made history.
And if she had stayed, that’s what would’ve happened.
But she didn’t stay.
She walked out in New York.
Everything fell apart in New York.
“Choose!” I snap out of it and stare at Nova. “Choose,” she says again. “Right now. Me. Or him.”
Mercer looks at Nova and frowns. “I really am sorry, ya know? I really am. But I didn’t put you in this position. You’re asking him to choose? That’s funny. That’s really funny because you’re the one who made this choice, Nova. You knew what you were getting into. You signed all the papers. Locke videotaped you agreeing to everything. You made this happen. You chose this. And now you want to blow up his life to get back at me.”
“That’s not true!”
“It is true.” Mercer turns to me. “Stay here if you want. She’ll fill you in on all the details. But trust me, Michael, you won’t be happier learning these things. Not like this. So stay. But I’m leaving.”
And then he turns and walks out.
He leaves the door open when he leaves, though.
“Locke,” Nova says. She wraps her hands around my upper arm. “You don’t have to go. You don’t have to follow him. You can just… walk away. It’s even easier than that, Locke. You don’t have to leave. Don’t you see? He walked away and now all you have to do is stay.”
I watch Mercer get in the Jeep and turn it on.
I wait to see if he’ll pull out. I wait to see if he’ll leave me behind.
But he just sits there, idling.
“Don’t go,” Nova begs. “Don’t go back to him, Locke. He’s dangerous.”
But I do go.
I choose Mercer.
Even in New York, I chose Mercer.
I always choose Mercer.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN – NOVA
FIVE YEARS AGO
When we get back from Boston, I spend a lot of time dreaming up my game. What do I want from these men? How should I go about getting it? What will my limits be?
Things have changed between Mercer and I.
These changes are dramatic.
Monday morning, I get to the lab first. Mercer’s office door is slightly ajar. And even though I sense that he’s not in there, I tap it open just to make sure.
He’s not.
So I go to my lab down the hallway, flick on all my monitors, and pull up the case I’m currently working on. I’m getting much better at deciphering the pathways.
Hours go by, I guess. I lose track of time. But then Mercer is there, standing in my doorway. Normally Mercer wears a suit coat at work—crazy in this heat, but that’s his style—but he’s not wearing one now. In fact, he has rolled up the sleeves of his starched white-button-down, his hands are in his pockets, and he’s leaning against my doorjamb wearing a crooked grin.