The NOVA Trilogy Boxed Set

by Jayce, Aven

  “Devery knew about this?” Leondra asks.

  “Yes, but it’s her father. I don’t think she’ll ever speak about it. And I’m not sure I should either.”

  “Why not?” Cove raises his voice in a rage. “I can’t believe I didn’t know about this. I was supposed to protect you that night and I fucked up.”

  “Now you’re starting to sound like me,” his father says. “Sophia, do you think you might file a report about this?”

  “I can’t. I’d have to say Devery was there, and then she would be questioned and possibly investigated. How would she explain what she was doing in the house and why she flew to Vegas for the weekend? We all know her; she’d break down and tell the police everything if they spoke with her, maybe even about the flash drive. She could go to jail for planting evidence.”

  “Wouldn’t that be a parody of the past?” Mr. Everton says.

  “Then Leondra would have to account for having Wayne’s gun if Devery mentioned that. It’s not worth it. I wanted to tell someone, but not the police. If I go to them, it will open up a can of worms.”

  I rest my head in Cove’s lap after he sits back down, and he begins to run his fingers gently through my hair. I close my eyes, drunk from wine, and getting tired from another full day of splitting emotions and travel. “I’m sorry that happened to you,” he whispers. “We can talk more about it anytime you’d like. Is there anything else?”

  I sit up and look at him with wide eyes. “Yes, we forgot something.” He understands exactly what I’m talking about and nods.

  “Let’s go. There’s a Walgreens a block away.”

  “Oh, I heard that! Can I go too?” Leondra pleads.

  “Leondra, let these two lovebirds buy their condoms in peace. I think it’s time for all of us to have some private time anyway.”

  “Sweetheart,” she says to her husband, with a light touch to his hand. “They’re getting a pregnancy test.”

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  “I’m so glad my mother didn’t tag along for this.”

  “Yeah, you’re very close to your parents, but in this particular situation, that’s a little too close for me.” I take a box off the shelf and read the label, trying to find one that’s used for early results.

  “Did you see my father’s face when my mother mentioned the pregnancy test? I couldn’t tell if he was going to jump up and down or have a heart attack.”

  “He loves you more than life itself.”

  “I know he does. Here, this one says six days before your missed period,” Cove whispers. “Where are you right now? Do think this will work?”

  “Let’s try it. I’d say I’m only about four days away.”

  Cove takes the test and picks up a box of condoms, a health magazine for men, and a candy bar on our way to the register. I point out his discomfort and the need to distract from our purchases by adding more to the bundle. He agrees and puts the magazine and condoms back, but holds on to the chocolate. We head out the door hand in hand through a fresh coating of snow that’s starting to fall onto us. It’s a short walk and nice being outside again. I know I’m going to get antsy whenever I’m stuck indoors for more than a day until the experience in Vegas starts to wane.

  “I’m nervous, Cove.”

  “Me too. Remember, it’s okay either way. I’ll be happy if you are, and if not, we have many years ahead of us to...”

  He stops dead in his tracks and tightens his grip around my hand. I look ahead to see what has him startled, and gasp at the sight at the end of the block. Out of the blue, walking toward us, wearing matching knee-length woolen black coats, tall black boots, and fur hats, are two women; one of whom I know too well, and the other I recognize from my jog last month in the park.

  “Natalie,” Cove whispers.

  “Mera,” I whisper.

  “Fuck,” we say in tandem.

  They see us and stop while we wait for them to approach. Mera holds Natalie by the arm, pulls her back, and they discuss something until Natalie shrugs and walks forward with Mera following close behind.

  “Oh Jesus, Soph. What is this?”

  “I don’t know, and I’m not sure if I want to know. Mera’s place is only a block from here, but I thought her things had been sent to Vegas. I didn’t think she’d come back to stay in an empty apartment.”

  “Maybe she didn’t. Maybe your father never had anyone move her things.”

  “Hey,” Natalie says to Cove. “So is this the woman whom I heard finally captured your heart?”

  “Nat, what the fuck? How do the two of you know one another?”

  Natalie places her arm over Mera’s shoulder and smiles. “Cove, this is my baby sister, Mera Calloway.”

  “What? Oh, God dammit. Come on, Sophia; don’t even bother speaking to them. Let’s get the fuck out of here.” We start to walk away but I can’t help to turn around to see Mera one last time. She places her hand up in a slow wave, her face despondent and full of despair.

  “Cove, wait. I want to talk to her.”

  “Why? They lied to us, both of them. I’m tired of this shit that keeps surfacing from your father’s sick and twisted industry. Let’s keep walking home and never look back.”

  “We got your father out of jail, Cove Everton,” Mera shouts.

  I break away from Cove and pound my feet through the snowy sidewalk, wearing a pair of Leondra’s boots, which are two sizes too big for my feet. My hand holds the bag from the pharmacy tightly as my other hand appears out of my coat pocket and makes contact with the side of Mera’s face. It stings when I slap her, and I enjoy every minute of the pain.

  “You fucking liar! How dare you pretend to be my lover and my friend for all those years!”

  “Soph, I wasn’t pretending, I promise, I really did love you.” she says in a soft voice while holding her cheek.

  “Shut the fuck up, do you think I’ll actually believe anything that comes out of your mouth ever again?”

  “Come on, Sophia. Let’s go,” Cove pleads. “Don’t bother.”

  “You’re right,” Mera replies. “I lied, and I understand if you don’t want to believe that I really did cherish our friendship, but at least know that what happened between me and your father in that house was to help you and Cove, and wasn’t for my own personal gain. Natalie filled me in on what happened to your father,” she says, looking at Cove. “I mentioned your name to her after Sophia first met you. I had no idea who you were before that time.”

  “It’s true,” Natalie says. “You know we never used names in the business, Cove. I always told my sister what was happening in my life, but never with whom. She had no idea what she was getting herself into when she signed that contract.”

  “You never told me you had a sister,” Cove replies.

  “I never told you anything about myself. Didn’t have to until I got out of the business, then I only mentioned my husband and son to you.”

  “So why did you leave that night with my father?” I ask Mera.

  “It was time for me to move on, and I was ready to make more money, it wasn’t until...”

  “Stop right there. See, you were ready to move on and the money meant more than me. Fuck you.”

  “Listen, it wasn’t until after I signed the contract that Natalie talked to me about Cove and his family, then I was caught in something I didn’t know how to get out of, and I wanted to help. At first, I thought you were going to be okay. You had a new place, had applied for jobs, and found a guy you were actually interested in, but then everything went dark. I did the best I could, you know?”

  “No, I don’t know. It sounds more like you’re trying to cover your ass. I know you too well and I’d say you’re just telling me whatever you think I want to hear.”

  “Fine, if that’s how you feel. I know I can’t change your stubborn asinine mind about anything. It always has to be your way right?”

  “Enough, both of you. Natalie, take care, and have a nice life. Mera, thank you for your hel
p with my father, I do appreciate what you’ve done, but for now we need to separate before this turns uglier than it already has.” Cove tugs me around and nudges me toward our building with his hand on my back. I turn around again, but the two of them are walking away, and in the darkness and the snow, they disappear from my sight within a matter of seconds.

  “I have a lot more I’d like to say to that woman. What a bitch.”

  “Don’t look back, Soph. Hold on to those words. Don’t look back.”

  ***

  We see Leondra pacing in the hallway when the elevator doors open.

  “Did you get it?” she screams.

  “Mother, some privacy; please.”

  “Leondra!” Mr. Everton calls down the hall. “Leave them alone, gorgeous woman. Come back and finish this bottle of wine with me.”

  Cove opens the door and I dash under his arm into our penthouse, taking off the borrowed winter boots and throwing the bag on the entryway table. I turn and cradle the back of his neck with my two hands in a romantic gesture. He rubs an Eskimo kiss over my nose then places a deep kiss on my lips.

  “Do you want me to do the test now?”

  “Give me just one moment, okay? I want to mention our chance meeting to my parents, and make sure we don’t have any more interruptions this evening. I’ll be right back.”

  I look around the loft as he steps out. It’s my first time alone in our place and I feel like I actually belong here. Which is unusual, since I’ve never felt like I’ve belonged anywhere my entire life. The neutral tones are comforting, and the bright splashes of color in the kitchen are fun and lift my spirit. I walk into the living room and sit on the sofa next to the fireplace, placing my feet on the coffee table. The only thing making me ill at ease are the white candles that remind me of the ones placed throughout my father’s home. Cove has them everywhere, on the side tables, on the bookshelves, on the table in front of me, and the vanilla scent I once loved now makes me nauseous.

  “Fuck it.” I head for the kitchen and find a trash bag into which to toss them. Cove walks in as I’m placing the last one in a bag and he shakes his head with a grin.

  “Is there a problem I should know about?”

  I look down at the two bags and feel ashamed that I didn’t ask if it was alright to throw away his things. “Sorry.”

  “My mother bought me those. What are you doing?”

  I sigh and set the bags on the floor. “They remind me of my father, and that room I was in with David Rosen. They’re making me sick.”

  He holds out his hands and I give him the bags. “Well then, out they go. We don’t need anything in our home that’s going to make you sick or give you bad memories.”

  “I’ll apologize to your mother.”

  “She’ll understand, don’t worry about it.” He places the bags in the front entryway and pulls me into a soothing hug. “God, they look amazing together. I just walked in and saw my parents in a warm embrace; it brought tears to my eyes, you know? I’m so happy.”

  “I am too.”

  “Now I’m even happier. Thanks for saying that. I know what’s happened has been very difficult for you, but I’m here whenever you need me.”

  “Well, I need you now. Let’s do the test.” I look into his eyes wearing a nervous grin.

  “How long will it take?”

  “A few minutes.”

  “That’s it?” he inhales deeply. “Okay.” He holds onto the kitchen counter for a moment and stares at the bag. “So in a few minutes I’ll know if I’m going to be a father?”

  I laugh and rub his back in a calming gesture. “We’ll know if we’re going to be parents, yes.”

  “Holy shit,” he releases his breath. “Okay, do it. I’m ready. Are you ready? I’m ready.”

  “It’s okay, Babe. I can wait until morning if you’re too nervous.”

  “No!” we hear Leondra’s voice coming from the hall, then his father call out to her again. Cove shakes his head, takes the test out of the bag, and points upstairs. I walk to the second floor, past the pool, and up to the third floor master suite.

  “This room is amazing.”

  “I’m glad you like it, but we can change anything in the house to suit your tastes. I want you to be comfortable here, it’s your home too.”

  “Bathroom?”

  He points to my left and I turn on the lights to reveal an elegant space. “Holy shit.”

  “You okay?” he calls out.

  “Your bathroom’s twice as big as the one I had in my loft. It’s like the size of your living room.”

  “I know.”

  “You have a giant stone tub in the middle of the room resting on rocks.”

  “I know, they’re not rocks, they’re stones.”

  “What’s the difference?”

  “Stones come from rocks. There’s heat underneath them that keeps the tub warm.”

  “Jesus.”

  “I know.”

  “You have a chandelier over the tub!”

  “I know. I have chandeliers everywhere, if you haven’t noticed, even at the Scarlett. I love them.”

  “The walls are so pretty!”

  “Plaster... granite around the shower and over by the sinks.”

  “Wow, look at....”

  “The test, Sophia. Do the test!”

  “Where’s... never mind, I found it.” I urinate on the stick and place it on the counter next to one of the sinks. Nothing happens after the first thirty seconds and I wait anxiously for another minute to pass. “These photographs of the exploding fireworks are nice. Did your mother shoot them?”

  “No, I bought them in Vegas. Are you finished?”

  “Yup.”

  “What does it say?” he asks frantically.

  “It’s not ready yet. You can come in if you’d like.”

  The door bursts open and Cove looks around, finally eyeing the test and racing over to the sink. He picks it up and shakes it like a thermometer.

  “It doesn’t work that way.”

  “I see a line. Does that mean you’re pregnant, or not pregnant?”

  “Two lines means yes, one means no.”

  “There’s only one, Soph.”

  “Give it another minute. Stop staring at it like you’re waiting for a pot to boil. Talk to me about something else instead. Tell me what we’re going to do tomorrow.”

  “We’ll head to the doctor’s office or hospital first thing for my foot. Then we need to go to the police station for as long as I can stand to be there. My father will probably be there all day, and the two of us will need to keep going back until they have all the information they need. You don’t have to go. Maybe you and my mother can do something together, and she can start showing you some of the areas where we could use your help at the Scarlett, that is if you’re still interested in working with us, as a family.”

  “Absolutely. Sounds wonderful, and yes, I’ll be at the station with you for as long as you want me there. I’ll need to call my brother at some point about my father, and discuss a funeral, or cremation, and other things.”

  He nods and continues. “I can help you with that, and anything else you need to take care of. Then, I’m going to cook you a nice dinner and we can go out in the evening to buy you some new clothes. I’m sorry you don’t have anything right now. We’ll have to get phones too.”

  “I’ll survive.”

  “Then we can make love and start a new day.” He looks at the stick and shakes his head.

  “Let me see,” I take it from his hand and frown. “Yeah, I guess I’m not, like we’re not, well crap, I’m actually disappointed.”

  “I know. I’m sorry. It’s probably better this way, you know? We can try again when we’re ready.”

  “Yeah, I suppose,” I say, throwing the stick in the trash.

  “No, seriously. If you were pregnant it was either from the airplane sex, or the morning we were locked in the bedroom suite, both of which were recorded. I don’t want our son o
r daughter’s conception to be something that thousands of people jerked off to online. That’s kind of creepy.”

  “Kind of?” I ask. “And you’re forgetting that you also came inside of me two other times. On the stairwell, and before the party when you were drugged.”

  “God, I’m sorry. Really, I’m just trying to make you feel better.”

  “I know. And some of it is my fault. I asked you to cum inside of me at one point, remember? I still feel the same as I felt on that stairwell; I’m ready to start the rest of my life with you, my heart and mind both tell me you’re the person I was meant to be with, forever. And I’ve been thinking about our conversation at your aunt and uncle’s home. If I was pregnant, or wanted to have a child, it wouldn’t be because of a need to fix a relationship or to fill a void in myself, it would be because for once I actually feel secure and loved by someone, and I’d like that love to continue to grow and expand into wonderful things, including a child... at some point.”

  “That was beautiful... and smart. Come here.” He picks me up and twirls me around until I giggle and can feel my cheeks glow in a warm flush. “We can keep pumping away at it if you’d like, literally. I know you were tired earlier, but how are you feeling now?”

  “I was until we went to the store. The cold air woke me up. How ‘bout you?”

  “Not even close. I’m too excited about everything, like a five-year-old waiting to open gifts on Christmas morning.” He carries me to the bed and sets me on the edge, tossing the pillows on the floor, and turning down the comforter. “Climb in, let’s fuck.”

  I laugh and lean back to take off the flannel pajama bottoms while Cove stands in front of me to help pull them off. His hands rest on my knees, then slide down my thighs. I moan and close my eyes then open my legs, dropping my knees to either side of my body. A finger brushes across my clit and I’m lost in his tender touch. We’re alone, finally, just the two of us. No cameras, parents, employees or clients, just him and me. I was numb for so long, but now I’m cognizant of my heart. I can feel each beat, the movement of blood through my veins, and the rush of passion we share for one another.

  “Wow,” he whispers. “You’re so beautiful.” He caresses my stomach while removing my hoodie and tank. “I adore you, Sophia.” He takes off of his clothes then turns out the lights in the room and slides under the covers. “Come join me. You have no idea what you’re in for.”