Milo made a strangled choking sound, and he squeezed my hand tightly.
I stared down at him, knowing I should be feeling some way about that. But... as usual... I felt nothing at all.
“Your name is Jay Reynolds. Your contributions to biotech are world-renowned. You developed the NeuroExtractor 1.0 before you were twenty-five years old. It’s common knowledge. You were neverforgotten,Jay. Your legacy will live on long after you die. You’ve permanently carved your name into the history of this world.”
My eyes were burning, and my throat felt tight.
“All that… what you just said… that’s real?” I croaked, and Milo nodded, his eyes never leaving mine.
“Yes, baby, that’s real. Even when we were apart, I was obsessed with your work. Luke had to make up some story about you being on mental health leave because the world refused to forget about you.”
I swallowed, forcing that painful lump that formed in my throat down so it couldn’t destroy me from the inside.
“Youforgot me, though,” I whispered quietly, and as much as the words were true, I hated myself for saying them.
Because Milo couldn’t deny it, and admitting to it just hurt both of us.
Jay was both the same and different.
He’d always had an athletic build, but he was more defined now, like he’d been working out and putting on muscle mass for months.
He had a new scar that ran right through his eyebrow and down his right cheek. It looked like the wound had been so deep that I was shocked he hadn’t lost the eye.
He also had another scar on the left side of his upper lip that I’d been afraid to ask about.
He’d seemed upset and confused when he couldn’t tell me what had happened to his eye, and I hadn’t wanted to push too far too soon.
Obviously, the military techwear was new too, though it weirdly suited him, and I found him just as attractive in structured tactical pants as I had in tailored blazers.
What was killing me was that the whole reason I had forced myself to forget everything was so they wouldn’t be able to use my love against Jay to develop the NeuroManipulator. But, from what I could gather, they had managed to do it anyway.
I’d forgotten him for nothing.
With this harrowing thought rattling through my brain, I followed Jay out of the oak-paneled surgical room and up a flight of wooden steps into what appeared to be… a lodge-style home.
I pushed my glasses up my nose as I took in the massive, sun-drenched space.
The walls and floors were all exposed brick and rustic log-style walls. The 15-foot A-frame ceiling had gorgeous natural wood beam supports, and the furniture was all oversized and rustic.
This floor was open concept with a gorgeous kitchen and a ranch-style table, next to a living room that had a massive, plush leather sectional, a pelt-shaped rug, and a real wood fireplace.
This was all put to shame, though, by the floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked a gorgeous mountain scape.
“Welcome to ‘The Cabin,’” Jay said, giving me a hesitant smile as he led me through the massive house. “My dad and I used to spend a lot of time here when I was a kid. No one knows where it is. Not even Sebastian, though we did bring him here when he and I were smaller.”
“Then how does he not know where it is?”
Jay smirked at me. “The location was always a big secret. My father wouldn’t even tell me what mountain range we were in until I turned twenty.” His expression darkened.
“It was a fun thing as a kid, being whisked away to some secret destination, but now it makes me wonder if he was always a little suspicious of Luke’s intentions with the company.”
I nodded in understanding.
“Anyway, this is where NOVA’s servers are. After Melanie hacked her, she needed to retreat to fix the damage the virus caused. It took her some time, but once she managed to clear out the malware, she attacked TECHA and managed to bring down the Neurovance servers long enough for me to escape.”
“What about your chip?” I asked, wondering how he’d managed to get it out without me around to help him. I was certain that if they’d gone as far as to mess around in his brain with faulty neurotech, they would have tagged him, too.
He rolled up the sleeve of his hoodie and showed me a neat scar on his left arm that matched my own.
