Birth of Adam (Artificial Intelligence Book 2) (25 page)

Luke awoke from his haze and stared at the white walls. A woman in white arrived and then disappeared. Suddenly his own image appeared before him.

“I asked them to bring you out of sleep so I could give you peace before you die.”

“Who are you?” Luke asked.

“Amanda will not live without your help. Will you help her?”

“Yes,” he replied.

“Even if it means your death?”

“Yes.”

“You are a good man. I will ensure many good deeds are done in your name,” he said, and turned to leave.

“Wait, tell me what I have to do.” Luke said.

The man stroked his face. “Sleep now. I will take care of the details, but rest assured, with your sacrifice, Amanda will live a happy life. I promise nothing will harm her again.”

Amanda woke to Luke’s smiling face.

“How are you feeling?”

“Better.”

“I returned you to the States for your operations, and they went beautifully.”

“Operations?”

“Your new heart held up like a workhorse, allowing the doctors to complete the other two transplants.”

“So I’m fixed?”

“You are once again whole and perfect,” he declared, and leaned in to kiss her.

She stopped him. “Luke, this will be our first kiss. You cannot make it a casual event,” she scolded.

He sighed and sat back. “That was exactly what I wanted to do.”

“And I understand why, but I’m certain it’s going to be special, and thus deserves special treatment.”

He sighed. “Then we will wait until you’re off the painkillers so you’ll at least know if your toes are tingling.”

“Thank you. How are matters going at work?”

“Everyone has been incredibly supportive, and a few wish I hadn’t come back so clear-headed and refreshed. They are dying to meet the woman who gave me back my life.”

“Caught any criminals yet?” she teased.

“Quite a few. I’m presently sorting out the good agents from the bad.”

“And how are you doing that?”

“Simple. I send them after a criminal I know can be located, arrested, and successfully prosecuted. Those who succeed, I keep, and those who fail I move on to harmless bureaucratic positions. By the time you are ready to begin school, I believe I’ll have the FBI running better than it ever has.”

She frowned.

“You will not sacrifice your happiness for me,” he warned her.

“Are you reading my mind again?” she chided.

“I don’t have to. I know you too well.”

“Well, then, you should know I’m happiest with you,” she reminded him.

“I do know that,” he assured her, and stroked her face. “And nothing could make me leave you.”

“But your job is here, and you’re doing so much good. Surely that’s more important than any song I might write.”

“I disagree, but it is not relevant to our discussion. While Luke should remain here in the US, I can still accompany you. I didn’t spend forty-six billion dollars to create a single body. I have another body that can be activated.”

“With the same face?”

“He has to have a different face.”

“But how will Luke explain the disappearance of the love of his life?”

“Simple. You’ll break up.”

“No!”

“Amanda, if Luke continues to be so successful, he puts your life in danger. He needs to be a man with no loved ones. Otherwise, I’m going to have to reduce his successes.”

“Why will we break up?”

“Well, you will return to Europe for school, take on a new lover and, given his past history, he’ll never forgive you.”

She pouted.

“Luke is a workaholic. You two have completely different goals for your lives. You’ll like your new lover much better.”

“What will he look like?”

“Who would you like him to look like?”

“Adam,” she admitted, and smiled.

“Then you shall finally have him.”

***

Even though she knew Adam was correct, it broke her heart to leave Luke.

She was quite miserable when she entered the private jet. Logically, she understood the reasons why she must leave him, but still, guilt filled her for deserting her dear friend.

“You are letting him get on with his job so he can do what is necessary to make this country safe,” her phone reminded her. “The real Luke, you hold inside of you, and to honor him, you must live your life to the fullest.”

She calmed and took her seat. The attendant brought her a wine as she explained they were still waiting for another passenger.

“Not me,” Adam clarified. “I don’t want to be your rebound lover. I want to be your forever lover.”

“You already are,” she assured him.

“I will give you a hint. This is someone from your past, with whom you might enjoy a temporary fling.”

She pondered who the passenger might be, and thought of Sean—her difficult Sean, who had struggled with the concept of love that carried no strings or commitments. According to Adam, he had left the hospital the moment he’d learned of the extent of her injuries. He had made no attempt to contact her since. She had trouble believing he would return now.

“It is not Sean. I was very disappointed in him. For such a bully, he was an incredible coward.”

“Many bullies are,” she observed.

She hoped it wasn’t Chad, because she could never forgive him for breaking Luke’s heart.

“I would never consider such a possibility,” he assured her in a tone that left no doubt she had insulted him.

Of course he wouldn’t. Chad had tried to kill Adam. Chad was the last person Adam would call on.

Her contemplations ended when Mark Hammer lifted her to her feet and kissed her on both cheeks and then her lips. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For offering an olive branch,” he said as he sat down in the chair beside her.

“Olive branch?’

Mark’s smile disappeared. “When you offered me a ride back to Europe, I thought that meant you forgave me, but perhaps you just wanted to knock me about for five hours. Well, I deserve it, so go ahead. However, I would like to observe that marriage with Beth is beyond any punishment you could devise.”

She stretched her hand toward his face, and he flinched. When her hand caressed his cheek, he looked at her in happy surprise.

“Then you forgive me?”

“I cannot forgive you,” she replied, and before anguish could set in, she explained why. “I was never angry, so there’s nothing to forgive.”

They fell into silence as the plane rose into the sky. Amanda couldn’t imagine why Mark would think he had done something to anger her. Unlike Sean, he had sent her an adorable stuffed animal with a bandaged paw, telling her to get well soon. She had been surprised that he hadn’t delivered it in person, but Adam had explained he had to return to the US because Beth wanted to marry immediately. She hadn’t sent a wedding present, because she’d known Beth would throw out whatever she sent. Was that why he thought her angry with him?

“I’m sorry,” she declared at the exact time he said the same.

She laughed. “I’m not mad at you. Why would you even think that?”

When he snuggled beside her in the wide leather chair, he remained silent for so long she wondered if he’d fallen asleep.

“Mark?”

“I’m recalling the first time we flew over. God, it seems a billion years ago.”

“It does.”

“We were so young and innocent back then.”

She laughed. “I don’t recall you being all that innocent,” she teased.

“Oh, but I was. I believed I could get by on my charm. I could handle any problem if I just smiled a bit more.”

“Well, we’ve both had some hard life lessons,” she admitted.

“I really did love you,” he insisted, his face contorted with pain.

“I know,” she assured him. “And I hope you still do.”

He buried his face in the crook of her neck. “Always.”

“The same here,” she assured him, and kissed the top of his head.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the marriage. I tried to the night of your party, but I couldn’t tell you with everyone around, and I never got another chance to speak to you. Jules pulled my leash so short I couldn’t piss without his explicit approval.”

“Are you still with Jules?”

“No. Bresnan came through on his offer to get me an interview with Chevaux, and fortunately the man forgave my nationality, and thus when Jules arrived with my new and even more constricting contract, I told him I’d signed with someone else.”

“That must have been fun.”

“Truthfully, I was terrified. I’d seen what Jules had done to you, and heard of others who never worked again after they crossed him. However, since Chevaux is considered a step above Jules, any complaints would be considered sour grapes and unprofessional, so Jules left me alone.”

“Is your new agent easier to work with?”

“He’s more demanding on a professional level. If I’m not performing, I should be practicing. If I’m not practicing, I should be learning more from the masters. He doesn’t believe a serious musician can have a personal life, but he doesn’t actually forbid his students from having one. He certainly doesn’t tell you what to wear, or say who to sleep with. In fact, he ignores your private life entirely. You are judged by your performances, and as long as your playing shows continued improvement, he will retain you as a client.”

“He sounds like a good agent.”

“He’s very good for me. I was always rebelling with Jules. Now there are no ridiculous rules to thwart. Chevaux wants the same thing I want—perfection in my music. He doesn’t give a rat’s ass that my private life is utter hell. Or maybe he does, because he constantly books me in Europe, and Beth refuses to travel with the baby.”

“Baby?”

“God, you don’t know? That’s what I wanted to tell you. It’s why I had to leave school and return to the States. Beth was pregnant and needed a husband.”

“That sounds like you don’t think it’s yours?”

“I always used a condom, so I seriously doubt it, but her father showed me a paternity test, which claims otherwise.”

“Maybe you should have your own paternity test performed.”

“No money.”

“I would have paid for it,” she assured him.

He leaned and kissed her temple. “The truth is, Beth’s father promised me a ten-album record deal, which is almost unheard of. With Jules threatening to drop me if I didn’t marry Beth and her father threatening to bury me in a costly paternity suit, I decided to take the record deal and Beth.”

“I wish I could have been there for you. I’m sure Adam could have found you a better path.”

“Well, you were on death’s door at the time, and I’m guessing Adam was pulling every string he had to make you well. In comparison, my problems were insignificant.” Mark stared at her. “I’m convinced without Adam you would have died.”

She nodded. “Without Adam and Luke, I wouldn’t have recovered.”

“Luke—I can’t believe you had the Assistant Director of the FBI posing as your security guard.”

“He wasn’t posing. He was on a leave of absence, and when I told him I was concerned that the opera cast members intended to poison me, he came at once.”

“And failed.”

“That wasn’t his fault. I should have never taken the curtain-call bow.”

“Still, it must have killed him to realize he’d failed to protect you.”

“It did,” she replied, and burst into tears.

Mark gathered her into his arms. “Here, what’s this?”

“He can’t get over his failure. Now that I’m well enough to return to school, he’s broken it off with me,” she lied, covering the real reason for her tears.

Mark sighed. “You have crappy luck with men.”

“I do!” she admitted. “Except for Adam.”

“Right,” he said with pain in his voice.

“And you!” she insisted. “You’re still my friend, and you still care about me. I’m very lucky to have met you.”

“Nice recovery, but you were right the first time. I should have fought harder to keep you.”

“You were under contract,” she reminded him.

“Yeah, but so were you.”

“My contract wasn’t nearly as confining. Adam had removed most of Jules’ claws.”

“Then how was Jules able to dump you?”

“I probably could have contested it, but the truth was I was glad to be away from him. Despite not having any legal right to do so, he was determined to dig all ten claws into me. I believe it was his lack of full control over me that turned him against me.”

“Maybe, or it might have been Anon. From what I hear, Jules blames you for his affair with Anon, and if you think Jules hates losing control in an agent/client relationship, he really hated being forced into the submissive role in a homosexual trist.”

Amanda stared at him in shock. “I knew from the way Jules would allow Anon to boss him about the house they had to be sleeping together, but I had no idea Jules would blame me.”

“According to Jules, you forced them to share a room.”

“Well, he wasn’t forced. He could have left Anon in the dorms, or lived in a hotel,” Amanda replied. “It’s not as if I wanted either of them living in my house, but that was when he changed. Before that, I rather thought he liked me.”

“He certainly did when he first met you. I was very envious of your ability to control him.”

“I wasn’t trying to control him,” she protested.

“No, you were trying to befriend him,” Mark agreed. “But he had to be half in love with you if he allowed his contract to be renegotiated.”