MaleAndroidCompanion (24 page)

Satisfaction crept in to join her anger.

He reached for her hands, which were folded
atop the table before her. Subtly, she turned to her grandfather, dragging her
hands away before Marc could touch her, knowing that she would crumble if he
did. Her composure was brittle at best.

“Grandpa, you look exhausted.”

And he did. Not only was he pale, but his
breathing was labored. He also appeared to be cognizant that something wasn’t
right between her and Marc. Forehead furrowed, he looked suspiciously between
the two of them.

“Would you like me to escort you to your
room?”

“Thank you, baby girl. Perhaps lying down
for a while would be best.”

Gina stood, as did Marc. Purposely she
presented him with her back and busied herself with assisting her grandfather
to his feet. He leaned on her as she put an arm around his waist. His
comforting cologne wrapped around her and for a moment she was a little girl
again. Safe. At home. Then reality stole the sensation away.

Without looking back, she grumbled, “I’ll
be back.” Just enough heat entered her words to stop Marc from following them.
Still she could feel his gaze burn down her back.

As they approached the exit, a servant
provided them with an umbrella and the door swung wide. Misty rain still fell,
but it wasn’t the torrent it had been earlier. Gia felt thankful for their good
fortune, because her grandfather’s steps were feeble, a mere shuffle, unsteady.

For a moment, her own problems dissolved.
“Grandpa, are you all right?”

His weak smile didn’t comfort her and he
seemed to know it. “Just under the weather, baby girl. I’ll be fine in no
time.” He paused. “What about you?”

“I’m okay—”

He shot her one of his quelling looks that
said she had better not be lying to him. “Charleston didn’t tell you that he
was acquainted with your family?”

Damn her grandfather for being so
insightful, but he would literally have apoplexy if he knew the whole truth.

“No. He didn’t.” At least her answer would
cease further questions for now.

“Does it really matter? Gina, he’s a fine
man.”

No. That part of his deceit hadn’t moved
her as much as knowing that she had confided so much, even revealing to Marc
her darkest fantasies, her fears and her desires.

She barely withheld the harrumph that built
and dissipated within. To make it even worse, she had admitted to loving him.
Tears threatened, but with help from the rain she managed to conceal them,
barely.

How could he do this to her? He knew how
Doug and Mary’s betrayal had affected her. She trusted him. Loved him.

Frantically, she tried to pull herself
together. “No, Grandpa. Not really. I just don’t like secrets.” Or lies.

What a fool she had been.

Anger spiked again when she thought of how
Marc must have had a great laugh at her expense, not to mention the suave
salesman who sold her M.A.C.’s
creator
instead of one of his androids.
Well, she sure as hell hoped they enjoyed themselves, because when she got home
she was contacting her attorney.

Oh God.

“What’s wrong, Gina?”

Crap. Her anxiety must have shown.

“Nothing, Grandpa.”

Except that Marc Charleston could ruin her
with the knowledge he had. He must have realized that his secret was safe. No
way could Gia go to an attorney without condemning herself.

If word got out that she secretively
attended a BDSM club, or that he had duped her into thinking he was an android,
or a million other little things she had never shared with anyone else, she
would never live down the embarrassment, the shame. Not to mention the
notoriety of it all might even hurt her chances of securing the leading role in
Starlight
.

Her career. Her life. Both could be ruined.
The chance to work for a director who was a legend and to experience the role
of a lifetime would be gone. The emotion and depth of character in this movie
was something she had never before attempted. She wanted it so badly she could
taste it.

And then there was her heart, or more
appropriately the void that now lingered in her chest.

Assisting her grandfather into the house
and to a room that was on the bottom floor, she ensured he was tucked in bed
before she exited. Numbness consumed her. Closing her eyes, she leaned against
the door.

How could she have been so blind? No wonder
it was so easy to believe he was real, because he was. The memory of the
chauffer’s recognition of Marc that day when they had arrived at her mansion
popped into her mind. Even her mother and grandfather’s knowledge and
acceptance of him made Gia feel that much more a fool. Hell. Her family thought
he was great. Then again, they didn’t know the truth.

“Can we talk?” Marc’s deep voice forced her
eyes open.

Gia nervously licked her lips. “We have
nothing to talk about.” Her heart pounded so hard against her chest she thought
it would explode.

He reached for her but she jerked away,
skirting past the door and him so that they would not disturb her grandfather.
She couldn’t bear for him to touch her.

“Please, Gina.”

“Please?
Ha ha,
” she muttered,
feeling bile crawling and burning up her throat. The bitterness seemed apropos
to how she felt staring at the man who had deceived her and then stolen her
heart. She swallowed the hard knot of self-disgust. “The laugh…” Her lips pinched
together. By a mere thread she held on to the tears that begged to fall. “Is on
me.” A mocking smile appeared. “This should make interesting conversation in
the future for you.”

“Don’t belittle what we have.”

“What we have?” Her words came out breathlessly.

Gia closed her eyes again, refusing to look
back over the days they’d spent together. Still the memories of his kiss, the
way he held her—made love to her, rose. Her head began to shake back and forth
as if she could vanquish those tender thoughts.

Lies. Nothing but lies.

Eyelids rising, she squared her shoulders
and whipped past him, then pivoted on her toes, coming face-to-face with him.

“W-what did you hope to gain from this
ruse? The right to say that you slept with Gia Easton? Or that you could bring
me to my knees now that you know every one of my dirty little secrets?”

“No! How can you think that after all we
have shared?” His voice softened. “Gina, can’t you see I want you? Love you.”

Gia shook her head in disbelief. Love? What
the hell was it anyway?

“Please, Gina, listen to me. That day you
came into the showroom I was mesmerized.”

“Starstruck?” Contempt poured from her
mouth.

“Yes.” His shoulders drooped. “Starstruck
if you want to call it that, but there was so much more.”

His eyes brightened with emotion she
couldn’t allow to affect her.

“You baited me.”

“Me?” Disbelief washed away some of her
anger. “Now it’s
my
fault?”

“Yes.” He shook his head. “No. It was your
comment that day.”

“My comment?” What was he talking about?

“He’ll do.” He hesitated, but only briefly.
“My pride sometimes gets in the way. You were so nonchalant, so unimpressed,
that I felt my androids required more consideration.
I
deserved more
consideration.”

The weight in her chest thickened. “Just
like a man.”

“Yes. A man.” He took a step toward her.
She fought not to step back, to hold her ground as he continued. “Not an
android. Not a machine.” Another step closer. Her pulse jumped, raced. “
Me
,
Gina. The man who fell in love with you. The one whom you fell in love with.”

Blinking back tears, she clenched her
hands. Damn him. She could never trust him.

Gia inhaled, releasing the breath slowly.
“I want you to leave.
Now.
”

That was the last thing Marc wanted to hear
as he stood before Gina in the middle of the vacant living room. Weariness
pulled at the corners of her lips. He had put the pain radiating in her eyes
there. The realization cut him like a knife.

He had fucked up, big-time.

Without a doubt, he should have told her
sooner, never deceived her in the first place, but it was too late.

“I’m sorry.” Marc spoke his regret aloud as
if that would make a difference. He held his breath, hoping that there was a
chance that she could forgive him, give him one more opportunity to prove
himself worthy.

The condemning expression in her misty eyes
was her response. Silently, she turned toward the door leading outside. He hung
his head, hearing the door, swollen from the weather, pop open and then close
with a bang that rang goodbye.

He couldn’t move—couldn’t think. The only
woman he’d ever loved had just walked out of his life and it was his fault. He
had created this misunderstanding, this mess.

When his mind finally kicked in, started
working again, he whispered, “No.”

It couldn’t end here—like this. Moving
hastily to the door, he jerked it open.

Dammit.

Through the soft falling rain, Gina ran
toward the woods, her father following her along with two of Marc’s security
personnel in pursuit. Finger and thumb pinched together, he placed them between
his lips and released a shrill whistle that made the guards pause. They turned
around. Marc beckoned Norton with a wave of his hand. The man said something to
the other guard before he headed toward Marc, the other traipsing after Gina
and Paul.

As Norton neared, he must have sensed
something was wrong because his footsteps hastened. “You wished to speak with
me?”

“I’m leaving Oregon today.” It nearly broke
Marc’s heart to say the words. “I want you and your men to stay and ensure Miss
Easton’s safety. I’ll send the helio-sphere back tonight for your departure
tomorrow.”

Norton nodded. “Yes sir.”

Marc inhaled, releasing the air from his
lungs with a heavy sigh. “Make sure she arrives home without difficulty.”

A frown rose on the guard’s face. “Boss, is
everything okay?”

“No.” Marc didn’t even attempt to hide his
sorrow. He knew his eyes were bright with emotion, because a dark emptiness
overtook him. Gina was gone. “Just make sure she’s safe.”

Before Norton could ask another question,
Marc stepped back into the house. The door closed behind him as he headed for
the escalator.

Standing in the bedroom he had shared with
Gina, regret struck him like a blow to his gut. She was everywhere, her essence
a ghost threatening to haunt him forever. The worst was her scent, which hung
lightly in the air.

Emotion rose so quickly, he pinched the
bridge of his nose to keep it at bay. Would she ever forgive him? Would time
heal the damage between them? Or would their different lives pull them even
further apart?

As he reached for his suitcase, someone
stirred behind him. Hope rose, dying quickly when he glanced over a shoulder to
find Gia’s mother watching him.

“Going somewhere?” Elaine asked.

Laying the bag on the bed, he steeled
himself. “I’m leaving.” He walked over to the dresser and started pulling out
his clothes.

A moment of silence lingered.

“Is something wrong?” He could hear concern
in her tight tone.

“I’ve hurt her.” He swung around, ready to
receive the woman’s scorn, but she only looked at him in that motherly way.
“She’ll need you,” he said, throwing the clothes into the suitcase before
reaching for his garment bag.

“Where is she?”

“The woods. Maybe by the creek.” His feet
pounded across the room toward the closet. “Paul is with her now.” Or that is
what he assumed. Disappearing inside, he gathered his pants, shirts, suits and
ties, hoping that Elaine would be gone by the time he moved back into the room,
but it wasn’t to be.

“Do you love her?” she asked softly.

Marc stopped where he stood. The truth
burned behind his eyelids. “Yes. But she’ll never forgive me…” he managed to
say before his voice failed him.

“Do you deserve to be forgiven?”

What kind of question is that?

He stomped toward the bed, tossed his
clothes on it and stared down at the mess he’d made of not only this wardrobe,
but his life. “No.” Raising his head, he looked at Elaine. “I’d do anything to
change the events of that day, but I can’t.”

The woman who looked so much like Gina
nodded as if she understood, and then she turned to leave.

“Elaine?”

The woman glanced over her shoulder.

“Tell her I’m sorry…” A deep straining
sadness welled inside him. Inhaling, he held his breath, releasing, “And, that
I love her,” on an exhale. Before she could see his pain, he turned away.
Clearing his throat, he began shoving his clothes into the bags.