Freedom's Price Read Online Free PDF Page A

I
am
interested. Especially since you haven’t been interested in much of anything—female or otherwise—since last summer. What was the name of that last obligation? Janice?…”
    “Janessa.” Liam shook his head. “And she wasn’t an obligation. She was…” He closed his eyes briefly. “I don’t know what she was. A mistake, I guess.” He tossed the pills into his mouth and washed them down with the bubbling water, drinking directly from his bottle. “Still, this obligation isn’t what you think.”
    “What I
thought
was that you might’ve been working on an article about celibacy in this age of STDs, but since it’s been nearly a full calendar year since Janessa took her sweet little pout and walked out of your life, I’ve changed my mind. I seriously doubt you’re researching the lifestyle of a Franciscan monk.” Lauren narrowed her eyes. “However, it’s occurred to me that whatever’s bugging you, getting laid sure couldn’t make it any worse. So maybe you should stop and buy a nice bottle of wine on your way to meet that new little obligation and—”
    “Stuart! God! My obligation happens to be Santiago Bolivar’s niece!”
    “Bolivar. Bolivar…Isn’t that the name of your friend in San Salustiano?”
    Liam jiggled his foot in a burst of nervous energy. “Yeah.”
    “And the niece…Wait—what was her name?”
    “Marisala.” God, he couldn’t even say her name without feeling a flash of heat.
    “She was the one who helped your brother and his wife get you off the island.”
    “Yeah.”
    “The teenager. The seventeen-year-old guerrilla Amazon.”
    “She’s not an Amazon. She’s a tiny little…girl.”
    “I was speaking figuratively. Amazon as in female warrior.”
    Liam couldn’t sit still any longer. He got to his feet and started to pace. “Santiago’s sending her to college here in Boston. He’s asked me to give her any help she needs. And she does need help. There’s been a mix-up with the campus housing, and I’m going to have to help her find an apartment near mine.”
    “An apartment in the Back Bay in September?” Lauren laughed. “Good luck.”
    “Thanks, Stuart. Your encouragement is greatly appreciated.”
    “So where’s she staying until…” Lauren laughed again. “Oh, my. She’s staying at your place, isn’t she?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Oh, Lee, don’t fight it. This girl could be exactly what you n—”
    “No. No way.”
    “What is that they always say about protesting too much?…”
    Liam turned toward the door. “Look, I have to go—”
    “Maybe, at the very least, you can
talk
to her.”
    “I’ll give you a call over the next few days.”
    Lauren stood up. “She was there, too, Lee….”
    “In the meantime I’ll work on that article and—”
    “…and you’ve got to talk to someone!”
    He stopped then, turning to look back at her. “There’s nothing to talk about.”
    “Obviously. Especially since you’ve never so much as
mentioned
what happened to you in that San Salustiano prison. You know, at first I thought you weren’t talking about it because you were writing a book about your experiences. But it’s been five years and there’s been no book.”
    “I started one. I couldn’t…” Liam shook his head. “I couldn’t do it.” Writing down what he’d been through had been too painful. It was easier to lock his hellish experience deep inside of him and just try to go on with his life, pretending it never happened.
    “All I know is that you went down there to report on the political situation and the government stuck you in some prison and told your family you were dead.”
    Liam stared across the room at his friend. He’d always been grateful that Lauren had never asked about his experience in San Salustiano before. And she still wasn’t asking him to tell her about it now. He knew she’d never do that, but she
was
giving him a clear invitation to volunteer the information.
    With a sigh, he sat back down. Lauren