“There was no way I could not come back, Lisa.” He reached out to pull her to him. She moved away, agitated, anxious. He forced himself to hold his emotions in check.

He was totally unprepared for the violence of her outburst.

“It’s all wrong! You can’t be in love with me!”

“We’ve been through that before,” he replied quietly. “I am in love with you. And I think you’re in love with me.”

“No! I’m not in love with you! I’m not. It’s not possible. It’s not allowed.”

“It is possible!” he yelled back. “And as far as this business of it’s being ‘allowed’ is concerned, that’s bullshit. There are no slaves anymore. Are you talking,” he said with sudden insight, “about some kind of formal contract?”

“Something like that,” she murmured, lowering her voice and not looking at him.

“Well, if that’s all that’s bothering you, I’ll buy it up. Whatever the amount is, don’t worry. I have a lot of ready credit and an excellent rating. I don’t give a damn how much is involved. We’ll burn it together and scatter the ashes.”

She shook her head sadly. “You don’t have that much money.”

“You’d be surprised at my resources.”

“No, Eric, you don’t have that much money. No one has that much money.”

Her sudden calm resignation unsettled him. “There are other ways. Contracts can be broken in court. Especially if it can be demonstrated that they were signed under duress.”

“But there was no duress involved.”

“Maybe not,” he said reluctantly, refusing to concede the possibility, “but you’re sure living under duress now. Aren’t you?”

“Please don’t quiz me, Eric.” She fell limply onto the couch. “I’m so tired. All this has been very hard on me. I’m so confused. I don’t know what to think anymore. Nothing is making sense, and it always has.”

“Good!” He sat down next to her, took her hands in his. This time she didn’t try to pull away. “You’re tired, confused, don’t know what to do next. You know what that sounds like to me?”

“What?”

“It sounds to me like someone in love.”

“You are impossible. You just won’t listen. I’m trying, to save you and you won’t listen. I suppose you can’t help yourself. But the others always listened to reason. It took longer with some than with others, but never this long.”

He ignored the implications. “I don’t want to help myself. Lisa, I don’t know how well you’ve been sheltered or isolated or protected or what, but it’s pretty clear to me what’s happening here. You’re being manipulated as well as intimidated. You’re entitled to run your own life, and no piece of paper or file can take that away from you. You can do anything you damn well please, and that includes falling in love. No contract can prevent that.”

“You don’t know,” she said with great earnestness. “You can’t see it’s not possible. You don’t have all the relevant facts, Eric.”

“Then give me the facts. Facts I can deal with calmly.”

“I wonder,” she murmured. For the first time since he arrived, he thought he detected a hint of a smile. “If you could, you wouldn’t be here now.”

“Love isn’t sensible, Lisa. Tell me one thing and never mind all the rest. Do you love me?”

“I … can’t.” She didn’t look at him. “It’s not allowed.”

“To hell with whether it’s ‘allowed’! His grip tightened on her wrists. “Do … you … love … me?” When she didn’t reply, he phrased it differently. “Tell me that you can’t love me.”

“Eric, I can’t. I can’t! But I think … I think I must.” Her voice was breaking, full of wonder and amazement at the unexpected confession. “I think I do.”

He moved a little closer to her. “That’s all that matters, Lisa. That’s all I want to know. Forget about your past, your present. I don’t care what you’ve done, or where you’ve been, or what you’ve signed your name to. If you love me, everything’s going to work out all right.”

“It won’t, Eric,” she whispered. “It’s not enough.” She was clearly frightened now, and not just for him. Now she seemed afraid for herself.

“It is enough. Believe it. Believe in me, in us.” He pulled her to him. When their lips touched this time, she let herself melt into him. There was no restraint, no testing now. No holding back. She’d committed herself.

“How very touching.”

They turned sharply to stare across the room. Tarragon stood in an arched doorway.

“Touching and foolish.” He’d been leaning against the jamb. Now he stood straight.

Eric wasn’t really surprised to see him. Tarragon walked into the living room. As he did so several other large men filed in behind him. Two moved to stand in front of the main door while their counterparts hurried to block the balcony. They took up their assigned positions confidently and waited for additional directions from their boss.

“So it was you all along,” Eric said. “So you’re the one who’s keeping …”

Tarragon shook his head. “No, I’m only an employee, Mr. Abbott. As is Ms. Tambor. I am sorry. I thought it wouldn’t come to this, but you insist on sticking your nose into business that doesn’t concern you. Business you have no business knowing anything about. I don’t know what’s to be done with you. What would you suggest?” He quickly raised a hand when Eric seemed ready to reply.

“No, too good a straight-line.” His eyes narrowed as they moved to the woman curled tightly now against Eric. “Go to your bedroom, Ms. Tambor.”

She stood up, said meekly, “Yes sir.”

Mouth agape, Eric tried to hold her back. “No, Lisa. You don’t have to.”

Her expression was as mournful as a wounded manatee. “I do have to, Eric. I tried to tell you. Oh, how I tried to tell you!” She sounded hurt for both of them. “But you wouldn’t listen to me.”

“Lisa!” he shouted. She didn’t look back but dashed across the floor and slammed the bedroom door behind her. Internal hydraulics prevented any loud noise.

Every man in the room had watched her go. Now they turned less admiring stares on Eric. He sat frozen on the couch, staring at the silent door. There were no words to describe the pain inside him.

Hadn’t she just confessed her love for him? Well, almost, anyway. Hadn’t he just held her in his arms? She’d responded to him, physically and emotionally. It wasn’t impossible!

What kind of hold did Tarragon and those he worked for have over her? His pain turned to anger. Drugs? Maybe they had her hooked on some powerful narcotic and she feared losing her only assured source of supply. Or perhaps it was some subtle kind of hypnosis. There were ways of controlling a human being that were not talked about on the opto meditext.

He stood up, his fingers clenching and unclenching. “How do you do it?” he whispered tightly. “How do you come off ordering her around like that? What have you people done to her?”

Tarragon ignored all the questions. He was not as polite as he’d been in the restaurant.

“Are you quite happy now, Mr. Abbott? Did you have your little rendezvous? Did you enjoy it? I hope so. It’s going to cost you. How much and in what way, I don’t know. That’s not my decision. But something’s going to have to be done to rectify the damage you’ve done.”

“Look, if it’s a matter of money …”

Tarragon grinned mirthlessly. “Money. Why does the average citizen always think in terms of money? Reductio ad absurdum. It’s not a question of money. Never was. No, you’ve caused problems for people who prefer things to go smoothly. The worst part of it is you’ve managed to confuse and upset that young woman.” He gestured toward the tightly shut bedroom door. “That’s going to trouble a great many people. I’d like to know how you managed it. They’re going to want to know.”

“You’ve been watching,” Eric said quietly. “You’ve been watching since I got here.”