Blind Promises

18. A Revelation

Miss B's never disappointed. It was a great atmosphere, Gwen was a little nervous, but she did find the inviting women comforting, she got over it quick enough when they took her to the bar to chat.

"She's doing fine, relax. She's laughing, enjoying herself, sipping on the house special, the pink one."

Liam worried his lip with his thumb, "She shouldn't. Not with the meds she's on, it's incredibly dangerous to mix alcohol in with them."

"Sipping, Leems. I think she knows that, she's being polite." Rich watched her drink the frozen concoction slowly, she knew. Gwen rose her glass to him, he saluted her with his beer.

Liam was itching to talk, "Spit it out." He fidgeted a bit more but said what he meant, "You know this isn't over, call it instinct but I don't feel safe. I'm not even sure Buchannan is going to offer us that much in the way of relative safety. It was selfish as fuck to bring her, if it were just you and I, we could go off the grid into the wild for a few months but she's not built for that."

"Liam, you're not built for survival right now, I have this odd guesstimate that she'd be better at it than you give her credit for. I'd give it a week before I brought you back into civilization, too many hazards you can't see. Adapt and adjust, that's just what we're doing, adjusting. We will be back to a new normal. I'm fully aware it's not over. But today, a beautiful girl is looking at you like you made the sun rise, don't fuck that up with this morose bullshit. I can take care of Gwen if the need arises, don't you trust me enough to do that?"

"Of course, Rich. But she'd be safer somewhere else." Liam still argued. Rich was incredulous, a lot nerve. "No, no she wouldn't. Whoever is trying to harm you or us, they've seen her and they know she's your downfall. If you wanted safer, the diner would have been the time to decide to let her go. It's too late now, in for the long run."

"Still trying to send me back home, are we?" Gwen had been standing behind him, no one to tell him otherwise. Fuck.

"No, princess, you can't go home until this is handled. Whatever 'this' is, I've yet to work it out, but a few weeks ago a diner was shot up with us in it. Intel says we were the intended targets. So, since we decided to bring you with us, you're in our little witness protection program." There was a 50/50 chance she'd go off. Rich just held on.