“Oh. That was a few days ago.”
“Can we speak?”
He nodded and backed up, letting him in. Fuck, the guy was big. Professional-wrestler big. If this got ugly, Liam would definitely end up on the losing end. He closed the door.
“Drink?”
“What’ve you got?”
“Bourbon. Wine. I might have a beer in the back of the fridge.”
“Bourbon is fine.”
Liam poured him a glass while the guy took a seat on his sofa, seeming to take up the entire thing. He handed him his glass and then perched on the chair across the coffee table from him.
“Is she okay?”
Gabriel frowned. “It depends on your definition of okay. She’s not physically harmed. But she was… devastated to have to leave you behind. Worried about what Hermes might do to you.”
“Honestly, I was too. I’m still worried. Hermes said he was going to tell the other gods what happened. No one’s come for me yet, but I know it’s possible. It doesn’t matter though. The only thing I was concerned about was getting Charlotte out of there. I’m relieved she’s safe.”
Gabriel swirled the ice in his glass. Took a deep drink. “My guess is they’re watching you. Using you as bait. They’re hoping she comes back for you.”
“You’ve got to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Liam said quickly. The last thing he wanted was to be the reason they captured her. “She can’t risk herself for me. I won’t allow it.”
“You love her?”
Liam swallowed hard, glancing down at the drink in his hands. This wasn’t supposed to be the way this happened. Her father wasn’t supposed to be the first one to know, not before he even had a chance to tell her. But then, her safety was the priority, which meant he might never have a chance to tell her anyway.
“More than anything. I love her in a way I never thought possible.” He drained his glass. “Which is why you’ve got to do whatever it takes to keep her from coming here. If she does, I won’t be able to send her away. I can’t deny her anything she asks for, you know?”
Gabriel rubbed his jaw and laughed. “Yeah, I know.”
God, he hated this. It felt as though his soul was being torn out of his body to have this connection to her but know it was temporary. Know it was his final goodbye.
In the silence that followed, Gabriel looked around the tiny apartment, growing visibly perplexed. “Now that you have the cornucopia, I imagine you’ll be… upgrading soon.”
Liam shook his head. “I rejected it. Left it with my… The family I grew up with.”
“You rejected it?” Now Gabriel’s expression was almost angry with confusion.
“It would have bound me to them, and they are evil people, Gabriel. Truly evil. I could have done good things with the money, but they’d have canceled out everything I did with their own actions. Besides, having that would only attract the attention of the gods, and that’s the last thing I want.”
“You were hoping if you left it behind, you’d leave them behind… in case she came back.”
He frowned. “Maybe, in the moment.”
“But now you know that’s not possible, right? If she comes here, they’ll know. They’ll be waiting.”
He nodded. It was all he could do with his throat as tight as it was. He took another drink, thankful for the numbing effects of the alcohol, then cleared his throat. “So if you came here to kill me or something, I don’t think you need to. I’d never hurt her. I love her. And as it is, it looks like fate will keep us apart anyway.”
“That’s the thing, Liam. I know my daughter. I know her heart. And I don’t think she’ll stay away from you. She loves you too much.”
He closed his eyes against the painful squeeze that caused in his chest. “What do you want me to do?”
“I think you’ve got to make this right. I think you’re the only one who can.”
What did he want from him? He’d already told him he wasn’t strong enough to push her away if she did come. “How exactly am I supposed to do that from here?”
