for, lover (Completed; editing)

Chapter 27

"Bree! What are you doing? Why did you let him go?" Maddy yells from across the hotel room.

I close my eyes and press my forehead up against the door. There was no use. I did all that I could and he gave me the answers that I asked for. There wasn't much else for me to do after that.

"We should go. I honestly just want to go home." I tell her and walk over to my duffel bag.

His set of keys is sitting next to it on the desk.

"He left his keys. He won't be able to get anywhere without them."

I grab them off the desk and jog over to the door. I can hear Maddy calling my name but I zone out too hard to care. All I'm focused on right now is the keys.

I run down the hall to the elevator where Miles is waiting. He faces me and raises his eyebrows.

"What's wrong?" He asks.

I hold up the set of keys and he nods, slowly grabbing them from my hand. I want to keep them from him and trap him somehow because I still don't feel like I've gotten everything I needed but there's no point. I already came all the way over here to give them to him. A part of me was just hoping he would say something to make all of this okay. Anything to make it hurt just a little less.

"Thanks." He says softly.

I nod slightly, letting out a deep breath. I'm uncomfortable standing here beside him, awkwardly waiting for the elevator to open.

"Is this it? Is this how it's going to be?" I ask him.

He glances at the floor.

"I don't know what you want me to say..." he begins.

"I just want to know why you didn't talk to me. Why you just left like that."

Miles inhales sharply.

"By the time I realized what was going on, you had your suspicions. I didn't know what to do because I didn't know what happened either. You had people in your ear and all this evidence against me so what did you expect me to do?"

Tears start to well up in my eyes. I don't want to cry in front of him and thankfully, I don't get the chance to. The elevator doors open up and Miles shifts his focus to it. I watch his eyes widen as Levi steps out into the hall and shoves Miles against the wall.

"Levi!" I scream.

He holds Miles against the wall with a fist on his chest and points his other hand at me; the one carrying a handgun. My heart skips a beat and I try to take in my first experience of having a gun pointed right at my face while keeping my cool so he doesn't pull the trigger. I don't think he would. Then again, I never would've expected to be on the other end of him holding a gun at all.

"Be quiet." He says sternly.

I press my lips together and drop my hands to my sides. I can't believe this is happening right now. At least I know now that some of what Miles was saying is true.

"Levi, stop pointing the gun at her. Tell me what you want." Miles croaks.

He keeps the pistol end right at my chest. I'm frozen, knowing I can't make a single move or he'll surely pull that trigger. I knew it was a bad idea to get involved. I put myself in this position and now I've put Miles back in it too.

"Tell me where Reed is."

Levi's eyes are bloodshot. There's strain in his voice and he looks more anxious than threatening. He also looks like he hasn't slept since before we got here.

"I don't know where he is." Miles snaps.

He shakes the gun at me and I flinch, waiting for him to fire at any moment. I haven't moved at all. I'm too fucking scared to.

"Don't lie to me, Hart. Tell me where he is. I know you're with him."

Miles stares at Levi in disgust. He still has him pinned up against the wall.

"I'm not with him. I'm with Bree."

Levi pulls him forward by his shirt and slams his back even harder. Miles doesn't look phased at all. His eyes move to me and then the gun.

"You're not going to gain anything from finding Levi. Whatever Phillip has over your head, getting Levi won't solve it so the best you can do is disappear like we did."

He laughs at Miles, sighing under his breath. Sweat has formed on his forehead. This guy is completely blitzed right now. That makes it even worse to have a gun he's holding still pointed right at me.

"You don't know shit man." He spits.

"Do I not? I saw what he did to Reed. I watched him deteriorate and get deeper into this hold they got him under. That's how they do it. You befriend them, gain their trust, start using, become dependent on it until you literally have nothing left and you think they'll take care of you but they won't. Then you start to owe them and they strip all that you are. Now you're obligated to do whatever the fuck they want just to repay your dues not knowing you're completely screwed because you will never be able to pay them back. You just sold yourself to them."

Levi grits his teeth and shakes his head over and over again.

"You don't know what you're talking about." He whispers.

"Yes I do and deep down you know it too. That's why you're out here searching for me, right? You convinced Bree to come out here and talk to me just so you could trap me and find Reed. You think Phillip is just going to let you go if I tell you where Reed is?"

Levi grips the collar of Miles' shirt harder between his fingers. His arm pointing the gun at me starts to shake. I'm shaking twice as hard.

"I'll tell you where he is if that makes you feel better but you're going to drop the gun before I do." Miles says calmly.

Levi groans under his breath and pushes at his chest.

"No! Tell me first. I'm not an idiot."

I bite down on my cheek and slowly take a step back. If I could just make it out of the gun's range and behind the wall or something then maybe I could help. Or I would make it worse and he would just shoot Miles.

"Fine..." Miles sighs and lifts his head up.

"BREE!" Maddy yells and runs right at us from down the hall.

We all look over at her and before I can tell her to stop, Miles grabs Levi's arm and wraps it around in an attempt to get him to drop the gun. Levi's grip is too strong and he manages to start fighting back. I jump to push Maddy to the ground when I hear the gunshot go off. We land on the carpeted floor and the hallway goes silent.

Miles has Levi pinned to the floor with the gun a few feet away from both of them on the floor. I'm laying on top of Maddy. I go to move off of her when I feel intense pressure in my right hip. I gasp and look down at my shirt, watching the blood slowly start to spread and the pain only getting worse by the second.