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But that wasn’t true. Even though every fiber of my focus should’ve been on the gun, I also kept replaying my interaction with Christian. His eyes had seemed hollow and there were bags under them. He wasn’t sleeping well again, and he looked so cold behind that desk, like everything between us had never even happened.
There had been all these things I wanted to say, but he shut them all down by being a colossal prick.
The doors opened to the top floor where I’d tutored Max what felt like a lifetime ago. Chase shoved me inside, leading me with a fistful of my shirt from behind. He led me to the couch and pushed me down, then paced with the gun still in his hand.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” I demanded. “You said someone paid you to do this? Why would anyone do that? And why would you agree to threaten me with a gun? I trusted you, asshole!”
“I had debts. Big ones. Debts I never thought I’d actually be able to pay off, but Mr. Bellamo said he could make them all go away if I did this. Nobody would actually get hurt. He just needed me to tell him some harmless stuff like when people came and went from here. Then it was following you a few times. And then this was the last thing. He promised if I just did this, he’d follow through on his promise.”
“If you just threaten me with a fucking gun? What is wrong with you?”
“Shut up.” Chase’s mouth twitched and he brought the gun to his head, clutching his face and making a crazed sound. He looked completely unhinged. His hair was tousled and his shirt had come halfway untucked. He waved the gun in my direction again. “Shut up, okay? I’m trying to think.”
I watched him and then froze when I saw movement behind him. Max was creeping closer with a heavy vase in her hands.
“No,” I mouthed.
Chase frowned at me. “What?”
I bulged my eyes, shaking my head slightly, but Max just kept coming closer.
“I didn’t say anything,” I said.
“You mouthed something. What are you–”
The elevator dinged and Chase spun, pointing his gun towards the doors.
Christian saw what I was seeing–a petite teenage girl about to hit a guy with a gun in the head. “Max, no!” he shouted, one hand outstretched.
But Max didn’t slow down. She smashed the vase into Chase’s head. He collapsed to the side and the gun went off as he fell. I heard something shatter in the distance and saw Christian charging into the room like a bull in a suit. He skidded into a slide and snatched the gun from Chase, who was groaning and reaching for it slowly.
Christian lifted him from the floor by his shirt and bared his teeth. “You better fucking pray they are both untouched, asshole.”
Chase looked like he was about to say something, then his eyes rolled back and he went limp. Christian made a disgusted noise and dropped him to the ground. Max was closest to him, and she rushed forward to hug Christian tightly.
He stood there stiffly at first, then straightened and hugged her back.
I watched the exchange with tears welling in my eyes. I was happy to see they’d somehow mended their problems, but I also felt even more out of place. I had no clue what just happened or why people were pointing guns at me, but I could figure that out later.
I got up from the couch feeling like I was in a state of shock. The feeling only intensified when the elevator dinged again and six men in black gear with rifles rushed into the room. They all wore F.B.I. vests. Two of them knelt to check Chase’s vitals and then started dragging him toward the elevator.
I followed them, but I was stopped by a strong hand on my arm. “Where are you going?”
“Getting out of your hair, I guess,” I said. I felt numb. Hollow. I didn’t understand what just happened. I didn’t even know if this meant Max was still going to stay with me, or if Christian was going to take her back to the tower.
“What makes you think I’d let you do that?” Christian asked.
I spun to face him, yanking my arm from his grip. I felt like slapping him or maybe just kicking him in the balls. “Oh I don’t know,” I half-shouted. “The part where I flew here with some grand plan of explaining how much you meant to me and you blew me off and told me to get out of your fucking office? Or maybe the part when you broke up with me out of nowhere in Manhattan? Maybe those were contributing factors? Maybe it’s even the part where Chase just put a freaking gun to my head?” Annoyed, I swiped at my stupid, leaking eyes. This asshole didn’t deserve my tears, but that wasn’t stopping them.
