Page 140 of The Stalker

Attached is the latest email. Please tell me why you’re letting groupies into Hayden’s dressing room and how this picture was even taken.

Cooper Powell

Tatiana opened the email and was horrified by the message the stalker had written in it, making it plainly obvious that they knew about her relationship with Hayden. She covered her mouth with her hand as she read it, feeling a combination of nausea and terror as she did.

Tatiana opened the picture that had been attached and cringed when she did. It was blatantly obvious that it was her in the picture, but only because she could recognize her body. Hayden was sitting on a sofa with his pants around his ankles and was looking down at her with ecstasy written across his face as she gave him head.

Where her blonde braided hairstyle and even her t-shirt might have given her away, the stalker had done them a favor and Photoshopped a different head onto her body. Tatiana now had long, brown hair that was very different from her own and covered her clothing.

Her heart pounded in her chest at the thought of them being photographed somewhere that she had assumed was safe. She looked up at Hayden on the stage and was terrified for his safety. It made her question everything that she thought she knew about their life on tour.

“We have to talk,” Tatiana said as soon as he came offstage, smiling brightly and leading the way with his friends behind him.

Hayden’s body stiffened, his smile disappeared, and he exchanged glances with his friends. “Um. Okay.”

He followed her as she led the way to his dressing room. When they reached it, she held the door open for him to walk through, and as soon as she closed it behind her, she turned to face him. She didn’t know how to tell him what had happened, and she was worried about scaring him, considering how badly she was scared herself right now. She began to scan the room, instead, looking for signs that this room might have been bugged with a camera as well.

“Are you breaking up with me?” he asked with a frown on his face.

Tatiana turned from her search, satisfied that the room seemed to be clean, then blinked at him as she processed his question. “What? No. Oh my god, no, Hayden. I love you. No.”

His entire body seemed to melt as the tension left it and he asked, “Okay, so why do we need to talk, then?”

“Come here,” she said and walked over to him, taking his hand and leading him to the sofa in the room.

They sat next to one another, and she leaned into him as he wrapped his arms around her. She kept looking around the room while in this position, despite being fairly certain there was no camera in here.

“The stalker sent an email with a picture of us from the last venue.”

Hayden’s body stiffened again. “They did what?!”

Tatiana sighed and sat up out of his embrace before pulling her phone from her pocket and handing it to him. He took it off her, and she watched as he read it. He frowned deeply and then gasped when he saw the picture that had been attached.

“This is creepy as fuck,” he whispered.

“Yeah, it is. They did us a favor by Photoshopping it, or we’d probably have a lot more questions to answer.”

“Shit. They really did.” He gave a humorless laugh. “If you don’t laugh, you’ll cry, I guess. Thanks, stalker. Fuck. What do we do about it?”

Tatiana cringed. “It’s my fault for not sweeping the room well enough to catch the camera. Cooper is under the impression that this picture is of a groupie that I let into your dressing room. I didn’t disabuse him of that notion, and I’ll probably let Jesse think that as well. He and I will both have to do better sweeps of the rooms and make sure we don’t miss anything in the future. Needless to say, you and I shouldn’t be having sex anywhere other than the bus or maybe a hotel room. Definitely not backstage.”

Hayden didn’t say anything at once, just nodded. He flopped against the back of the sofa and blew out a massive breath of air.

“Fuck my life.”

-

Dear Hayden,

I am still hurting from your betrayal. Our future is set in stone now, though. We will be together.

I look forward to the day when this time is a distant memory. When we have been together so long that you forget anyone and everyone who ever came before me.

I know she is just an obstacle to be pushed aside with ease, and there are so few obstacles left in our path. One by one, they will be removed like the others before them, and then our glorious life together will be obtained.

You are my very reason for being.

XOXO

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