Page 174 of The Stalker

“Look, it’s a positive thing that he’s finding something. It’s also likely that the FBI will have more information, too. Kidnapping is one of the crimes that’s hard to get away with, especially in a high-profile case like Hayden’s,” she reassured his friends.

You’re ignoring some pretty vital statistics there, Tatiana.

Fear wrapped around her heart in an icy grip and she forced herself to show no sign of it in her expression. Yes, kidnapping was hard to get away with, but the statistics weren’t favorable in regards to Hayden’s wellbeing. There was a chance that—no, the stalker wanted a life with him. Hayden was smart, and surely he would figure out to play into that, since it was the best way for him to remain safe.

She could see him pretending to fall for his stalker, and for a second, she worried that Stockholm Syndrome might set in, but she knew it was just her worry showing its nasty head. They would find Hayden long before the stalker could actually convince him to fall for her.

About half an hour before the press conference was scheduled, Cooper arrived back in the room, looking as foul-tempered as ever. He strode over to where Tatiana was seated in her armchair and stood over her. She knew this tactic was undoubtedly to try and make her uncomfortable, but she wasn’t at all threatened by this man.

“Hello, Cooper.” She kept her voice pleasant as she closed her laptop and set it aside on the table next to her chair.

He gave her a nasty smile and said, “I might not be able to fire you, but Sierra Capitol Music is no longer footing the bill for your presence here. You won’t be receiving this week’s payment, so unless you want to continue working for free, you might as well leave. You should have an email from our lawyers about your breach of the contract by failing in your duty of care toward Hayden.”

What a small, petty man.

She sighed and raised her eyebrows at him. “I see. Are you finished?”

“Yes. Just like you and your time working with us.”

“Right. As I mentioned before, my contract is with Hayden, so whatever your lawyers have sent through is baseless unless you’ve got his signature on a document somewhere. If you do have his signature on a document somewhere, you should produce him at once to say that he signed it, or I’ll be telling the authorities about your fraudulent activities.”

She gave him a pleasant smile as his smirk turned into a frown.

“Since I don’t believe Hayden has been signing anything to say I’m fired, or making a claim of me breaching our contract, we just have the issue of my payment to deal with. Again, Hayden is legally responsible for that anyway. Non-payment is only an issue if I deem it to be an issue. As I’m completely understanding that there are extenuating circumstances preventing Hayden from making that payment, I’m happy to hold off on sending in the bill collectors until he returns.”

“Actually,” Harrison said from behind Cooper. “I hold a power of attorney for Hayden in case anything ever happens to him. So if you really want to be paid, Tati, I’m more than happy to organize that for you.”

Tatiana almost burst into laughter as she looked at Harrison. He was smiling as pleasantly as she was, just as though this was any normal conversation, but he had his arm around Heather, and she was grinning from ear to ear.

“That’s very kind of you, Harrison, but I’m not hurting for the money. It can wait for Hayden’s return.” She turned her gaze back to Cooper, who had a sour expression on his face. “Sorry your attempt at financial extortion didn’t pan out, Mr. Powell. Better luck next time.”

“I don’t understand how you all are backing her up, considering what she did. The lot of you are useless and don’t seem to give a shit that it’s her fault your friend is gone.”

Without warning, Sebastian sprang out of his chair and was in front of Cooper in a flash. It took Tatiana even less time to get behind Sebastian and restrain him to stop him from doing anything stupid. She held his arms the same way she had done to the man at the club so many months ago, but not putting anywhere near as much pressure on Sebastian’s shoulder joints.

“Sebastian, you can’t hit him,” she said between breaths as she held him still.

He was panting heavily, and Tatiana could tell he desperately wanted to be able to be physically violent to Cooper as she felt him struggle against her restraint. She put a little more pressure on his arms, and he stopped.

He snarled at Cooper, “Don’t pretend that you give a fucking shit about anything other than your meal ticket. Don’t pretend that you know anything about us. It’s been six fucking years, and I know this much. You’re a cunt. You should be grateful that Tatiana is here, or I’d have pummeled you into the ground like I’ve wanted to do for years.”

“Oh, I know plenty about you, Sebastian Fox.”

Cooper had that mean smile back on his face and he opened his mouth to say something more, but Tatiana knew that whatever he was about to say would make a bad situation worse.

She shook her head and said as calmly as she could, “Don’t say another word. Just fucking go, Cooper. Leave this hotel suite right now because I’ll release the hold I have on Sebastian if you don’t. Tanya can liaise with the guys for the press conference, but I seriously suggest that you stay away from them right now. Everyone is stressed, and emotions are heightened. This is helping no one, least of all Hayden.”

Cooper glared at her before turning and finally leaving. Tatiana kept her hold on Sebastian as they watched him leave.

Once Cooper was gone, she said, “I’m going to count to ten and then let you go, okay?”

“Sure,” he muttered.

She counted ten slow breaths to try and calm her racing heart as the adrenaline dissipated from her body. Then she released her hold on Sebastian. He shook his arms and turned to look at her with a frown on his face.

“Thanks for that.”

“I didn’t think now was a good time for you to be arrested,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders as she walked back to her armchair and dropped into it.

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