Page 190 of The Stalker

He didn’t respond immediately, looking at her with a frown on his face before he nodded and sighed.

“I know that you’re right. It just feels like a shitty thing to do to the fans.”

Heather shook her head. “It is not a shitty thing to do, Hayden Vega. I think it’s very sensible. You’ll postpone the concerts, go home to Chicago and recuperate, then get back on tour again. I approve of this idea.”

“Well, as long as you approve, lover, that’s all that matters,” Sebastian laughed.

The room service they had ordered arrived shortly after that. They ate their lunch and talked before Hayden got a call from the victim liaison officer from the FBI. He took the call into the spare room and came out half an hour later.

“They’re sending me an email with more details on services and stuff. A few more questions they have about Daniel,” he said as he came out of the room. He sighed and looked forlorn. “It feels like it’ll never really be over.”

Tatiana stood and walked over to him, carefully wrapping her arms around him, and he hugged her back. “Just take it one day at a time, Hayden. I’m here with you.”

She felt him nod his head and sigh before he pulled away from her. He turned to his friends and smiled at them.

“I’m getting tired, guys. This has all been really overwhelming, so I’m going to go rest for a bit if that’s okay?”

They all agreed and wished him well before she and Hayden finally left the suite. Jesse was waiting in the hallway, and he gave them a tight smile.

“All good, guys?” he asked.

“Yeah. We’re going back to the hotel room, so you can feel free to take the rest of the day off.” Hayden smiled at him.

“Okay. Thanks.”

“I do need to get something off the bus, though. Do you have the key to get in?” Hayden asked him.

Jesse nodded, and they headed down to the lobby while he went to get the key. He met them there with it before heading back upstairs, and Tatiana took Hayden out to the bus.

It was odd walking hand in hand with him. She still had the strange feeling as though he might be attacked at any moment and as though they should be keeping this a secret. The wary feeling of having a stalker in his life hadn’t disappeared despite the fact that she knew Sarah was dead and Daniel was in custody.

When they reached the bus, Tatiana unlocked it and then the secure door as well, which she locked behind them instinctively.

“What did you need to get? More clothes?” she asked.

“Yeah, I do.”

She followed him to their bedroom and relaxed on the bed to watch as he packed up a suitcase to take back upstairs with them.

“I’m not sure when we’ll fly back to Chicago. I need to check with the FBI to see if they need me to stay in San Antonio. I doubt it, but it’s worth checking.”

“Makes sense,” she agreed.

He headed into the bathroom to retrieve his toiletries and came back a few moments later with them in his hands and a frown on his face. “That’s weird. My cologne isn’t there.”

“Oh, that.” Heat rushed to Tatiana’s cheeks. “I took it when you were gone. I missed you.”

Hayden looked at her for a minute, then gave her a sweet smile. “I love you, preciosa.”

He put his toiletries bag on his suitcase and walked over to her before he leaned down to grab her hand and pull her up off the bed. When she was standing in front of him, he reached his hand into his pocket and dropped to one knee in front of her.

“Tatiana Swanson. I promised you that I would ask you this question again once my stalker had been caught.”

He opened a small blue box in which an engagement ring was neatly sitting. It was made of white gold, with a single diamond sitting in a bezel setting. Her face split into a smile because she could tell at once that Hayden had done research on the best type of engagement ring for her. She would’ve hated for him to present her with an extravagant ring like Heather’s that would’ve been far too impractical for her to ever wear.

“You’ve been my preciosa since before we even got together. You dominated my waking thoughts and especially my sleeping ones.” He gave her a wicked smile, and she laughed. “I don’t ever want to not have you in my life. So, Tatiana Swanson, will you marry me?”

Tears were flowing from her eyes, and she thought that she might explode from how much love she had for him as she nodded her head. “Yes, Hayden. Yes. Of course I’ll marry you.”

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