Page 3 of The Stalker

She frowned at him because she’d much prefer to have direct contact with the agents herself, but she wouldn’t insist on it if it wasn’t necessary.

“Fine. In the emails from the stalker, they talk about a life with Hayden. Has the FBI given any indication that they’ve found some kind of plan for Hayden to be abducted?”

Cooper shook his head. “That’s obviously our main concern and why we’ve got you on board.”

“I see. I’m not exactly ‘on board’ yet, though, but let’s continue. The language in the email regarding the accident concerns me, the way that they called it ‘our accident’ as though it was some fender bender and not them trying to run you off the road”—she looked over at Hayden, who had a frown on his face, then turned to Jesse—“have there been any other signs of someone tampering in Hayden’s life at all?”

For the next forty-five minutes, it was mostly Tatiana, Cooper, or Jesse speaking, with occasional answers from Hayden to her questions when she asked them of him. Once they’d gone through the entire case, Tatiana shut the folder and put her hands together on the table in front of her.

“Well, Miss Swanson, do we discuss the contract now?” Cooper asked her.

“No, we don’t. I need to speak to Hayden, privately, first,” she informed him.

“I hardly think that’s appropriate.” Cooper shook his head at her.

“Do you? If I take this contract, Hayden and I will be spending a lot of time alone together. I do this with all of my clients because they often have third parties trying to get involved. At the end of the day, though, it’s Hayden that I’m trying to keep safe, and I need to know that we’ll be able to work well together. If we can’t, there’s little point in us continuing this business arrangement.”

Cooper didn’t look pleased, but he and the rest of Cruise Control, along with Jesse Howell, left the room. Finally, she was alone with Hayden Vega, and she smiled at him.

“Hi, Hayden. How are you feeling?”

“About you?” he asked.

Tatiana laughed. “No, I meant about the situation in general, but why don’t you tell me how you feel about me?”

He didn’t answer immediately. She could see that he was considering his words as he looked at her face, then down at the folder that was sitting in front of her.

“I think that you took control of this meeting in a way that was very impressive. I think that you’ve probably learned to do it because of the assumptions that men make about you when they meet you, given your line of work.”

He looked up and into her eyes again. As Tatiana noticed that his eyes were a beautiful chocolate color, he smiled at her.

How in the blue hell does he look even more handsome when he smiles?

She couldn’t believe this man could be this attractive and talented. It was unfair, really.

Focus, Tatiana. He’s talking to you.

“What I feel, though, is safe. You seem very capable, and Cooper tells me that you’re the best. I’m not sure who my stalker is or why they’re stalking me, but I’m going on tour, and I need to feel safe doing that.”

Tatiana thought about what he’d said and nodded. “That’s good. As I told Sebastian, if we work together, my entire focus will be on keeping you safe. Do you have any questions for me?”

“Are you willing to work with me? Cooper said you weren’t sure.”

“I never agree to work with a client without meeting them, and at first, I thought that Cooper wanted me to work with him. I would certainly have passed if that was the case.” Tatiana shrugged her shoulders.

Truer words had never been spoken. She’d barely interacted with him, and even that was too much.

Hayden smiled at her again. “I wouldn’t blame you. So, how does this work if we go ahead?”

“We’ll need to sign the contract, today, and I’m available to start straight away if you need me to. I’ll remain on this contract for as long as necessary. I have rules that you will need to follow. The most important one is that you will follow any instruction that I give you at any time.”

Tatiana could never stress this one enough, and yet, clients rarely truly believed her. They always agreed in principle, until a time came that she needed them to do something inconvenient for them. She always just hoped that the first time they inevitably tested her wasn’t in a life or death situation.

“I’ll never make a call that I don’t believe is absolutely the best call for your safety. I’m happy to explain my reasoning to my clients. However, that may not always happen in the moment. Occasionally, I’ll need to get you to safety before I can explain myself, and we’ll usually agree on a signal for that scenario, so you can be aware of how serious it is.”

A chill ran down her spine as she thought of the few times she’d had to use the signal. Even now, while completely safe, she could easily recall the intense fear as adrenaline poured into her body during those experiences.

She shook off the memories and continued, “As we work together and get to know each other better, you’ll hopefully end up trusting me enough that you don’t feel the need to ask. Most clients get there, eventually, but I understand that in the early days, it can be frustrating and annoying to have me dictating your movements in certain situations.”

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