Page 181 of Hayden's Stalker

“Holy fuck, it’s really you. Are you okay?”

The sound of his voice is comforting and familiar. His stress is obvious, and once again, guilt at being the source of his concern floods through me.

I want to apologize for being the source of that worry, but now isn’t the time for that conversation, so to lighten the mood, I joke, “I’m fine. Tatiana came storming in, guns blazing, and took down my attackers single-handed. It wasveryimpressive.”

Sebastian gasps, “Are you serious?”

I’m amused that he fell for it. Then again, I can imagine that happening.

“No,” I laugh. “I couldn’t resist.”

“You fuckingasshole,” Sebastian groans. “We’ve been thinking you’d been killed for two days, now isn’t the time for jokes.”

I feel bad because I’d have been terrified if the roles were reversed. Sitting around waiting to hear about one of my friends who had been kidnapped with no way of helping them would be stressful as fuck.

“Sorry. Shedidcome to the place I was taken to with the FBI, though. They stormed in while she stayed in the car like a good little girl.” I grin down at Tatiana as I say it, and she gives me the most beautiful smile in return.

“I can’t imagine Tatiana doing that,” Sebastian laughs.

“Apparently, there was a gun involved in keeping her there.”

“Okay, that makes more sense. Hang on, let me put you on speaker.”

Sebastian does so, and I’m greeted with the sounds of all of my friends. It’s so good to hear their voices, and I’m pretty sure this is the longest I’ve gone without talking to any of them since we first met as kids.

At the same time, I feel strange talking to them because none of them have skin that has been infected by Sarah’s touch. When I hear Harrison and Heather’s voices, guilt gnaws at the pit of my stomach, and I dread the moment when I’ll have to tell them the reason why their lives were fucked up.

“We’re all just so glad you’re safe, Hayden,” Gabriel says, and I can hear Ariana crying in the background.

It still feels weird that I’m safe now. It doesn’t feel real that Sarah will never come after me again, even though I know for sure that she won’t.

“Me, too,” I tell him. “I have to go give a statement to the FBI, but I’ll come—” I cut myself off because I have no clue where the hell they could be since we should be in an entirely different city right now. “Wait, where are you guys? I just realized we weren’t even meant to be in San Antonio overnight, let alone for two days.”

“We’re at the Marriott Riverwalk,” Heather says.

“Okay, well, we’ll head there after we’re done.”

We end our call, and I hand Tati’s phone back to her, and she slips it into her pocket before she rests against me again. My stomach hurts, but the feeling of having her in my arms makes the pain worthwhile.

“I’ve never been so relieved to get a client back in my life,” she tells me.

I’m surprised to hear that she’s been in the position in the past and ask, “You’ve had to get a client back before?”

“I’m the best,” she laughs. “Which means I take some cases that are high-risk, including ones where I started the contract without my client. So yeah, I’ve had to get a client back before. I’ve just never lost a client permanently. Thank fuck today wasn’t the day for that to start.”

“I’m glad, too.” I squeeze her shoulders, grateful as hell that I survived long enough for her to rescue me. “I’ve missed you. I was worried about how you’d been feeling with me being kidnapped.”

“I set an alarm for midday to worry about you,” she admits, and my heart swells to know that she was thinking about me when I was thinking about her.

“They took my watch, so I had to keep my eye on the clock to make sure I didn’t miss when it ticked over to twelve,” I laugh, and she beams up at me.

“I love you,” she whispers, and it makes me realize we have an audience in the car to bear witness to this conversation.

I forget them entirely when she presses her lips to mine and kisses me. I might never be the same after what happened, but at least everything is right with the world again.

Shame

Def.

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