Page 169 of Hayden's Stalker

“I’m sure he’ll understand. I’ll help you explain it to him,” I assure Sarah. “You sent the first email after that accident, didn’t you?”

She nods. “I felt so bad that I had to apologize. It was only meant to be a once-off thing, but I liked having that connection to you. It reinforced for me how much we’re meant to betogether, so I started to think of a new way for our love story to finally begin.”

I focus on my breathing to try to keep calm. Information is good, and I know I need it, even if this is probably the hardest conversation I’ve ever had to have in my life. At the same time, I don’t want to seem too eager, or she might not believe me, and she could hurt me.

“Was that when you met Daniel?” I ask.

She nods. “Sort of. I knew this place would be the perfect home for us. My family never comes here, so we can stay here as long as we need to. It’s beautiful and private. Totally off the grid, so no one can find us.”

Her voice has a slightly menacing quality to it as she says these last words. It comes out as a threat and a reminder that anyone who is looking for me will have a hard time finding me. For a moment, I’m distraught to think that I could be here for weeks, months, or even years. I’m not sure how I’ll survive, but I know that I have to.

“It’s kind of perfect,” I manage to say without sounding as horrified as I am.

“It really is,” she coos in that sickeningly sweet tone again. “Anyway, I’m friends with a lot of influential people, and one of them works for the tour company. I borrowed her laptop to ‘send an email.’” She uses air quotations around the words as she gives me a smirk. “She had alotof useful information on her computer, and it was helpfully all in one folder, so I transferred it onto a USB to peruse at my leisure. That was how I found Daniel. After a bit of online stalking to find who was single and chatting to a few of the roadies in DMs, he was the one who seemed perfect for the job.”

It’s mind-blowing once again that she can say all of this without seeming to care at all about the people she’s used to get to me. That she would use her friend’s kindness to steal our tourinformation. That she would happily have gone through with this plan with any of our other roadies if they had fit the bill. It seems as though Daniel is just the unlucky one who fell for her shit. I almost feel sorry for him, but then I remember that he drugged Tati, and I think I hate him almost as much as I hate Sarah.

“Do you love him?” I ask, genuinely curious if she does or if he’s just another pawn in her game like everyone else.

“Aww, you don’t need to be jealous, baby,” she coos at me, and I want to puke when she runs her hand down the side of my face. “I’ve already told you that I’d do anything for you. I love that he helped bring you to me.” She shakes her head and frowns. “When he told me you’d gotten extra security, I wasn’t sure we’d be able to manage it.” She rolls her eyes at me. “He was so worried because he heard she’s apparently some badass who saved some prince in Europe’s life last year after he was kidnapped by terrorists.”

My eyebrows fly up because I remember the story, but I had no idea Tati was involved in any way. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s true, though. Pride flows through me because she’s amazing, and I love her so much.

“Anyway. I had to baby him and basically hold his hand through the whole process. I told him that it didn’t matter at all who she was. Everyonecan be groomed as long as you approach it right. I told him to make sure to never seem too interested in you and to flirt with her, so nobody would ever think you were his goal.”

“It worked,” I admit begrudgingly, hating that she was right.

“Of course it did. I could barely breathe the night he first gave her food and drink during the soundcheck, but she accepted it. I’d worked out that was going to be our best option, and this plan relied on her being willing to take food from him. We tested himgiving her an already opened bottle of water a few times because we needed her to trust him enough to drink from it.”

The way they so carefully planned to take advantage of her is horrifying to hear. Tati is the best, and yet, Sarah was able to work out a way to manipulate her. It makes sense, too. Daniel was friendly, but not too friendly. Not enough to be creepy and put her off. Once we got together, I even liked him. I never once suspected there was even an ounce of malicious intent behind it.

“Will she be okay?” I ask without thinking.

Sarah’s body stiffens, and she glares up at me. “We’re finally together, and you’re still thinking about that whore?”

Fuck.

“I’m sorry. I just—” I sigh and meet her gaze, which is cold and angry.

I try to find the right words to smooth things over with her, and I’m reminded of my time with Blake because this is a skill that I had to hone well when he was my boyfriend.

“Surely you understand that this is a big adjustment for me. You’re very beautiful, and as unconventional as our relationship is, I’m sure that in time I’ll love you as much as you love me. For now, though, I’m just trying to understand and close the previous chapter of my life.”

“Hmph,” she says but looks slightly mollified. “I guess you’re right. She’ll be fine. Probably woke up feeling dazed and confused with a headache a few hours after you and Daniel left the venue. You’ll never see her again, though, so I don’t know why you even care.”

Her words chill me to the core, and my heart pounds in my chest. It’s not true. It can’t be. Tati will find me. She has to.

25

The Worst

I watchthe clock tick over to three o’clock as Sarah’s rhythmic breathing continues. She breathes fourteen times each minute, but then sometimes, it’s sixteen times. Counting her breaths keeps me distracted from the feeling of her lying on me. It’s too similar to the way Tati lies in bed with me on the bus, and whenever I think that, the nausea gets intense, and I retch.

It’s a relief to be with Sarah unconscious like this. I don’t need to ‘perform.’ However, it does mean I have time to think about everything she told me earlier. My guilt over being the cause of Harrison’s drugging is immense, and it puts everything that happened in a whole new light.

I manage to sleep for a few minutes here or there, and I’m exhausted, but the pain in my arms and legs from not being able to move position prevents me from getting any real sleep. The one time I manage fifteen minutes, I jolt awake with pins and needles in my left arm from where Sarah’s sleeping on it.

I look at her and wonder what might have happened if we had slept together on theCards Have Been Dealttour. It was before I met Blake, and she’s clearly capable of manipulating people well enough. There is some timeline where Ariana didn’tstorm off, and I ended up married to Sarah. I shudder at the thought, grateful that it never came to fruition.

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