Page 180 of Hayden's Stalker

She sighs quietly and says, “I’m sorry, Hayden.”

I hold her tighter, wanting to tether myself to this reality because some part of my brain wants to keep me in the last few days. “We’re together now. That’s what matters.”

The numbness that has been keeping me from feeling anything disappears and with its departure come awful memories. Sarah kissing me. Her lying on me. Her naked body. Touching my cock.

Nausea rises in me, but I focus on the feeling of having Tati in my arms. I inhale her familiar floral scent and listen to her soft breathing. She’s so perfect, and she’s here. I will never ever take this feeling for granted.

“I love you so much,” she whispers into my chest as she holds me tight.

“I love you, too.” I squeeze her tightly, more grateful than ever to have her here in my arms.

We stand together for a long time. After the last three days, it’s almost strange to enjoy someone’s touch. I still have the awful feeling that my skin is infected and that I’ll never be clean again, but Tati’s touch is a soothing balm on my seeping, infested wounds.

Someone coughs next to us, and I look over to see the special agent who spoke to me inside. “Mr. Vega. Miss Swanson. We need to head back to San Antonio. We’ll need to go straight to our field office, where we’ll be getting your statement.”

A statement.

Of course l need to give one, but reliving my time with those two isn’t appealing at all, and my heart races at the thought.

I know I have to do it, though, so I say, “Okay.”

I squeeze Tati one last time and kiss the top of her head before I turn to follow the FBI agent. I put my arm around Tati and keep her close by as we head to one of the SUVs.

I have the strange thought that Sarah was right, and itisa nice day today as we make our way to it. It’s bizarre to be leaving this place and having my hands and legs free. I look away from the car Daniel is sitting in as the agent opens the door for me. It’s weird that he’s now the one being restrained after he spent a good portion of the day beating me up while I was.

I shudder as the memories come back to me while I climb into the backseat. Now that I’m free, it’s like I’ve suddenly realized just how terrifying the situation was. In the moment, I just did whatever I had to do to get through it, but at any moment, either of them could have killed me.

My heart is pounding in my chest as Tati slides onto the seat next to me, and I put my arm around her and pull her close to me. I’m hit with a sharp pain when she settles herself against me, and I wince.

She must notice because she looks concerned and frowns up at me. “Are you okay? Do you need me to move?”

The thought of not holding her is far worse than any physical pain, and I shake my head. “No, preciosa. I’m a bit sore, but I need you here with me.” I look into the beautiful face of the woman I love and remember the last time I saw her in person, passed out on the sofa in my changing room. “Are you okay? Daniel said he drugged you.”

“I’m fine. I got cleared at the hospital, mostly I was just worried about you.”

Relief that she was okay mixed with guilt that it happened to her floods through me. I hate that any of this happened, but I’m glad that I’m here with her now as I lean down carefully to kiss her soft lips. It’s so right being with her, but it reminds me of Sarah kissing me, and my stomach churns.

Tati stares up at me with her beautiful blue eyes. “I truly didn’t think this was how today would end.”

It’s strange to think that she knew she would be coming to find me today. I had no idea when I woke up this morning that today would be the day. All I had to cling to was the hope that it would happen.

“I didn’t know it would be today, but I knew you’d come find me,” I tell her with so much gratitude that she did.

Tatiana laughs. “In their defense, it was actually the FBI who came and got you while I was a good little girl and stayed in the car.”

“At gunpoint, I might point out,” one of the agents says from the other side of her.

Tatiana smiles and admits, “Okay, yeah. There was a moment where I considered not being a good little girl and Derek talked me out of it.”

“Why am I not surprised?”

I laugh, and it’s almost strange to actually find something funny, but Tati’s so strong-willed that, of course it took a gun tokeep her in the car. I gently stroke her arm, relishing the sense of safety she brings me. Nothing can hurt me now that Tati is here.

She pulls her phone out of her pocket and unlocks it. I look down as she hits Sebastian’s number, which is near the top of her recently dialed numbers.

She’s quiet for a second, then says, “Yes. Hayden’s here with me. Let me put you on speaker.”

As soon as the call is on speaker, I say casually, “Hey, Seb. Anything interesting happened lately?”

---