Chapter 10

Waking up the next morning had been difficult. All Chloe really wanted to do was sleep for years and let the whole thing wash over her. In fact, if she hadn't promised Jackson they'd regroup this morning she would've definitely slept more.

Chloe rolled over, immediately noticing the empty side of the bed next to her. Ethan had gotten up early—his usual time—and left to join his father at a meeting. She knew his schedule and she also knew that if he wasn't at a meeting or fitting or some other type of political happening, he'd still be with her. Sleeping.

Well, he would have. But after last night, she really wasn't sure.

If she actually took the time to think about it, think about the things she'd done—or rather, didn't do—she wished she'd chosen otherwise. But the only way to fix the damage she'd done was to apologize to Ethan today and do her best to make sure nothing like this happened again.

I'm dragging them in again. Jackson and Ethan had spent years dealing with her kidnapping and the repercussions that came with it. She didn't blame Ethan for continuing with his daily schedule. Maybe he'd just let Jackson deal with this one while he moved on with his life.

Chloe got out of bed and got ready slowly. Jackson had mentioned getting together this morning, but he never said when. Surely he'd find something to do before she got there.

In the end she knocked tentatively on Jackson's office door at ten.

Avery let her in and ushered her to one of the two blue comfy seats in front of Jackson's desk. "Tea?" She asked.

Tea sounded perfect right now. "Yes please." Chloe said, and sat down.

Jackson—who had glanced up and gave her a tiny smile when she entered—set his coffee mug down. "Did you eat breakfast?" He asked her.

"No." She said, then shrugged. "But I'm not particularly hungry." Truth was, she'd been fighting nausea since her conversation last night with Ethan.

Jackson shot her a disapproving look, which she ignored, and pointed to the half-eaten bagel on his desk. "We had the kitchen drop off bagels. Help yourself."

Little things like that caught her off guard. At her old house, when she lived with Danika and Frank, any food she wanted she had to make herself. If it had any type of sugar, and sometimes gluten, she knew it would never be there. But living here spoiled her. The cooks were always in the kitchen, ready to make any type of food at the drop of a hat—calories and carbs be damned.

Moments later, Avery passed her a cup of green tea. "Thank you." Chloe said, blowing across the top of the liquid. "Jackson, when are we getting started?"

Her brother stapled a few papers together and dropped them into a yellow folder. "As soon as—"

The door opened behind them. Ethan waltzed in and greeted everyone then sat down.

Chloe stared at him like he had two heads. He acted like their argument last night never even happened. Surely he wouldn't at least be angry enough not to talk to her. That was, after all, what she had expected.

Although she also never expected him to show up this morning.

Ethan scooted forward in his seat, right down to business. "How do we control this situation as best as possible?"

Jackson stood and moved to look out the big window, arms crossed. "It depends on what type of stalker he is first." Her brother said. "In other cases, milder cases, ignoring him would have been fine. Obviously this guy—or girl for that matter—is not content to sit on the sidelines."

"How does this happen in the first place?" Chloe asked. "Wouldn't I know it if someone was being a bit too creepy?"

"Not necessarily." Jackson moved to his desk to pick up a manila folder. He paged through the documents. "I had one of my techs compile a folder on stalkers and stalker cases. It's so easy to unknowingly acquire a stalker." He handed the folder to Chloe. "Especially because of your popularity."

Chloe glanced over at Ethan, hoping he'd look at her. He didn't, though he could no doubt see her from his peripherals.

Maybe she was wrong. Maybe Ethan was only acting like everything was perfect with everyone else. Her eyes spanned over his features. His shoulders had a tightness to them and if the lighting was fine then he definitely had dark circles under his eyes.

She needed his support right now and was desperate enough to get it any way she could. Even just a small glance.

He still didn't meet her eyes. "Is there...is there any way she could've encouraged this behavior?"

Chloe's stomach hardened and she reared back like Ethan had hit her. "Are you seriously asking if I somehow asked someone to stalk me?" The words came out sharp and dripping with hurt.

At that Ethan glanced at her, mouth tight. "That's not at all what I'm asking."

"Really?" She exhaled sharply through her nose. "Because it sounded like it."

If he was going to act like a jerk, well then she would too.

"Well good thing—"

"Guys," Jackson barked. "Focus."

"Lizzie did not ask to be stalked just as Ethan did not mean to be cruel." Jackson hurried on. "Now if you two are done, I'd like to go through this."

Chloe flipped through the folder Jackson gave her. It mostly held documents of other stalker cases, or of police records in which they'd been called in to deal with stalkers. She'd even caught a wisp of Danika's name in one of the police records, though she had no idea Danika had had the police get involved.

"Stalkers are easier to get than you think." Jackson told her. "It could be something as simple as a smile to get him to click with you."

"Being in the public light makes it worse. He's probably watched every interview, read every article about you—it wouldn't be uncommon for him to watch Ethan as well, especially now that everyone knows you're dating."

It kept getting worse and worse. "From what I've learned—and you can find it in that file right there—this guy has probably been rejected his whole life. In order to compensate for that he's created this entire fantasy life with you at the center, accepting him."

"How do we break that fantasy?" Ethan asked.

"That's where it gets tough. Since this is all in his head, he'll have a hard time letting go. He's dressed up this vision of you, Lizzie, in his mind and believes you to be his. If he thinks he's losing you, he can and will become very dangerous. As you've seen."

"But, we just let the whole world know Ethan and I are dating."

"Exactly."

"So what do we do?" Chloe burst out, the panic pushing at her chest.

"Right now? Lay low. I've already spoken to Melena and had her cancel your channel 7 interview for next week. It's important we don't give this guy any more fodder to work with. In some cases if you ignore them long enough, stalkers will find a new obsession and move on."

"What bothers me most is the idea of him getting her personal number." Ethan stated. "How could he possibly get that?"

Jackson jerked his head in a nod. "That's what I wondered." His gaze slid over to her, calculating. "Did you put your number anywhere? Musetunes maybe?"

Chloe shook her head. "I never got around to changing the Musetunes number." She said. "I meant to."

"Did anyone lose a phone? Ian or Eli maybe?" Ethan asked.

Jackson sat down in his office chair. "Maybe." He said blankly. "But it could be as simple as someone one of us knows having access to our cell phones. Eli and Ian have a lot of friends at school. One of them could've easily broken into their phones. I know for a fact Ian doesn't have a password on his phone."

"Should I get a new phone?" Chloe bit her lip. The device had been burning a hole in her pocket the last couple of days. As of late, she didn't even want to answer it any time it rang.

"No." Jackson picked up a stay pen off his desk and twirled it effortlessly through his fingers. "I would like to use it to monitor this guy. Right now, it's the only connection we have to possibly catch him."

"Good idea." Chloe's tea had gone cold. She wasn't sure she'd be able to drink it now anyway.

With that, Jackson closed up their "meeting" and sent them on their way, muttering something about dealing with a training mishap.

When the door shut behind them, Chloe put a gentle hand on Ethan's arm. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Ethan adjusted the collar of his light blue button up. He hesitated a moment before answering, "What's up?"

Chloe wrung out her fingers and took a worried breath. "I'm sorry for what happened. I know you didn't deserve that, and I should've trusted you."

Ethan opened his mouth to say something, but Chloe was quick to cut him off. "Just hear me out for a second, okay?"

He stared at her and then, when resignation seeped into his expression, he nodded.

"I've spent a lot of my life doing my own thing," said Chloe. "I know I don't talk to you much about Frank and what it was like living with him but that's because it's over. I've lived that part of my life already. And I won't lie to you, not all of it was pretty. But the reason I don't talk about that part of my life isn't because I don't trust you. In fact, if I were to count the people I trust wholeheartedly it would be on one hand and you'd be right at the top."

She took a calming breath before she continued. If she was going to do this right and make sure the whole thing comes out perfect then she couldn't jumble her words because she was nervous. "I'm trying to get past it and work myself into this new life and the new experience of living here. To do that, then I have to let the past go."

Oh God, was this even making any sense? "But a big chunk of living with Frank was learning to keep secrets and live and thrive on my own. I admit that I didn't share what was happening with you because I didn't think it was your problem and I definitely didn't want to drag you and Jackson into my problems. But I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I wanted to deal with it on my own. I'd lived so many years alone, Ethan, and when you do that you learn to keep your issues separate from everyone else's."

Ethan followed her throughout the whole spiel and Chloe watched as his eyes slowly grew sad.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, the giant gap between them closed and Ethan pulled her hard into his chest. "I should have been there to keep you safe. That way you wouldn't have to be dealing with the aftermath of Frank's evil." He said into her hair. "I want to fight this guy. But how can I defend you if I don't even know who I'm supposed to be fighting?"

"You won't need to fight anyone, Ethan." Chloe fiercely promised. "I refuse to let it get that far."

Chloe wrapped her arms around him. The relief that he wasn't going to shut her out cooled her chest. Her fingers gripped the back of his shirt. "Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to have been raised here in the palace." She admitted. "And while it makes me sad to think of what I've lost, I also tend to wonder if maybe it helped me appreciate the family and friends I have now. I'm happy here, Ethan. With all of you."

He pulled back, smiling sadly down at her. She could tell instantly that while the wound between the two of them wasn't completely pink and healed, it was starting to close and patch over. That was a start. "I'm glad you're here. With all of us." He said.

After a moment fighting down the heat in her chest, Chloe cleared her throat. "So...want to go get some lunch?"