She spent so much time taking care of everyone else, she never stopped to look after herself. Wulf had been attempting to step up, to play a more active role in his sisters' lives, but it wasn't easy. It didn't come naturally to him, being warm and inviting, and it was clear he felt awkward around them. It didn't help that Vieve automatically turned quiet and subservient around him, and Brie turned even more sullen and bratty. It would be a long road before the Stone siblings were any sort of real family unit, which was a pity because of all of them, Genevieve probably deserved it the most.
Not that there weren't other people in her life who were willing to step up and offer a shoulder to lean on. Katya knew her former neighbor Gaten Shepherd had been very interested in Vieve. They'd even gone on a couple dates. But it had never gone anywhere after that, with Vieve claiming she was too busy with work and family. After enough excuses, he'd stopped calling. It broke Katya's heart a little because she thought he'd be so good for Vieve. She needed someone to take care of her for a while.
“Stop it.”
She smiled at the low voice whispering in her ear, then leaned back as an arm wrapped around her waist. Expensive cologne enveloped her and she took a deep breath as she leaned into a strong shoulder.
“Stop what?” she asked, tilting her head back.
Wulfric wasn't looking at her, though. He was looking at the stairs, watching his sister disappear up them. Katya admired him for a moment, looked over his strong jaw and thick hair. Took in his sharp blue eyes and smooth skin. She reached up a hand and pressed it to his cheek, forcing him to look down at her.
“Worrying about everyone,” he finally answered, then he leaned down and kissed her.
“How did you know -” she started to ask when he pulled away, but he grabbed her hand and tugged, forcing her to follow behind him.
“Because it's what you do, Tocci. If I didn't stop you, you'd be worse than Vieve, trying to micromanage everyone into your idea of happiness,” he informed her as they headed up the stairs.
When they got to the top, they saw Vieve and Brie arguing in a corner. Katya smiled and waved. Wulf just kept heading for the exit. Outside, they nearly ran Landon over. He was standing next to the Jan the bouncer, both of them smoking. She always thought it was strange, a doctor smoking cigarettes. She scrunched up her nose and waved her hand through the air.
“Sorry, Ms. Tocci,” Jan coughed as he rubbed out the butt. “I thought you'd already left.”
“What, we can't smoke out here?” Landon asked, blowing a stream into the air.
“Smoke away,” she offered. “It was good seeing you, Jan.”
“You, too, sweetie pie. This wolf guy taking good care of you?” Jan asked, and he leveled an evil eye on Wulfric. Wulf just rolled his eyes. She laughed and wrapped herself around his arm.
“He takes the best care of me,” she replied.
“Good to hear. I don't ever wanna hear different, ya got me?” he said, still staring at Wulf.
“Oh, don't worry, you won't ever be hearing anything from me,” he replied.
“Your attitude ain't scoring you any points, buddy.”
“Also don't care about that.”
“We're leaving,” Katya chuckled, shoving at Wulf's side. “Goodbye, gentlemen.”
“See ya, sweetheart!”
Landon didn't say anything, just turned his back and leaned against the railing, puffing out smoke rings.
They walked out of the alley and headed down the street. It was early afternoon and they still hadn't eaten lunch. She remembered an exotic food shack somewhere nearby and looked up directions on her phone.
“Remember the burrito cart by the old bakery?” Wulf asked, shoving his hands into his pockets while they walked. She nodded and leaned against him, wrapping her arm back around his.
“Yeah. You always ate mine,” she replied.
“Two times. Two times, I ate your burrito.”
“Wulf, we only ate there two times.”
“We should go there again,” he ignored her. “Come downtown for lunch tomorrow, we'll walk over.”
“Can't.”
“You're right – you should go and get some and bring them to me in my office.”
“No,” she laughed. “I'm busy. I'm meeting with that realtor tomorrow to look at another space.”
“Ah. How could I forget.”
She rolled her eyes. It was a sort of sore point between them – Katya was finally biting the bullet, she was going to open her own bakery, specializing in custom orders and wedding designs. Wulf had been more than willing to run out and buy her the best shop he could find, but she wouldn't let him. She wanted to do it on her own. She welcomed his help and advice, but she didn't want him doing the whole thing for her.
So on her own, Katya had looked up a realtor whose focus was in restaurants, commercial kitchens, and bakeries. Wulf had checked her out, grilled the poor woman in his office, and though he insisted he could still do just as good a job, he grudgingly agreed that she would be more than capable of finding Katya a good location.
However, Wulf would not allow her to purchase something on her own, and that he wouldn't budge on. Realty was his profession, after all, and he was very good at it. He would be there, getting her the best deal possible. Also, he was investing in her business, so he figured it was his right to be part of the final decision.
She'd been prepared to use up her savings for a down payment on a decent place, but Wulf hadn't wanted that; he had more than enough money, and he wanted to share some of it with her. So they came to an agreement – they would be business partners. On paper, with official contracts and everything. Part of the deal was that he sell out his half of Liam's business. He didn't need it and he'd be distracted enough with Katya's new venture. She wanted Liam to be free, and she wanted Wulf's laser like focus on their business. So he'd agreed, and there they were a couple weeks later, completing the sale.
“How much?” she asked after a couple moments of silence.
“How much, what?” he asked, and she glanced up at him. He had his phone in his free hand and he was scrolling through e-mails. She groaned and stood upright before stealing the device from him.
“This is my time,” she reminded him as she dropped the phone into her purse. “How much did you make him pay?”
“I so love when you're halfway through a conversation before you decide to start speaking,” he sighed, glaring across the street.
“Stop it, you know what I'm talking about. I told you to play nice, Wulf. If I find out you charged him one dollar more than what's fair, I will be pissed,” she warned him. He finally looked at her.
“I guess you'll never know, will you,” he said.
“You know I'll just ask him, and he's scared of lying to me now,” she said. “He'll tell me the truth.”
“Jesus, you two. What I did in life to deserve Eden, I'll never know.”
“I'm sure there's a laundry list of dirty deeds that more than qualifies you for that kind of punishment. Now answer the question,” she insisted, pulling him to a stop. He turned to fully look at her.
“I sold Liam my half of the business for exactly what I felt it was worth to me,” he informed her. Katya folded her arms across her chest.
“Oh god. More than half a million? A million? Two million?” she groaned. She couldn't believe it. Wulf and Liam had their differences, barely tolerated each other, but it wouldn't be right if he'd gouged him. She wouldn't be okay with it, not one little bit.
“Surely you don't think I care a million dollars worth about Eden's shitty sex club?” Wulf snorted. She raised her eyebrows.
“Half a million?”
“I'm insulted. I barely ever spared it a second thought, except when it came to payments.”
Her eyebrows got higher.
“Quarter million?” she guessed. That would be beyond cheap – the liquor license alone was worth that much, at least.
“Three months and you still don't know me at all,�
�� he sighed, moving to walk away. She grabbed onto his jacket and held him in place.
“Jesus, Wulf, what happened in that office down there?” she demanded. He gently pried her hands off the expensive material.
“He told me what he was willing to pay for my half. I told him he overestimated his business' worth, and that as a licensed appraiser and realtor, I calculated it to be worth ten thousand dollars, max.”
Katya's jaw dropped.
“You didn't … ten thousand dollars ...” She couldn't even believe what she'd just heard. It was like giving away his half. Her mind was beyond blown.
“Yes, but on a condition. I didn't feel he was taking good enough care of his staff.”
“Uh … huh?”
“His night shift manager wants to become office management – she needs training for that, which he isn't providing. So in lieu of paying me, he's to put that money into her education.”
Holy shit. He'd basically given up his half of the club under the condition that Liam get Tori some management training.
Katya stared up at him, so in shock and awe of the amazing man in front of her. She smiled and blinked away tears.
“You're such a jerk,” she sniffled.
“I can't win with you, Tocci,” he grumbled, pressing his fingertips against the bridge of his nose. “Should I go back and demand a million and a half?”
“No!” she snapped, smacking him in the chest. “You shouldn't make me believe you're doing something awful when really you're being the best person there ever was!”
“Best person ever, huh,” he grumbled, grabbing her wrists and reeling her into a hug.
“Yes,” she replied, wrapping her arms around his torso. “That was amazing, Wulf. I can't believe you did that. You're amazing. I don't deserve you.”
“No, probably not,” he chuckled, and started walking forward. She kept her arms around him, hugging close to his side.
“Shut up.”
They were silent for a while longer, Katya pressed against him and listening to his heart beat through his chest. When they got to the food stand, she sat at a tiny table and waited while he got them some Indian-Peruvian fusion food.
“The shit you make me eat,” he grumbled, dropping the plates in front of her before taking his seat.
“You love it,” she laughed.
“No, I don't,” he said around a mouthful of food. Then he grabbed a napkin and wiped at his lips. “But you know what I do love?”
“What?”
“You, very much,” he started, pulling something out of his breast pocket. Katya started choking on her food as a small velvet box came into view.
“Wulfric Stone,” she started shaking. “If you propose to me after only three months of dating, while we're outside of a shitty food stand on the coldest day of the year, I will hate you forever.”
He snorted at her and rolled his eyes.
“Please. If I proposed to you anywhere, you'd feel blessed and privileged and would probably pledge your undying servitude right then and there,” he informed her. She sat back. “I'm not proposing, Tocci.”
She sniffled and took the box from him. “Oh.”
“I saw it in a store and thought of you. Just open it.”
Inside the box was a little charm. A pendant, nestled into the velvet squab. She laughed and stroked a finger across the small piece of jewelry. It was a tiny cupcake, made out of platinum and with a diamond in the center of the frosting. Tucked into the lid of the box was a small piece of paper, which she pulled out and unfolded. She laughed and almost started crying all over again.
It's been over five months - you still owe me those cupcakes, Tocci.
“God, I hope you never change,” she was still laughing as she snapped the box shut and dropped it and the note into her purse.
“But it's nice to know if I had proposed, I would've gotten a resounding 'yes',” he commented, his voice thick with sarcasm. She chuckled and pushed her plate of food to the side.
“Hey, you gotta work for that kind of reward,” she teased, moving to kneel on the table. He glanced at her once, then went back to eating.
“Where you're concerned, all I do is work,” he informed her. She nodded and moved so her knees were on either side of his plate, then reached out and grabbed his tie, pulling him close to her.
“Good thing the payoff is very worth all that hard work,” she whispered. He nodded and watched her mouth as she leaned down to him.
“It would be, if you'd talk less and be naked more,” he told her.
She burst out laughing, but it turned into a moan when he closed the distance and kissed her soundly.
Silly man, I would say yes any day. Who could resist a proposal from the most perfect neighbor anyone ever had?
The End
*
Continue reading for a sneak peek at Liam's book
*
More books by Stylo – a little something for everyone:
Degradation, The Kane Trilogy #1
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Contemporary romance:
My Time in the Affair
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Dark erotic romance thriller:
The Bad Ones
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Action/adventure romance:
The Mercenaries BoxSet
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book was by far and away my toughest to write. The characters couldn't decide what they wanted to do, they kept changing their minds, and then the first book released and was so well received, it almost gave me anxiety, re-reading the original draft for this story. So of course, I rewrote the whole damn thing. A couple times.
Things we all missed out on from other drafts – a water fight, Katya's dad punching Liam, Liam's family and his awesome mom. Boo. But on the bright side, if you keep reading, you can get a sneak peek at Liam's book!
First and foremost, once again, this book simply would not exist without Ratula. You literally always know exactly the right thing to say. When I'm feeling stressed or down or disconnected or just not into it, you know how to get me on track, and you know how to make me feel better about everything. Thanks for being an amazing friend.
I cannot thank my beta readers enough. Not only do they just do a phenomenal job in general, but almost every single one turned the book around in under a week, and this over the holidays! You guys make everything amazing.
Thank you to Najla Qamber Designs and Champagne Formats for keeping my books looking pretty on the inside and the outside.
Thank you to Give Me Books to coming in during crunch time and doing my release and being so lovely to me, even when I'm late responding to things. Thanks to all the blogs who signed up to promote and review both books, it means the world.
Thanks to everyone who read and loved and reviewed Neighbors. Who knew tacos would become such a big deal!? Ironically – I'm not the biggest fan of them, HA HA!
I'm keeping this short and sweet so I can hit publish all that much faster. Of course, thanks to my friends for dealing with me when I'm in zombie mode. Thanks to everyone for being patient with me as I let messages and e-mails and notifications build up. Thanks for giving me the room to be me and work in my own weird way and just generally being understanding. I feel very blessed that my books have found their way to the readers they have – you are genuinely the nicest, most creative group people.
And thanks to Mr. F – for dreams and weekend getaways and sunny shorelines and laughing and adventures and late nights and not giving a fuck right along with me.
SOUNDTRACK
Songs that I listened to while writing, songs that made me think of the story, and a couple
that inspired actual scenes.
● Ariana Grande – Break Free
● Elle King – Ex's & Oh's
● Annie – Chewing Gum
● Rihanna – Love on the Brain
● Justin Bieber – Sorry
● Metro Station – Shake It
● The Killers – Mr. Brightside
● Fall Out Boy ft. Demi Lovato – Irresistable
● Maroon 5 – Misery
● U2 – With or Without You
● Panic! At the Disco – The Death of a Bachelor
BLOCK PARTY
A Twin Estates Novel
excerpt
“Oh, fuuuuuck.”
Liam rubbed his hands over his face, trying to wake up. He eventually managed to prop himself up and he squinted his eyes, glancing around. When he remembered where he was, he let out a deep sigh.
“Fuck. What the fuck is wrong with me,” he grumbled.
He was in his office. His desk light and the tall lamp in the corner were still on, glaringly bright so early in the morning. At least his overhead lights weren't on, thank god. Every inch of him was sore and tired, including his eyeballs.
He fully sat upright, yawning and scratching his fingers through his hair. He hated when he slept in his office. The room was equipped for it, luckily – he had an en suite, and when he'd first bought the place, he'd spent long hours there. Being so tall and lanky, he loathed sleeping on couches, so he'd had a Murphy bed installed. Once in a while, it still came in handy.
The Neighborhood (A Twin Estates Novel Book 2) Page 34